Ask Greg & Liz: Recording

 

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Dear Greg & Liz,

after your cd/dvd arrived at home today (in germany) i wondered if there will be a cd or dvd available from the star wars transcriptions? or maybe some other pieces like the sabre dance? i couldn't find information on your page about these things (perhaps i didn't search deeply enough) thanks for sharing your great talents with us

- Andreas

 

Dear Andreas,

 

A record label flirted with the possibility of recording the Star Wars transcriptions a while back, but as it currently stands, there are no plans to record this work. Our latest album required an enormous investment of time and energy to produce; nonetheless, we've already started tossing around dozens of ideas for future releases. We can't wait! Whenever our plans start to materialize, we'll start planting teasers online... :)

 

First, we need to finish editing the second trailer for "Reimagine!"

 

-Greg & Liz

 

Dear Greg & Liz,

I'm curious about your upcoming debut album! Why did you guys choose Reimagine as your album title? What is its significance and what messages would you like your album to convey? I'm really excited about the album and can't wait to hear more information about it! :)

- Jennifer

 

Dear Jennifer,

 

We're really excited about the album too! We poured vast amounts of energy, time, expense, and love into the album and we are proud of the result.

 

The title, "Reimagine," was inevitable. We've reimagined virtually everything we do as a piano duo, and we wanted our album to convey our unique approach to classical music.

 

Most notably, we've reimagined the music we play: everything on the album is composed or arranged by us (other than our intense rendition of The Rite of Spring, which is itself a reimagining of the orchestral version). This reimagining of music occurs in a variety of ways. For example, consider our two versions of Danse macabre: the CD begins with our "Remix" of Danse macabre; it's a complete departure from the original and an entirely new work in our distinctive musical language, although it employs the familiar motives from Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre and Fossils. The CD concludes with a much more traditional approach to the piece; we honor the spirit of the original but recreate the music according to the strengths of our instrumentation.

 

Of course, we haven't just reimagined the music we play. We've reimagined the concept of four hands at one piano; we treat one piano/four-hands as not only something suited to domestic life, but as something with huge potential for the grand concert stage. We've reimagined our approach to the presentation of classical music (view our music videos for an example of this!). We've reimagined the nature of a piano duo relationship. Unlike most piano duos, our relationship is not defined by family or romance, but by friendship, a friendship that yields awesome adrenaline and joy and shapes our collaborations as composers, performers, and creators. And finally, we reimagined our concept of a classical music album. We approached our album as independent producers (without the backing of a record label) so that we could retain complete artistic control over the album's content, design, and marketing. The album contains exciting repertoire that we love (and that we composed ourselves!), a bonus DVD featuring several of our YouTube videos, expansive and beautifully designed packaging, and short commentary written by us about our approach to music ("reimagine!"), about the nature of music listening, and about the beauty of collaboration. We have some bold marketing plans in the works, but we'd like for those plans to remain a surprise just yet!

 

What is the significance of the album and what messages would we like it to convey? This album will defy your expectations on all levels; it is shocking, exciting, revolutionary, and sophisticated, and it will resonate with you in a personal and powerful way. What is the music about? It's about the human experience, it's about racing heartbeats and physical friction, it's about the passions that undulate beneath the restraint of daily life, about the timelessness of dreams, the manic states of being, the unrest of our current times.

 

The official release date is January 15, 2008. Subscribers to the andersonroe.net mailing list will be able to purchase the CD earlier.

 

Thanks for your question!

 

- Greg & Liz

 

Dear Greg & Liz,

I cannot wait to hear "Danse Macabre" from you :D please hurry and thanks again for playing.

Andreas

 

Dear Andreas,

 

There's a lot that needs to happen before our CD is released; namely, people have yet to edit the audio recordings, create the master, write the "considerations for listening" (liner notes), design the packaging, build the DVD menu, and produce all the copies. We're aiming to release the CD (with a bonus DVD) in early November.

 

As for the "Danse macabre" - you're in luck. We recorded two versions of the piece. One version is our arrangement which you can hear on our website's music player; the other version is our modernized take on the same tune (titled "Fossil Jamboree") from our own depiction of the Carnival of the Animals. We hope you like both versions!

 

Be sure to join our mailing list to receive notification of the CD/DVD release!

 

- Greg & Liz

 

Dear Greg & Liz,

i could write pages about how much i love your music and thanking you for posting it. are there any videos available like for the starwars themes? the videos on youtube, is that all? i am gonna buy any cd or dvd when you both bring it out :D thanks a lot again and please never stop ;)

- andreas

 

Dear Andreas,

 

Great question! You will be thrilled to learn that we have two new videos on the way. After two weeks of shoots and the usual hilarity, the filming will wrap this afternoon. Expect the post-production to take a month or two (it's never an easy task!). We love surprises (in case you hadn't already noticed) so we won't tell you everything, but here's a quick teaser:

 

Video #1: Relatively straight-forward film of the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo performing one of their own two-piano arrangements.

Video #2: Completely off-the-wall satire on a yet-to-be-disclosed subject, putting Anderson & Roe's acting chops on full display.

 

As for the CD or DVD you hope to buy, you'll be getting both later this fall! We've recorded the CD (check out our blog entries here) and we're presently in the editing process. For those of you interested, the CD will feature our trademark Anderson & Roe transcriptions and compositions as well as Stravinsky's mammoth Rite of Spring. We'll release it with a DVD of our YourTube videos you've grown to love (in addition to Video #1 mentioned above), now with thirty high-resolution frames per second, instead of a mere 15 grainy frames. The packaging will be pretty cool too - read this for a full account of the photo shoot.

 

As always, join our mailing list to be notified of concerts in your area, in addition to score, video, and CD releases!

 

- Greg & Liz

 

Dear Greg & Liz,

First of all, I just discovered you, you are both marvellous! I keep watching your stuff, and the outtakes too. The videos are very professional recorded, is there anywhere they are actually downloadable? I'd like to actually "have" them, on my lap.. ...top. Keep up the good work!

Kristian

 

Dear Kristian,

 

Haha. :-) Glad to know you're enjoying the videos!

 

You're in luck. We plan to release a CD this fall, and if all goes well, we'll package it with a DVD. Sign up for our mailing list and we'll let you know the details as soon as they become available!

 

Perhaps if we find a generous donor, we can acquire more bandwidth for our website and offer video downloads for iPods and other video players.

 

Thanks for your enthusiasm!

- Greg & Liz