David Debono

David Debono - He is currently my favourite pianist (on youtube, at least)
He's simply just brilliant. His videos are mainly themes from movies, games, commercials, and self compositions. I'm pretty sure that he also has absolute pitch. I think he's  classically trained... though, looking at his fingers - which sometimes perform big piano no-nos - not very sure. Either way, amazing ^__________^.

[Sept 4th, edit: He recently did his ARCT exam, so yup, classically trained.]

He puts a lot of emotions and force behind the music. And that's what I love about him - a very sure and powerful hand. A lot of artists these days have these flimsy hands, which doesn't produce a very rich tone, and cannot fully utilize the piano to it's full extent. For him, even in the softer moments, you can hear the depth behind it. The sound's very clear and pure - just enough pedal (most people tend to put too much), along with some amazing dynamics. But then of course, he does have a grand piano, which goes a long way in helping the sound.

One thing that I would possibly critique on, is that he tends to go over the top sometimes. I'm trying not to stereotype here, but I think it's mainly because of the fact that he's, well... a he. Most of his songs are super fast and forceful, and he has the slight tendency to speed up/crescendo/stretto everything. In some cases, this is good, but all the time? Most young artists do have a tendency to do so, heck, I do it myself all the time. We tend to gain more control over it as we matures as an artist. So, I'll just give it a few years.

Below are some of his videos. Enjoy =)

Kiwi Background Music

This song is how I first discovered him.

Requiem for a Dream

I've linked this song before (Note the tendency to speed up)

Pacman Theme

Absolute pitch much? XD

Underwater Ambience - Original Composition