Here I am back again with one so fresh out of the cooker I haven't even listened to it on SC myself!
Spent the last two days on this short piece, hard to believe. Anyway, even if you hate jazz and love classic, I'm confident you'll like this acoustic jazzy take on Master Chopin

Prelude in E minor

And for the formalities, from song memo:

RealTracks in style: ~1204:Bass, Acoustic, GypsyJazzBallad Sw 110
RealTracks in song: 1207:Fiddle, Soloist GypsyJazzBallad Sw 110
RealTracks in song: ~951:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryBoogieMuted Sw 110
RealTracks in style: ~1210:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm GypsyJazzBalladJohn Sw 110
RealDrums: RealDrums in Style: GypsyJazzSw: a: GypsyJazzSwb: GypsyJazzSw

Nice arrangement and great choice of instruments. This is a fun listen.


Charlie

It's certainly a much more upbeat version than the original!

Well done!

This worked out good.... I always recommend that you listen to the mix after you convert it to MP3, and again after you upload it before you post the link.

In this case nothing went wrong but.... trust me when I say it can and sometimes does. I've had conversion issues, clicks, pops, and other abnormalities appear in a mix upon the upload.

Nice work.

A good reminder, thanks! In my eagerness to get it up & out for "ya'll", I took the short cut on this one and uploaded straight from BBox, hence not hearing the compressed m4a until after it was all over and done with.
But you are of course quite right, things can and do sometimes go wrong in the rendition, have for me as well (piano is too bright in my previous Vem Kan Segla, for instance).
I guess I just was fortunate this time - but point duly noted.

Hi Icelander,

cool version. I like your choice of RTs and the breaks.
Enjoyable listen.

Guenter

As I consider myself quite the entertainer at heart, I'm very much appreciating the words "fun" & "enjoy" in your feedbacks here already. Thank you kindly!

Nice. I used to play with a friend who played wonderful gypsy jazz fiddle. It definitely kept me on my toes playing my acoustic bass with him. And I've always been a major fan of both Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt so the groove definitely worked for me. Enjoyed it.

Now, this is an interesting observation. See, while I quite agree with your statement, I can't quite put a my finger on just why this is the case.
What I mean is, in terms of definable, concrete elements of the construction, I haven't really changed all that much when compared to the original piece: The key is the same, tempo is (almost) the same, as are the bulk of the chord progressions, including positions and sliced (of which there turned out to be a lot, let me tell ya). Even the basic 'on the beat' pattern is already present in the original.
So... if we're to get a bit analytical here, just for 'fun', how do we explain this one? Where or in what does that 'upbeat' effect lie?

Now that is quite a little gem! A swinging, jazzy music box with an elegant, classic melody inside. Short and sweet and... listening again. Yup, that's nice alright. And cool.

Thanks for sharing,
Bruce

Thank you likewise for commenting

In original, the music is much more halting and tentative. Chopin has a single instrument, with an intimate feel. The music halts and falters, moving to a whisper and back, ending with a series of ponderous chords. It changes.

In your version, the intimate piano is replaced with an upbeat dance band. It is faster, and plays with a confident, steady beat - all hesitation gone. Where Chopin ritards, you proceed without hesitation. Where Chopin whispers, you keep the same volume. It feels like a ship out for a jaunty ride on the lake, happily bobbing along.

Does that start to answer the question?

Hey Ice, I loved this one! very sweet arrangement. I dabbed myself in classic arrangement into jazz years ago and is fun. I might re-arrange some of them using the new rt's available now.
Take care

Mike B.

If "start" be the key word here, then yes I'd certainly say it does, and quite nicely at that. I particularly liked your visual "bobbing ship" analogy, such a poetic touch
A quick one back re the 'ponderous chords' bit. I tried my best to pick them up and follow, did you feel mine were noticeable different in some big ways?

Go for it! Oh, and then share, of course, I for one am most interested in how others do this sort of thing

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was referring to the chords Chopin uses in the final cadence.

Ah right, no problem. I likewise should have kept it less vain there, I'm sure
Back to being clinical then, if I can: Melody! It occurred to me that's surely a factor here, probably the biggest, even? I mean, going from the floating, somber style of the original to the laid back 'bouncy' style in my rendition has to add to that whole 'upbeat'.. or maybe I'm just stating the obvious here, what say you?

