8.30 am: The scaffolding ‘engineers’ turned up at homebase; I struggled with Psalm 38. 9.00 am: Back, then, to marking the Art/Sound module’s PowerPoint presentations:

The concept of ‘non-instrumental sound composition’, which crystallised at the close of yesterday, defines a process that I’ve already deployed in the context of both the Evan Roberts wax cylinder project R R B V E Ǝ T N Ƨ O A and ‘Image and Inscription’ composition. In each case, the compositional noises and music were created by the sonic content of materials (the fragments of a wax cylinder, the sound of a metal engraver, manipulated recordings of human voices, and sonified pictorial engravings), rather than by a musical instrument. The distinction is analogous to the relationship between collaging and, say, painting. The former is a construction based on pre-existing samples, the latter, on determined, originated, and ‘tooled’ actions. But there’ s an obvious third way. One could use fragments of determined, originated, and ‘tooled’ actions (made by either a guitar or paintbrush, respectively) as the materials for collage. An opportunity.

After completing an art work, I invariably fall out of love with it for a period. Sometime later, I rediscover my first love, and can hear/see the endeavour … as though it had been made by someone else. Only then do I begin to enjoy and learn from my efforts. In the background to work, I ordered a flip case and a screen protector for a new mobile phone. If a device is well designed (by which I mean that it not only looks good but also is fit for purpose) then one ought not to have to purchase accessories that enable it to survive the rough and tumble of everyday life while masking (and making ungainly) its appearance in the process.

1.30 pm: Following lunch, I headed out of the front door to the School. In front of me, an inversion of the Christmas tree concept (inside out, on this occasion):

2.20 pm: My social media responsibilities prevailed. This is a beast that must be fed regularly if it’s to serve you well. 3.00 pm: Mark on!

6.30 pm: Practise session 1. 7.30 pm: Mark on, and on! There ought to be a set of Oblique Strategies specifically tailored to student writing. For example:

• Pretend that you’re a professional art historian
• Who are you writing for?
• What ideas relate to, and can be grouped with, one another?
• Erase irrelevancies
• Work more deliberately
• Recognise your bad habits
• Get to the point from the outset and set out your points
• Learn to struggle unrelentingly
• Avoid reading website articles, temporarily
• Read deeply, broadly, and with genuine curiosity
• Keep asking questions and questioning answers
• Redraft as a matter of principle and urgency
• Cut the flannel, the inelegances, thin thoughts, and tacky expressions
• Find the centre, then the edge, and then everything in between
• There’s no shame in doing well
• Develop an idea that you’ve never read or heard
• Tell the reader what you’re doing; but first, make sure that you know
• Give your writing to someone else, whose judgement you trust, to read
• Inability is never an excuse for shoddy workmanship
• Remember, someone has to assess this.

8.30 pm: A little studiology. I inserted my Lexicon MX200 processor (an impressive device for the price) into the effects loop of my digital amp:

I’m not convinced. The sound is too brittle and lacks body.