9.00 am. The first of several MA and PhD fine art tutorials this morning. There are always three types of creative work in prospect: that which one would enjoy doing, that which one could do, and that which one must do. The last option is to be preferred, always. And, ideally, what we must try to do that which only we can do. In committing ourselves to any one thing, we sacrifice the possibility of doing many others; we have neither the time, nor the resources, nor the energy to exercise all of our gifts and facilities. But the one thing can be sufficient — if we grasp the enormity of its potential for development and the demands that it’ll make upon us. 10.00 am. A double tutorial (a single tutorial for two students) on the joys of digital sound manipulation. I set up a mini desktop-studio space in a seminar room in order to demonstrate the principles and practice of sonic enhancement and the virtues of acoustic mixing. (You can’t mix on headphones alone.)

2.00 pm. Task: Assemble the new sound equipment stand which arrived sans manual: ‘He shall die for lack of instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. (Prov. 5.23):

I’ve an identical stand already (which must have come with instructions) to serve as a model. So, I live to fight another day. 3.00 pm. Task: Assemble, and link to the mixer, the modulation units, including the new hand sampler device:

In the background, I picked away at the current composition and tried out several new combinations of sound samples. A radical restructuring is called for.

6.00 pm. Task: respond to a few outstanding editorial queries regarding the forthcoming The Courtauld Institute chapter on the wax cylinder project. Task: Make an initial test of the new deck, mixer, and modulator array. Even when I do possess an instruction book for a piece of equipment, rarely does it deal the type of set-up that I use. In the end, I resort to instinct, intuition, and pushing any button that seemed remotely appropriate. Success!

7.30 pm. Task: Further test the magnetic and piezo pickup combinations on the RF Stealth Custom:

The active pickup enables the player to move the guitar’s output into overdrive on the amp’s clean channel. This instrument really does have ‘balls’, now. The possible combinations of four distinct pickup types are bewildering.  8.30 pm. Task: Write a letter to the family. Task: return to pushing and pulling, amplifying and muting, tracks comprising the composition. There are times when I make what appear be a good decision, but it turns out to be a really bad one. I’ve had the opposite experience too. At least in art, unlike in life, one’s mistakes can be easily undone.

9.15 pm. An end. The sky is unsettled: ‘There’s a storm coming!’: