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BINGO!!! OK what's the big deal about this song? First, let's hear it in a fundamental form, this is how I am trying to make it sound more or less, as a practice piece: [video:youtube] Sebastian Yradier.....The Great! (Click for details) Let's set the context of the most incredible single feat in the history of songwriting. Between 1525 and 1866 10.7 million Africans survived the dreaded Middle Passage to the Americas (388,000 to North America). Music was really a part of all aspects of life in West Africa, work, social, and religious. One element common in those cultures: Clave(link). It echos in folk styles across the region and in the lilting bass of La Paloma. In 1800 the three largest cities in the Americas were: NYC, Mexico City.....and Havana. It has recently swelled with refugees from the defeat of Napoleon by African Slaves in Haiti, which up till then had been the richest sugar island and major source of revenue for France. "Country Dancing", was the rage in for Euros at home and in the colonies, with French, Italian, and many flavors. Producing collections and writing these dances was one way to make income or fame in music. Yradier was Basque, one of the few ethic groups to defend their territory against all indo-european cultures, and tied closely to Spain, Portugal and France. Yraider was a pro, sold music to publishing houses, and even managed to aquire the French Empress Eugenie as a student at some point. He went to Havana and lived there a few years around 1850, and that experience gave Paloma and Europe a priceless gift: the clave related Tresillo. You cannot miss that bassline. It had not been heard in Europe before. A West African heartbeat was transplanted into "Contradanse", and the world fell in love. My favorite piano arrangement from 1932, describes the tempo: "Stroking Tango". It's the first time somebody got this on paper and it got real attention. 1860ish. The song became an international sensation, as I will show. And this is not a dead song, as I will show How Yradier came up with such gorgeous melody to go with it....nobody is sure, but "The motif of "La Paloma" (the dove) can be traced back to an episode that occurred in 492 BC, before Darius the Great's invasion of Greece, a time when the white dove had not yet been seen in Europe.[3] The Persian fleet under Mardonius was caught in a storm off the shore of Mount Athos and wrecked, when the Greeks observed white doves escaping from the sinking Persian ships. Those were most probably homing pigeons which the Persian fleet carried with them when sallying forth out of Persia for battle. This inspired the notion that such birds bring home a final message of love from a sailor who is lost at sea." Source Yraider was in Havana as Spain, lately the greatest empire on earth, was in crisis. Napoleon had put his brother on the throne, and Bolivar, inspired by his refuge in Haiti, siezed the day and lead a series of close run campaigns across the mountains and valleys of South America, where Sucre broke the Spanish forces at Ayacucho high in Peru. Now Mexico was about to break loose and La Paloma would be sung across that land: [video:youtube] Where the event depicited above took place, Max requested the song one last time before: Lets hear it as all Mexicans know it today: [video:youtube] Cuando salí de la Habana ¡Válgame Dios! Nadie me ha visto salir Si no fui yo. Y una linda Guachinanga Allá voy yo. Que se vino tras de mí, que sí, señor. Si a tu ventana llega una paloma, Trátala con cariño que es mi persona. Cuéntale tus amores, bien de mi vida, Corónala de flores que es cosa mía. Ay, chinita que sí! Ay, que dame tu amor! Ay, que vente conmigo, chinita, A donde vivo yo! El día que nos casemos ¡Válgame Dios! En la semana que hay ir Me hace reir Desde la Iglesia juntitos, Que sí señor, Nos iremos a dormir, Allá voy yo. Translations vary wildly, but: When I left Havana, Goodness gracious No one saw me leave but myself And a pretty clever girl, like a flower Came after me, yes sir.. If a dove comes to your window Treat her with affection, for she is my own Tell her well of the loves in your life And Crown her with flowers, for she is mine Oh yes, little pebble, give me your love Oh come with me, little ladybug To where I live Ah Chinita, that"s right, give me your love Oh come with me, little girl To wherever is my home etc (something like this) TBC..... Great job TommyRude!

