How about a CD of piano accompaniments?

[Art Hovey]

I was talking to Caryl Conger at the Army conference about the many, many fine soloists she has accompanied there (and elsewhere) over the years. It occurred to me that there might be a market for a recording (by her) of the piano parts for a bunch of the standard solos. Some of us who like to hack on things like the Hindemith (for example) but may never have a chance to perform it with a real pianist might enjoy such a recording as a "next-best thing".
I know that a company in California (Diskfaktory) can duplicate CDs with inserts, tray cards and jewel cases in batches of 100 for under $3 apiece. Of course the composer would have to be paid their copyright fees, and the pianist and recording engineer would have to be paid. My questions are:
(1) Could such a project be profitable?
(2) What solos would you want to see on it?
(3) Who would like to organize it?

[clagar777]

Of course the composer would have to be paid their copyright fees

Would the publisher grant permission to make money off of their music? I do not know much about this issue so I hope someone who does chimes in.

Also, maybe several different recordings could be made to accommodate the different styles and interpretations of the music.

Neat idea!

[Carroll]

SmartMusic
http://www.smartmusic.com/
has just this sort of thing in its library. The piano parts are recorded and through the use of a microphone can follow the soloist (or not) through rubati and tempo changes. Finale files can be exported to SmartMusic so you can type in the piano part and solo lines and create your own accompaniment. If a computer is not handy, you can set up the accompaniment file to your preferences and then burn that piano performance to a CD. All of my solo/ensemble kids walk into the solo room with a piano CD and a boombox. They have practiced with the CD and often do quite well. We do not have a plethora of live accompanists in our area.






Concertino - by Frackenpohl - Leduc -
Concerto - by Vaughan Williams - Oxford -
Concerto - by Gregson - Novello -
Concerto in Am - by Vivaldi arr. by Ostrander - Musicus -
Concerto in One Movement - by Lebedev arr. by Ostrander - Musicus
Sonata - by Beversdorf - Southern -
Sonata For Tuba And Piano (1967) - by Hartley - Tenuto -
Sonate - by Hindemith - Schott -
Suite for Tuba - by Haddad - Shawnee -
Tuba Rhapsody - by Grundman - Boosey & Hawkes -
Variations for Tuba & Piano - by Frackenpohl - Shawnee -

[tubatooter1940]

Toot along with the Duracell orchestra!
Okey dokey if you sacrifice spontenaety.

[Carroll]

Goodness gracious! How did any of us ever make it without it?

...or a microwave oven,
or an answering machine,
or a cellular telephone,
or cruise control,
or a personal computer.

The point is, it is just another tool we can use to make our lives better/easier. Not that it will solve all of our problems.

Jeez.