English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

12:17 AM

It's a rookie move, you hate to see it ...

Well, nice job. The only reason I didn't "like" it on Instagram is that I'm not on Instagram and I refuse to have anything to do with Facebook.

If it's any consolation, I'd have to work to play that too. And not to make it even harder to play, but you might experiment with putting at least some of the bass first-beats an octave below where they are now.

Another note: I feel like you need to build to a climax (not a sexual one). But all in all, very credible. And how much is this person paying you for the Chopin ~~facsimile~~ facsimilish?

Feeds

1:17 AM

0

Q: Modern word for "abomination"

I was watching Better Off Ted and its episode on developing artificial meat. Of course, artificial meat is a real thing and the first hamburger made of synthetic meat was made in 2013. It is a major development project in the real world. On the positive side, we do not need to grow and slaught...

Cerberus

2:09 AM

@RegDwigнt Excellent!

I have no words for a more elaborate commentary like Rob's, but it's extra nice to hear a piece played by its composer himself!

Færd

3:01 AM

Did I use flattering correctly here? I should've said giving him undue credit.

Færd

3:19 AM

I made a hundred other mistakes, but this one I remembered because I saw the obvious right term eluding me as I groped for it.

Feeds

3:32 AM

0

Q: Term for this type of mis-pronunciation?

When I was a kid, for years I thought nihilism was pronounced "nil-ism". I guess this is because I only ever read it, rather than being exposed to hearing it. Since "nil-ism" perfectly expresses the concept by coincidence, it stuck, until I embarrassingly learned I was pronouncing it wr...

single-word-requests terminology pronunciation linguistics

Feeds

4:26 AM

0

Q: One word for person who work on two computers

I am looking for a funny word that corresponds to "AMBIDEXTROUS" (Person who can write equally well with either hand) in meaning but actually refers to the situation of a developer working on two PC simultaneously. Is there any word out there yet?

single-word-requests

Feeds

5:51 AM

0

Q: One word for "not yet activated"

I'm working on a page that shows a card that has not yet been activated, but I need something shorter to describe the card state. "Disabled" would not be applicable because the card can be in a disabled state. This applies to a new card that needs to be activated in order to start using it. Any...

single-word-requests

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Url in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, pattern-matching product name in body, potentially bad ns for domain in body, +3 more: www.supplentforhealthylifestyle.org/rapid-tone-dragons-den/ by gurzason on english.SE

Feeds

6:58 AM

0

Q: Idiom or proverb for "Productive members get punished for their hard work by getting dumped with more responsibilities

what is the idiom or proverb for When good people/smart hard working people/productive employees are punished by pushing/dumping more responsibility on to them by the authority/management, etc because of their cognizant skills, alertness, diligence, sound judgement and/or overall productiveness ...

single-word-requests idiom-requests proverb-requests

RegDwigнt

8:16 AM

@Robusto yeah now that you mention it, I guess my climaxes are generally harmonic in nature. I start tossing chords around that you don't expect. Of course that's only really noticeable in the context of the whole piece. Basically what you heard there are shortened callbacks to the development section, which so far I've withheld from you, plus a by-the-numbers reprise of the first theme in a different key. So yeah it might make more sense in context, I'm hoping. Dunno.

But yeah technically it does keep ramping up all the way to the end. If you take the first couple bars and the last couple bars, they're worlds apart really. How much the listener actually hears of that, is of course a different question entirely. Then again, maybe the whole point is that they shouldn't. Who knows.

I heard a story recently, can't remember who told it, but it was someone crazy famous and good. They said, every time they sat down to learn anything by Chopin, they started by going to the last page and trying to play that first. Because obviously that's where the meat is, and if you can't play the last few bars, you might as well not bother with the rest.

@Robusto yeah the bass is another thing that does happen in the middle quite a lot but not at the end. Also, like half the time my left hand in the video basically plays whatever. Most people think I'm struggling with the right hand, but it's really the whole package, and you're the first one to actually notice. Darn musicians with their darn ears...

@Robusto that person is obviously Cerberus. He told me to do it in this very room. I have no idea how much money he's got. But he can pay me in LEGO.

@Cerberus yes. That's my excuse for everything. "This is my piece, Mr Anderson, my piece!" Whatever nonsense I put out, it's 100% fine cuz I am canon.

I heard Debussy play Debussy on YouTube. He sucked. Nobody, ever, plays that piece like that. But hey, he's the ultimate authority so who am I to judge.

But enough of that. Let's talk about something fun:

Timelapse Iceberg Innaarsuit, Greenland

►

Iceberg be like, "don't mind me, just passing through".

SmokeDetector

8:38 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Url in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in body, pattern-matching product name in body, +4 more: www.supplentforhealthylifestyle.org/rapid-tone-dragons-den/ by ortentes on english.SE

Færd

Story Teller (magazine)

Story Teller (sold as Story Time in Australia and New Zealand) was a magazine partwork published by Marshall Cavendish between 1982 and 1985. == Publishing history == === The original collection === The original Story Teller was released from December 1982 and throughout 1983 as a fortnightly partwork. Each magazine contained a selection of children's stories, some traditional folk tales like "Anansi the Spiderman", some children's tales such as Gobbolino, the Witch's Cat, and some contemporary works written especially for the series, like "Timbertwig". Most issues contained a poem or t...