I have a nice collection of assorted gear, from all genres. At one point I began to notice learning the various techonolgies was cutting into my practice, which I desperately need, while it can still do some good Since spring 2020 I have bought 90% acoustic. I did get a MOXF, which I play but have not yet spent the time to master it's world. I'm on the list for the Osmose, and that may be my last synth.....obviously I'm getting it for the keybed. Even this post is keeping me....... Learning figured-bass at 64 demands attention And pays more dividends than researching gear....which I all too easily fall into.

Great suggestion, but not the song. Like O Sole Mio, this song was recorded by many opera stars and Elvis too, in a hit film Also the theme of a landmark German film, brought by the sailors and soldiers back to Germany. Known by everyone in Russia as well. The story was first recorded by Greeks, more than 400 yrs BC. You can't make this up, though it sounds like I am Now I'm off to watch this German movie, which I never heard about till tonight, trying to find some good examples of the song. Charlie Parker and Chubby Checker have versions. Bette Davis was nuts about it.

Haha, OK here is tonite's hint. Just to be clear 3 years ago I had never seen the song, though it is a familar melody and rhythm, even if you never heard it, or heard the name. Most of us have heard it at some point, and I bet not a few have played it. So this is not the song, but it's close. These pieces had some serious legs. This is the less famous sister LOL [video:youtube] just to cool down a little: [video:youtube]

These are all fantastic suggestions, but not yet How do you know your song has REALLY hit? Famous musicians hear it sung locally in isolated locations and make their own versions, sure they are original adaptions of indigenous folk music..... This songwriter, who died penniless of course, had this happen many times to this song, but in a spectacular fashion to another song he wrote... Concerning "Saint James Infirmary" It apparently goes back to the plague of the 1680s in London, but really took on a persona in the Jazz age. Here is a website devoted to the song: Great History You will see there are a thousand versions on youtube, here a few: Cab Calloway [video:youtube] Clapton/Dr John [video:youtube] Jon Batiste [video:youtube] The first I ever heard was a spectacular Artie Shaw arrangement, his band played the song alot: check out this up tempo intstrumental version, which I have not heard before. It shows you how far those bands took Swing, my favorite Jazz. [video:youtube] My first instrument was a clarinet, bought not long after I heard one played like this.

Very good candidates, and close in terms of popularity. I like to play both of those, especially "White Christmas" which is really a gorgeous song at any time of the year. The older arrangements for piano are really nice. Another great one like White Christmas, for me, is "Slow boat to China" "Leave all your lovers weeping on the far away shore" "Out on the briney, with a moon big and shiney" "Melting your heart of stone" Oh yes But not the song, which has it over all these in that it actually had a big effect on western european music and introduced something new.

What was the first global "hit" song? I think it may be the most recorded song also. Your vote, and if you are feeling nostalgic, your thoughts on what made the song so popular... Have you played it? Extra points: what inspired the "story"? I discovered the song for practice only a few years ago, and it's become like the House of the Rising Sun, or The Saint James Infirmary, to me. It still sounds good when you come back to it, yet simple enough to be a good song to learn on unfamilar instruments. Last nite I found a very nice arrangement in a pre-war collection with a provocative description of the tempo How I missed it in my earlier keyboard days, I don't know. But I learned some really interesting stuff last night about the song.

Mainstage is pretty friendly to controllers, and you can configure lots of stuff on the Mac. Every slider and wheel on the DM12 can send MIDI, and I always thought it could make a great controller. What is also nice: you have a reliable analog polysynth that will not tax your computer and can make big sounds. The digital effects are extensive. The interface is classic, and not hard to learn. Many videos. All this said, most good VAs do all this on multiple channels. That's the only "heel" of the DM12: it makes one instrument on one channel at a time. If you want a light cheap controller with much of it's own power, and have patience to study the book, a MOFX is cheap used, and has huge MIDI power, many buttons, channels, every instrument, and a very complex sequencer with a ton of presets to drive a whole band. It was made for gigging. My 61 key is like 18 LBS? No aftertouch, but the keys are very easy on the joints. It has a million arp patterns, for all kinds of genres, each can send to MIDI, four at once I think. The newer MODX is a different beast with it's own strenghts and headaches, moving all the buttons to a single touch screen being one. The MOXF is still widely used in live shows, and was really the last MOTIF. You could find one of these for $500 easy: [video:youtube] I play it more than the DM12, but love them both Many rave about the System 8 Roland as well, but that and the MODX are double the money, and less proven live. Anyway, the point is, this thing is a good contoller and can belt out a whole band by itself as well. The arps change chords at one touch etc. Pretty fun. The DM 12 has a deep arp, but you pretty much have to tell it everything, and it's just one MIDI channel's worth. The forte of the DM12 I think is as a teacher of the classic synth interface, and as a single instrument....which could also be an impressive controller. A multi-channel DM12 = Access Virus TI. It's a VA but general interface is same model as DM12, and it is very powerful. Remains in wide live use in EDM scene. Simliar features as controller as DM12. Great effects machine for any instrument. The 61 key version has the famous TP8/S keybed, best synth keybed to date. But these are over 1K. In the 500 range NEW, Studiologic Numa CX2, would also be a good Mainstage controller. Very limited sounds onboard, but good pianos and organ.

