
Rachmaninoff – Little Red Riding Hood [video] - jacquesm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXmL55DwuaQ
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anacleto
Here's the real one, like Rachmaninoff would have played it.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUb6Jsnepe4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUb6Jsnepe4)

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krick
Nice, but how close does piano roll reproduce actual Rachmaninoff's
performance?

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anacleto
Pretty close: [https://senar.ru/works/rachmaninoff-etude-tableau-
op39-no6](https://senar.ru/works/rachmaninoff-etude-tableau-op39-no6)

That is an actual original performance recorded in 1925.

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jdormit
Whoa! Super cool, and masterfully played. I would love to get some more
details on the tech involved though - how was the visualization created? How
much of it is added to the video in post-processing and how much is real-time
(it seemed like the actual lights on the piano keys was real-time but the
Guitar-hero style scrolling lights were post-processing)?

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dkersten
Me too, I'd love a behind the scenes explaining the setup a little. I dug
around, but didn't find anything.

The guitar-hero thing looks a lot like Synthesia[1], so could very well be
that, but the lightup keys look like they're done using LED's.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesia)

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firefwing24
They attach an RGB strip slightly above the keys on top of the keyboard (or
for a grand piano/upright, they attach it probably somewhere on the key case).

Rousseau has been teaching a lot of other pianists how to do the same setup,
so you can kind of see how its done in this other great piano youtuber,
funguypiano:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyQj7T6uLII](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyQj7T6uLII)

Then you obviously need some sort of bird's eye camera so that you can
synchronize it with Synthesia.

Then you go into After Effects and add all the pretty colors and particle
effects.

Sometimes they get fancy and add some RGB programming so that colors are
changed on a beat by beat basis.

~~~
firefwing24
Added: Thoms Mucenieks has a similar setup, which his recent 1M sub video
makes it pretty obvious how its setup:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qWg6Y-Ildc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qWg6Y-Ildc)

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wazoox
A much more interesting way to visualise music is to follow the score, such
what Gerubach is doing on his channel:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/gerubach/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/gerubach/videos)

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hellofunk
"much more interesting" ?

I much prefer watching the performance, myself. If you can read music, the
Gerubach videos aren't adding much over just looking at a score while hearing
a recording.

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sizzzzlerz
It was mesmerizing to watch his fingers dance across the keyboard. Much better
than following the notes on a score.

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dpflan
This seems like a potentially useful teaching / learning tool for piano
teachers. I'd be interested in seeing other things like AR for teaching
instruments/music.

~~~
crazynick4
You can't learn piano this way past the most beginner level stuff. Sight
reading actual sheet music is MUCH easier because of how close the notes
appear on this visualization, you won't be able to tell what's what from far
away. Also, pieces like this are much easier to just memorize before actually
bringing them up to speed, and then you won't need to look at what the notes
are anyway since you're just relying on muscle memory.

~~~
travbrack
I know how to read sheet music but I'm using his video on gymnopedie no 1 to
learn how a pro plays. The fingering isn't obvious to me since I'm a beginner
and I'm not taking lessons. It actually helps a lot.

~~~
crazynick4
Yeah I can see the fingering being useful, although beginner sheet music
should have it. I meant the scrolling notes.

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bwidlar
Valentina Lisitsa,
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFMNhx2-VDE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFMNhx2-VDE)

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edgarvaldes
Doesn't she play the piece way too fast? I know nothing of classical music
btw.

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ta1133
You can compare to the man himself, (from another comment in this thread):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUb6Jsnepe4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUb6Jsnepe4)

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askytb
Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C Sharp Minor (Op. 3 No. 2) by the same guys is one
of my favorites:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCtixpIWBto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCtixpIWBto)

~~~
jkoudys
Same! As a teenager I was finishing up my final grade in piano before leaving
my (now dearly departed) piano teacher behind and going off to uni. I
dedicated a year of my life to learning that piece. In hindsight it was one of
the best decisions I've made. I wish I took a year off and learned a few more
pieces of his - they're as amazing to play as they are to listen to.

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madaxe_again
I _love_ playing that piece - from the booming _ffff_ crescendo to the
feverish accelerando in the middle, it’s just a blast, and a great one to
break the ice and warm up with. I remember learning this prelude, _elegie_ ,
and liszt’s _mephisto waltz_ , _liebestraum_ and _orage_ one summer when I was
16 or so. They were incredibly cathartic pieces for an angry young man, and
played no small part in getting me through a difficult period.

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raintrees
For me, that was like watching a virtuoso video game player (ala missile
command)... With a great sound track.

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y7
If you're into this music, be sure to also check out other interpretations of
this piece, such as one by Lugansky
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6CxUpBZlY&t=1291s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6CxUpBZlY&t=1291s)

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ebg13
Op is not the player, so "I" in the title is deceptive.

To me this would be more interesting to watch without the distracting (and
chintzy) scrolling bars and particle effects which are clearly not part of
"added LEDs to my piano". They drag attention away from the actual playing.

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jacquesm
Ah sorry, that was the title of the original article I lifted the video from.
It did not add much beyond the video so I kept the title (and dropped 5 chars
to make it fit the 80 limit). Never thought the 'I' would be attributed to me,
that definitely was not the intention.

Here is the original reddit thread:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/89dg71/i_added_some...](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/89dg71/i_added_some_leds_to_my_piano_played_an_etude_by/dwqmxrl/)

~~~
gus_massa
I thought you where the one that drilled the piano and made the electrical
connections and software to make it work.

(I hope it's a flat screen or a projection onto the surface, not a million of
leds in a million of holes in a real piano.)

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jacquesm
I would give my right arm to be able to play piano like that.

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akman
Makes you wonder why Beatmania and games of that ilk don't have a version of
the game for the full keyboard. And when you've mastered that 'level', you've
actually learned the notes (maybe not much more, but it's something!) for a
real piano piece.

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vilhelm_s
I guess there are arcade games like that at least.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40benG6nSV0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40benG6nSV0)

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akman
Nice find. That's along the ideas of what I had in mind.

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lasermike026
Rachmaninoff or "How to terrorize a pianist."

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lasermike026
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M30g3In8ao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M30g3In8ao)

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declank
This is hands down an amazing interpretation (some great voicing in the upper
parts in the left hand, and articulation is textbook awesome) and great to see
near the top of HN, his channel is worth checking out. This is better than
Lugansky and the Rachmaninoff piano rolls.

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sparrish
And now you know what the old paper player piano rolls for "Little Red Riding
Hood" look like.

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swframe2
Somewhat related. Maybe you can use these videos to teach your new baby
prefect pitch. Check out Rick Beato's video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=816VLQNdPMM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=816VLQNdPMM)

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looperhacks
Another youtube channel that does the same, but mostly soundtracks:
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs7O9sOUQiBGBxaaAguIwig](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs7O9sOUQiBGBxaaAguIwig)

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noisy_boy
Though one might say the visuals are distracting, I found them to be an
interesting visualization of the difficulty of the score (even though the
performer doesn't move the fingers based on incoming indicators).

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eplanit
Nice. It reminds me of this one of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yojDu3E9jls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yojDu3E9jls)

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krick
Not sure, what exactly was the intent of posting it here and I cannot even say
I loved the performance (or the piece, for that matter)... but, man, this
channel is great.

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shitgoose
most of us can't tell two notes apart, yet most can tell green from yellow.
linking music and visual is always a fascinating experience.

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nprateem
I wonder if he's as good at Guitar Hero.

~~~
loup-vaillant
Pop'n Music and Beatmania are closer. Still, you can quite clearly see how
much more difficult actual piano is…

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mrslave
I have wasted my life.

