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

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

Covering Oli Book Launch

Healing (recorded at the book launch)

*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

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

*January 25, 2014 Improv n.1

*February 24 Improv #3.mp3

*Sept 15  Improv #3

*Feb 15 2014 n.3

*Feb 15 2014 n.2

*Oct 14 2014 Copy

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

STE - 002 Improv Soiree - YorkU at Gallery 345

These tracks are from concerts or broadcasts done in the 1980s. It's interesting to try to track one's own development and I thought to let others hear.

1983 Calgary T1 Fender

These three tracks were recorded as part of the 'Ear It Live Festival which toured around Ontario in 1981. They were part of the concert performed at The Music Gallery in Toronto.

1981 6NOV T1 AcSolo

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.

*February 24 Improv #3.mp3

Casey Sokol

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