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The Video Game Pianist
Neil Halelamien writes "Many enjoy listening to video game music arrangements, like those offered by OCRemix, Project Majestic Mix, or the Minibosses NES-rock band. A newcomer on the scene is the Video Game Pianist, an accomplished performer studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His skills garnered the attention of some in the industry -- he performed at the 2005 Game Developers Conference and will also be playing live at E3 this year. His web site offers some amazing performance videos (many with him playing blindfolded), downloadable albums, live internet concerts, sheet music, and other goodies, all for free. His albums and videos include several selections from the Mario, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Final Fantasy series. Fans of his work can also donate to support his music."
Since when is playing the piano while wearing a blindfold a great accomplishment?
Any reasonably accomplished pianist should be able to do this trivially.
If he is as good as people say, he'll make a bundle of money, much more than the avarage joe. If you want to give money, try finding an underfunded public school music program. Get some friends together, and maybe raise enough to help support a music teacher.
If this guy sucks, he is not worthy of your financial support, and will probably end up as a side-show in bars all across America playing the theme song to Bards Tale.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
Christ, don't you think he gets enough of that shit at school? God forbid a classical musician branches out or does something not serious. I'll bet you hate it when a capella groups covering pop songs, mashups, anything using a sampler, and the Boston Pops, too.
-mkb
Absolutely incorrect. It doesn't simply take "practice," it takes talent. I myself have tried to play three different instruments in my life (piano, saxaphone, and even *laugh* recorder) and I have failed at all three. I absolutely suck. AND... I practiced a lot.
I consider myself well-educated and intelligent, yet I seem to lack the part of the brain that allows you to have the coordination to play musical instruments (and, go figure, i'm one of the fastest/best medical students in my class at tying stitches). And yes, for all three of those instruments, I had professional instruction (I was instructed in piano for about 5 years).
Does this kid have talent? In my opinion, absolutely. Can he do things that I could not do, no matter how hard I tried? In my opinion, absoltely. Does this mean he is the greatest pianist of all time? Probably not. But... like watching the star basketball player of a high school team is pretty exciting, even though there's a world of college, professional and international players way better than him. Being impressive has little to do with doing something better than anyone else (I think it's impressive to run a 7-minute mile, even if i don't think it's all-too-hard).
In closing, lay off the kid (and, next time, saying "Rachmaninoff Concerto, or Sorabji's Opus Clavicembalisticum" makes you look like an arrogant prick, since 97% of people have no idea what that is. Next time, try requesting a flawless Mozart or Beethoven - still extremely difficult, and people will know what you're saying. Talking over people with terms they don't know doesn't sound intelligent).
From the perspective of a person who has taught at a major American conservatory for many years, I should say that this guy is doing something admirable by challenging the assumption that most conservatory faculty make that the only music worth playing is "the classics". The classics are great -- ridiculously great, in fact -- but this dude is taking a risk and doing something reasonably well that hasn't really been done much before.
Also, keep in mind, he's an undergraduate, and so if his technique isn't 100% there, it doesn't mean that in five years' time he won't be amazing. For gods sake, when I was an undergraduate, I had nowhere near the technique I got later in graduate school.
The majority of the replies in this forum are downright contemptible.
Here is a humble and talented teenager who is producing fun and original arrangements of video game music because he obviously loves to do it. He set up a free video game sheet music archive and community, and his videos and audio are free to download as well. Read some of his words, and you'll find that he's a really smart and sweet guy, and there's not a picture in his gallery where he's not wearing an ear-to-ear grin. For good measure, he's even a chess champion.
And yet, all anyone here seems to be concerned about is his tempo and the occasional wrong note, instead of appreciating his ability and his spirit. "He's not that great." "This is nothing special." "Anyone can do it with a little practice." I would have thought that a unique young talent who's doing what he does for the love of the art would find a better reception on Slashdot. I'm sorry to see that I'm so very wrong.
As Cartman says, "Screw you guys. I'm going home."
i thought, therefore i was...
He only used a metronome as a reference to prove that the video is not being sped up when he starts playing really fast.
He may not be a legendary piano player, but for a bunch of basement gnomes, you guys sure are crapping on him.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
Still, the fact is that he is willing to put his work out for free for anybody who cares to listen.
Was linux-0.0.1 as feature-filled as Solaris? Some might argue that 2.6 isn't there yet. Does that mean that it has no place at all?
The difference between him and tens of thousands of others is that he is willing to put his work out there for everyone to enjoy, and I for one am not going to whine that he isn't the world's greatest pianist. I'm sure he will improve with time, and you're more than welcome to not listen to his works.