Date: Sun, 17 Dec 1995 21:23:32 -0500 (EST)
From: ROBERTFINLEY@delphi.com
Subject: Chopin Concerto Sequence chpnc2-2.mid
To: prs@prs.com

Concerto No. 2, Op 21 for Piano, Frederic Chopin
2nd movement, Larghetto. (chpnc2-2.mid)

This concerto was written between 1829 and 1830, and was published
in 1836. 

This general midi sequence chpnc2-2.mid of the 2nd movement of Chopin's Piano 
Concerto No. 2 in F minor was made using a Roland JV1080 synthesizer, 
a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-123 piano and a 386 PC running Midisoft's 
"Studio for Windows" program.

It consist of 10 tracks:
1. Pianoforte (patch 01, channel 1)
2. Violins (patch 50, channel 2)
3. Violas (patch 50, channel 3)
4. Cellos (patch 50, channel 4)
5. Basses (patch 44, channel 5)
6. Flutes (patch 74, channel 6)
7. Oboes (patch 69, channel 7)
8. Clarinets (patch 72, channel 8)
9. Bassoons (patch 71, channel 9)
10. French Horn (patch 61, channel 11)

This is the first orchestral sequence I have produced. 

The piano part was played almost entirely in real time. I used
editing techniques to improve the melodic line and to adjust tempi
and rhythm. The orchestral parts were added line by line using the
mouse so that they synchronize exactly with the piano part. In this
way I could achieve the rubato necessary for this type of music while
fitting the orchestral backing to the piano part. 

Although JV1080 has 64 voice polyphony and 16 parts, there are some 
places in the sequence, particulary in the recitative middle section, 
where it is on the verge of losing voices due to lack of polyphony. It 
should be played on a synthesizer that has similar horsepower. I don't 
know how it would sound on equipment that has lower polyphonic 
capabilities.

I have used midi controllers 7 and 11 to adjust the volume of the parts
and for expression. I also placed the reverb controller 91 in each 
channel with maximum value of 127. On the JV1080 it should be played
on the HALL1 or HALL 2 reverb setting. 

I have tried to make this sequence sound like a real performance. 
There are some extremely nice moments in some parts of the sequence, 
for example the place where the bassoon has a solo with the piano 
near the end of the sequence. The GM patches supplied with the JV1080 
are not ideal and the woodwind instruments sound a bit like an electric
organ.

For most of the string sections I have used the slow string patch 50 as 
this sounds much better than the violin, viola and cello patches which are
quite poor. 

I achieved the tremolo section string accompaniment in the middle 
section by using step recording techniques to reproduce a rapid 
succession of notes. I grouped the violin, viola and cello sections 
into one chord in the violin channel 2 as this was more convenient. 

I will be making a version of this sequence especially for the 
orchestral expansion board of the JV1080, and hopefully the woodwind 
section will sound a bit better.

Excellent recordings of this work were made by Artur Rubinstein, 
Claudio Arrau, Bella Davidovich and others. 

I hope you enjoy this sequence. 

Robert Finley, December 17th 1995.

ROBERTFINLEY@delphi.com
finley.robert@mail.ndhm.gtegsc.com

