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Practising: Keyboard or Piano?
Practising: Keyboard or Piano?
Practising: Keyboard or Piano?
Full article at WKMT Blog Article. We strongly recommend reading it.
Many things have been said about using a digital piano to practice. Is it good or bad? Should we avoid it or should we try to understand how to use it beneficially? As everything in life, the outcome of using a digital piano practising will depend on our approach to its use.
Digital pianos or high-end keyboards can be fantastic if approached properly. They offer a neutral piano action. Simple as it sounds, it is fundamental when we are trying to set up the foundations of a piece. If we count with a flat instrument we can easily and reliably rehearse the full scope of movements necessary to produce a neat performance. Acoustic pianos have a very complex mechanism which can start behaving awkwardly quite easily. As opposed to the later, digital pianos are 100% reliable in that respect. The emulated piano action used to build digital pianos is in general far more resilient to the use. Based on the last statement is that WKMT rehearsing rooms are equipped with top of the range digital pianos instead of acoustic ones.
The make “Kawai” offers one of the market’s best option in digital pianos. Yamaha has been historically the leader in digital piano production. Nevertheless, if you compare the sound quality, the action and the price of mid-range Yamaha digital piano with its Kawai counterpart, you will find out Kawai offers you much more for 40% less money. In spite of the fact that Kawai still has a long way to go before building pianos with the quality of acoustic Yamaha pianos, it has proven to be one of the world’s best producers of digital pianos. After many years of experimenting with both brands, WKMT strongly recommends using Kawai digital pianos.
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A new classical concert recording
A new classical concert recording.
A new classical concert recording.
We will be in charge of a great recording session at the new WKMT Classical concert.
http://www.piano-composer-teacher-london.co.uk/classical-concerts-london-by-wkmt
WKMT gave us the chance to record its next classical concert at the magnificent St. Cuthbert’s church, in London. Every single month, WKMT organise a classical concert performed by its music teachers in order to provide them with great performances and listening skills.
In this case, Katarina Makevic, a senior piano teacher at WKMT, will be playing a lovely programme of her own choice for the members and non-members of the studio. On the 24th February in such an inspiring place, to create a wonderful atmosphere, while listening to a superb performance under the candle lights. You shouldn’t miss it out!
Piano Recording Studio will be there in charge of the recording of the concert as we always do. We had the pleasure to record her on the VI WKMT Music Festival in November last year. So we are back and she is back to create a wonderful classical concert.
We believe you would be interested in the programme, which is the one that follows:
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Daniel Matej Fragile
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Robert Schumann Piano Sonata op. 11 in f sharp minor.
Introduzione/Allegro Vivace/Aria/Scherzo e Intermezzo/Finale
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Johannes Brahms Balladen op. 10 (See video below of last performance)
You can find all the details by clicking the link aforementioned, all the info and where to book your tickets too. We hope to welcome you all to the gorgeous church to enjoy a beautiful Saturday evening.
We also would like to share with you all the video we recorded of Miss Makevic at her performance on the WKMT Music Festival, and what will be an anticipation of what this concert will be about, with her great performance of Balladen op1o from J. Brahms.
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Dulwich piano recording studio
Dulwich piano recording studio.
Dulwich piano recording studio.
Your piano studio in London with wkmt.
Piano recording studio London comes with WKMT to present our branch close to Dulwich. WKMT provides Dulwich with piano lessons and music lessons in general. All those nearby looking for a quality and experienced piano studio in London, WKMT is the one!
We are proud to be part of this great studio and be able to provide all musicians with wonderful recording sessions at WKMT studios. On the gorgeous Yamaha C-3 grand, we will be recording your lovely pieces while being surrounded by great art pieces, welcoming and cosy rooms and the lovely team. We are also in charge of the recording of the magnificent Music Festivals organised by the studio twice per year for its members and students.
With WKMT you will have your piano tuition with its professional and experienced piano teachers either in its two studios or in the comfort of your home. Have a look at the link aforementioned and browse its services and practice, and therefore, if looking for a recording session, do not hesitate to ask its Admin team. Looking forward to meeting you!
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Piano Immersion in London
Piano Immersion in London
The best and only way to teach piano is by taking care of the three main musical dimensions. Piano students need to develop their perception skills, their performance skills and their technique. The work that needs to be done in order to magnify the control over the each of the three areas is specific.
Attending professional concerts in London contributes to the development of a clear musical perspective. This means a sense of accuracy that will translate into better self-criticism. When piano students are taking their own piano lesson they struggle to divert their attention so they can carefully listen and criticise music. The latter happens in addition to the fact that when they are beginners they can’t fully perform a piece to the standards that would allow them to assess it musically. For that reason, professional concerts contribute to a proper and comprehensive musical training.
The matter of what should be played in these concerts is carefully approached by the directive team of WKMT. A concert that works for adult piano students doesn’t necessarily work for children. For that reason, WKMT creates concerts that are specifically oriented to motivate adults and other ones, more pedagogic, for children. Contemporary classical music -academic music- has its space at WKMT music soirees. the London Piano Recording Studio has participated in many of this events. Recording these events contributes to the development of these valuable musical events and to their promotion.