Dorico for Ipad is an awesome FREE tool without any subscription! Yes, if you want to write for many instruments and get some un-needed fanciness, you would subscribe. I'm happy to see that as ever, no good deed goes unpunished around here. But since I've done my own share of ignorant ranting, I better do some repenting, and report on Dorico for Ipad. First off, let's say notation software for Ipads is not growing on trees, to my surpise. Apple can make a big DAW, but a little music writing app? Nope. Musescore!! You waste 20 minutes downloading and avoiding subcriptions in an "open sewer" of introductory screens, to learn that Musescore for Ipad does not support wrting music---too much trouble to write for IOS--- which is a proprietary language anyway, created by a company that had no problems using free linux as a base for it's MBPs etc...but I digress. Why else would you install Musescore? To read scores you don't bother to export or download as PDFs, I guess. Anyway there are a few less than fully operational notation options on the app store, with suspiciously few reviews, always including tearful laments. I nearly bought "Staffpad" which has been reduced 1/2 from it's original $90 (at least you own it), and has many reviews, but fully half are not good. It appears to have been recently sold and updated, and once you get into the flow and ideas behind it, it looks pretty good.....if you think it's as easy to write on a screen with a plastic tip as on good paper with graphite. It is not. Erasing is easier though Dorico for Ipad!!! No subscription, no registration even you can write whatever you like for keyboard, or Organ (3 staff), and one or two other instruments. If you create a Steinberg account you get 4 I think.....well here is a much better description than I could give, FF to about 2 mins and check this thing out, it is very impressive, even figured base. You would never miss "Engrave" for all the tons of stuff that works for free, seriously. Many of us just want a quick way to create keyboard scores, and this thing does a great job for nothing, very polished: [video:youtube] Here is a follow up on an update which also shows more stuff, and all the time he is explaining what is free and what is not. [video:youtube] Of course they want to get us to buy something, but honestly this is a big wedding with plenty of free food and drink! I'm terribly cheap, but for this I'm at least grateful

I have every size ipad (and numerous laptops windows and mac) the only ipad everyday I use is my 2nd gen 12.9 pro with pencil. I have 2nd gen because it was way cheaper, but runs well, of course latest is best, uses a different pencil. The 12.9 is just awesome to read anything. Musescore and iReal Pro are great, I am testing Dorico now for notation. There is no comparison for reading music, the normal size is terrible. The 12.9 is great, also for audio, no comparison. Speakers are loud. Pencil is excellent. Mine has 256GB storage. Of course I still use the laptops, especially to type, and when software dictates. But the Ipad will go right on a music stand or piano, or in my hands, no comparison with laptop for many situations. Just much nicer. Of course real sheet music is the nicest. I have lots, but to carry what's at hand on the ipad I would need a truck. There was a recent thread which showed some decent pianos and there are many audio posssiblites with ipads including MIDI even DIN. Garageband for ipad is pretty decent. Like a synth you like, it does not replace your piano, but it's a very nice thing to have, IMHO.

