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Jessica Williams staccato technique?


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I just heard Jessica Williams staccato technique on 'Dear Lord' today:-

 

 

Is this using a 'prepared piano', or is it just down to a particular technique applied to any piano? I don't recall hearing anything similar, or as extensive as this, before.

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Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Find 700 of Harry’s piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and jazz piano tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas

 

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8 hours ago, icarusi said:

I just heard Jessica Williams staccato technique on 'Dear Lord' today:-

 

 

Is this using a 'prepared piano', or is it just down to a particular technique applied to any piano? I don't recall hearing anything similar, or as extensive as this, before.

 

Should just be standard piano. If it sounds a little different, this recording has the piano audio processed a little differently than "natural".

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I think she is just a very articulate player and the piano has a responsive action.  It doesn’t sound overly gated or weird to me.   Thanks for posting. She is great. 

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On 4/12/2024 at 9:47 AM, CHarrell said:

 

Should just be standard piano. If it sounds a little different, this recording has the piano audio processed a little differently than "natural".

I was just thinking that to get that sound you would need the string dampers to act *very* quickly. Half damping would seem to be the additional technique, and if you have the right knowledge you could probably tweak a half damp pedal to the optimum for this. I was just listening to someone with very similar playing and technique, but wasn't also getting that sound, although it sounded like it would have been possible, if required and wanted, apart from if there's some bespoke adjustment to William's instrument. Is there anyone else with recordings of a similar sound?

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51 minutes ago, icarusi said:

I was just thinking that to get that sound you would need the string dampers to act *very* quickly. Half damping would seem to be the additional technique, and if you have the right knowledge you could probably tweak a half damp pedal to the optimum for this. I was just listening to someone with very similar playing and technique, but wasn't also getting that sound, although it sounded like it would have been possible, if required and wanted, apart from if there's some bespoke adjustment to William's instrument. Is there anyone else with recordings of a similar sound?

 

I was in a rush when I wrote that comment, I should've also mentioned mic'ing as well. If you're noticing the strong transients in the notes, it might be more close mic'd, where the mics are picking up more of the hammers and where they're hitting the strings.

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McCoy Tyner had a very similar approach to the piano when doing fast runs. Just great non legato technique (not really staccato which can not be applied to such fast runs) 

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