December 4, 2015

8.45 am. The sound studio required a little reorganisation before I could set up the turntables and mixers to begin recording My Heart is Broken in Three. This would not be the focus of the day’s endeavours. Once set up, the project ticked over in the background. I’d no idea whether anything of merit would emerge from it, or indeed whether playing the fragments of record was technically possible, once the needle hit the groove. Which is why, in part, the project seemed eminently worth pursuing. (I like not knowing.) From the outset, I appreciated that the task would not be achievable immediately. Persistence and innovation were required. One unexpected realisation, which arose from my struggles, concerned the sonic potential of records’ painted surface. I discovered that it’s possible to play paint. (For the future.)

IMG_0749

11.00 am. In between disc wrangling, I reviewed the opening section of ‘Image and Inscription’. I was discontent with the ascension motif and its position in the section. In the text, Moses’s initial climb up the mountain is a bridge between the description of the wilderness and the first account of God’s voice. More properly, the ascension belongs with the second section and verse 3 of Chapter 19. Removing the motif had implications for the composition of the whole section.

12.21 pm. Advice from IS has resolved my research database access problem, which I’d aired with them on Saturday. 12.30 pm. In the absence of the ascension motif, the first section gelled more tightly, its parts functioned for effectively and economically, and the overall length of the piece was shortened moderately. All welcome outcomes.

1.40 pm. I made few minor painterly adjustments to the three discs. Once dry, I tested each one again. I was gradually moving towards a solution:

IMG_0752

What a I did know, however, was that the fragments couldn’t be played at 78 rpm. The force of the gyration unseats the tone arm and sends it spinning off the turntable like an astronaut cut loose from their ship in space. I’ll need to record the samples at 33 rpm and then speed them up, digitally, to the equivalent of 78 rpm. 2.00 pm. Section two began with the ascension motif playing along with the drones of the ‘mothership’. This proved to be a much better solution.

3.00 pm. I returned to the track called ‘Weaknesses, Sicknesses, Diseases (Of All Kinds)’The voice introduction needed to be pushed further back into the composition, and the tail of the piece, cut. Simultaneously, I set up my new record turntable to take it for a spin. Both turntables have exactly the same functionality. This condition is necessary for the work that’ll commence on ‘The Talking Bible’ project, in the new year.

IMG_0753

6.30 pm. Practise session 1. 7.30 pm. I rendered some paternal assistance to one of my brood who is applying for positions. How hard it is to get onto the first rung of the ladder these days. 8.30 pm. Back on the CD trail, and a reconsideration of voice rhythms on one track. Acute attention to the internal beat of the music is required. Stay on it, be a little ahead of it, but don’t lag behind it. Now, there’s a lesson in life.

Previous Post
December 3, 2015
Next Post
December 7, 2015