WEEK 3: El Canto de la Guitarra 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the second week of our musical Journey to Spain!! This is the place to share submissions of the third week! 
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream for help with the first section!
If you want to describe your process (optional), feel free to use the following template.
- Things you found easy:
- Things you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
- (Optional:) questions
↓ HAPPY PRACTICING, HAPPY SHARING ↓
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I was wondering why Luis de Milan was not mentioned on the list, Martin? Not even one Tonebase lesson. Though his name is 'de Milan', he was really Spanish. And his pavanas are wonderful to study, for balance of voices, legato chords. It seems so easy, but really needs attention and practice.
I have been watching again the recording sessions you gave last year. It's still very puzzling for me, but I try to get control over the Reaper options. I worked out my last year's recording of the first Pavana. This isnt really about Canto, I'm afraid, but, since no one posted any of Milan's works I decided to submit this recording, made in january 2021 with my Samson meteorUSB mic into Reaper. You may be able to comment on the sound editing.
I will from now on work with the Focusrite and 2 condenser mics.
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joosje That was just outstanding, Joosje! I know this piece quite well and used to play it a lot many years ago, but I never brought it alive like you have here. Your dynamics and voice separation are the two things that strikes me the most about your performance. Really well done!
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joosje I don’t know why I can not listen to the audio with my iPad… will try later with the computer
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Jack Stewart That's an amusing story, Jack. I can see why you'd be put off Milan after that. Reminds me vaguely of Alex and Beethoven in A Clockwork Orange.
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joosje bravo Joosje, very well played. I hope you'll managed to do a video with your new audio setup
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joosje I agree with you - Milan is a really great Composer. Your Recording is great - I have forgotten everything about the Recording workshop
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joosje that's good Joosje. I have versions of these by Pujol which I attempted a few years ago.
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Olli im going all over that info again. It’s not my favorite pass time, but I hoped to make a little bit more smooth recordings….
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joosje This is beautiful, what a wonderful sound and interpretation... thank you...
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Emma thank you, Emma. You won’t see or hear me for a while on the Tonebase app.. I keep working and playing my Spanish pieces. But no recordings. My heart, mind, all I have is now with my good friends, whose only fault is that they are civilians of a country that is deemed unworthy of existing and now finds itself on the brink of destruction. I’m very sad and distressed.
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Jose Vinas - Andante Sentimental Op 40
From what I can tell, Jose Vinas (1823-1888; there should be a tilde over the n) was not only a guitarist, but also a pianist, violinist, and conductor. The name of this piece definitely describes its character.
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Eric Phillips Great Eric. Your right - sentimental it is and you played it beautifully. I don't know Vinas but it turns out I apparently have at least one of his pieces (Fantasia Original, it is a major work - 8 pages, and mostly tremolo). It is in one of the Klassiker Der Gitarre series (#2). I'll look at it some time but not now.
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Eric Phillips Thanks for playing a work by Viñas. You definitely capture beautifully the sweet sentimental nature of the piece. Viñas wrote a very nice tremolo study entitled Sueño. It is my go-to piece for when I practice the tremolo.
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Eric Phillips thanks for sharing this piece and at least make me discover another composer, from Jack Stewart preferred era!
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I'll expect to hear you play that Fantasia by next week.
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks, Blaise. There's plenty more coming.
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Eric Phillips I'll play it on my computer thru YouTube.
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Dale Needles Thank you, Dale. I have heard Sueno, and it's a great little tremolo piece. SInce I have never played a tremolo piece, I didn't think that I could get that piece up and running very quickly. Maybe if I decide to give tremolo a go, it would be a good piece to start with, as it's not as difficult as the more iconic tremolo pieces by Tarrega or Barrios.
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Eric Phillips wow Eric, as alway, you did a great job
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Eric Phillips very nice Eric. I'm not familiar with Vinas (with or without the tilde) I'll certainly check him out.
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Eric Phillips Thanks for posting more of this under-appreciated 'pre-Tarrega' repertoire, Eric! It is charming, and by the looks of it, falls nicely under the fingers - exactly what we amateurs need! It occurs to me, listening to your recordings, that music like this was of considerable influence in Latin America - more so, perhaps, than Tárrega. The A major section here, for example, reminds me very much of the campanella passage in Barrios's 'Vals 4'.
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David Krupka You may very well be right about that. These pieces do give me a lot of enjoyment. Nothing against the iconic, more well-known pieces, but I really like these more approachable pieces. They motivate me to play and I feel good about myself when I play them. When I try to play something like Recuerdos, I often feel like the little kid who got in the wrong line at swimming lessons (which actually happened to me as a child, btw).
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Eric Phillips That's a nice analogy! And I agree with what you say about playing repertoire like this. I always think it's better to play an 'easy' piece well than a difficult piece badly. It's crazy that as amateurs, we often compare ourselves to professionals. And many of us are actually disappointed when we realize we don't compare favourably! And yet, I am sure that none of us, if we played Tennis, say, would feel badly because we're not in the same league as Federer or the Williams sisters. But pick up a guitar (I'm often guilty of this too) and we think we're supposed to sound like David Russell! It's a strange psychopathology ...
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David Krupka What?! Are you saying I don't sound as good as David Russel!?!?!
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Eric Phillips I don't mean to offend you, Eric, but if I'm being completely honest, I would say you sound more like Parkening than Russell. Which isn't to say, of course, that you won't sound like Russell some day. I mean, isn't that why people like us joined ToneBase in the first place?
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David Krupka I'll take Parkening any day of the week!
He's actually one of the few elite-level guitarists who I've seen perform live.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