haha, I know I'm beating this horse, but some might enjoy, Here we have essentially the same ideas as above, but presented by a very experienced live performer and his Killer harpsichord: [video:youtube] This is really the Jazz niche in "classical" gigs. It's too bad kids don't train from the start, as they once did, to improvise with the "cliches" (cadences and sequences) mentioned in the videos. It's very interesting to see the common aspects of Basso Continuo with basic Jazz chords, e.g. major and minor (though minors always differ rising and falling, and sport #3s in the 5ths); triads which invert over a fixed bass, flat and natural 7ths; but just as Jazz chords start showing #11s, b9s etc, some 18th century chords notated by figured bass have very unique flavors, eg. the 2nd which is a 3/4/6 and the falling 6th which is 3/4/#6 by default (and in the "Rule of the Octave" basic progression.) Certainly the Basso Continuo can express sublimly dissonant harmonies, EG many of Bach's 371 chorales, and even in those short examples one or 2 "tonicizations" produce rich, often melancholy depth, equal, many feel to a well improvised "standards" complexity.

How did they rock these harpsichords back in the day? Here is an incredible presentation, informed by the latest scholarship on historical keyboard methods, where improvisation was a central skill: [video:youtube] If you like those sequences, with the suspensions, here is a fantastic cheat sheet with the fundamentals keyboard players knew in 1780, a free resource created by the Scholar and Professor Derek Remes: Voice Leading Patterns of the 17th and 18th centuries

Bach was a serious gearhead, hear his favorite keyboard, the "Lautenwerck" (you have to love German), a morph of the harpsichord and an older polyphonic mainstay, the Lute: [video:youtube] Consider the most advanced technological device in Bach's lifetime, perhaps outside of various timepieces, was the church organ. In that sense he really was an astronaut

DIN midi has always felt OK to me. Maybe it's psychological - I never noticed the latency because I wasn't trying to notice it! I use DIN midi from the A800 for my touring gigs, but it's going into a USB midi interface into my Mac - so I'm dealing with both protocols there. On local gigs I go direct with USB from my A800. I keep my buffer at 128 for local work and 256 for the touring, as that gives me an extra margin of safety. It still feels OK to me, however if I listen for it I'll notice a very slight difference. For these recent iPad experiments, I had Pure Piano or AUM at a 128 buffer. I do notice slightly more latency with the iPad at 128 vs 128 on the Mac, but it's not enough to bug me. I'm assuming there are additional i/o buffers that are invisible to the user and I'll guess those are responsible. Your comment seems to imply that "big sampled" laptop pianos might lag due to their being "big." The size of a piano (in terms of the samples) shouldn't have any bearing on latency. If there are issues streaming the required files from the disk I think you'd hear the audio break up or voices get killed. You've tried reducing your buffer size until you hear audio breakup, then bumping back one setting? I have not, but thanks to you I will! Thank you, Sir.

Here are a couple of Barry explainers I really enjoyed: A series: and Bill, a good teacher: [video:youtube] Like Chris, Issac was a "regular" at Barry's studio, and has many great videos: [video:youtube] On Barry's website are some nice materials. What inspired me to try to learn an instrument was hearing Charlie Parker in 1978, by accident, while driving trucks in Alaska. I started with a clarinet. To my ears no keyboardist evokes Parker more clearly than Barry. Monk is there too but unlike many modern players, Monk influence is very subtle in Barry's playing. Parker knew nothing about "Dorian" and many aspects of "Jazz Theory" as taught at Berklee et al. Barry was a champion of historically informed Jazz theory, and he showed how it could turn "regular" people into performers, like Chris above. There is also a great video about him on the website.

Making Harpsichords was almost a lost art, and I read many bad ones were made in the 20th century, you have to be very careful buying them. But now you can hear some fantastic ones. [video:youtube] They do fall out of tune, but can be tuned superfast by an experienced player: 2-3 minutes even. This lady explains alot about them: The Adams Family was such a awesome show.

Osmose is 2.0 so if it ever shows up I might have try the New Logic with it, thanks for the heads up

It's nice to see some very decent DPs for IOS, which is so much nicer to move around than a laptop. I also have an Apro, 61 key, which I have slowly warmed to playing. My most used light controller is a Nektar T4, which really has remarkable feel, though it is far simpler, no sys ex. But I now have the Roland setup in my bedroom with a JV1010, as I like to play in diiferent spots and postures, and I'm liking it fine. I was playing my upright most often in spring and summer, but with a current focus on figured bass and 18th century fundamentals I use the Hammond and my two controllers lately--the nektar is running a micropiano and old proteus. The AP can be quite addictive, as it does create such a rich palette, no other keyboard in the house is so complex. I learned to tune it, but made the stupid mistake of pulling it from about 435 to 440, which took many re-tunes to settle. It's a mid 80's Young Chang clone of the U1 with a humidfier I bought new. Thanks so much for your post. I should ask: do you notice any lag with either? My big sampled laptop pianos can lag, though the old modules with DIN midi, never lag that I can notice.

