ePlaya

by **kurtiapu** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 5:43 pm

I was wondering if anyone was bringing a grand piano to the playa. I am a pianist who would love to perform Alvin Curran's Inner Cities. It is a 13 movement, 6.5 hour long piano song cycle that will blow people's minds.

The piece is described as "open, unhurried, brutally lyrical, quiet, private and tonal as it is raucous, aggressively impolite and obsessively meticulous in making the simple relations between tones and durations an unending adventure of personal wonder."

I am hoping to perform the piece twice throughout the week. If anyone is bringing a grand piano, might I be able to use it? I would love to bring my own but am completely destitute at the moment.

by **Token** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 5:55 pm

Someone in the theme camp forum mentioned a baby grand. You should search there.

I've been told that the low humidity on the Playa makes it hard to keep most wood instruments in tune.

If you do land a gig, please post to the guide. I wouldn't mind a movement or two.

by **littleflower** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:26 pm

i also would love to hear something like this, i found an mp3 with a bit of it

http://www.alvincurran.com/music%20exce ... xcerpt.mp3

but ... this sounds like a piece that needs a quiet background ... i am new to burningman, and a bit worried about the constant thumpity-thump anyhow ... will you be able to find the peace that this piece seems to require? or am i being too picky ... (the noise at the hollywood bowl drives me nuts! i am happier in the disney hall...)

by **kurtiapu** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:51 pm

[quote="littleflower"]i also would love to hear something like this, i found an mp3 with a bit of it

http://www.alvincurran.com/music%20exce ... xcerpt.mp3

but ... this sounds like a piece that needs a quiet background ... i am new to burningman, and a bit worried about the constant thumpity-thump anyhow ... will you be able to find the peace that this piece seems to require? or am i being too picky ... (the noise at the hollywood bowl drives me nuts! i am happier in the disney hall...)[/quote]

Yeah, in an ideal world, it would be completely silent surrounding this performance...but the music is evocative enough for any environment. I am hoping someone is bringing a piano out to the open playa away from the noise...but I too cant be picky...any baby grand or grand would suffice.

by **littleflower** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:54 pm

i hope you find one .... please keep us posted!

by **Sensei** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:25 am

The Damn Fucking Texans (that was their name, really) brought a full size grand piano in '07. 'Course it was on the back of a party float and had a stipper pole in the middle right through the guts, so yeah, it was pretty much ideal.

by **Simon of the Playa** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:11 am

(the noise at the hollywood bowl drives me nuts! i am happier in the disney hall...)

i smell an early departure.

but I too cant be picky...any baby grand or grand would suffice.

define picky.

so an upright wont do then, huh....or this:

because i would be more inclined to hear your little ode to fitzcarraldo if you were to attempt it on something OTHER than your normal comfort zone piano.

by **ygmir** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:23 am

Sensei wrote:The Damn Fucking Texans (that was their name, really) brought a full size grand piano in '07. 'Course it was on the back of a party float and had a stipper pole in the middle right through the guts, so yeah, it was pretty much ideal.

is that the one they lit and launched from a catapult?......I swear I saw that happen in '07.........

by **littleflower** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:33 am

Simon of the Playa wrote:
(the noise at the hollywood bowl drives me nuts! i am happier in the disney hall...)

i smell an early departure.

that's more for listening to classical music, of course...

the background noise will change the music, but that can be interesting as an experience, and enough of a challenge to the musician, methinks ...

by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:21 am

ygmir wrote:is that the one they lit and launched from a catapult?......I swear I saw that
happen in '07.........

Probably in need of a tune up at this point.

Unless you want a barbarian hammered dulcimer. Hmm...

by **kurtiapu** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:20 pm

Ha ha...one of the movements is written for a toy piano...so I am bringing that. An upright would work OK...but ideally, I would need to have the full resonance of a baby or grand piano...not going to get picky though...this music is awesome enough for most any keyboard medium (except for an actual electronic keyboard, of course)

by **Ugly Dougly** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:49 pm

Try here:
viewtopic.php?t=29381&highlight=

by **revjim** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:25 pm

Skinny Kitty Teahouse will have a baby grand again this year. It gets tuned daily.

by **kurtiapu** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:04 pm

"Skinny Kitty Teahouse will have a baby grand again this year. It gets tuned daily."