Very cool rendition of this piece!! I don't know that much classical music but I recognized the melody, and it worked great in its different skin. Very cool stuff!! And, BTW, you should definitely stick around on this forum which is friendly, fun, fantastic, and fiendishly creative (and that's just the Fs). Love hearing what you're doing. Take care. Greg

Interesting take on the classics, Eddie. Sounds good.

Not necessarily.

Many "sad" songs in minor keys are perceived as more upbeat as their tempo increases - one of the things you did.

And by making the tempo regular instead of much more rubato, you changed the interpretation of phrases as distinct "gestures", putting the focus on staying on beat and a steady tempo, instead of looking at each bit as an expressive and independent gesture.

In perceiving music, there's a tendency to map the tempo and rate to physical motion. Thus the interpretation of "halting" or "hesitating". Having a steady tempo removes that from the music.

It's a bit like auto-tuning. The notes remain the same, but amount of pitch variation within the note is altered.

Similarly, the position of the events in you song remain the same, but rate of change - which contains a lot of emotive power - is removed. You haven't quantized the placement or tempo - you've made the rate of change a constant.

Well put together. I too am not versed in classical music, but I also recognize the melody. interesting concept. Nice job. Tom

Ouch! The expression 'careful what you wish for' is coming to mind here
But I jest, and to pick out just that one line of your very thorough analysis is of course spectacularly unfair
The thing that got me started on this topic in the first place was that none of those things were done with any sort of conscious intention to change its overall mood or feel. If anything, I tried to retain the mood with some 'blue' touches to most of the triad chords, but I guess that only took things so far. Maybe that's the next place to go in discussions like this, i.e. how to intentionally do these things, in either direction
And then, if you look again at my other two (re)arrangements, I think it's safe to say that both of those retained the mood of the original. One was in minor key, the other in major, so obviously that in on itself wasn't the deciding factor (I think), So I had to wonder where those nuances lay.
Anyway, thank you for that valuable insight into the concept of 'what makes the mood of a piece', to which I myself could sadly only contribute so much. But it's been a delight - Cheers!

Hi Icelander,

That's a nice arrangement. I also use classical themes now and then for writing songs.
Do you know this one has also been arranged and turned into a song by Sinatra and Jobim, it's called "How insensitive" (or: When a love affair is over)
This is the song:
How insensitive
Astrud Gilberto also sings it.
Your song sounds a bit... how shall I say it...less sad, happy maybe.
I'm one of those who don't like jazz, but do like classical music (amongst others), but this one is OK

Regards,
Anne-Marie

Ah, I see you spotted my reply to one of your own showcase earlier, the one I made while deep in the midst of my "not so special now, are you, princess!" complex
Thanks for the sentiment but don't you worry. I think I've found my own 'niche' around here by now, as it were, so I'm not going anywhere - in fact, I can safely say: I'm only just getting started!

Well, that's a relief!
I myself quite like classical music, and my rendition of this one was perhaps not in the most 'purest' of jazz per se, which is one reason I was feeling confident about its 'general' appeal. My aim is always to please, not to put people off, heh.
Glad you liked it enough to add to those positive comments, thanks for the gesture

My comments were just food for thought, that's all.

To be clear - it wasn't a complaint about the music!

And scrumptious nuggets they were indeed!


But of course, goes without saying. And likewise 'to be clear', I only cut the subject off short to prevent the absolute killing of the frog


Edit: Visited that song's link again myself just now, to my amazement it's got over a 100 views already
That may not seem that much to most of you who live in the 'big world' out there, but it's the most views I've had of anything I've submitted to the online world, ever!

Ice,
I really enjoyed this piece. Coincidently, I'm learning to play this prelude right now. I'm a big classical fan and this is one of my favorite Chopin pieces.
I believe the classical composers would appreciate the creativity your work shows and find it to be a tribute. Some of them were real Rock Stars of the their era just as progressive as technology would allow. On the other hand... you never know.
Any way thanks for sharing.
SD

hi Icelander really enjoyed this sounded great thanks eric

I could not have put it better myself (and thanks to you I don't have to)! A tribute was precisely what I had in mind here - And I'm pretty sure the modern Mozart would be 'digging' the smooth jazz groove