I did not notice noise from my 2CX when I was playing it often. I did not use the USB for sound output. I usually sent it to a mixer, but sometimes directly to iloud speakers, or even with the onboard speakers. That said you might be more sensitive than me.

On the subject of Leslie's I have a 22H amp that may need a transformer (blowing fuses without tubes-signs of heat on transformers), though otherwise it seems to have been totally redone before I found it. I need to figure out who is still rebuilding amps at reasonable rates. Please PM me if you'd rather not give recommendations in the thread. Suggestions greatly apreciated. I just missed a tall-boy for sale in Boise Idaho for $300 3 years ago

I was writing to a friend about Barry today when I heard this terrible news. Discovering Barry has been a huge inspriation for me and trying to decipher his thinking led me to the whole new Italian revival, which has me learning figured bass at age 64. Barry you will live in muscians' hearts as long as black and white keys are pressed on this world. Maybe you will finally meet Bach. That will be a great cutting contest, old school [video:youtube] Barry was still living in Baroness Kathleen Annie Pannonica de Koenigswarter's brownstone, which he shared with Monk back in the day. Thank you, Barry.

I'd love to wander through those hills and towns. I've been in a deep dive into Italian history for 6 months now as the whole "partimento" thing has got me to see how incredible was the Italian music scene 1500 to Napoleon I've been binging Monteverdi, Palestrina, Durante, and some of the tourists too, like Heinichen. Listening to the autobiography of Casanova now. The lowest point in his life so far: when he had to earn a living with his violin. But he's only about 22, so I expect more dire straits. Wish I could hear those castrati..... But I love to see these echos of the old guilds like Fatar, and though I whine about little details, I've always been impressed by their products and value. The current hammer action controllers are sold at an incredible price. They may not be quite as tough as the bed in my SL-880, but the guys who show issues on YT have been playing them a ton. I doubt I could wear one out. I would venture to guess there are more people making a living building musical instruments in Italy than any place outside China.

At least the notation in the bar is clear. Are figures you mention a "mistake"? Whose mistake? Figured bass notation is more standardized today. It's well known that "figures" varied much more in 1700 for two reasons: a single convention was not easily agreed, and copy mistakes were common. Should original figures be "corrected"? My impression is players who are using figured bass live are well aware of the inconsistencies in manuscripts, and can usually tell the difference between a copy mistake and a difference in convention. It's a good question in this case, and I'll try to find out which. Here is one more video from Professor Michael Koch in Essen which shows a path and goal consitent with methods of the Neapolitan Conservatories as we understand them today. Under the guidence of Maestro Durante he starts with simple diminuations of 7-1 partimenti, brings in the RO, modulating schema like the "Fonte", cadences of the time, and concludes by realizing one of Durante's student partimenti using the tools he's demonstated: showing what an expert player in 1750 could do with one of these cryptic partimenti basses. [video:youtube] Koch has a more recent video on Scarlatti, who of course was steeped in all this stuff, his father being a leading maestro in Naples. It is extremely well done, and my conception of Scarlatti is much better informed after watching it. [video:youtube] These are some of the best keyboard videos I have ever seen, honestly.

