Announcing my album
At long last, my (first) album, Ben Nacar plays Ben Nacar, is available for purchase over at my Bandcamp page! You can either buy the digital download immediately, or pre-order the CD (the latter should be available for shipping around mid-October). [EDIT: The CDs are running slightly behind schedule (my fault, not the CD manufacturer's), but they should still be ready to ship out before the end of October.] [EDIT 2: CDs are in stock now!]
Potential FAQ
Yay! Okay, so what's on this album?
This is a compilation of ten of my original solo piano compositions. Eight of them have been heard in public before, either at my recitals or on my YouTube channel. However, with the exception of "Burning of the Gaspee", I have re-recorded most of them for the album. The two extra tracks, "Ghost Story" and "Toccata Demoniaca", I plan to play at my Halloween recitals this year.
Wait, so why should I buy the album if I can just listen to most of the pieces on YouTube?
You mean besides making yourself feel good about supporting one of your favorite contemporary composer-pianists? Well, the biggest practical reason is that I might get hit by a bus tomorrow and/or YouTube might randomly decide that my channel is subversive and take it down. I'm not a fan of relying on free or subscription services to enjoy music. If you want to be sure you can listen to something whenever, best to have an actual copy in your actual possession. EDIT: Not to mention YouTube has been stuffing advertisements into even non-monetized channels, and now it sounds like they're trying to block ad blockers, so if you want to listen to this music without ads and you don't like the idea of paying for YouTube Premium, you have the option of paying me instead, one-time only instead of a subscription.
Besides, as mentioned above, most of the recordings on the album were done specifically for the album, so you may notice some interpretative differences between those and the YouTube versions.
Doesn't Bandcamp let you preview entire tracks?
Yes, but only a few times each.
Why should I buy the digital download instead of the CD?
Because it's cheaper? That's the only compelling reason in my book.
Why should I buy the CD instead of the digital download?
I personally prefer hard copies, in case all my devices spontaneously melt down. Sure, you could buy the digital download and then burn it to a CD yourself. But then you'd miss out on the nice CD jacket and the matching disc!
Will you be releasing this on vinyl?
I'm not a vinyl guy, but I'll consider it if there is substantial interest.
Will you ship outside of the USA?
Yes, within practical limits.
Where can I get the sheet music?
Scores for a few of the pieces are already available over at IMSLP. I plan to make the others available by Christmas.
Why should I buy the album if I can just download the sheet music and play these pieces myself?
I don't know, I guess the composer's own interpretations are supposed to be authoritative? But if you'd rather play the pieces yourself and play them differently, more power to you!
Posted September 28 2023 by Benjamin Nacar