To those with access to this playlist of improvisations (hello!),

I have uploaded some recent improvisational work to Soundcloud so that some others could hear what I’ve been doing. Some friends have been asking about it, so I thought I’d make some tracks available to them and to some others as well. They’re pretty experimental in some ways, but they are thoroughly informed by traditional materials as well. There’s some background below if you want to know more.



I’ve been recording on my Steinway 'B' at 9 pm most every night since the beginning of September, no matter the mood or the energy level, no matter if I feel like playing or not, so it’s more like a musical journal than a recording session. I never know what will come out until I hear it myself. I watch my hands descend to the keyboard without yet having decided on the shape of the fingers, the ‘tonicity’ of the muscles and joints, the distance between the arms, the velocity or pressure that will be applied … and without any pre-conceived aural image to guide. Wide open …

So it’s all really quite unknown and always surprising, and these improvisations are completely spontaneous and unedited. The musical shapes and ideas spring from the body and feelings at least as much as from thought. The idea informing the playing is, to the extent possible, to give equal participation to the known and the unknown: to trust in the organic sensitivity and intelligence that seems to come from a 'sub-conscious' place but that can sometimes even arise out of associative, reactive, inculcated action (i.e., education) and somehow blend that with a musicality and musicianship that has been cultivated, and an awareness which can exercise a certain degree of intentional control, sufficient to generate the technical movements of the body required to let it all become sound. And always the listening is paramount.

For those to whom I’ve spoken about it these are some of the preliminary tracks I was recording in preparation for the 'branching' project. These recordings were stopped for while, because the sound and action of the piano were still not right. Since then the piano was again renewed: the turbo wippens and Renner 'blue' hammers and shanks were replaced and the keyboard re-weighted before beginning again. However this former, more 'aggressive,' sound still has an interest for me and I hope these tracks hold some interest for some of you as well.

Feel free to share this link with anyone.

Note on the sound:

When I play music, the sound itself is always an integral part of the musical idea, so it is worth listening to these tracks with good headphones or a good amp and speakers.

For equipment nerds: 
I've been recording this music on a MacBookPro using Logic Pro 9, two matched DPA omni microphones, a UAD Apollo Quad interface, and a Millenia HV-3C two-channel microphone preamplifier. The lid has been removed, allowing the mikes to point straight downward from about 30" above, about 18" apart, with each pointing into the middle of the two adjacent center areas of the harp.


A musical journal

Music inspired by poems of Roger Greenwald

Piano improvisations

To those with access to this playlist of improvisations (hello!),

I have uploaded some recent improvisational work to Soundcloud so that some others could hear what I’ve been doing. Some friends have been asking about it, so I thought I’d make some tracks available to them and to some others as well. They’re pretty experimental in some ways, but they are thoroughly informed by traditional materials as well. There’s some background below if you want to know more.

I’ve been recording on my newly rebuilt Steinway 'B' at 9 pm most every night since the beginning of September, no matter the mood or the energy level, no matter if I feel like playing or not, so it’s more like a musical journal than a recording session. I never know what will come out until I hear it myself. I watch my hands descend to the keyboard without yet having decided on the shape of the fingers, the ‘tonicity’ of the muscles and joints, the distance between the arms, the velocity or pressure that will be applied … and without any pre-conceived aural image to guide. Wide open …

So it’s all really quite unknown and always surprising, and these improvisations are completely spontaneous and unedited. The musical shapes and ideas spring from the body and feelings at least as much as from thought. The idea informing the playing is, to the extent possible, to give equal participation to the known and the unknown: to trust in the organic sensitivity and intelligence that seems to come from a 'sub-conscious' place but that can sometimes even arise out of associative, reactive, inculcated action (i.e., education) and somehow blend that with a musicality and musicianship that has been cultivated, and an awareness which can exercise a certain degree of intentional control, sufficient to generate the technical movements of the body required to let it all become sound. And always the listening is paramount.

For those to whom I’ve spoken about it these are some of the preliminary tracks I was recording in preparation for the 'branching' project. [That project, The Grove, was finally brought to fruition and is now available on my still threadbare website at: 
<http://caseysokol.com/?page_id=793>] These Soundcloud recordings were stopped for while, because the sound and action of the piano were still not right. Since then the piano was again renewed: the turbo wippens and Renner 'blue' hammers and shanks were replaced and the keyboard re-weighted before beginning again. However this former, more 'aggressive,' sound still has an interest for me and I hope these tracks hold some interest for some of you as well.

