Hello guys, welcome to another episode of TwoSet Violin!
And that's right, this is not your usual setting!
Look at this! What do we have behind us?
- Wow! - A huge organ!
Of course, we have our teacher here, Hsiao-yi.
Hello.
Teacher Hsiao-yi.
- Mm-hmm. - She's an amazing organist,
and she'll be trying to teach us
how to play the organ in one hour.
We're in Kaohsiung right now, and...
I believe this is the largest organ in Asia.
- 9,000 pipes. - Yes.
That's a lot of pipes!
Yeah, you guys are gonna hear a lot of pipes in one go.
So, those with headphones...
Just, be prepared.
When we start learning to play the organ,
we need to do three things.
The first thing is you need to have the organ shoes.
Brett: Organ shoes. Hsiao-yi: These shoes align with the angle of the foot pedals.
Brett: Then I won't be able to play.
So you can take your shoes off first.
- Eddy: Okay, bye-bye shoes. - Brett: Bye-bye.
- This way, your feet will be more agile. - Okay.
The second thing is that we need a pipe organ,
and it needs to be a good one.
So you are incredibly fortunate today,
to have the biggest pipe organ in all of Asia.
Yes.
- And then the third thing is to have a good teacher. - The Strad.
In that case, you have the best teacher.
Yeah, there we go!
Everyone hear that?
You've already met all three requirements,
and so now you can play!
I slipped. Oopsies.
Use your foot to lift the crescendo pedal.
Oh, lift it?
Did you see that, guys? It just changed.
Brett: Whoa, damn.
- Brett: Whoa! Did you see that? - Eddy: Whoa...!
Press it gradually to try it out.
Eddy: Sounds like heaven. Hsiao-yi: Crescendo.
Yooo!
- Dude, the... It's like Interstellar. - Yeah! - That's right.
- The movie. Interstellar! - Yeah, it is!
Wow, it's fast! Nice!
- How do I play this? - Here.
Oh, is it...
Oh, okay.
The foot pedal, re.
- Hsiao-yi: Yes. But you can't move your butt! - Brett: No moving!
Whoa!
Do I use the foot pedals for all these?
It's not that hard in reality, right?
Pipe organ sheet music has three lines.
- Yeah! - So earlier, you kind of forgot about this line.
This is all using your feet.
Oh, right right right.
Oh, yeah, of course! The...
Oh, sorry. Oh my god.
How about you try the crescendo on the loudest setting?
And then you play by yourself?
- Brett: This one? - Hsiao-yi: Yes.
- Eddy: Huh? You're going to try crescendo by yourself? - Hsiao-yi: Yes, and then remember this... - Brett: Let's go!
Hsiao-yi: Yes. 60.
- Brett: Oh, 60. Start on 60? - Eddy: And the loudest one?!
This Bach piece is often used by pipe organ experts
to assess the organ's "lung capacity."
So just go for it.
Oh.
- Everyone uses this piece to assess how strong the organ is. - Ah, okay.
- So you can just set it to the highest one. - Would it be louder if I press harder?
No, it won't. The volume control is here.
- So this doesn't have anything to do with volume? - Yes, exactly.
- Wow. - Yeah!
Alright, Eddy's turn!
- Dude, I can't wait! - Have fun!
- Eddy gets the next part. - Oh, the next part.
It's like I'm flying a spaceship.
It's like a spaceship!
The pipe organ has multiple manuals so that
you can achieve different dialogues.
So each level is housed at a different height.
For the next three phrases, you can play it as one, two, three.
That way, there will be a sense of layering.
Sorry.
I think that the...
I'm not used to it. On the piano, once you press the key,
- the sound comes out right away. - Yes. Right.
- Here, when you press the key, the sound has to travel. - Right. - Yeah, that's the thing, right?
If we're playing with an ensemble, we have to be faster.
- A bit earlier? Ah, gotta anticipate it. - A bit earlier, so we can align.
That's so hard!
The pipe organ is our teacher.
We need to be in this space in order to experience this instrument.
When organs are designed, they must first take into account
the space of the church or concert hall.
So once you play, you will control your own...
...touch and sound.
I don't even need to tell you where to slow down...
or anything like that.
Once you start playing, you'll know.
Eddy: Yes, yes.
- Okay, next part. - Okay.
Here. Let's just play. This bit.
Oh, yes! I love this bit.
This bit is my favorite.
We can start with some imagination.
Because if you play it the same way, it won't work.
In fact, it sounds like violin playing.
The fugue part in this piece actually sounds like
a composition for violin.
There are many forms when it comes to Bach's fugues.
And this part mimics string instruments very closely.
- So you have to imagine the storm... - Sorry.
So your left hand is like...
kind of like... the rhythm,
and the right hand is the melodic line.
- Mmm. Okay. - Let's try. So don't focus on synchronizing.
Instead, focus on your right hand. Here...
Brett: Oh, ignore this.
Hsiao-yi: Your left hand is like...
I can do that.
Oh, wait wait wait...
Do I keep going?
Brett: What do I do now?
- Just keep going. Yes. - Keep going?
Brett: So my hands should be like this.
Keep your fingers as low as possible.
- Oh, okay, okay. Okay. - You can do this...
It doesn't get louder when you move too much.
- Be very focused, and touch lightly. - That's true.
The feet part isn't that easy here, is it?
There are so many notes for feet.
Let's play the feet part, shall we?
Nice. Now, close your eyes and play it twice.
One more time.
Oh, no!
And then add the "Re-La-Si..."
Hsiao-yi: Save it for later. Just the left hand.
Brett: Oh right.
Oh, right!
Ah, one more time.
Oh, no no no.
Okay, one more time.
Okay, now you add the chords in.
You're doing a very good job!
You can play the piece now!
Nice!
Oh, no!
Up or down?
I don't know!
Brett: Okay.
Hsiao-yi: Yay!
- Brett: Oh, wow. - Eddy: Nice!
Hsiao-yi: It's your turn.
- Eddy: Uh-oh. - Brett: That was stressful.
Eddy: It's my turn.
Hsiao-yi: I feel like you have better piano skills.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Thank you.
Guys, did you hear that?
One more time, one more time...
This phrase is very important.
Because we're counting on him to finish the whole piece.
- So you need to practice more. - Brett: Yeah!
- You need to practice more. - Okay.
The violin!
How you would play the violin.
Okay.
Okay, linger a bit.
Okay, so you have to remember that
in this piece, every pause,
every space is extremely important.
Every pause, the spacing.
You have to wait. No rushing.
That makes the biggest difference
between the organ and other instruments.
Okay!
When you're playing the feet,
play it like you're speaking.
So it's not meaningless.
- And it's not "whack-a-mole." - Eddy: Mm. Okay.
It does speak a language, like the hands.
- Hsiao-yi: So you gotta... - Eddy: Okay.
You gotta speak...
Let's try the feet part once.
Hsiao-yi: One more time.
And then we'll start from the beginning.
Oh, okay okay okay.
It's so scary!
Brett: Nice!
You both did a very great job!
- You guys are so good! - Thank you. - Thank you! Thank you!
That's the largest organ in Asia for you,
with 9085 pipes.
Go check out Hsiao-yi, in the links below.
See you guys next time. We need to go practice.
- Can I make a joke? - Oh yeah, go.
This organ is so expensive, I gotta sell my organ.
Not funny.