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A promo video for my opera CD

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Jerry Willard

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Jan 11, 2013, 10:55:47 AM1/11/13
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Forgive my excursion into crass capitalism - here is a promo video for my opera CD - i hope you like it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSLKA4YdjE

Andrew Schulman

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Jan 11, 2013, 12:30:44 PM1/11/13
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Great work on all counts Jerry. I'll mention here that I've heard
Jerry play this same Lacote guitar in concert and it projects
remarkably well in a big hall.

Jerry, I'm surprised this is all instrumental, why didn't you sing any
of the arias? There is a rumor going around that you have a great
tenor voice.

Haha...

Andrew

JPD

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Jan 11, 2013, 1:13:58 PM1/11/13
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On Jan 11, 7:55 am, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
> Forgive my excursion into crass capitalism - here is a promo video for my opera CD - i hope you like it
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSLKA4YdjE

What a perfect title! I'm not a big fan of Giuliani, Mertz, etc., but
in the context of "A Night at the Opera" it sounds great. Lovely
operatic playing, Jerry. Well done!

JPD

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Jan 11, 2013, 1:31:04 PM1/11/13
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Hey, I want to get this as a birthday present for someone and I need
it by Sunday. (Day after tomorrow.) Amazon can't get it to me until
Monday, even with express shipping. Is it in any brick-n-mortar stores
where I can just go pick it up? I'm calling around....

Jerry Willard

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Jan 11, 2013, 3:34:37 PM1/11/13
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that's a tall order JPD - i am not in NYC and have no CDs with me and wont return until the 23rd - Perhaps Lyrichord can do something for you? Are there actually CD stores open anymore?

Jerry Willard

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Jan 11, 2013, 3:35:39 PM1/11/13
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you really don't want to hear me sing - many musicians I've worked had absolutely horrible voices (most singers excluded) - we would sing the way we thought various passages should sound in rehearsals - it resembled more a barn yard than a musical event - glad you like the CD Andrew [Smile]

JPD

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Jan 11, 2013, 5:19:43 PM1/11/13
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Not many, I guess. There was a great one in Portland called Classical
Millennium. I just found out it closed September 2012, sadly. I also
tried Barnes & Noble. That was strike two. So I ordered the last two
available on Amazon, express. Sometimes they deliver next day.
*fingers crossed*



Jerry Willard

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Jan 11, 2013, 5:38:14 PM1/11/13
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Good luck JPD i hope it works for you and thanks for purchasing my CD!

Mental Handle

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Jan 11, 2013, 5:42:15 PM1/11/13
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I like it as well!


Rgds

Technique Police

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Jan 12, 2013, 9:17:08 AM1/12/13
to
On Jan 11, 10:55 am, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
> Forgive my excursion into crass capitalism - here is a promo video for my opera CD - i hope you like it
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSLKA4YdjE

No apology needed, this is great stuff! Thanks!

Jerry Willard

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Jan 12, 2013, 9:24:11 AM1/12/13
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YIKES i don't want any trouble from the technique police!!!

dsi1

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Jan 12, 2013, 5:13:43 PM1/12/13
to
On 1/11/2013 5:55 AM, Jerry Willard wrote:
> Forgive my excursion into crass capitalism - here is a promo video for my opera CD - i hope you like it
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSLKA4YdjE
>

You're forgiven - do you have any middle Eastern or central Asia made
tennis shoes at low, low, prices? Where are those guys when you need 'em?

Anywho... your production values are really high in the videos, and
website and CD. Congrats on that. Did you do all that by yourself? It's
amazing. :-)

Jerry Willard

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Jan 12, 2013, 5:30:27 PM1/12/13
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thank you sorry no shoes id have to learn some sole music for that

yep with the CD i did everything - with the exception of the reverb which came from lyrichord - i think the mertz opera works are some of his best and a few of the compositions jump out of the "medly" form to complete works in and of themselves especially traviata and trovatore - i'm delighted you like it

j

dsi1

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Jan 12, 2013, 6:01:38 PM1/12/13
to
On 1/12/2013 12:30 PM, Jerry Willard wrote:
> On Saturday, January 12, 2013 5:13:43 PM UTC-5, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 1/11/2013 5:55 AM, Jerry Willard wrote:
>>
>>> Forgive my excursion into crass capitalism - here is a promo video for my opera CD - i hope you like it
>>
>>>
>>
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSLKA4YdjE
>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> You're forgiven - do you have any middle Eastern or central Asia made
>>
>> tennis shoes at low, low, prices? Where are those guys when you need 'em?
>>
>>
>>
>> Anywho... your production values are really high in the videos, and
>>
>> website and CD. Congrats on that. Did you do all that by yourself? It's
>>
>> amazing. :-)
>
> thank you sorry no shoes id have to learn some sole music for that

Sole music!