Feel free to share this link with anyone.

Note on the sound:

When I play music, the sound itself is always an integral part of the musical idea, so it is worth listening to these tracks with good headphones or a good amp and speakers.

For equipment nerds: 
I've been recording this music on a MacBookPro using Logic Pro 9, two matched DPA omni microphones, a UAD Apollo Quad interface, and a Millenia HV-3C two-channel microphone preamplifier. The lid has been removed, allowing the mikes to point straight downward from about 30" above, about 18" apart, with each pointing into the middle of the two adjacent center areas of the harp.

A Journal in Music

This is the final (13th) piece in the book

Covering Oli Book Launch

Healing (recorded at the book launch)

Here is a PDF of the score. The audio track is, unfortunately a MIDI performance of the score: note perfect but all that musical! I will find the live performance recording and post it. 

You can see more about its inspiration and construction on my website. There are several sets of materials inspired by intervals at https://caseysokol.squarespace.com/blog/playing-with-intervals-1.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B7kn4kAXNxWKxL779MobbTm2HrlAei8O/view?usp=sharing

Species was composed using materials that originated in the exercise with interval sequences shown on my new still-in-construction website. You can have a look at  [caseysokol.squarespace.com] and hit the link to the webpost, "Playing with Intervals." The idea of using interval sequences is not new in music; composers have been using intervals in similar ways as the basis for composition for a long time. What might be new is how these long strings of intervals are left intact in order to represent characters, events and situations.
For the most part, the reason we take on exercises is to acquire ideas and skills that will help with our practical and creative work. So I often end an exercise sequence with a small creative application, which is what I’ve done on the website. The little jazz ballad at the end of these pages on intervals is a direct expression of the interval work preceding pages, specifically the ascending sequence of alternating major and minor thirds.
I thought it might be useful to those who are visiting that post to see how such materials might play out in a more developed creative project. The link here is to a twenty-minute piece for three-pianos based on the 1953 award-winning fantasy novel by Theodore Sturgeon, “More Than Human.” The plot, in brief, is described on Wikipedia. “The novel concerns the coming together of six extraordinary people with strange powers who are able to "blesh" (a portmanteau of "blend" and "mesh") their abilities together. In this way, they are able to act as one organism. They progress toward a mature gestalt consciousness, called the homo gestalt, the next step in the human evolution.
The commission for this piece came with an interesting requirement which presented difficulties for composing. The choreography and musical composition were to be formulated together, in continuous collaboration. In order to produce preliminary musical suggestions and responses to the choreography and the story, some amount of writing had to be completed with sufficient lead time for the pianists to learn it and record the music for the dancers to work with. There was very little time to put this all together and I realized that I needed an approach to the composing that would be very modular—not only modular in form but also in materials. I saw that, rather than try to begin with any notions of a fixed piece at the beginning, it would be best to compose materials that could be reassembled in different ways, perhaps something like changing patches on a Moog synthesizer. The interval exercise which was formulated years before turned out to be the fulcrum around which the whole process would be connected.
Each character has a slightly different interval sequence by combining major and minor thirds in various combinations. It was subtle but worked very well, like associating lighting cues with elements of a story. The playfulness of the teleporting twins was best evoked by the sequence comprising simple alternations of M3+m3s. Other characters (or events) were characterized by sequences such as M3+M3+m3 or m3+m3+M3, and Janie—who is the Conscience of the new multi-organism—is the only character represented by fourths, specifically the Cycle of Fourths (Fifths). Only in mm.240-280 does the rigour of the interval principle give way to a poignant lyric section.

Species-for 3 pianos

*Sept 18 n1

A dear friend was sailing into the unknown with a terminal disease and, feeling quite unable to help, this was the only gesture I felt to be possible. A kind of musical get-well card. One take. That's all I felt that I had time for ...