Hi, I don"t know where this is from, but some of the figuring isn"t right. The sharp six in chord two, and the the sharp 5 in chord seven, for example. The only accidental needed is in bar 11. The ordering of some figures is a bit confusing, but I think it"s trying to show something else. Good post though! The way harmony was taught many, many years ago was from a practical perspective, and these kind of things are a reminder of that. Thanks Thanks so much for your reply. I am very far from an expert, but I'm trying hard to learn. The scale is from Fenaroli, one of several RO varients, considered maybe the most "advanced", although the RO is basic knowledge, and it's expected a good player would deviate, knowing the "rules". As you probably know, bass figures can vary, and Bach I think has some strange ones once in awhile--misleading. The sharp 6 in chord two: may refer to Bb, which would be the natural 6 to D, no? But not in the C scale. So that # in this case is telling us to play the "white" B, or the harmonic 6 (in D minor). The 5 in chord 7 has a line through it, which means it's flat/diminished. Charlie Parker would approve The RO chords are just quirky enough to make the right hand "positions" aka inversions very interesting on the 2 chord and some others. To learn them major/minor in 12 keys is not "hard", but....even a good jazz player would need a couple weeks I think to attain some fluency. Then the question arises: what do I do with it? The baroque cadences, and cadence like moves to modulate, which often use suspensions are the way forward, it appears to me. Eventually we'd combine these to link schema like the Romanesca, Prinner, Do-si-Do, Fonte, Ponte, and Monte...and pretty soon we'd have....OMG a Minuet a very widely used basic form that has many more flavors than those we know from the French Court (seriously uncool after 1789) The minuet could be a fundamental outline for larger works, like a study. It escaped the guillotine. Tonite I stumbled on the best tutorial I've yet seen for any player interested in learning how keyboard players improvised in say....1740. This guy has read the new books. Many videos about playing baroque are mired in a bunch of "Schenkerian" language which is using 20th chord theory, what some call a "rusty canon", to parse more subtle and very active tonal movements. "Here we go to the sub-mediant". They did not think that way...so this guy does not use the 20th century lingo, though he does use some of the 21st century lingo like schema/archtype (Gjerdingen "Classic Turn of Phrase") which has been "invented" to describe authentically the processes of music creation up to about 1880, developed in the early Baroque and that evolved to those "lead sheets", Partimenti, where figures are sparse or absent. Bla bla...sorry. But this fellow shows us for real: [video:youtube] What good is this in 2021? For me, the more sparse voices (compared to block chords and chord theory e.g. ii V7 I) distil the various disonances, and the movements in and out of them to a sharp clarity, less muddy to my battered ears. I really was never a big "classical" fan, but I've been seduced by this approach. For color, I'm listening to the autobiography of Casanova, which, believe it or not, is considered one of the best pictures of the crazy world these keyboard giants entertained. Lockdowns and quarantines all the time, he's been having an affair with a young woman who pretends to be a Castrati

Studying how music was widely taught between 1600 and 1900, informed by recent revelations and discoveries of scholars and other interested parties, it's clear the methods of the first conservatories had profound influence on the music we know and play today. While everyone was familar with their techniques and excersises in 1800, much of what they taught was forgotten, ignored or disparaged in the 20th century teaching of music composed by people like Mozart, who ironically were steeped in the traditions, and regarded them as fundamental. Here is the daddy of all keyboard excercises, preceding the "rule of the octave" by at least 100 years. Everyone on keyboard used it as a student, a musician, a composer. It is the most fundamental "schema". If you try it, and move it through the keys, it's familarity should provide some evidence to this effect. This collection of four versions of the "ascending 5-6 " by two masters who ran conservatories in Naples, and the legendary harpsichord teacher Pasquini (Rome) was compiled by Sanguinetti in "The Art of Partimento", 2012, considered now a landmark work. Regarding this excersise he writes: "One of the greatest advantages of the 5â6 is that it easily removes the parallel fifths, making use of diatonic triads possible on every scale degree. Its strength as a voice-leading corrective is so remarkable that it is also used in combination with other patterns (such as ascending 10â9â8) to remove parallel fifths in inner voices." Instead of learning pieces by rote, students were encourged to play with these excercises in all keys and use them to answer all sorts of puzzles such as making multiple voices play nice together They were exposed to a large vocabulary of phrases and repostes, openings and clausure or "cadences", and that was the basis for daily improvisation thoughout their musical lives. One thing all these researchers seem to have in common is awe and delight at Jazz improvisation based on lead sheets. "Partimenti" were seemingly simple bass lines which actually contained even more information than a modern lead sheet. Many thousands still exist. But knowledge was $$$ so their actual use has been largely a mystery till about 2007.