Name: Improvisation_042a by Robbie de Groot
Duration: 5 min 22 s
Description: https://www.youtube.com/live/-y0cdpYr1Pw voor kunstmatig vermaak

3. Behind You
언제쯤 너의 시선이 나를 향할까?
항상 너의 뒤에서. 괜찮아, 익숙해.

Behind You

02 - Gift of Shuritashi

Abingdon Crossing

Intentions is a journey through the deep love and unbreakable bond I shared with my dad. It reflects the paths we traveled together — his intentions in shaping my life, my intentions in caring for him in his declining years, and the lasting legacy he leaves behind.

This project is rich with personal meaning, infused not only with music but also with my father's voice.
Many audio samples throughout the album come from tapes and recordings he made throughout my life - drawn from voicemails, videotapes, and even a 1998 Manchester Craftsmen's Guild interview with Dwayne Dolphin. Some of these samples are obvious, while others are purposefully subtle - Easter eggs for those who listen closely. This album is filled with treasures from the Heid archives, preserving his presence, and making him an active part of this work.

The word intentions holds many meanings, each offering a profound connection to the heart of this project. My father's intentions were clear from the start: to raise me as a musician and composer and to give me the tools to create and express myself. He was the cornerstone of my musical foundation, shaping not just my skills but also my understanding of music's deeper purpose. He believed in me completely, planting seeds of passion that continue to grow.

In my father's later years, as his health declined, my focus shifted to caring for him with the same love and devotion he had always shown me. Those years taught me a hard but valuable truth: even the purest intentions don't always lead to the outcomes we wish for.

Heid Studios was his dream, a place where his intentions extended far beyond our family, inspiring creativity in others. That dream was itself a continuation of a legacy passed down from his father, George H. Heid, who founded the first recording studio in Pittsburgh - a studio that captured the brilliance of Pittsburgh jazz legends like Billy Strayhorn and Erroll Garner. This album's cover artwork, by Michael Crampton, depicts the house and recording studio my father and I built together over the course of my entire lifetime - our home and creative sanctuary, immortalized as part of this musical journey.

This album is my way of speaking to my dad again.
It's a tribute to his bravery, his sacrifices, and the bond we shared as kindred spirits — two lives deeply intertwined through love and music. Intentions is the story of our journey together, the foundation of his legacy, and the future that lives on in me.

Not a day passes that I don't think of my dad, my heart heavy with both love and loss. He often reflected on memories with his own father and their great relationship, wistfully asking, "Were they only dreams?" — a question that now echoes in my own memories of him. When I was a child, whenever we were apart, he would soothe me with the comforting words, "See you in dreamland."

Thank you, Dad, for your wisdom, your unwavering belief in me, your endless love, and the countless memories and adventures we shared together. Until we meet again - see you in dreamland.

- George Heid III 

I Sing The Body Electric

めぐる pf

Eternal Ascent for Reed Quintet

Eternal Ascent portrays the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who was punished by the Gods and sentenced to roll a large boulder up a hill every day, only for it to fall back down when it neared the top.

This constant and arduous task symbolizes the more frustrating side of learning to play an instrument, the stretches of time where no progress is being made or even periods of regression. The music reflects this anguish through its dark and somber tone, with moments of ascending hope anticlimactically returning to the same introductory material, starting this relentless journey over once more.

Though this myth can be a daunting one, we can all be hopeful that we have the ability to push the metaphorical boulder to the top of the mountain with enough work and persistence.


Eternal Ascent

Wistful Spirit

Muses of the Valley is my ambient chamber music project featuring women from around the Yarra Valley. We perform in beautiful settings to take you into a dreamy world of bygone eras, Celtic fantasy and magical places. The Muses use a range of instruments to create a sparkling fusion of traditional, modern, and early music.

This recording features:
Amy Earl (harp)
Chrissy de Jong (flute, tin whistle, cajon)

Example tracks above:
1. King of the Fairies (trad. Irish Hornpipe)
2. Circle of Joy (Lisa Lynne & Aryeh Frankfurter)
3. Song of the Water Kelpie (trad. Manx tune)
4. Iris (Guido Piccard, Ensemble Galilei)
5. Planxty Irwin (O'Carolan)
6. The Musical Priest (trad. Irish reel)
7. Var det Du (trad. Swedish)
8. Douglas and Fiona Shearer (Jenna Reid)
9. Swan LK243 (Catriona McKay)
10. Chanter's Tune (trad. Irish)
11. Stockford Carol (Loreena McKennit)
12. Captain O'Kane (O'Carolan)
13. Castle Kelly (trad. Irish reel)

“The mystical Muses of the Valley will whisk you away into a world at once fantastical and familiar, with a selection of traditional and modern folk music, Celtic tunes and medieval gems.” - Cranbourne Chorale

Recorded and mixed by Amy Earl

Flute & Harp duo examples

I was listening to The Planets by Holst when I started this.  I was working at getting deeper chords and creating more of an atmosphere.

Escape

https://www.youtube.com/live/-y0cdpYr1Pw voor kunstmatig vermaak

Improvisation_042a

An immersive piano improvisation journey exploring the transformative power of sound frequencies. This series transitions through the solfeggio scale from 417Hz (clearing and cleansing) to 440Hz (universal harmony). Each track is a spontaneous exploration of emotional resonance, blending classical piano techniques with frequency-based healing principles. Perfect for meditation, relaxation, and deep listening experiences.

Transcendence Ascending: 440Hz Zenith

- www.artificialis.nl - 
Livestream Improvisation Tue 20:00-21:00 GMT+2
https://www.youtube.com/@robbie-de-groot

(Short version Bio*)
Robbie's first encounter with music was at the age of 6 when one of his aunts gave him a bugle to play on. Few months after Robbie was alowed to rehearse with the local fanfare and kept playing the bugle for 1 year and the baritone 1 year after that. After getting his 'A' diploma, Robbie then returned the lent baritone and said: "Now I have enough" and stopped playing a brass instrument. Yet, a few years later, when he was 11, he found a keyboard on the attic and played it fondly. When his parents could not hold out much longer to hear the same tune over and over (pippy longstockings), his mother then decided Robbie needed 
piano lessons and brought him to a teacher in Groningen: 'Jan Meiborg'.

Quickly became clear that Robbie enjoyed this much and took lessons for 7 years. Here he learned much about improvisation in blues and learned to get more in touch with the piano in general. The last study was on a piece of Franz Liszt: 'Liebestraum no.3'. Jan dared a bet: "If you can play this piece well within 4 weeks, I'll buy you a chocolate cake." So the challenge was accepted. Yet... Robbie was young and became more busy with other things than the piano and Robbie knew he was going to fail.

Thus, with a loss, yet with no side of the bargain, Robbie bought a chocolate cake himself for Jan, and without any words, the both of us knew that this would be the last time of the study. 

Which became more clear the coming year. Robbie did not even touch a piano for over a year and was hanging around with his friends more often. Yet after that specific year, he came home to his parents house... Looked at the piano... Thought to himself: "Could I?... then... Should I?" and began improvising with no one else in the room. Finally he accepted that this had to be his main course. 

** Read the full story on artificialis.nl ** (available in lots of languages but dutch is the main language and the rest is probably pretty poorly translated by machine translation)

Improvisation_042a

Robbie de Groot

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