Improvisation For Diana

RENGA
Produced by Roseann Runte, Principle of Glendon College, Toronto, Canada
Poets: Roseann Runte, Makoto, Shuntaro, Jong Yik
Dancers: Uno Man Bhutto Troupe of Tokyo
Artist: Sylviane De Roquebrune (images are absent here)

Musicians: 
Oliver Schroer - violin 
Richard Armin – RAAD cello
Robert Bik – flute
David Mott – baritone sax
Casey Sokol – piano and digital keyboard

First-take improvisation played as part of a multi-lingual multi-disciplinary Renga (a medieval Japanese form of collective poetry). The 24 poems written by leading Korean, Japanese and Canadian poets in four languages), were then painted, then the paintings were set to music, and finally the music was danced by the Uno Man Bhutto Troupe of Tokyo (1990s). There were five musicians collaborating on the music (recorded at Inception Sound) and I conceived and organized the whole thing. Was lots of fun.

The verse which inspired "Why This?" was about our tendency to 'hide.'
Completely improvised music except for reading the verse to which this improv was intended to correspond.

Why This  07

RENGA

Produced by Roseann Runte, Principle of Glendon College, Toronto, Canada
Poets: Roseann Runte, Makoto, Shuntaro, Jong Yik
Dancers: Uno Man Bhutto Troupe of Tokyo
Artist: Sylviane De Roquebrune (images are absent here)

Musicians:
Oliver Schroer - violin
Richard Armin – RAAD cello
Robert Bik – flute
David Mott – baritone sax
Casey Sokol – piano and digital keyboard

First-take improvisation played as part of a multi-lingual multi-disciplinary Renga (a medieval Japanese form of collective poetry).  The 24 poems written by leading Korean, Japanese and Canadian poets in four languages), were then painted, then the paintings were set to music, and finally the music was danced by the Uno Man Bhutto Troupe of Tokyo (1990s).  There were five musicians collaborating on the music (recorded at Inception Sound) and I conceived and organized the whole thing. What fun!

The verse which inspired Kimchee was a 'spicy' sort of thing, Completely improvised music: no planning of any kind excerpt reading the poem to which the piece was to evoke.

Kimchee 13

September 19, 2013 #1

To those with access to this track: (hello!),

I have uploaded some recent improvisational work to Soundcloud so that some others could hear what I’ve been doing. Some friends have been asking about it, so I thought I’d make some tracks available to them and to some others as well. They’re pretty experimental in some ways, but they are thoroughly informed by traditional materials as well. There’s some background below if you want to know more.

I’ve been recording on my Steinway at 9 pm most every night since the beginning of September, no matter the mood or the energy level, no matter if I feel like playing or not, so it’s more like a musical journal than a recording session. I never know what will come out until I hear it myself. I watch my hands descend to the keyboard without yet having decided on the shape of the fingers, the ‘tonicity’ of the muscles and joints, the distance between the arms, the velocity or pressure that will be applied … and without any pre-conceived aural image to guide. Wide open …

So it’s all really quite unknown and always surprising, and these improvisations (only September 11 is accessible through this playlist) are completely spontaneous and unedited. The musical shapes and ideas spring from the body and feelings at least as much as from thought. The idea informing the playing is to give equal participation to the known and the unknown: to trust in the organic sensitivity and intelligence that can sometimes arise out of associative, reactive, inculcated action (i.e., education) and somehow blend it with a musicality that is trained, and an awareness which can exercise a certain degree of intentional control and which can generate the required technical movements of the body needed to let it all become sound. And always the listening is paramount.

For those to whom I’ve spoken about it these are some of the preliminary tracks I was recording in preparation for the 'branching' project. These recordings were stopped because the sound and action were still not right. Since then the piano was again renewed: the wippens, hammers and shanks had to be replaced and the keyboard re-weighted before beginning in earnest. However this more 'aggressive' sound still has an interest for me and I hope these tracks hold some interest for some of you as well.

Feel free to share this link with anyone.


Note on the sound.
When I play music, the sound itself is always an integral part of the musical idea, so it is worth listening to these tracks with good headphones or a good amp and speakers.

I've been recording this music on  MacBookPro with Logic  Pro 9 using two matched DPA microphones, a UAD Apollo Quad interface, and a Millenia HV-3C two channel microphone preamplifier.  The lid is taken off the piano and the mikes are pointing straight down into the harp from a height of about 30."

Theses tracks were recorded before the final rebuild so here I am using Renner Blue hammers (very firm, as you can hear) with a strange weighting to the action (no weight in the front of the key and turbo-wippens as an assist.  I was not happy with either the sound or the action so it was changed subsequent to these September and October improvisations.


