{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/5f17776edfc27138ff2c2d3f/5fe27b765b3fb71894ebe0f5?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Noah Fechtor-Pradines on piano and violin – musical improv and composition","description":"<p>Music in this episode: </p><p><br></p><ul><li>(0:00) \"Improv in NYC - 1\" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKeHgnoadyQ </li><li>(15:30) \"My Song 37 Longer\" by Noah Fechtor-Pradines (I am in love with this song!)</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Noah Fechtor-Pradines is a quantitative researcher living in New York City who composes and plays the piano in his free time. Most recently he has also picked up the violin and started taking socially-distanced lessons! We talk about his creative process, music theory as the \"grammar\" of music, and improvisation as the \"immersion\" of becoming fluent in the universal language that is music.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>I was 11 years old I think.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(0:30) That’s when Noah first started playing the piano.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Sometimes I hated lessons and practicing but I loved the piano. </li><li>I think it was something my parents suggested as something I should consider, and I was like <em>sure</em>! But then I loved it and continued.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(0:50) His first exposure to improvisation was at the end of high school, at school assemblies, when people would come in and out of the auditorium for the national anthems.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>I went to a British school so we'd sing the British and United States national anthems.</li><li>And afterwards, I’d stick around, just playing things easy on the ears, not like elevator music but pleasant things.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(1:30) When he’s alone with the piano it’s a very intimate process of creativity.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>I just turn off all the lights, and play by feel. It’s very much a mood thing.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(2:30) I asked if he was then comfortable making such improvisations public on YouTube.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>I get full control over what I put up there, and I’m comfortable playing in public.</li><li>And I’m getting more comfortable with making mistakes in a recording and still posting it.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(2:55) I was also curious whether putting his improvisations up on YouTube changed what he played in any way.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Well there’s meter and dissonance … joke about band tripping over missed beat.</li><li>But even the set up is a barrier.&nbsp;</li><li>[You need a real piano, I say, and laughter]. </li><li>I do need a real piano. I really do.&nbsp;</li><li>Actually one of the things I miss is trying out pianos at the Steinway Store.</li><li>I think they’re willing to bet that in 20 years, there’s a high chance I’ll have such positive associations with them that I’ll buy a Steinway over another brand.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(6:00) We talked about some of the other things he misses during COVID lockdown, like live concerts and jam sessions with fellow musicians.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>It’s been like over a year.&nbsp;</li><li>[Netherlands street musicians]</li><li>So jealous… I live for that stuff!</li><li>I was at a salsa dance gathering in Boston and there was one of those  \"Play Me I'm Yours\" pianos. I started playing and some guy joined me - it was great!</li><li>There’s a spot in Union Square where people often play music, and I'll be going to work or coming back from work, and there'll be a saxophone screaming down the subway. Those are the moments that make life exciting. I miss it so much.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(8:10) Being around people in person, and hearing live music (or YouTube productions of novel scores) function at the core of his improvisational inspiration.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Sometimes It’s hard to be creative when there’s nothing to draw inspiration from.</li><li>When I hear something I don’t understand, the process of understanding it is one of the most creative moments for me.</li><li>A big part of my process is just figuring out what I liked about what I heard, and playing it in as many different possible ways as I can think of, and that happens over the course of maybe 5 hours.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(9:04) Those are the kernels of inspiration. And I love that he calls them kernels because it's such a mathematical expression. </p><p><br></p><ul><li>100% a mood thing, just have to be in the mood and the moment.</li><li>[I remember you were very inspired after a movie and composed my song longer 37…]</li><li>I have a whole bunch of unfinished thoughts that I just abandoned… don’t really know where they are now… [oh no!]</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(10:40) You know Neil Gaiman? There’s his idea of compost pile…</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Yeah, it sort of needs to sit there for a while, before the flowers bloom.</li><li>[and sometimes methane comes out]</li><li>Right, we don’t record those… [laughter]</li><li>[Or we do and delete them... they never see the light of day]</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(12:09) What have you been doing musically creatively? he asked me.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>[Actually I've started improvising on violin. I was inspired by you, and the way you can create sweeping phrases and beautiful sounding chords… but I don’t know music theory.]</li><li>I actually have an opinion about music theory… </li><li>First of all, everyone’s biased toward the way they learned things, but I think I knew a lot more music theory from just improvising.&nbsp;</li><li>So taking music theory class was just learning what those things were called.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(13:54) It’s like grammar for language… music theory for music.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Yeah, like who do I consider more fluent: someone who knows all the grammatical rules for Spanish or someone who lived in Spain for three years and speaks it fluently?</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(14:08) So improvisation is the immersion of the musical world of communication and creation.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>I think one of the things that’s bolstered my violin the fastest is I have this practice regimen... but then I explore what’s possible, and what the patterns are.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(15:50) And he’s almost done with book 1 of Suzuki after 2 months. Suzuki is popular among teachers of beginner violinists.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>My teacher makes my progress sound impressive but then he’s comparing me with 7 year olds [laughter]</li><li>[Once you learn one instrument, easier to learn the next]</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(16:17) But he’s got a unique goal that sets him apart from students, possibly of any age.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>I just want to be familiar enough that I can understand it and play creatively and write stuff that involves it.</li><li>[Cool because composers need to know how to play the other instruments they write for…]</li><li>It’s so different! The attack is different.</li><li>When I see a whole note over two measures, piano brain sees that and thinks nothing’s happening.&nbsp;</li><li>[So it’s going to change what you write for violin]&nbsp;</li><li>Yeah, yeah it’s going to change.</li><li>But I’m already having a ball just squeaking out notes.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(18:06) There is a violin store that’s open, and Noah’s been trying out violins.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>The guy Lukasz Wronski was like <em>here you try this one, I be back in an hour.</em></li><li><em>This one better, try!</em></li></ul><p><br></p><p>(18:59) He ended up finding out the violin-maker’s story at the violin shop while he was trying out violins… so we’ll close with this anecdote.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>When he was 14 he went to get his violin fixed, and the maker ended up teaching him how to fix it himself. Eventually he started making his own violins!</li><li>There’s so much craft that goes into these things... damn.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>(19:40) Thank you Noah for joining me for this final highlight of the year! Keep on creating, y'all. </p>","author_name":"Aldis "}