Category: Projects

These days I’ve been telling people about my recent return to playing music seriously. Quite a few people ask whether I was professional or amateur which usually makes me pause to think. When you’re referred to as an amateur, it’s usually implied that you might be less qualified or even less talented than a professional.…

As you may or may not know, I’m currently enjoying a sabbatical that has given me the time to explore my love of music and musical instruments. My research is about how we interact when we create music, both with instruments, other people and environments. I’m going to begin with what I know best, the interplay…

Creating music can give you so much joy. When you’re in a state of flow and you finish a song and it sounds great. But if you ask most music producers they all agree that there seem to be as many or more moments of agony. Despite our will, there are lots of real reasons…

Normally I get shit done, but with music composition I tend to take my time. That normally leads to other distractions and songs just don’t get finished. In fact, they barely get started, I have a melody or a rhythm kicking around in my head and I play it into Ableton and save it. That’s…

This week I’ve been deliberating over buying a new guitar after selling my old Roland SH-101. The guitar I’m interested in is an archtop hand-made from 400yr old Red Cedar from Stanley Park by Thomas Groppi.But that inner voice is asking, but you have lots of guitars why would you need another? For me, guitars…

Well, yes and no… Yes, when you improvise you are certainly generating musical ideas.yes and these ideas contain what is referred to as “compositional elements”.yes and as a skilled improviser, you are often constructing a solo in a sophisticated “compositional” manner. But describing improvisation as “spontaneous composition” is an incomplete (and usually inaccurate) description of…