Stage 4 (2007) – Bart Flos Music

The NextSteps Series Solo Projects Stage 4 (2007)

To watch some of the video recordings of Stage 4 please go to the menu Video / Concert or click here.

Solo Acoustic Piano Concerts

Apart from my “digital adventures” on the Roland RD-700 and other MIDI equipment I am primarily drawn to the grand piano or any other well tuned and well maintained acoustic piano. When I learned of an opportunity to perform in the Auditorium on The Strip of the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven I gladly accepted. In May and November 2007 I gave two acoustic piano concerts as try outs for new musical idea’s. It was time for Stage 4 of the NextSteps Series Solo Projects!

As you can imagine my perfect dream is to be alowed to play on for instance a Bosendorfer Grand Imperial (!) or Steinway or Bechstein concert piano. I believe that it is amazing what has been achieved in capturing the sound of acoustic instruments in digital form; but I also believe that they will never be able to capture the total experience of playing on such a magnificent instrument in a concert hall or other acoustically well designed room. I am convinced: the total cognitive mixture of sound, vision and feel will never be caught in mere zero’s and ones…despite astonishing achievements in the digital world of wonder…

The Auditorium on the High Tech Campus offered me a well tuned grand piano, a not too big a concert hall, a fine acoustic environment and the possibility to have the concert recorded on DVD! Since I have also recorded try-outs of the concerts in my studio at home I am able to offer you both MP3-tracks and video tracks, the latter via my YouTube account (see The NextSteps Series Solo Projects Stage 5).

Solo Piano Concert ‘Frames of Mind‘

Wednesday 21-11-2007 | Auditorium, High Tech Campus, Eindhoven

The idea behind this concert is to allow the audience to “fantasize” their own feature film based on a short verbal introduction per scene and by providing “movie mood music”.

Allow me to explain that a bit further: I provide a basic scene setting at the beginning of each part of the concert and create a musical atmosphere attached to that particular scene in sound colours of jazz, blues, pop, free and classical music. The audience is than to, say, close their eyes and imagine particular details of that scenes: favorite actors or scenery, car chase or man chase, exotic locations, anything goes.

It’s like fantasizing your own film script! The sky of the mind is literally the limit. Each member of the audience will thus have experienced an individual and therefore unique version of the film based on only the basic script settings I provide as head start. The rest is up to the music itself and the powers of imagination!

To watch some of the video recordings of Stage 4 please go to the menu Video / Concert or click here.

Live Studio Recordings | Recorded in studio on 20-11-2007

Style: Mood Movie Music
Instruments: Acoustic piano (Roland Superb Grand Piano)

Track 1. Scene 1: Heroes Introduced Part 1
Track 2. Scene 1: Heroes Introduced Part 2
Track 3. Scene 2: Friends & Foes Part 1
Track 4. Scene 2: Friends & Foes Part 2
Track 5. Scene 3: Look: They’re Kissing!
Track 6. Scene 4: Hunt Or Be Hunted Part 1
Track 7. Scene 4: Hunt Or Be Hunted Part 2
Track 8. Scene 5: Hiding Out There Part 1
Track 9. Scene 5: Hiding Out There Part 2
Track 10. Scene 6: Startling Standoff
Track 11. Scene 7: Alone Together Again Part 1
Track 12. Scene 7: Alone Together Again Part 2

Please note: the audio-files are not yet available. Stay tuned!

Style: Mood Movie Music
(Classical / Pop / Soul / Jazz / Latin / Blues / Free)
Instruments: acoustic grand piano

The following YTR-nummers are the designations on YouTube – check out the channel NextStepsProjects

YTR024 Part 1 Heroes Introduced
YTR025 Part 2 Friends & Foes
YTR026 Part 3 Look: They’re Kissing!
YTR027 Part 4 Hunt or Be Hunted
YTR028 Part 5 Hiding Out There
YTR029 Part 6 Startling Standoff
YTR030 Part 7 Alone Together Again

(in Dutch:)

1. Scene 1: Helden Geintroduceerd
2. Scene 2: Vriend & Vijand
3. Scene 3: Kijk: Ze Kussen!
4. Scene 4: Jaag of wordt belaagd
5. Scene 5: Hier Schuilen
6. Scene 6: Frontale Confrontatie
7. Scene 7: Alweer Alleen Samen

Each part is generally introduced at the beginning of part 1, however, each next part is introduced at the end of each previous part so that each individual concert piece starts without comment.

Solo Piano Concert ‘Contemplations‘

Wednesday 30-05-2007 | Auditorium, High Tech Campus, Eindhoven

The idea behind this concert is to take the audience on a musical journey through various styles of music, trying to bind them all together on one hand but also to point out that musical styles are not “boxed” in a black and white fashion. Musical styles are like overlapping circles and it is not realistic to, for instance say, “I do not like Jazz” when you haven’t heard the overlap between blues and jazz or pop and jazz. Anyway, that is the thought behind my first acoustic piano concert: find it out for yourself!

To watch some of the video recordings of Stage 4 please go to the menu Video / Concert or click here.

Live Studio Recordings

Style: Classical, Pop, Blues, Jazz, Latin and Free
Instruments: Acoustic piano (Roland Superb Grand Piano)

Take #1 | | Recorded in the NextSteps Projects Studio on 27-05-2007.

Track 1. Contemplations Take 1 Part 1