Working together with WKMT London, The London Piano recording Studio is evolving at a steady pace. We are re-defining the way classical music is experienced, felt and promoted in London. The sense of community that WKMT members share amongst each other is a treasure that lays at the reach of London prospective musicians. Music exists only if it is share. Come to The London Piano Recording Studio or start learning music at WKMT London, open your senses to the real world of music.
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Physical and psychological preparation for your performance
physical and psychological preparation for your performance.
Physical and psychological preparation for your performance.
Be prepared for your performance with some interesting tips by wkmt.
Piano recording studio London share with you all a great article about performance and how to be prepared for it. As in any other subject to perform, when recording piano music you need to be fully prepared, not only on the piece but also, and very important, on the physical and psychological matters. Because a good performance needs to be carried out with the perfection, and in order to reach the perfection, all need to be perfectly shaped and trained.
In the article shared above, you will read the full article of Mark Dowling, a piano teacher at WKMT who shares his experience as pianist and performer in different events and gigs. Do not miss it out, we hope it helps you out to prepare yourself for your coming performances.
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The Piano Mastering and Finalising Process (Part 6 of 6)
The Piano Mastering and Finalising Process (Part 6 of 6)
The Piano Mastering and Finalising Process (Part 6 of 6)
In the final part of this series of piano recording articles, I will look at the mastering and finalising process of our piano recording sessions at our WKMT Studio.
Once we have mixed the piano recordings we move on to finishing the project by mastering the recordings and creating the finished files for our clients. We take the mix and run through the mastering process. For our piano recordings, this is often subtle volume levelling that is achieved by some light compression and limiting, this allows us to preserve the integrity of the natural piano sound and dynamics whilst having a louder final recording that can listened to comfortably in a range of different listening environments. If the style of the piano recording requires a more ‘hyped’ and modern sound then we can increase the amount of compression and limiting which will give the recording less dynamic range and be overall louder.
After we have gone through the mastering process, we make sure that each piece starts and finish in the right place, and create fade ins and outs if desired or needed. Each piece is then bounced down into a single stereo wav file one after the other, these files are labelled and serve as the final audio files, these files can then be converted to other file formats such as an mp3. The files can then be put on to a CD, hardrive or e-mailed to the clients depending on their preferences.
This concludes this series of piano recording articles, thank you for reading.
Thomas Rickerby (Sound engineer)
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Preparing for Recording Session by Analysing Music Piece
Preparing for Recording Session by Analysing Music Piece
Preparing for Recording Session by Analysing Music Piece
Recording performances has become another way of performing and is taken for granted by everyone treating their career seriously. Classical musicians need to face exactly the same problems as aspiring pop stars – in order to make living you have to have your audience and people attending the venues. One of the best ways to promote your music and prove yourself is to record your interpretations in a studio and use a medium such YouTube or Spotify to share it with the world.
But sitting in a recording room just with a recording engineer and microphone in front of the piano can sometimes bring stress and uncertainty. A pianist can have practised the piece for a while, knowing it by heart and having it “in hands” but there is always this moment when something can go wrong. One of the best ways of memorising piece and mastering it even deeper is to analyse it regarding the theoretical aspects such as form, harmony, voice leading and so on and so forth. This creates a more intimate relationship with the piece making you more confident while performing.
Music analysis seems to be something complicated but we strongly recommend to explore a very straightforward resource created by WKMT members:
http://www.piano-composer-teacher-london.co.uk/music-theory–composition-resources
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Visualization process supports recording performance
Visualization process supports recording performance
Visualization process supports recording performance
Visualisation, as a technique, will remove the limitations of the natural visual register, enabling us to see many things at once. Visualisation is not constrained by time- it enables us to see what has happened, what is happening and what will happen and how to achieve that future happening by means of the imagination. Many musicians get really stressed before the recording session because they feel like they are not fully prepared and the stress can make them forget the piece.
To avoid it, we can’t accentuate more the importance of visualisation.
How to practise visualisation? First, look at the piece and when you feel ready, close your eyes and try to imagine everything – the score, the sound, tempo, dynamic, articulation- same as you do on the keyboard. In the beginning, it might be hard but if you use this method every time it will become your routine and your brain is going to be trained to “work” that way.
On WKMT website you can find the article that we strongly recommend to read:
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Managing piano pedals
Managing piano pedals.
Managing piano pedals.
Do you know the pedals and the piano and its use? In case you haven’t started using them yet, this article will be helpful.
For this occasion, WKMT published an article talking about the pedals and how they need to be used, depending on the sound you would like to create. They make a great difference during the recording, that’s why we thought it might be useful for all those learning the piano and ready to start using the pedals.
Read it fully on the link below:
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How the music market changes
How the music market changes.
How the music market changes.
It is by everyone known that the music has changed. And not only that, the music market has too. This massive industry, moving millions and millions every year, is in a continuous changing. Let’s just imagine how this market should be in only 5 more years.
About all this, our last published article talks about. Dominik Brendan and its series of music industry explore how music is in a constant movement with no one knows which direction.
In Piano Recording Studio London know well this changes, that’s why we are completely focused on moving in tune with it.
Music Industry Market Article