>
> yep with the CD i did everything - with the exception of the reverb which came from lyrichord - i think the mertz opera works are some of his best and a few of the compositions jump out of the "medly" form to complete works in and of themselves especially traviata and trovatore - i'm delighted you like it
>
> j
>

Thanks for the info, that's great to hear. :-)

Alphonsus Jr.

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Jan 12, 2013, 9:23:05 PM1/12/13
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On Saturday, January 12, 2013 2:30:27 PM UTC-8, Jerry Willard wrote:
> a few of the compositions jump out of the "medly" form to complete works in and of themselves especially traviata and trovatore

That's a good point. Today I was listening to your recording of Traviata while following along with the sheet music and the very same thing occurred to me. By the way, how long did it take you get this particular piece up to speed?

Jwillard

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Jan 12, 2013, 9:39:37 PM1/12/13
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Hi Alphonsus I had the concept of the CD first then worked on all the selections at once - Traviata and Trovatore I performed a few times and naturally this helps enormously in the recording process. what took the most time and thought was tempi. At times the arias could be the same tempo as the operas other times mertz would be trying to produce a certain personalized interpretation or trying to bring out a characteristic of the guitar - one example of this is la Donna mobile from Riggoleto where in the opera that particular aria is usually done a little faster where in the mertz piece he was using glissandi to bring a specific guitar technique So it requires a certain flexibility and that takes time to let the music "marinate" for a bit. All in all I think I worked on the CD music about 6 to 9 months

Jwillard

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Jan 12, 2013, 10:01:04 PM1/12/13
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Oh yes one more thing the tempi are also important because they give a sense of continuity and seamlessness to the work. the tempi have to suit the piece outside the context of the opera tempi

Alphonsus Jr.

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Jan 13, 2013, 12:42:47 AM1/13/13
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On Saturday, January 12, 2013 7:01:04 PM UTC-8, Jwillard wrote:
> Oh yes one more thing the tempi are also important because they give a sense of continuity and seamlessness to the work. the tempi have to suit the piece outside the context of the opera tempi

Your comments confirm what I suspected: you've given a lot of thought to these works, along with much love and care.

One more thing: do you find that the Lacote is easier or harder to play than a regular classic guitar?

Jerry Willard

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Jan 13, 2013, 10:58:39 AM1/13/13
to
in many ways it's easier especially in effects the music demands such as vibrato glissandi and slurs - the nut width is smaller than a modern guitar and then opens up to a more standard width at the sound hole - the left hand is a little more difficult in that the strings are so much closer together in 1st position BUT one can easily finger an e minor with one finger etc. Whats truly wonderful is the clarity of the sound - here i don't miss the modern guitar where often there is a tendency toward excessive bass thus loosing clarity and projection

Andrew Schulman

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Jan 13, 2013, 4:22:44 PM1/13/13
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On Jan 12, 5:30 pm, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
> thank you sorry no shoes id have to learn some sole music for that
>
>
There's something fishy about this response.

Andrew

Curmudgeon

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Jan 13, 2013, 4:36:09 PM1/13/13
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Did somebody other than Schumann compose on a fish theme (besides
these guys
http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2010/04/best-fishing-songs-all-time?photo=0#node-1001324823)
?

John Nguyen

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Jan 13, 2013, 4:52:42 PM1/13/13
to
On Jan 11, 10:55 am, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
> Forgive my excursion into crass capitalism - here is a promo video for my opera CD - i hope you like it
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSLKA4YdjE

Great playing! Count me as one more of your fans:-)
Cheers,

John

Richard Yates

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Jan 13, 2013, 4:53:54 PM1/13/13
to
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:36:09 -0500, Curmudgeon <eht...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Vaughan Williams' wrote a Concerto for Bass (Tuba).

dsi1

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Jan 13, 2013, 4:56:13 PM1/13/13
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John Nguyen

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Jan 13, 2013, 5:01:56 PM1/13/13
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> these guyshttp://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2010/04/best-fishin...)
> ?