*September 11, 2013

Improv #3 (feathering) - York Faculty Concert

Improv #2 (in A) - York Faculty Concert

Improv #1 (prep. Piano) - York Faculty Concert

Side B-w Evan Parker

T18 KC Solo

This track is from an evening of poetry readings organized by Roger Greenwald. A piece of music followed each poem, intending to capture its mood and meaning. I was chosen to play improvisations following each of Roger's poems. It was such an interesting way to work because we did not see the poems and only heard them for the first time just prior to getting up to play.

Greenwald Poetry evening: Piano Improvisation #2

An evening of poetry reading organized by Roger Greenwald. A piece of music followed each poem, intending to capture its mood and meaning. I was chosen to play improvisations following each of Roger's poems. Such an interesting way to work because we did not see the poems and only heard them for the first time just prior to getting up to play.

Greenwald Poetry evening: Piano Improvisation #1

Greenwald Poetry evening: Piano Improvisation #3

Apologies for the bleed-through. This track was taken from an old cassette recording, which commonly results in this kind of bleeding. That's where the magnetic material can transfer to an adjacent position on the winding of the tape. It's minimal but it can be disturbing. Occasionally it seems worth it. This piece was my contribution to a five-concert series curated by Linda Smith at Mercer Union, and the condition for being given a place on the series was to do something I had never done before. So this was my first take at a multi-track improvisation. I never liked these 'tape' pieces, because it always sounded like the live soloist was responding to the recorded sound but never the other way round. So when I thought about doing something I never did, the idea of playing with tape came to mind. I wanted to see if I could record in such a way that it would not be clear--even in a live performance--whether I was initiating or the recording.

Mercer Suite

Casey Solo G345 26Nov2012

Soft Corps Pianography

*January 25, 2014 Improv n.1

*Sept 15  Improv #6

*Sept 15  Improv #5

*Sep 14 2 Pianos

2.   *Oct 14, 2013 One Set

*Mar 13 N.3 Markers W.v

*Mar 2 N.3 Markers W.v

*Feb 15 2014 n.3

*Feb 15 2014 n.2

*Oct 14 2014 Copy

The Front Row

This is an arrangement I did for Oliver. He asked for a quartet arrangement: sax, piano, violin, acoustic bass. So this is Whirled, from the CD of the same title. Oli is playing fiddle and I am playing piano. The solo piano version published in the book,"Covering Oli," incorporates all these voices in just the two hands. You can find the score at http://caseysokol.com/.

Whirled [Melody by Oliver Schroer, arr. by Casey Sokol]

This piece is published as one of 13 compositions I wrote based on the tunes of violinist Oliver Schroer. The whole book can be seen under "Compositions" at <caseysokol.com> where there are extensive notes on the compositions as well as several other scores. The original melody of Natasha's Waltz was published in Oli's book, The Smither's Songbook (no longer available), and recorded with Emilyn Stam on "Smithers" carried by Borealis Records. You can hear their version at borealisrecords.com/products-page/oliver-schroer/smithers/. 

Natasha's Waltz

You can see the score for The Yodeler under "Compositions" at [caseysokol.com].

This piece is also from the book of piano compositions: Covering Oli. Oliver Schroer wrote this robust Mariachi-like tune in 7/8 and peppered it with solos by bass, trumpet, sax & violin. I slowed it down so that i could weave a more dense, polyphonic texture around the tune and still keep it full of fun. Tough piece but worth the work.

The new edition of the book has arrived from the printer and most of it can now be viewed on "caseysokol.com." (See compositions)

This recording is a very rough rendition -- not intended for the CD. It was a backup recording for the choreography of Holly Small, who asked to use it for a major dance piece in early 2015. The actual dance performance was done with live piano on stage.

The Yodeler of Guadalajara

You can see the score for Nine Miles High under "Compositions" at [caseysokol.com]. 

Originally titled "Eight Miles High" -- someone told Oliver that The Byrds had already released a tune by that name in 1966. So he said, "okay, nine miles high." With its demanding finger-work, it's somewhat of a concert etude but, as with most of this music, it's a lot of fun to play if you've got the stamina. The tempo of this performance is just too fast to relax into the listening and a more definitive version on CD will accompany the book at its launch (planned for Oliver's birthday in mid-June). Meanwhile you can see most of the book at http://caseysokol.com. Seeing the score, you can judge its suitability for your own playing or perhaps for some young pianist in your circle of friends for whom it might be a valued gift. These pieces are intended to keep young pianists practicing and playing enthusiastically, and hopefully they encounter them before they prematurely meet up with Brahms or Liszt and give up entirely. 

