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Running a 66 piece orchestral session with StaffPad…

I recently had a 66 piece orchestral session and decided to produce all scores and parts with StaffPad alone. This is stretching the pu...

Monday, March 29, 2010

Moleskine music notebooks

I've mentioned these Moleskine music notebooks a few times now...Here are details. They're very handy, as they're actually pocket sized. The others I've tried have been jut a little bit too big

The Water Boatman

UK Premiere Series, Wednesdays from 7th April 2010, 10.00pm

Presenter, Alan Herd, explores the inland waterways of Britain, following the Stourport Ring – the canal route that covers 65 miles of canals and 13 miles of the River Severn. He experiences some varied watercraft and visits some of the most fascinating parts of our heritage. Across the series, Alan will visit Birmingham, the city with more canals than Venice, known as the ‘workshop of the world’ during the Industrial Revolution. The journey continues on past the birthplace of Cadbury chocolate, onto the cathedral city of Worcester and past the Severn valley steam railway. Along the way, Alan hitches lifts with other canal enthusiasts and discovers more about life afloat. Music by Garry Judd.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

My music on TV

Giant Octopus (1 hour HD wildlife film) is now showing on NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC...

Sun, 28th, 5pm
526Nat Geo

Sun, 28th, 6pm
Nat Geo+1hr

Sun, 28th, 8pm
NatGeoWild HD

Mon, 29th, 1am
Nat Geo

Mon, 29th, 2am
Nat Geo+1hr

Mon, 29th, 11am
NatGeoWild HD

Mon, 29th, 4pm
NatGeoWild HD

Wed, 31st, 12pm
Nat Geo Wild

...And Highland Emergency (Series 1)is showing daily at 9 and 9.30am and 2 and 2.30pm on FIVER.

Series 2 continues on FIVE at 8pm on Fridays.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Lundy and Bluebird

I've just completed a duo for violin and 'cello called ÉLEMÉNTS DE 'PATAPHYSIQUE. As I menteioned before, it's the first piece I've written on Sibelius, the music notation software. I found the earlier versions of this very hard to get to grip with, but I now am pretty speedy on the excellent version 6.

I also discovered the pocket sized Moleskine music notepads which I used to make notes for the duo. I used to write directly onto manuscript paper and found this a very nice way to work...I used to enjoy having a break to sharpen my pencil!!! I've found a new way of working which is to make notes by hand in the notebooks and then put these into Sibelius at a later date. So, I still get the nice tactile part of making the notes by hand, but I can work on different parts of the score whenever I like (ie. do the big finish first!!!) as well as having the luxury of printing the parts out.

So, with this in mind, I went to Lundy with a Moleskine notepad with the intention of making notes for my orchestral overture, Bluebird. A dozen of us went over...It was a visit organised by my old schoolpal Pal and his wife and family (and our two Godchildren), his sister and brother-in-law and his wife's sister, husband and two children. In-between walks and rough and tumble and a good time had by all, I took the opportunity to sit admiring views like these...



...and make some notes...



Lundy is a tiny island in the Bristol Channel between England and Wales. It has fantastic scenery and wildlife and was incredibly tranquil (we were very lucky with the weather...It can get very stormy!!! It features every day on the Radio 4 shipping forecast). Check Lundy out HERE

My next trip is to the USA in about three weeks (will be taking notepad then too!!!)...Will post more info soon.