Not sure if Segovia composed any fish theme, but he sure did like to
scale.

thomas

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Jan 13, 2013, 5:16:24 PM1/13/13
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I've been herring a lot about this Segovia character--I dolphinately need to find an oppor-tuna-ty to check out someone who's so highly trout of.

Jerry Willard

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Jan 13, 2013, 5:17:04 PM1/13/13
to
Lets not forget Julian "Bream"

Curmudgeon

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Jan 13, 2013, 7:05:26 PM1/13/13
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Is Bream your sole example? From my perch, when the moon hits your eye
like a big pizza pie, that's a moray

Jerry Willard

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Jan 13, 2013, 7:24:34 PM1/13/13
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YA got me there im floundering

Andrew Schulman

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Jan 13, 2013, 9:35:30 PM1/13/13
to
On Jan 13, 7:24 pm, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
> On Sunday, January 13, 2013 7:05:26 PM UTC-5, Curmudgeon wrote:
> > On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:17:04 -0800 (PST), Jerry Willard
>
> > <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > >On Sunday, January 13, 2013 4:36:09 PM UTC-5, Curmudgeon wrote:
>
> > >> On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:22:44 -0800 (PST), Andrew Schulman
>
> > >> <and...@abacaproductions.com> wrote:
>
> > >> >On Jan 12, 5:30 pm, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > >> >> thank you sorry no shoes id have to learn some sole music for that
>
> > >> >There's something fishy about this response.
>
> > >> >Andrew
>
> > >> Did somebody other than Schumann compose on a fish theme (besides
>
> > >> these guys
>
> > >>http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2010/04/best-fishin...)
>
> > >> ?
>
> > >Lets not forget Julian "Bream"
>
> > Is Bream your sole example? From my perch, when the moon hits your eye
>
> > like a big pizza pie, that's a moray
>
> YA got me there im floundering
>
I'm having a whale of a time although whales are mammals.

By the way Jerry, did this thread start out with a music topic? My
short term memory swam away.

OK, let's segue into swami music! How about Rondo all Turca? Even
though that has nothing to do with Hinduism.

But seriously, great video!

Andrew

Curmudgeon

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Jan 14, 2013, 1:20:04 PM1/14/13
to
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:35:30 -0800 (PST), Andrew Schulman
<and...@abacaproductions.com> wrote:

>On Jan 13, 7:24�pm, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
>> On Sunday, January 13, 2013 7:05:26 PM UTC-5, Curmudgeon wrote:
>> > On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:17:04 -0800 (PST), Jerry Willard
>>
>> > <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> > >On Sunday, January 13, 2013 4:36:09 PM UTC-5, Curmudgeon wrote:
>>
>> > >> On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:22:44 -0800 (PST), Andrew Schulman
>>
>> > >> <and...@abacaproductions.com> wrote:
>>
>> > >> >On Jan 12, 5:30�pm, Jerry Willard <jdwilla...@verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> > >> >> thank you sorry no shoes id have to learn some sole music for that
>>
>> > >> >There's something fishy about this response.
>>
>> > >> >Andrew
>>
>> > >> Did somebody other than Schumann compose on a fish theme (besides
>>
>> > >> these guys
>>
>> > >>http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2010/04/best-fishin...)
>>
>> > >> ?
>>
>> > >Lets not forget Julian "Bream"
>>
>> > Is Bream your sole example? From my perch, when the moon hits your eye
>>
>> > like a big pizza pie, that's a moray
>>
>> YA got me there im floundering
>>
>I'm having a whale of a time although whales are mammals.
>
>By the way Jerry, did this thread start out with a music topic? My
>short term memory swam away.
Andrew, thou dost protest too much. After all, you started this
divertimento on porpoise.

Jwillard

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Jan 14, 2013, 1:32:13 PM1/14/13
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I'm afraid I'm fished out :(

dsi1

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Jan 14, 2013, 2:22:26 PM1/14/13
to
On 1/14/2013 8:32 AM, Jwillard wrote:
> I'm afraid I'm fished out :(
>

It's a good thing that I'm neither a musician or a blind person because
those folks seem to revel in puns. Blind musicians are the worst. Of
course, that observation might just be a fluke.
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