Please do read the introductory remarks. 

Nine Miles High

The tune for Marcie's Dzygh is by Oliver Schroer and is one of the first for which I made an arrangement—in this case, for violin and piano. It was released on his CD, "Whirled." The score is in the new book of piano music (13 pieces based on Oliver's wonderful melodies) that I wrote and which you can see at "caseysokol.com". It's beautiful and I'm proud of it. The book is partly intended for good pianists looking for repertoire that's new and fun but which requires all one's classical chops. And thanks to Lindsay Smail for her stunning work making into a real book!

Marcie's Dzygh

This piece is from a book of new piano music by Casey Sokol—"Covering Oli: Duets for solo piano." It's one of the pieces based on 13 tunes of of Canadian fiddler, Oliver Schroer. This is not a definitive recording but only a performance from the book launch. You can see most of the book by using the link, "Covering Oli" at http://caseysokol.com/?page_id=955

The CD is coming soon.

Caitlin's Smile

Decade Side A

The following question naturally arises:  What is the connection between the music of Komitas and the music of Gurdjieff / de Hartmann?  The musicians answer as follows…

“In May of 2007, we discovered a copy of an essay published by de Hartmann in Constantinople soon after Komitas’ return from deportation.  In this essay, de Hartmann recounts Komitas’ immense labors to preserve and regenerate Armenian traditional music, describes the current tragedy of his mental illness and poverty, and publicizes a special series of concerts which are to follow.  Is it possible that during his many trips to the remote corners of the Caucasus collecting genuine Armenian songs, Komitas connected with Gurdjieff’s father, the ashokh known as Adash?  (Note - Adash was killed in the genocide.)  Did Gurdjieff guide de Hartmann to study Komitas’ work or to seek direct help in realizing the material Gurdjieff presented?  Both Gurdjieff and Komitas turned toward Western musical tradition to further a task they shared in common - to convey something beyond words about the meaning of our life on earth. Perhaps during the music this afternoon we will all experience a taste of this.” 

Paul Schliffer, a pupil of Robert Willoughby at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, later worked with the renowned flute virtuoso Marcel Moyse.  Paul is a founding member of the early Rochester Folk Art Guild music group Three Musicians, and can be heard on their recordings.  He often collaborates with acclaimed flutist Carol Wincenc, and with the musicians of Ensemble Resonance and the Pittsford Camerata, concertizing widely in the United States and abroad.

Matthew Shubin was principal bassoonist of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and then joined the Cleveland Orchestra as associate principal.  He teaches and plays at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire and is often heard as soloist with the baroque chamber group Pittsford Camerata.  Matthew has performed and taught all over the globe, most recently in Chengdu, China, and Quito, Ecuador.

Casey Sokol is professor at York University where he teaches courses in piano, improvisation, musicianship, and whole-body listening.  He has directed and composed for dance and theatre, producing a number of large-scale musical presentations including Cagewake (for the passing of John Cage) and the North American premiere of Cardew’s The Great Learning, and concertized with The York Winds, the CCMC, and Sound Pressure, touring and recording as a soloist and ensemble player in Europe and North America.  Casey was recently the recipient of the OCUFA Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Zipper-Taras' Mix

Track 09-Chant d’émigré

11 JohnMiyaSolo

8 GlenBuhr TwoPianos

7 LeftRight&Centre

6 Introducing The Conductor

4 D.Dilorenzo TwoPianos

3 Frasconi Two Pianos

2 Two Pianos

1 Thirty - Twos

Many of the improvisations that were here on Soundcloud  have 'disappeared' recently because they were recorded with the intention of becoming part of "The Grove" —— 
a somewhat unique  improvisational 'piece' which now resides on my still very new website (caseysokol.com). It is housed in a playful animation of a grove of trees, so that the branching of the creative flow could be seen as well as heard. This is the project that I've been putting together for the past year and it was enabled with the very generous support of the Toronto Council of the Arts.

Casey Sokol

Pinned to spotlight

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