Hi, May is an amazing month for me. The light just feels a whole lot better than any other time of the year. It is just bright enough for me to still be able to perceive some of the red and orange light from winter but not too bright so that the blue of mid summer dominates and drains the colours. And it makes me feel like opening my heart wide. I hope you enjoy my loop.
Musical Doodle – The March of the Computer Keyboard!
Musical doodles are important things. They help to punctuate your day with feeling. I don’t deliberately doodle – they just sort of happen – and then I realise that I am enjoying the feeling, the rhythm, the sound. And it is a moment.
So next time you find yourself musically doodling – go on, let go and see where it wants to take you.
Voice Acapella – Priming the Well Pump
Finally my pre-amp has arrived so I am able to get some sound out of my microphone. I am just having fun playing with my voice and creating layers. This is called ‘Priming the Well Pump’. I hope you enjoy it.
Raw Blues Acapella – Don’t Rock the Boat!
Yesterday I met an 8 year old who sang from her heart. She had so little confidence in her voice that she would only sing to me standing with her back to me and singing to the wall. Then she sang this most beautiful song that she had created about love and friendship. It really touched me.
I create little songs too and often don’t have the confidence to sing them out. In fact I have collected my little songs in the hope that one day I will make them into proper compositions. When I feel a song coming on I just sing into my camera and then keep it in a folder on my computer.
Today exactly that happened. A song came out of nowhere. At first I thought it was nothing but then I thought ‘No this is definitely something.’ I started singing the words ‘Don’t rock the boat Jennie Wren, don’t rock the boat!’ Jennie Wren is the name my mother and my sister have called me at times. I don’t use it or hear it any more very often at all but it takes me straight back to my childhood. An then the words developed, along with the tune and my strong feelings and before I knew where I was I had a song. And as usual I recorded it straight into my camera.
So . . . the recording isn’t the best, the song was never drafted or practiced. This is just an expression straight from my heart. It was not born to be made into a composition. It was born to be heard in its raw state in this moment. I hope it touches you.
A Guitar Loop – Face the Blue Light Blues!
As someone who would naturally want to shy away from the brighter light days, and for me that tends to start in the middle of February, I am learning to embrace them because it is on these days that I am my most creative!
Guitar Loop – The Rice Porridge Blues!
What better thing to do on a cloudy day than take some pictures of your son cooking his favourite dish and set them to your own bluesy loop?!
I hope you enjoy!
December Funk! – My First Guitar Loop Video
Hi,
I hope you enjoy my first looping the loop video!
Gratefulness! – A Deep Feeling Guitar Loop
Hi
I created this loop on a tough day when I was finding it hard to interact with colour. I am so grateful for having music in my life. When things feel impossible it can lift my soul!
So . . . my loop is called ‘Gratefulness.’
December Funk! – A Guitar Loop
Hi, It is 5th December and only 16 days from the winter solstice. I am seeing more red and orange light and this is making me feel a bit stodgy – sort of overly grounded if that is possible! I am also not at my most connected and I am a bit outspoken!
Today though I encountered my friend – the violet light – and this makes everything different. It really disturbs the green of the grass to me but it makes me more quick thinking and gets my creative juices flowing. When you combine it with the red and orange it is an interesting combination of feeling grounded yet full of expression and ideas. it is quite special really and when it comes to music I enjoy lots of conflicting rhythms bouncing off each other and so have created December Funk for you to enjoy!
Feeling the Cloud – A Musical Interpretation
Today I woke to the sort of cloud where you wonder what has happened to the colours. The tiles on the garage seemed blacker than usual; the bricks on the houses seemed paler than usual. I could feel this sense of imbalance right through me.
I tried to take solace in my computer screen and do a little internet shopping but the more I scrolled the worse I felt. I became quickly hot and agitated. I then thought of my kitchen cupboard sorting I had started the other day and thought it could be a good day to finish that but I took one look at the dull yellow of the pasta in its new jar and thought ‘No, that isn’t going to work either!’
Ruling activities out, I guessed it may be a day for music making. This way I don’t have to confront colour – only musical colour. Having rigged up my guitar, looper pedal and a massive network of cables (or so it felt!) I started to play a poignant chord progression. It felt right for the cloud. Once recorded, I started to play my tune over the top. It seemed too quiet so I fiddled with the volumes. I felt the volume was right but somehow now the resonance of the guitar had started to rattle me and so I had to turn it down again.
The loop I ended up with may not be the clearest most balanced loop but it is the loop that matches my feelings about the cloud so it was the only one I could create today!
