Frank Ocean posts 4'33" on his Tumblr

Frank Ocean posted a video of 4'33" on his Tumblr page. I respect this man even more now. For someone famous in pop culture to refer to a more 'unfamiliar' genre like contemporary classical music, is a great thing. I hope his fans will ask questions, and be curious about this work, and the genre as a whole.

Awesome Ligeti Fanfares arrangement

Mmmmm I love Ligeti, but what I love more are interesting arrangements that completely change the way you hear the original work, or, make it better. Of course, I would never dare say this arrangement made it 'better', but it definitely changed my perspective of the work. This arrangement/performance is by someone who coincidentally went to the same school as me. I can't believe something as 'simple' as adding drums made such a difference... gently turning Ligeti from avant-garde to something resembling free jazz.

Anyway check this out. It'll blow your mind.

Piano: Erika Dohi
Drums: Austin Walker 

More about the 'Seaboard'

Following on from my post about the 'Seaboard' (--> see here), the company recently uploaded a video of someone playing Prokofiev (incidentally I know this someone...), to really show how it would sound.

Now, I'm still on the fence about this new piece of technology. I don't think we can really view it as a piano, or a more evolved version of a digital piano, because it's completely crossed the line of being just just that. In my opinion it's a completely new instrument. The sound is.... an acquired taste. I'm not a huge fan to be honest, but I think if you listen to it, not comparing it to the piano, it might be sound better.

As a composer, not just a pianist, I am open-minded about the sound, because I'm sure it will be very useful in the future for composers requiring the broad range and versatility of the piano, coupled with new technology.

Take a look: