fhydan - 3-30-2009 at 10:41 PM
Hi folks,
It was a little intimidating considering how good some of the clips here are. However, I uploaded a taqsim. It is such a great opportunity to have
access to a forum like this.
I would greatly appreciate any comments on how to learn and improve myself!
Here
Marcus - 3-30-2009 at 10:56 PM
Hi fhydan 
the link does not work.Please post it again.
Regards
Marcus
fhydan - 3-30-2009 at 11:16 PM
AHah. Oops.
Fixed!
Marcus - 3-30-2009 at 11:37 PM
Hi again fhydan
well done 
Your risha-tremolo is very good, compared to mine, and the
taqsim sounds pretty arabesk. Like you said, most clips here are really good, so I´m still to shy to post my "western style playing" here.But I work
on it!!
How you record your playing? There are some kind of digital scretches in it that nearly blow my speakers away
)
All the best,
Marcus
fhydan - 3-30-2009 at 11:46 PM
Thank you.
Oh yeah. I just remembered those. I used my webcam for lack of a mic. I don't know what's up with those scratching noises. Sorry about those. 
Masel - 3-31-2009 at 12:13 AM
Sorry the peaks were too loud for me, but you do have a good tremolo, and a nice sound. You asked for criticism so I guess I'd say it would do you
good to study (from listening and or/theory) the wonderful world of seyir, at some points it sounded a little like you didn't exactly know exactly
what you want to say. But keep up the good work!
fhydan - 3-31-2009 at 12:23 AM
Thank you Masel.
Do you know of any good online sources I can use to learn more about seyir?
Edward Powell - 3-31-2009 at 01:45 PM
Sounds really promising!
Your sound is great (but the digital scratches are horrible ))
What I would suggest is that you need some clear direction, and long pauses.
For example--- play in one tetrachord at a time (allowing yourself to extend above or below it by about one note only). Within that tetrachord choose
one note to "revolve around". Then go for it... hinting at that "target note"- but note fully stopping on it- teasing- until you finally finish the
paragraph stopping on the target note ---
T H E N P A U S E - - - - (always wait until you really FEEL like playing again - But then wait JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER)
...then on to the next tetrachord - or same tetrachord but different targetnote. For example if you are playing USSAK or Arabic BAYATI, you could
start with the bayati tetrachord, but make your targetnote Dugah-note. Then next stay in bayati tetrachord but make NEVA (nawa) your target note.
keep moving like this, and you can design your own "road map" for an entire taksim this way. One trick - and something my sitar teacher always told
me, is that the most important thing is that there always should be a LINK between all phrases. For example.... in your first tetrachord (bayati
with dugah target)... do this as you normally would, BUT keep in mind where you will go next, and while you are still in the first tetrachord, give a
little "taste" or "hint" of where you will go next. This means that in your first tetrachord you are fucusing on teasing the listener around the dugah
(RE in Arab tuning) note. However, in order that you will make a smooth jump to focusing on the neva note in your second paragraph, it is a very good
idea to play a lot of neva just at the end of the first paragraph (before concluding it on the targetnote dugah). This way you don't actually yet
shift the focus to the neva note, but you give a strong "pointer" in that direction... so when you start your second paragraph, it feels very
comfortable to then focus on neva.... etc etc etc you keep building it.
fhydan - 4-1-2009 at 01:41 AM
Wow Edward that actually makes a lot of sense.
Thank you! I'll definately try practicing that!
Edward Powell - 4-1-2009 at 01:58 AM
Good!
What I finally figured out, and what at least works for me - is that the VERY ESSENTIAL seyir, is quite basic and simple... but you have it there, and
it needs to be respected.
Then, the next layer, is you have a whole range of "possible" tiny modulations available for your choice - you can use these small stopping points or
not- it is up to you. But many of them are extremely common, and are sometimes considered essential parts of the seyir. Actually they are not
essential, but still a choice.
In the beginning I think it is good to design your own roadmap. Of course, eventually when all the tricks and possibilities are internalized there
will be no more need to pre-plan.
I'm looking forward to your next taksim sample