The story so far
- Week 6: Auld Lang Syne. A-capella vocal arrangement, seguing into guitar and synthesiser.
- Week 5: Silent Night. Solo guitar arrangement.
- Week 4: Bright Eyes. Piano and flute arrangement.
- Week 3: Tango esta Noche. Classical guitar, with piano introduction.
- Week 2: Las! Je me plains. Four part chanson on flute.
- Week 1: Two blues pieces on solo guitar.
What I listen to
I grew up listening to my parents music, classical, folk bands, Ewan MacColl, Simon & Garfunkel, the Beatles. They led me to seek a blending of intensive, complex writing with virtuistic playing, bands like Yes, Genesis, Rush. The simplicity of folk music, the complexity of classical, the driving rhythms of African influences – they all inspire me.
Instruments
- Flute: Yamaha YFL 471H solid silver, offset G, B foot
- Keyboard: Casio WK 3700
- Guitar: Cort ???, rosewood body, Savarez high tension nylon strings
Each Monday, I intend to post a musical creation. I enjoy a diverse range of styles of music, and as long as I can remember, I have always had music in my head. (Just music. Not voices. And not the sound of drums – I’ve never looked into a time vortex!)
I have played the flute since I was about ten, though not seriously for many years. My parents had a piano which I would play around on as I grew up. One of my few regrets in life is that when I had a timetable clash at school between music and Japanese, I dropped the music.
Then in 2006, I bought myself a $100 guitar from the warehouse, picked up one of my flute books, and started to pick out the melody line. I got more into the classical guitar, and started working my way through the grades. As my interest waned in 2007, I bought myself an electronic keyboard (my small two bedroom town house is far too small for a piano), and started to teach myself that properly. To try and keep myself interested and motivated in practising, in 2008 I bought a Presonus Firebox and a Studio Projects B1 condenser microphone. The microphone is good enough for both guitar and flute, and the keyboard plugs straight into the firebox. The firebox came with the LE version of Cubase 4, and I could now accompany myself on multiple instruments.
There is a large learning curve in the recording and editing process as well, so I have set myself this target of uploading one recording a week. Some recordings will take much longer than a week of work, so they will be interspersed with simpler solo guitar or solo flute pieces that I can record in one take.
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