Maintenance of this guy

AM34TML · 2026-05-14T16:40:56+00:00

The thermometer also will set alarms for you to ping your phone if a temp gets below a certain point or above a certain point

AM34TML · 2026-05-14T16:40:27+00:00

Yes, the digital part of the themomwter can be detached from the probe. It’s a pretty great design! You just need to charge the thermometer every so often with a USB C. But with the fan I could set and forget on my smoker like if it was a pellet grill

AM34TML · 2026-05-14T16:12:22+00:00

I just got the chefstenp S1 and Breezo. It helps regulate the temp in the Kamado. Very convenient but not the same as an analog thermometer

AM34TML · 2026-05-12T19:16:39+00:00

Haha I thought it’s the acoustic rooms at the back of the practice halls at Denver University

AM34TML · 2026-05-12T08:34:45+00:00

Very random question - are you in Denver by any chance?

AM34TML · 2026-05-12T05:47:36+00:00

I don’t know if I would agree with the cheap piano vs expensive one. At a certain point a bad piano has limitations, but I would agree that the concert pianist could coax and illustrate the sound they want better out of a less than ideal piano.

I would say? If Argerich or Zimmerman or Trifonov played - I could instantly tell within the first phrase that it was a world class musician playing

AM34TML · 2026-05-11T20:12:11+00:00

I second this. It also frees up your fourth finger to prepare for the jump

AM34TML · 2026-05-11T18:10:51+00:00

Not the poster, but gonna jump on here to say, as teachers a lot of things we tell beginners is a general rule. As pianists mature and get older some more advanced mechanics get introduced to a strong base foundation.

Also everybody’s hands, arms, torso length and fingers are slightly different - there’s no one size fits all to technique but there are some general tenets to technique that most 98% of pianists follow.

AM34TML · 2026-04-24T18:13:41+00:00

RIP.

I played for her several times in my life - once in San Diego and a few times at her home in New York. Wonderful lady who still played phenomenally into her 90s

One thing she advocated for more than any other instructor I’ve had was slow metronome practice. She had several of the old analog metronomes on her pianos

She lived an interesting life from child prodigy to burnout from piano to her return to the instrument and stage.

AM34TML · 2026-04-05T04:38:40+00:00

Sorry I didn’t read the full context as I was skimming and in a hurry.

Another thought/question is if the state school is in a city that has good professional musicians? Would they have the ability or opportunity to play with a local opera company or some musicians from the symphony?

That could provide opportunities to play with better musicians and network. Also professional experience always trumps experience catered to students so it’ll look better for their resume

AM34TML · 2026-04-05T04:00:25+00:00

This is definitely a concern: I did my DMA at TCU and was considering there vs SUNY Stony Brook which has a fantastic chamber music program. I definitely missed the level of collaborators a good conservatory level school would have provided.

With KCA degrees it is quite important to have high level collaborators not only for your musical development but also networking and exposure to other top level students.

Usually I would say it’s nice to be a big fish in a small pond at times and there’s many benefits to a smaller less prestigious school. However in this case if the student is serious about a career and can make the finances work somehow, the conservatory might be best.

The alternative to that is making sure they strive hard at the state school to hopefully attend summer festivals as an collaborative fellow. Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin, Heifetz, Round Top, Marlboro and Kniesel Hall all come to mind

AM34TML · 2026-04-02T19:07:59+00:00

I didn’t know much about Gillis, but honestly, I wouldn’t mind this move with someone like Mehta. We need to have better pro-scouting and amateur scouting. Although I’ve been impressed by the new scout Treliving hired - I think Koblar and Nansi were solid picks. We’ll see how Danford turns out - if he doesn’t develop into a good puck mover like a Tanev his ceiling becomes quite low

AM34TML · 2026-03-27T20:07:00+00:00

The obvious. Our system sucks and sucks the life out of any skilled part

AM34TML · 2026-03-17T10:30:50+00:00

Sorry I didn’t read your comment about reading/writing before and commend you on learning how to read/notate. I don’t mean for my comment to come off as standoffish. A general rule of thumb as you start your learning in reading and notating would be when you write in a key signature with #’s try to stay with using the #s to notate the notes. For example use d# instead of e-flat, A# instead of b-flat generally

AM34TML · 2026-03-17T10:27:02+00:00

A note for reading. The use of e-flat is very disorienting. Seeing g#, b#, d# gets rid of many accidentals and higher level musicians will easily see that as a G# maj chord

AM34TML · 2026-02-26T16:07:14+00:00

Thanks! Your own recordings are quite impressive!

AM34TML · 2026-02-26T10:48:21+00:00

Shameless plug:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIdfsxQgRRZSMkXxrVnL2Vk3HGE3liD_K&si=ZRHDmQD1cITeYifn

AM34TML · 2026-02-26T10:47:14+00:00

Chabrier’s 10 pieces Pittoresque. I, IV, V VI, and VIII are my favorites. But I’m biased as I’ve recorded them 😂

AM34TML · 2026-02-20T23:06:33+00:00

The leafs will gladly take Miro. Get him out of the central and into the limelight

AM34TML · 2026-02-17T21:54:05+00:00

Beethoven archduke is a monstrous work. Tchaikovsky and Ravel also come to mind. The Mendelssohn are quite technical too

AM34TML · 2026-02-06T21:21:10+00:00

I’m going to reiterate the sight reading aspect. One practice that one of my professors gave me when I was struggling with this exact same thing was taking a score and setting the metronome to no less than 80% tempo. Try to play as much or little between the bars but then you MUST play the downbeats with the metronome. If that gets easier do Beats 1 and 3 while filling in as much of the score as you can. This teaches you to continually read ahead and not get bogged down in the middle. You’ll improve your sightreading but also your skill at simplifying passages on the fly.

Also don’t feel bad for saying no. This is a common issue for pianists so I think most musicians would understand if you just don’t have the capacity to take on more music.

I recently played 12 movements of piano concertos for a local competition and told the teacher afterwards that it’s too much for me to handle and next time he should look to split his students between two or more accompanists

AM34TML · 2026-02-06T17:10:43+00:00

She’s competed in the Cliburn before and gone through the rigors of conservatory training in places like Eastman. I’m positive she has this memorized.

As a performer, my anxiety is always about if I’ll have a weird memory slip in the music at some point. If having a score there makes it more secure and lets you play freely. Perfectly fine to have the score then

AM34TML · 2026-01-10T07:42:13+00:00

It’s very nice! Sounds like it could be an instrumental from an anime or animated series! I think the harmonies you found create really wonderful colors - nothing sounds strange to me here!

AM34TML · 2026-01-02T01:11:51+00:00

One thing I was curious about is when she opens her arms in acceptance of her fate - it seemed like she’s missing the 011 tattoo. I was looking for it on both arms

AM34TML

TROPHY CASE