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Inside the Piano - 21st Century Improvisations

by Hsia-Jung Chang

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    Comes in a gatefold card case designed by Bai Ma, the alter ego of Hsia-Jung Chang, featuring the inside of the piano as a psychedelic landscape in pink. The inner panel has a special Chopin Bug drawn by artist Stephanie Yue.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Inside the Piano - 21st Century Improvisations via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Chopin Bug 04:53
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Ukulele Lady 05:17
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about

Reviews and Bests lists:
This is a fascinating collection of experimental music that is accessible, surprising, witty, reflective and often eerily beautiful, especially the lovely Drunk on Taiji. The album is highly recommended. . .
John Pitt, New Classics of UK


Best of 2008 - Don Campau's "No Pigeonholes" KKUP Radio.

Best Recordings of 2009 - Joel Krutt's "Pushing The Envelope" WHUS Radio

Liner Notes:
These improvisations are unedited explorations, mostly inside the piano, recorded on August 5, 2006. My sister Hsi-Ling set up the microphones and left me alone for the day with my mallets, oscillators, walnut husks, newspaper, spray bottle, and the remote. My original intention was to explore sound ideas for my Taiji teacher’s DVD, at his request. For this I had planned to evoke the qin, my favorite Chinese string instrument. However, improvisations have a way of deviating from original intention, and I soon found myself in the realm of the subconscious, of serendipitous and psychedelic sound collages, unraveling stories narrated by strange voices from other dimensions. I will be the first to admit this music is not suited for dinner parties or driving in the car. Listening to it in a quiet environment with the lights off works the best for me.

1) Japanese Sounds - First experiment using the walnut.

2) Chopin Bug - A pianist’s practice is interrupted by a bug and its swarm of friends.

3) Drunk on Taiji - Based on my favorite Chinese qin tune 酒狂(Drunken Craze) by Ruan Ji from the 1st Century. Inspired by the flowing energy and joy that underlies the deceptively quiet movements of Taiji, this improvisation is dedicated to my father H.T. Chang who first taught me Taiji quan when I was ten, and to my Chen Taiji teacher Ren Guang-Yi.

4) Le Gibet Revisited - Inspired by Aloysius Bertrand’s poem Le Gibet in which a listener, hearing the incessant bells of the gallows, takes an imaginary journey of horror as his subconscious slowly unravels what the ringing bells imply.

5) Ukulele Lady - Piano strumming.

6) Lullaby of the Insomniac - Inspired by those unidentifiable sounds in the dark the restless mind amplifies while trying desperately to fall asleep. This lullaby is not recommended for putting children under the age of 12 to bed.

7) Willows in the Wind (version 2) - Inspired by the excellent piano piece The Willows are New by Chou Wen-Chung. Chou’s piece is based on a famous qin piece called Yang Guan Qu, set to the poetry of 8th-century poet Wang Wei. The poem describes friends sharing a last drink under the green willow trees before one of them travels west of the Yang Guan mountain pass, beyond which there will be no more friends. In this version, I imagined what the willows said during all this.

Many thanks to Ho Lan, Hsi-Ling Chang, Judith Sherman, Elizabeth Kitzinger, Aaron Mendez, Al Rufino, David Sumrell, and Tony Visconti for their expert advice and words of encouragement. Special thanks to percussionist Amy Stubbs who generously gave me her old mallets for this recording.
Hsia-Jung Chang
2008, New York City
©&℗ 2008 by Mandala Studio LLC

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released October 16, 2020

Engineer: Hsi-Ling Chang, Design: Bai Ma, Bug: Stephanie Yue

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Hsia-Jung Chang New York, New York

Pianist/Composer Hsia-Jung Chang performs classical solo piano music, runs the indie label Mandala Studio, and is acting Music Director at Wantagh Memorial Congregational Church. Her label Mandala Studio has released critically acclaimed recordings of classical piano music, experimental music, yodeling tracks by Taiwanese yodeler Ho Lan, and songs in varied styles of Funk, Gospel, and Pop. ... more

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