Music Video Out On YouTube “Good Today”

Good Today

I' been trying to build a drum piano for more than 10 years and this is only the second recording I've made of it. I think it sounds a little like Paul Bley playing free, which was definitely what I was aiming for. I think of it as a trio, with my left hand playing the bass line, my right hand playing the piano, my left foot on the bass drum and my right foot on the high-hat.

This is the first recording made with my new DW5000 busker's high-hat cymbal, shown on the right in the photo. I had been playing with it less than 10 minutes when this recording was made. Months ago I made some recordings with a tambourine instead of the high-hat, but I didn't like the sound. In my head, I'm aiming for something explosive, like Sunny Murray and Cecil Taylor. I'm not even close to that yet.

On the left is my "bass drum," which I made by finding an old picture frame of the right dimensions to replace the bottom board on the piano. Then I cut a rectangle of cardboard to fit the picture frame. Then I cut  a circle out of the cardboard to fit a frame drum: Drum Piano!

Next I bought a drum peddle and for now I have it rigged up on a couple 2" x 4" blocks. I can do better! For now, however, it is a remarkably portable kit. The drum board will fit in almost any upright piano and the high-hat is completely detached and transportable.

For years, I have dreamed of being able to produce these sounds at the piano all at once, by myself, the thunder of the bass drum reverberating through the strings and the tsk, tsk, tsk of the high hat counting off the beat. Another 10,000 hours and I'll have it down pat.

"Drum Piano #2 - Improvised Acoustic Piano by STEVE-OKEEFE" is copyright-free and available for free download for a limited time only. Enjoy!

Image of Drum Piano copyright STEVE-OKEEFE, used with permission.

Improvised Acoustic Piano by STEVE-OKEEFE

Drum Piano #2 - Improvised Acoustic Piano by STEVE-OKEEFE

Talking Book Center News for June, 2021
00:00 News Summary
00:34 Who, What, and Where from the 1950s
02:51 LGBT-Friendly Titles for Pride Month
04:24 Popular Books on BARD
06:12 Spring Cleaning at TBC

Talking Book Center news is copyright 2021, Talking Book Center, 1 Churchville Ave., Staunton, VA 24401. 
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TBC News

TBC News for June, 2021

TBC News, June 2021

"Convalescent" is a copyright-free, royalty free, delightful little piece of thumb piano music created by Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer in homage to Ludwig von Beethoven. 

Thumbs was struck by the beauty of Beethoven's string quartet entitled "Holy Song of Thanksgiving of a Convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode" which you can find at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYQrSokI6es

Thumbs tuned a vintage Hugh Tracey kalimba to the Lydian Mode and spent months playing it all around the Eastern United States hoping to find a good song. Eventually, he hit on this simple melody which is delightful, cheerful and dignified.

Please feel free to download "Convalescent" and use as you please, copyright free. Image of engraving of Beethoven from the Library of Congress, public domain, available from this link: https://picryl.com/media/ludwig-van-beethoven-1770-1827

Convalescent - Dr. Cornelius Pianeer Plays Vintage Thumb Piano

"Trance Dance" is a copyright-free, royalty-free excursion into the metasphere from Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer playing a Hugh Tracey kalimba thumb piano that Dr. Pianeer rebuilt into a hollow-body karimba with rattles and Sand Bar.

Dance to the interlaced rhythms of the minor key tuning and the "five sounds" of note, thumb, buzzers, rattle, and wa-wa from the sound holes on the bottom of the kalimba. Trance Dance delivers an extended rhythm experience designed for relaxation, meditation, and divine creation.

Enjoy the copyright free sounds of Dr. Cornelius Pianeer and use them to make your videos sing!

Image of home made karimba courtesy of Dr. Cornelius Pianeer. Used with permission.

Dr. Cornelius Pianeer Plays Home Made Thumb Piano

Trance Dance

Trance Dance - Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer Plays Homemade Thumb Piano

Rhythm Of Your Life, Latest

PETALS (2019) is my first piano solo album! This album represents my specific style for composing music for piano. The idea behind the album title is that each track (Petal #1-6) choreographs the fall of each petal from a dying flower.

To listen to more of my music, visit my website: www.nicholasescobar.com.
If you would like to use one of these tracks in a film, please reach out to me via email: nicholasescobarcomposer@gmail.com.
And finally, if you like this music, please share it!

Petals 

Petal #3

Squeezy is one of my favorite new blues pieces. It has a childlike melody that leads to some tight, nasty little chords that sound like they're squeezed out of the piano rather than played. Copyright Free. Image by bobbyclegg used with permission. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Devil%27s_Kitchen..a_tight_spot_for_cooking_-_panoramio.jpg

SOK Unreleased

Squeezy

Squeezy - Improvised Piano Blues by Steve O'Keefe

Piano sheet music available at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qT0PmhFMHFwjXTBXt5qbIUSZCLyt_yeh
Watch on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNeuRUbUFy4

WALK

Sleepiana is a copyright-free folk raga on piano. It starts very slowly and moves  into a nice, soft, airy raga built around a five-note motif. Once the motif is established (about 3:00) it's attached to a rhythmic back half to form one long phrase. The first, full reading of this simple phrase comes at 5:00. Sleepiana has  lovely Appalachian overtones -- Aaron Copeland meets Allauddin Khan -- with quotes from Oh Susannah, Shenandoah, and Hallelujah. Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/pianoraga/sleepiana

Image courtesy Steve O'Keefe, used with permission.

Sleepiana

Sleepiana - A Folk Raga by Steve O'Keefe

Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer was born in the state of Michigan in the 1950s, the fifth child of nine, "like the center note of a kalimba with two older brothers and two older sisters and two younger brothers and two younger sisters and I learned how to play them all."

Dr. Pianeer holds a Doctorate of Divinity from the Universal Life Church of Seattle, Washington, for which he paid $89 extra to get a fancy diploma, clergy cards, and a binder with all the language for all the typical ceremonies of the world's major religions. 

Dr. Pianeer is prepared to recite ceremonies for birth, transition to adulthood, marriage, sickness, death and despair in five faiths and counting.

In 2010, Dr. Pianeer moved with his wife, Mae, to the mountains of Virginia where they live in the Shenandoah Valley making music, making art, making poetry, and sharing the love with the people of Appalachia.

Convalescent - Dr. Cornelius Pianeer Plays Vintage Thumb Piano

Dr. Cornelius "Thumbs" Pianeer

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