This is the second and final part of the conversation I had with Anton Naumovets from PitchImprover.com. You can read how it all started here.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

My parents made me study piano when I was a kid. I hated it and was very happy when I played the dreaded Fur Elise at the final exam at the school and didn’t need to touch the instrument no more. The piano was sold and my anger began to cease, eventually transforming into interest.

Don’t remember what was the first album, probably something by Egor Letov (Russian punk).

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a file on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I was in a band, it is on myspace, but I’d rather do without the links here. If you hear me singing, there is no chance that you will want to learn anything related to pitch from my site!

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

I am playing and listening to a lot of sax lately. It started from hearing these guys: http://doklive.com/live, and I still like them a lot. Among the giants, Coltrane and Yusef Lateef are my favourites.

Apart from that, of the contemporaries, for example I enjoy the music by White Lies. Continue reading →

Anton Naumovets from PitchImprover.com (recently reviewed on MusicKO) had the time and the patience to answer all the questions a little voice whispered in my ear the moment he agreed to do an interview here on the blog. Thanks a lot, Anton!

Below you will find the first part of his interview, with the second part (“Music & You”) being located right here.

Full Name: Anton Naumovets
Age: 26
Website: PitchImprover.com
Position: Everything

PART I

THE WEBSITE

Tell us a little about your website. How was it conceived? Was it inspired by anything in particular that happened to you?

As you might expect, I was in need of ear training myself. Looking at the existing solutions, they often overwhelmed me with customization options from the very beginning, or I didn’t like the sounds of the instruments, or both. And I decided to create my own.

What unique features has it got? What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions? Will you add more instruments?

The unique features are the lack of complex choices, and the instruments that sound more or less naturally.

As far as I understand it, there are two processes important for a musician who improvises or plays by ear that go hand in hand. One is ear training, the other is forming musical vocabulary of melodic phrases and harmonic movements, developing musical language. I’d like to create tools that would help you with both at once, that is the big goal.

On a smaller scale, I am now working on porting the existing exercises to Android and iPhone. That, and fixing some faults and adding some polish to the site of course.

For the instruments, I’d rather improve the sound of the existing ones (strings and woodwinds especially) than add new ones. Continue reading →