This magazine was published in English, French, German, and Spanish, accompanied with clear and entertaining readings aimed at kids. Makes for a great resource for anyone who wants to learn two or more of these languages in parallel, like me.

There are Greek and Italian versions too, but I haven't checked them, so no comment.

RegDwigнt

Marshall Cavendish sounded like some awesome Indian military leader dude. But then I clicked on his name and was disappointed.

Færd

Haha.

His name sounds more like a physicist I knew way back when.

Feeds

11:09 AM

0

Q: What is the words for the relationship between pounds and pence, or dollars and cents?

A pound is a higher denomination than pence. I'm looking for the word that describes the relationship between a small denomination and a large one, or potentially between denominations in any direction.

single-word-requests grammatical-roles

SmokeDetector

11:54 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Mostly non-latin answer, no whitespace in answer: What is the difference between metaphysical and spiritual? by user309144 on english.SE

Robusto

1:08 PM

@RegDwigнt I'm not saying climaxes necessarily have to do with dynamics and certainly not crescendos. Look at Rubinstein playing Chopin's Opus 64, for example:

Chopin - Waltz Op. 64 No. 2 (Rubinstein)

►

We're looking at a climax based on a dimuendo leading to a peak, but there is a peak.

Or are peaks, throughout.

In fact, one of the most charming things about this piece is the shape of the melodies, how they descend and ascend, more and more or less and less, like a roller-coaster ride.

Also, listen to how he plays with tempo in the same way.

Richard Graef, co-principal flute of the CSO, used to tell me to always try to relate a melody to something physical. For example, I was having trouble once with a very long, slow ending that descended by whole and half steps over four slow measures.
He said, "I look at this I see see something heavy but still flying, descending slowly, coming in for a landing, something of great weight like a 747." And bingo! I knew exactly how to play that.

That's about performance, but it could apply equally to composition.

tchrist

You know.

Robusto

I mean, you seem to understand shapes intuitively in your piece, but I guess I want to hear more of that. You seem to lose the arc of the piece somewhere along the line, and maybe that will come when you actually finish the piece and present it in its entirety.

This is the problem with presenting works in progress, of course.

OK, I'll shut up now.

tchrist

I was going to say more, but I'll just say that that's a nice waltz.

Robusto

1:24 PM

It is indeed a nice waltz.

Feeds

0

Q: Which words could you add in these sentences?

I'm looking for something with (...) to clean the carpet. I don't have (.....) more patience with him. I have forgotten my book. Do you mind (...) your book with me? The doctor suggested he (---) up smoking because it was endangering his health.

single-word-requests word-choice

Robusto

And beautifully played.

See, @Reg, maybe you could resurrect Artur Rubinstein and have him play your piece.

RegDwigнt

1:44 PM

@Robusto thank you. That is invaluable.

Maxim Vengerov likes doing that. Telling stories. That's the best way to teach I think.

Also, I'm pretty sure some of my grandparents knew Rubinstein or some such. So maybe if I resurrect them, they can resurrect him.

Ah whom am I fooling, I'm not going to such lengths. I'll just ask me mate Vladimir and let him do the dirty work.

Also yeah 64 No. 2 lol. That's like the first Chopin waltz I ever played. And to this day only one of three Chopin waltzes in total that I ever played, period. I can play the second part of the A section by heart. That roller-coaster thingie.

That's a good example I think, because that is actually one of the waltzes where Chopin does like nothing at all. It's just a reprise after a reprise after a reprise. Really quite boring. So yeah he leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

I will need to think about this.

Robusto

Think, but don't over-think.

RegDwigнt

Yeah no. That's not how I mean it. Actually quite the opposite lol.

What I'd be doing next anyway, what I always do, is let the thing sit for a while and forget all about it and then come back to it out of nowhere like ten months later. Then every flaw just screams into your face.

You kinda have that privilege right now. I don't. I need to nurture it artificially.

Same as writing. Or I suppose maybe with painting, too. Dunno how that works, I'm not much of a painter.

Robusto

What I'm talking about is, you know how you have to quiet the rational side of your brain to sight-read effectively? I mean, if you thought about the notes you couldn't play them. Your rational brain is like the blind man who says, "Pull over, I'll drive." And of course he can't. You have to let your intuiting brain hold sway, drive the car.

RegDwigнt

Yeah.

In fact there's like three bars in the development section, that you've not even heard, where I'm afraid that's exactly what happened. My rational brain took over and I did something stupid and shitty that I should throw out again. It didn't come naturally, or at least not naturally enough.

Robusto

2:00 PM

Yeah, your rational brain, the editing side, stomps all over the intuitive, creative side.

