Hello everybody! It has been far too long; over three months have passed since last we spoke.
They have been an eventful three months, which is my principal excuse for inactivity. I was offered a job part way through January and am now working full time as an Acoustic Consultant (see this post for why), mainly looking at noise management for construction projects. Unfortunately it is a hefty commute away and so most of my time has been spent going to work, commuting and sleeping. I am now getting into the swing of things though, so fingers crossed I should have a bit more time soon.
The other thing that has used up my time is the still warm remnants of my academic life. I will be speaking at the “Musical Instruments – History, Science and Culture” conference at Oxford in July and have written and submitted a paper for another one (pending). So that is quite exciting. Unfortunately my own researches into melodeon acoustics have stalled somewhat due to lack of time (and lab availability), but I do now have an action plan, about which I shall inform you all shortly.
Finally I suppose there is music, the third strand of my life. I haven’t managed to play very much over the past few months, but that is beginning to change. I’ve done three solo gigs and four dances since the beginning of the year and I’ve got a few more coming up soon. The closest is the Musical Traditions Club in London on the 19th April. I played there in January and they were kind enough to invite me back, which is always nice. They are a lovely group of people and I’m very much looking forward to it. Especially as I’m supporting some people of real class: Brigitte Kloareg & Yann-Fañch Perroches. Daunting perhaps, but exciting.
My other news is that I’ve taken the decision to get myself a Loomes Chromatic, after my exposition on the system last year. I have the donor box (a 48 bass [12*4] 3 row B-system CBA) and Mike Rowbotham will again be doing the work on it, as he did for my Super-Preciosa and Impiliput. I’ve got several jobs that need to be done before I can justify this project (and I’ve got to raise the funds), but I’m very much looking forward to experimenting with it. More news as that story develops.
In truth, I have found getting to grips with working life very difficult, although it is an improvement on being unemployed. I don’t know if my readers are aware of this, but if you work full time, they expect you to actually turn up every weekday and worse, work hard until you go home. This is quite a difficult transition to make from university, as you can probably imagine.
I hope that things will get easier for me, but in the meantime, please be understanding if I take a little while to reply to correspondence. And please be understanding if I don’t update this blog as often as I have done in the past! Thank you for your patience.
p.s. A good friend of mine, Ollie King has made a kickstarter page to raise the capital for his first album. Listen to him below. He’s already raised his initial estimate, but the more you donate the better the album will be! There are lots of rewards as an incentive. Click here to donate.
Music and Melodeons 