2018 Kawasaki Ninja 400 LED vs OEM front turn signal comparisonKeeper1st2024-10-17 | 2018 Kawasaki Ninja 400 LED vs OEM front turn signal comparisonArcimoto FUV hits 10,000 milesKeeper1st2024-04-24 | Just a little document of the moment my Arcimoto FUV reached the 10,000-mile mark.Pioneer Space Sim 2024, no autopilotKeeper1st2024-04-06 | Been over a year since I played Pioneer. I just got my custom build updated to the latest specs, so let's do some space travel.Skunk Hollow Blues, by Kathi BackusKeeper1st2024-04-05 | Tom Brier transcribed this performance by the composer: youtube.com/watch?v=4UR0NqMneAs
I'd like to have a "virtual piano roll" but the falling notes here are spaced like piano keys, so it isn't quite realistic. If someone out there is able to edit the open-source "Piano From Above" program to make the notes all evenly spaced and shaped, like a real piano roll, I'd love to see it for future video possibilities. github.com/brian-pantano/PianoFromAbove -- Particularly the "viz" branch which removes all the gamification and acts solely as a player.
I actually made this video in 2021, but only had posted it to Facebook, so here it is on YouTube.Post-surgery update (microdisectomy)Keeper1st2024-02-29 | ...The Shih-Tzu Blues, by Vincent Matthew JohnsonKeeper1st2024-02-24 | Vincent plays his own composition "The Shih-Tzu Blues (Oh You Lion Dog!)" at the 2023 West Coast Ragtime Festival.From 2015: Bantam Step played by Tom Brier & The Saloon SweetiesKeeper1st2024-02-22 | Here is a rag from 1916 by Harry Jentes, played at the 2015 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival by Tom Brier on piano, Julia Riley on piccolo, and the late Kitty Wilson on washboard.Update on my healthKeeper1st2024-02-10 | An update on my health, with a serious new diagnosis, and an upcoming surgery.Arcimoto FUV Snow Driving POVKeeper1st2024-01-07 | Finally snowed this season, so here is some POV of driving the Arcimoto FUV in snow. A little tricky on these uphill sections without snow tires, but possible.
Sorry about not having many ragtime videos lately. I suffered a spinal injury in March of 2023 which makes sitting at my PC painful, and that is where the music videos are. Uploading videos from the GoPro or iPad can be done from my couch.Arcimoto FUV road trip 200+ milesKeeper1st2023-10-22 | Cobbled together a little compilation of my trip to the 25th Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival in my Arcimoto FUV. Documenting the energy usage for each leg noting distance and elevation will allow future trips to be done in less time. Obviously a short-range EV never will be able to do a road trip in less time than my gasoline motorcycles, but it’s certainly more comfortable, and also quicker than a horse and buggy!Lake Tahoe sunset, Arcimoto FUV POV driveKeeper1st2023-10-21 | I’m trying out the GoPro Quik app on iPad here, mashing together three POV clips taken October 8th, 2023, while I rode south along the east side of Lake Tahoe at sunset. Seems I should be able to cobble together a single video record of this summer’s round trip of over 200 miles using this app, as I was documenting the road-trip experience — distances, energy usage, and charging.
For now, enjoy the local scenery!Red Wing (Kerry Mills) played at 2021 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime FestivalKeeper1st2023-10-15 | One of the most popular of the "Indian Intermezzo" tunes from the early 20th century, this was composed by Kerry Mills in 1907. Here it is played by an ensemble at the 2021 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival.
From left to right:
Matt Tolentino, saxophone Michael Chisholm, clarinet Bonnie Gonzales, viola Julia Riley, piccolo Mark Meeker, tuba Kevin Gunia, piano Virginia Tichenor, drums
Here's the song version: https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/149/055Arcimoto FUV 10-month, 6000-mile reviewKeeper1st2023-10-09 | Just a little ramble about what it’s been like owning the short-range electric Fun Utility Vehicle.Arcimoto FUV freeway driving (failed camera test)Keeper1st2023-09-29 | Camera placement was much too high, and the camera’s wind-cut feature is entirely ineffective, but as many people question whether an Arcimoto FUV is at all comfortable in or capable of freeway driving, I suppose it’s worth a post anyway. My wife was in the back seat, so this gives an example of how the FUV accelerates and handles with the weight of two occupants, even if you can’t hear me speaking nor see any of the interesting things I looked at because of the roll cage blocking the camera’s viewpoint.Virtual Tom Brier concert at 2023 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime FestivalKeeper1st2023-09-24 | I'm not a great presenter, and the video rather misses the point, which was to allow an audience to hear Tom's playing "live" once again, using captured performances of his when he played on recording pianos. Nevertheless, here's a document of the event. It starts at the end of the first number, Quintessence, which was begun while chairs were being set up following a silent movie set where everyone had to be faced the other way.
The movie set ended 15 minutes early, so this concert began earlier than scheduled, so people were still making their way in for a first few pieces, and I ended up playing more pieces that were planned.
The camera is too close to the piano so dynamics are lost a lot, but it was all I could manage with the camera plugged in somewhere.Arcimoto FUV POV drive, Geiger Grade Road to Virginia City, NevadaKeeper1st2023-03-19 | Thought I'd record a bit of my cruise around Northern Nevada today in the FUV. Unfortunately when I started recording I must have immediately hit the button to stop the video, as it recorded for only a few seconds. Once I noticed the camera was off, I pulled over at the next turnout and that's where this video begins.
Where it ends actually is not quite "next to Piper's Opera house" as I stated, but rather next to the Virginia City DMV, which is housed in the historic Storey County Jailhouse. Piper's Opera House is the yellow building just beyond it.Weeping Willow & Sobbing Sycamore, played by Eve Elliott & Monty SuffernKeeper1st2023-02-25 | As Eve Elliott plays Scott Joplin's "Weeping Willow" from 1903, Monty Suffern plays his companion piece "Sobbing Sycamore", at the 2022 West Coast Ragtime Festival. http://www.westcoastragtime.com
Monty has done a few of these "companion" works which use the same chord sequence as a well-known classic rag and can be played independently or simultaneously with the base work.Pioneer Space Sim 2023, no autopilotKeeper1st2023-02-05 | Feel free to chat while I play some of the open-source Pioneer Space Sim in full manual control.
No questions about Tom Brier will be acknowledged; this stream is not the place for that. See the channel's Community tab for a link to the Tom Brier Discord server to chat about Tom and see what little updates there are.Pioneer Space Sim 2023, no autopilotKeeper1st2023-02-05 | Feel free to chat while I play some of the open-source Pioneer Space Sim in full manual control.
No questions about Tom Brier will be acknowledged; this stream is not the place for that. See the channel's Community tab for a link to the Tom Brier Discord server to chat about Tom and see what little updates there are.Panamericana (Victor Herbert) played by The PianophiendsKeeper1st2023-02-04 | The modern-day Pianophiends consist of Michael Chisholm, Kevin Gunia and Frederick Hodges. Here they play Victor Herbert's "Panamericana: Morceau Characteristique" from 1901 at the 2022 West Coast Ragtime Festival.Arcimoto FUV cold weather start; How to clear Drive Fault errorKeeper1st2023-02-04 | A follow-up from the previous video, recorded the same day. Originally only posted to the Arcimoto FUV Owners Club on Facebook, but was found useful for other owners in cold climates, so I post it here to be more widely available.
Still not sure what causes the horrible grinding noise later in the video, nor if it is of any serious concern. It has not affected performance noticeably yet, and goes away in warmer temperatures or after enough use to warm up the system.Arcimoto FUV operation in 2°F (-17°C)Keeper1st2023-01-31 | Just documenting a new benchmark record cold trip in the Arcimoto FUV.Arcimoto FUV Winter Driving Experience So Far, Cold & SnowKeeper1st2023-01-06 | Just a little video blog about how it has been driving the Arcimoto FUV electric trike in cold and snow conditions, particularly when it has been left outside unplugged during my work shifts.
The second time I talk about getting understeer, the word "oversteer" came out of my mouth without me realizing it. Of course I know better with my decades of experience in motorsport as a journalist and fan. I am a stutterer naturally and it is very difficult for me to speak while doing anything else (like driving!) so sometimes the wrong thing comes out and I don't even realize it, e.g. in a Facebook video I kept saying "SUV" when talking about the FUV, and never noticed until playing back the recording. I did pretty well this time around, all things considered.
http://www.arcimoto.comSwipesy, played by The Easy Winners string bandKeeper1st2022-12-27 | Merged with high-quality audio courtesy of Rob Thomas (but with frame rate reduced -- sorry), here are The Easy Winners playing Swipesy Cakewalk by Arthur Marshall and Scott Joplin, published in 1900, at the 2022 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival. https://www.easywinners.band/Reminiscence (Tom Brier) played by Will PerkinsKeeper1st2022-12-16 | Tom composed this in 2000. Here, Will performs it at the 2022 West Coast Ragtime Festival. Join the Tom Brier Discord server discord.gg/3AhzJZ4 to chat about ragtime, Tom, and see any updates about him that may come along.Arcimoto FUV Snow Day Report, 11 Dec 2022Keeper1st2022-12-12 | Talking about how my first proper snow day with the FUV went. I forgot to mention how the linear power delivery of the electric motors as well as being able to hear wheel slip made controlling the power delivery just right in the slippery condition really easy.Baltimore Todolo played by Martin SpitznagelKeeper1st2022-12-04 | Martin Spitznagel martinspitznagel.com plays the Baltimore Todolo by Eubie Blake, composed around 1910, at the 2022 West Coast Ragtime Festival.Quick look at my new Arcimoto FUVKeeper1st2022-11-19 | Just thrown together quickly as I have to start packing for traveling to the West Coast Ragtime Festival tomorrow morning.Tiger Rag played by Matt Tolentino, accordionKeeper1st2022-11-05 | At the 2022 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, Matt Tolentino plays some hot accordion on the classic Tiger Rag. matttolentino.comCassandra (1918) by George Tompkins, with 3 bass flutes!Keeper1st2022-07-09 | At the 2021 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, an ensemble plays the slow foxtrot "Cassandra" by Geo. Tompkins from 1918.
From left to right:
Matt Tolentino, saxophone Michael Chisholm, flutes (and arranger) Bonnie Gonzales, flutes Julia Riley, flutes Mark Meeker, tuba Kevin Gunia, piano Virginia Tichenor, drumsThe Chevy Chase, played by Virginia Tichenor with Tom Brier in 2016Keeper1st2022-04-13 | At the 2016 Santa Cruz Ragtime Festival, Virginia Tichenor plays Eubie Blake's 1914 hit "The Chevy Chase" with Tom Brier improvising a second-piano accompaniment.
Having been copyrighted and published originally in 1914, the music is in the public domain and is freely available to download from various sources, such as: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/2088/ or https://repository.duke.edu/dc/hasm/n0097Pioneer Space Sim no-autopilot gameplayKeeper1st2022-03-30 | Feel free to chat while I play some of the open-source Pioneer Space Sim in full manual control.Chicken Chowder, played by Michael Chisholm, Kevin Gunia & Frederick Hodges (wind noise affected)Keeper1st2022-03-03 | A nearby fan was blowing right across the microphone and created terrible noise, unfortunately, but this rendition of Irene Giblin's 1905 ragtime hit "Chicken Chowder" is too good to delete!
Download the sheet music here: loc.gov/item/ihas.200033513 https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/170/062 oregondigital.org/sets/sheetmusic/oregondigital:3n203z105#page/1/mode/1upRagtime Party 2015: Waiting For the Robert E. LeeKeeper1st2021-12-23 | Ryan Wishner is later joined by Vincent Matthew Johnson on the left piano while Tom Brier plays the right piano in this rousing after-hours rendition of the 1912 hit song "Waiting For the Robert E. Lee" -- music by Lewis F. Muir. This was at a late-night party during the weekend of the 2015 Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival.
The music is in the public domain. Many sheet music archives have the score available for download, including the Library of Congress here: loc.gov/item/ihas.100007899Очи чёрные (Dark Eyes) played by Brian Holland & Carl Sonny Leyland with Danny CootsKeeper1st2021-10-26 | At the 2021 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, pianists Brian Holland (left) and Carl Sonny Leyland improvise a duet of this famous Russian folk song, accompanied on drums by Danny Coots. http://www.historicsuttercreekragtimefestival.comTom Briers 50th Birthday, live-captured performances played on my player pianoKeeper1st2021-10-03 | Tom Brier turns 50 years old on October 3, 2021. To celebrate, I have cleaned up and prepared several actual performances by Tom that were captured on a recording piano years ago, which I will play back live on my player piano. I have a second microphone that I can turn on between numbers to talk about them and any stories about Tom that come to mind.What Became of the Ice Cream Emporium?Keeper1st2021-09-06 | The Sutter Creek Ice Cream Emporium, where many of my videos were recorded, closed in 2020. Another business in town relocated into the building -- Choc-O-Latte. Here is a look inside during the 2021 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, as Michael Chisholm (piano), Julia Riley (piccolo), Mark Meeker (tuba) and Patrick Skiffington (washboard) perform.Fairview Rag (Andrew Barrett) played by Kylan deGhetaldiKeeper1st2021-08-19 | From the 2021 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival. Kylan de Ghetaldi played a set of all contemporary ragtime, including this one by Andrew Barrett. http://www.historicsuttercreekragtimefestival.comJumpin Jitters, by Jaime CardenasKeeper1st2021-08-08 | Last year, Jaime asked if I would render this stride compositions of his on my player piano, and I did. I just hadn't gotten around to posting it yet!5-lap sprint race, Lola T290 @ Österreichring, rFactor 2Keeper1st2021-08-08 | Intense short race from a fun-run of sprint races a few weeks ago.On Emancipation Day (1902) with lyrics (warning: period dialect/vocabulary)Keeper1st2021-06-19 | This song from the groundbreaking all-black musical "In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy" describes the scene at an Emancipation Day parade of the time. In the late 19th century through to just after the beginning of the 20th, many places in the U.S. celebrated Emancipation Day (often in April to commemorate the first act of emancipation, but different dates in different places). I think, like the holding of cakewalks, the celebrations fell out of favor in most places as the prevailing opinion of the day became that you can never be totally free from slavery if you're constantly reminding yourself (and others) of it. Today obviously the prevailing opinion has shifted to one of a desire not to forget those who endured it.
There were two arrangements of this published in 1902. I used the one with more interesting harmonics. I put the vocal line an octave high, so apart from the piano solo arrangement I created after the first chorus, the way this plays is not playable by two hands. The arrangement I used is here: loc.gov/item/ihas.100005224 the simpler arrangement is here: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3493&context=mmb-vprFactor 2 SR4L Porsche RSR 1973 Watkins Glen Race 2 from my cockpitKeeper1st2021-06-18 | Had an exciting 14-lap race starting P8 from the grid. Wanted to save the replay as a video, so did it as a stream to YouTube for want of disk space. http://www.simracers4life.comSmoke, helicopters fighting Jacks Valley Fire, from my living room windowKeeper1st2021-06-10 | A few clips I shot from my living room window about half an hour ago. I had been at a friend's house in that area shortly before. The roads going in were closed when I left. All my motorcycle gear reeks of smoke now having ridden through that. The winds are just barely keeping the smoke away from us for the most part, but they're traveling less than a block away.Three-wide heading to Canada Corner in rFactor 2 sim race, 1973 Porsche 911Keeper1st2021-06-09 | Just a brief clip of an exciting moment from an online league race on Sunday. Sim is rFactor 2.(Back Home Again in) Indiana, played by Carl Sonny Leyland (boogie-woogie)Keeper1st2021-05-08 | From the 2016 Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival. It's May, so time for this song from 1917 with music by James F. Hanley, which for decades now has been played prior to the start of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Here, Sonny plays it in boogie-woogie style.
Being from 1917, the song is in the public domain. You can download the original score from here: https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/sheetmusic/738/
For months I've been unable to upload old videos because my PC wasn't getting along with the external drive on which the videos are stored -- some kind of driver issue causing the drive (and even my video camera) to constantly disconnect and reconnect. This issue appears to have been resolved now.Transcriptions of Tom Brier performances played on my player pianoKeeper1st2021-04-04 | A few people have been transcribing performances by Tom Brier from his albums, videos and audio recordings. As I get MIDI files of them I've been editing them so they can play back on a physical piano. I expect the transcribers and people in general would like to hear them, so I'll present them here.
There are more transcriptions I know about than are presented here. I will not be playing transcriptions of tunes for which I have actual live-captured performances by Tom (e.g. Parallelograms, Redneck Rag, Razor Blades, Red Roadster Rag, etc.), as obviously the hand-played renditions sound better.
I have seen some more transcriptions out there but do not have MIDI files of them as of yet (e.g. I've seen a completed transcription of the Ghosts'n'Goblins sight-read, whereas what I have is an unfinished rendition). Anyone who's transcribing these things who'd like to hear them played on my piano is encouraged to send MIDI files my way!
These transcriptions are by many different people, including Cezary Slawecki, "mlololer", Seth Pennell, and others I can't recall of the top of my head (but will add names to this description if I am reminded of them!), so the quality of the playback can very greatly. Emlyn Lewis provided some of them; he has had a few transcriptions done on commission by various people (Christina Fordham for example).
They've all been edited somewhat for playback on the physical piano (note separation is key). In some cases I made other changes, e.g. adding sustain pedal, correcting wrong notes or adding missed notes where obvious (some of those wrong notes were Tom's, so I'm correcting them into what he intended to play).
I'm sure many will be asking for an update on Tom, so here's what I know: In January after only about four months at the Centre for Neuro Skills, Tom was moved in with his parents. There has been no indication as to why his stay at CNS was so brief. Perhaps there just isn't much more to be done, or his family was not happy with them for some reason. They did indicate that he still can not speak much, and that they suspect he lacks short-term memory (something I suspected as well, though his memory of events prior to the 2016 accident remains impeccable).
Timestamps: 0:00 - Ghosts 'n Goblins 2:01 - K.K. Ragtime (Animal Crossing) 4:35 - Animaniacs Theme Song 6:05 - Blame It on the Blues (Charles L. Cooke) 9:25 - Blue Lampshade (Brier Original) 14:10 - Blue Lampshade 2.0 19:59 - Last Rag (Devil May Cry) 24:18 - Snakey Chantey (Donkey Kong Country 2) 28:08 - Fumble Fingers (Brier Original) 31:11 - Gumball! (Sonic the Hedgehog 3) 35:21 - "Tom Making Up Stuff off the Top of His Head" 38:50 - "Tom Making Up a Waltz off the Top of His Head" 42:22 - Lucky Me (Brier Original) 44:57 - Meditation (Brier Original) 50:05 - No Foolin' (Brier Original) 53:52 - Nyan Cat! 1:00:34 - Patient is the Night (Over the Garden Wall) 1:05:09 - Rhythmodik (Brier Original) 1:08:11 - Cool, Cool Mountain! (Super Mario 64) 1:14:10 - Southern Tradition (Brier Original) 1:17:10 - Strollin' (Brier Original) 1:21:49 - Sunlight and Shadow (Brier Original) 1:26:03 - Birabuto Kingdom! (Super Mario Land) 1:28:58 - Credits! (Super Mario Land 2) 1:36:33 - Credits! (Super Mario World) 1:41:33 - Overworld! (Super Mario Bros.) 1:44:41 - Cetus (Tom Brier and Neil Blaze) 1:48:46 - Spring Yard Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog) 1:54:36 - Fluffy Ruffles (Cecil Duane Crabb) 1:57:10 - Hot Hands (Charley Straight) 1:59:51 - Lolita - A Tropical Dance (Luis Moreno) 2:05:06 - Peril in Pantomime! (Brier Original) 2:08:19 - Queen of the Roses (Charlotte Blake) 2:14:05 - Shooting Range (Ocarina of Time) 2:16:57 - Temptation Rag (Henry Lodge) 2:19:33 - Terra Vertigo (Brier Remix) 2:22:24 - Korobeiniki (Tetris) 2:27:54 - Horse Race (Ocarina of Time) 2:30:35 - Athletic Theme! (Yoshi's Island) 2:32:50 - Credits! (The Legend of Zelda)Julia Riley and Tom Brier (in absentia) play two tunes, Sutter Creek 2020 / 2008Keeper1st2020-12-17 | In 107-degree heat in August of 2020, Julia Riley plays a couple of songs backed by playbacks of live-captured accompaniments by Tom Brier from a 2008 concert in which they had played the same tunes. They are "Breakaway" -- a song from the Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 -- and "A Precious Little Thing Called Love" by Lou Davis and J. Fred Coots, published in 1928.Where we got with Lightwood Games 2020 Christmas Puzzle CardKeeper1st2020-12-17 | Disappointed to say I'm stumped this year. lightwoodgames.comMy Mad Scientist Rag player-piano arrangement by Adam RametKeeper1st2020-10-31 | Adam Ramet created this absolutely mad arrangement of my "Mad Scientist Rag" which I wrote on September 9th, 2001. He even transposed it into the even madder key of A-flat minor (it was composed in the sensible key of E minor).Tom Brier update 2020Keeper1st2020-10-10 | Links to things mentioned in the video: discord.gg/3AhzJZ4 youtube.com/watch?v=vZ_n5fAltX8 musescore.com/user/19465036/scores/6327000A Cruel Angels Thesis 残酷な天使のテーゼ player piano 自動ピアノKeeper1st2020-09-07 | I used an orchestrated MIDI file and re-voiced it, removing and adding some things, to create a player-piano arrangement (with the synth providing drums) for the famous theme to Neon Genesis Evangelion.