Seriously?! Would it be possible to set up a performance time? Oh man...that would be amazing! The song cycle is 6.5 hours...but I wouldnt expect to have the chance to play the whole thing...

by **swampdog** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:20 pm

Littleflower - have you considered hushville?

http://www.hushville.com/home/

by **Teo del Fuego** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:38 pm

revjim wrote:Skinny Kitty Teahouse will have a baby grand again this year. It gets tuned daily.

Baby grand or an upright studio piano like the one I played there in 2007?

by **littleflower** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:25 pm

that is so cool that there will be a piano that is tuned daily!!! wow ... this community never ceases to amaze me ...

swampdog wrote:Littleflower - have you considered hushville?

http://www.hushville.com/home/

yes, thanks .... i was actually all ready to settle into hushville when i got seduced by the barbarians, and assured by the dougly one that we would be the noble, quiet type of savages. but i'll still probably have something in my ears the entire week ... except while listening to kurtiapu, of course!

by **kurtiapu** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:17 am

Who should I get in contact with to get some piano time at the Skinny Kitty Teahouse?

by **kurtiapu** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:05 am

Still trying to find someone from Skinny Kitty Teahouse to set up a set...does anyone know who I can contact regarding performance time?

by **SpacemanSpliff** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:01 pm

Just stop by -- 3 and F. Look for the big saddle-shaped sound tent and the several-story scaffolding tower. The baby grand is just sitting there unplayed as often as not, so setting a performance time is pretty unnecessary.

by **Ugly Dougly** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:20 pm

We'll be right next to you, and I can promise you lots of disruptive cacophony.

by **kurtiapu** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 12:21 pm

"Just stop by -- 3 and F. Look for the big saddle-shaped sound tent and the several-story scaffolding tower. The baby grand is just sitting there unplayed as often as not, so setting a performance time is pretty unnecessary."

Yay!!! Thank you so much! I am incredibly excited just to have the opportunity to play some of this piece out on the playa...the whole thing is 6.5 hours, but there are 13 movements within that piece...so I wont torture you with the entirety of the piece...unless of course you are down for a little torture :)

by **sputnik** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 12:43 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92FQdnLlSc[/youtube]

by **bigbluedoggy** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:59 pm

Hey Sputnik, if that was in 2007, I was probably standing in your video somewhere... I loved that!! An amazing playa moment!

by **sputnik** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:18 pm

Not my vid BBD. It says after the burn 2006.

by **littleflower** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:10 pm

kurtiapu wrote:"Just stop by -- 3 and F. Look for the big saddle-shaped sound tent and the several-story scaffolding tower. The baby grand is just sitting there unplayed as often as not, so setting a performance time is pretty unnecessary."

Yay!!! Thank you so much! I am incredibly excited just to have the opportunity to play some of this piece out on the playa...the whole thing is 6.5 hours, but there are 13 movements within that piece...so I wont torture you with the entirety of the piece...unless of course you are down for a little torture

kurtiapu ... would it be possible to stop by the barbarian camp on your way? i'd love to be part of your audience, if i'm there ... ! we're at 3 & F ... of course, i could just listen for the piano ...

by **kurtiapu** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:29 pm

"kurtiapu ... would it be possible to stop by the barbarian camp on your way? i'd love to be part of your audience, if i'm there ... ! we're at 3 & F ... of course, i could just listen for the piano ..."

Sure thing!!! Should I just ask around for little flower...or do you have some other name you go by? I will most likely stop by the camp sometime tuesday early afternoon...maybe 2 or 3ish (playa time).

by **littleflower** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:23 am

yes, ask for littleflower, and if i'm not there, ask them to remind me when i get back ... i'll definitely make time to catch as much as i can!

thanks! and see you in a few days! wow, is it fun to say that.

ePlaya

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