RegDwigнt

Like, the basic outline of the piece is, I start in G minor, and then I somehow end in Eb major, and then in C minor, and then Eb major again. And I had to think real hard about it just now while I was typing it, because it just appeared out of nowhere and was a surprise to myself as well.

You can actually spot that in the sheet music in the video. The key is G minor throughout. Even though I haven't been playing in that key for like 80 bars by then. Had to manually write down every Ab as accidentals.

Robusto

Heh.

RegDwigнt

So anyway, what I'm trying to say. G to Eb to C to Eb. And I didn't even notice myself. But somewhere in the middle there's also an F minor. And that I think is kinda forced.

I think I kinda consciously wanted to get there.

And what's definitely forced is trying to get the fuck out of there again to the reprise which is in G minor. F minor to G minor. Yeah that definitely required the rational part of my brain, not the blind man at the wheel.

So what I'm trying to do now is record the entire thing, warts and all in terms of composition, but as clean as possible in terms of technique. So then I can come back to it a month later and just listen with as little bias as possible.

And that's really the only point of my complaints on Instagram. Because in my mind I'm already elsewhere. I don't want to think about this thing anymore. But I have to because it's challenging and I can't just record it in half an hour with just a couple takes like I do with all my other stuff.

> The doctor suggested he (---) up smoking because it was endangering his health.

Robusto

Well, composition—creation—is an iterative process. Like rolling out dough for a pie crust. You will never get it all smooth and round with one roll.

RegDwigнt

So that guy is asking what word goes in the parentheses,

Robusto

2:10 PM

So fuck it, Dude, let's go bowling.

RegDwigнt

and someone answers "put".

The doctor suggested he put up smoking.

WUT.

Robusto

You seem to have switched topics.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto oh you totally can, you just need to rent out one of those:

Smoothest pie you've had all year. Guaranteed.

@Robusto I just got distracted by looking at the actual site. I know. A rookie move.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Distraction is what the internet is for, dummy.

RegDwigнt

Who is this?

Oh look, a doggy with an upright tail...

At least that's how that Simpsons joke goes in the German dub. No idea what Homer says in the original, actually.

Robusto

2:22 PM

@RegDwigнt What actual site? ELU?

RegDwigнt

Also I'm listening to Rubinstein and yeah I know that interpretation but I didn't remember it in detail. It's interesting how different it is from mine. A while back, actually exactly when I last heard this very interpretation, I was comparing it with a bunch of others. Don't even remember which ones. I remember Kissin was one of them. Don't remember the rest. And yeah I kinda disagreed with every single one of them but Kissin's I think I just violently hated. Which is why I remember his name...

Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever heard Engerer play it. I should go hunting for that one. For me she is kind of the ultimate authority on Chopin, at least as far as nocturnes are concerned.

For waltzes, there's one that Cziffra played that just tore a hole in my soul. And nobody else could play it that way. And I got the sheet music and I can't play it that way. And it's a very simple waltz you can learn in a day. I don't know how he does what he does. And once again I remember Kissin playing that one as well and I hated what he did to it.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Yes, Engerer. She always finds the music, doesn't she?

RegDwigнt

Yeah I don't know much about her. I think she lived in France but played the Russian school. And I think she passed away like a decade ago.

That's all I know. But yeah I have very little "classical" music on my phone, and it's Gould and Engerer.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I have artists like that. I always hate what Lazar Berman does to Liszt. What he does to Chopin, for that matter. All that lovely grace that unfolds into the air like smoke, in his hands it falls to earth with a thud.

"Let's see how fast we can play this!"

RegDwigнt

Yeah. I guess sometimes it's of course very educational to listen to that. To know what you shouldn't try. Because others have, and look ma, it won't work. Saves you time.

But mostly it's torture because you get the point after a minute or so.

"So this guy is trying to play way too fast". You don't need to listen to 30 pieces to get the idea that it's no good.

Or even to the end of one piece, really.

Robusto

2:32 PM

Can't put it off any longer. Gotta hit the shower and face the day. Laterz. Good luck with your composition.

RegDwigнt

Enjoy. And thanks.

I will be off in a couple minutes myself. Gotta run home.

Cerberus

3:58 PM

@RegDwigнt Hmm.

It could be a matter of taste?

Robusto

4:10 PM

@Cerberus Well, it's always a matter of taste, isn't it? But I agree with that particular recording. And I thought Stravinsky's conducting of his own ballets was horrible, like he was the only person on earth who didn't get his own music. Of course, he was an old man at that time, having gone through multiple "periods" in his compositional persona, so maybe he disdained what his younger self had done.

Cerberus

Indeed.

It could be argued that the older self is now a different person.

Robusto

@Cerberus I think if you're not somewhat a different person when you get older you've ceased to grow.

Feeds

4:35 PM

0

Q: Word for "something that does not behave as intended/according to what it is selected/chosen for"?

I am looking for a (possibly metaphorical!) word, preferably a noun, that captures the idea that something can be chosen according to criteria X, but will behave in a way that is either antithetical to X or orthogonal to X. It does not have to be "negatively" different from X, so long as it is no...

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…