Help! my mail daemon is depressed!

Having had a very frustrating week due to a variety of technical problems trying to finalise my new e-commerce store. I finally fell about laughing when I saw the comments in a Mailer Daemon email today. The text below was in amongst a string of hypertext and as I sipped my coffee and reached for another biscuit I just could not help but imagine a sad, bedraggled, downtrodden Ethernet robot struggling in a virtual queue trying to deliver an email that just would not go!

From: Mailer Daemon:

Hi. This is the mail message programme.

“I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses. This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out. Greeting failed. Service refused, please try later.

I'm not going to try again; this message has been in the queue too long."

But please do try my store which is now finally open!!!

When Michael met Kai........

Last week  I met with Kai Steensgard and Michael Hansen. They are a dynamic duo who have created and built the Aluphone I used to perform the beautiful 'Caliban's Dream's' to accompany the lighting of the flame at the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.

The instrument was conceived when Kai and Michael met at a trade fair. They got together following a friendly competitive exchange as they vied for each others customers!

Michael's business involves the use of the aluminium cones to cap wooden posts and Kai is a Musician and they were on opposite stalls. Their friendly exchange led to curiosity about the sound the post caps would make if struck by a mallet - and an instrument idea was born!

They came to me with the prototype, which is the actual instrument I used in the ceremony.

Since then we have shared ideas and concepts about this beautiful instrument and thus created several versions of the 'Glennie Aluphone', testament to the great working relationship between percussionists and instrument manufacturers to develop and improve our instruments.

When a new instrument is made I make it a priority to ensure composers are made aware about the prospect of creating compositions including the addition of exciting new sounds and this one is no exception! 

My studio is often described as an Aladdin's Cave! and I have shared many hours with composers exploring a huge range of sounds created on some of the many instruments I have in my collection.

You would be amazed how many different sounds can be created from just one instrument and I have always had a curiosity for wanting to try every surface even if it means turning the whole thing upside down! I still cannot resist the temptation to explore all avenues and have ended up in fits of giggles when composers join me for an afternoon of sound creation. 

The attached image was taken at my offices with Kai and Michael, as you can see the Aluphone is a very impressive instrument and I am proud of the place it holds in my collection.

Fusional Fragments and the Pied Piper!

When I first discussed the idea of Percussion and Dance I was not completely sure how this would work out. Me in a tutu! maybe not!

However my subsequent meetings with Marc Brew filled me with excitement about this brand new project. Marc's dancers have been extremely responsive to having me on stage and in amongst them with my instruments. My interaction has been compared to the Pied Piper enticing the dancers into an unknown world.

When percussion meets another medium there are a great deal of practical obstacles to overcome and in this production the team have proved extremely inventive with the strategic placement of my instruments on stage.

As the dancers perform the atmosphere changes and engulfs them into a surreal broken environment. This is where I use my percussive persuasion to entice them to break free of their fragmented worlds.

The next performances are at Tramway in Glasgow on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th October.

I hope you will be able to book your tickets to one of these exciting performances and please do let me know what you think, I welcome your feedback.

Suitcase to suitcase

Just in case anyone is thinking that I lead a glamorous life let me describe it as it really is!

Last Friday I returned around lunchtime to my home in Cambridgeshire from performing with Maria Rud, Philip Sheppard and Canty at the National Museum of Scotland. We  collaborated on a brand new project titled AniMotion which combined art with music.

It was a lovely sunny day in Cambridgeshire but as I waited for my instruments to be returned (they are couriered to UK and some European events nowadays), I would really have liked to get out into the sunshine and my beloved garden - but sadly no time for hobbies! Instead I emptied one suitcase and began to fill another with the items I would need for my next engagement in Poland. In go the usual items clothing and toiletries and then using every available corner of my suitcase I pack any small instruments the Filharmonia Czestochowska Orchestra may not be able to provide.

I make sure my stick case remains open until the last minute as I spend all day Saturday practising in my studio to ensure I know the piece as well as possible.

Multitasking is also essential, so in between practising movements in the score I also organise the laundry, vacuum, clean and make sure there is enough food left out for my cat, Sophie, while I am away. 

When I am done I just have time to keep a promise to a friend who has invited me to attend an evening event organised at a local school. The children performed a series of dance routines and I am always amazed at the quality of these amateur events. It is clear to me there is immense dedication from school staff, family and volunteers to give these children the opportunity to have their moment and I am delighted to say the audience showed an enthusiastic appreciation.

Without this kind of support I am well aware many children would not have these chances to express themselves in the arts. I am deeply saddened by the short term view of successive governments as they opt to cut music from the curriculum.

I follow projects like the Astar initiative conceived by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and their conductor Peter Oundjian. The project aims to give a copy of their Astar CD to every child born in Scotland. The music is recorded by the RSNO designed for playtime, nap time and sleep time. 

Whilst I am enormously proud this initiative has come from my homeland Scotland, I would really like to see every child given a copy of this CD. Music is about inclusion and in my opinion music is the greatest cohesion for societies across the world, you do not even need to know the language if you can share the love of music.

I can personally demonstrate this because I am writing my blog today from my dressing room in the home of the Huberman Festival Filharmonia Czestochowska, Poland, which I can hardly pronounce! Our conductor Adam Klocek will bring us together through the notes on the score and because we all share one common goal to perform the music to the best of our abilities, language barriers simply will not exist.

We will be performing the World Premiere of the Double Concerto for Percussion and Cello by Olga Hans in front of an audience and a TV crew so no pressure!!!

I hope all of you who read this will take a look at what is happening to your children's music education and feel moved to approach decisions makers to ensure your children are given equal opportunity to experience the wonderful world of music in some way, shape or form.

In the meantime I will return home on Wednesday lunchtime to begin unpacking and repacking again for a speaking engagement in Dublin on Friday!

AniMotion

AniMotion is a brand new project for me.

My team and I have approached it from a completely new direction and it has been an incredible journey.

It is about the collaboration between art and music - musicians and artists.

Together with the Russian Artist Maria Rud, the Cellist Philip Sheppard and the vocal musicians Canty we are going to give a show like no other!

The video's from the link below are examples of what the audience can expect to experience.


http://www.mariarud.com/projects.html



Tickets can be purchased on line only at http://bit.ly/QPuGPi

ENJOY!!

Poetry in motion....

East is east and west is west - so that say and next week I will be heading Eastward to perform in Peking with the Nuremberg Symphoniker Orchester as part of the Festival of Beijing.

For me the colours in China represent a poetic feast for the eyes. Each time I visit I feel the vibration of colours surrounding me and I want to be carried away on a tide of colourful waves.

In music we often speak about sound as a colour spectrum, musical sound colours are where east meets west in a way and colour becomes sound and vice versa. They are inseparable yet different, the one and the same and yet individual. Like poetry they take the reader through a variety of passages. Flowing and separating then coming back together - uniting us without our surroundings and connecting us through our emotions

I was honoured to receive the poem below this week, written by Tina Negus. When I read the poem I felt its poignancy and I fully understood the correlation she makes between percussion and our environment, these observations are very real for me. Throughout my life I have enjoyed exploring all sound surfaces from squeaky moist windows to the fabric of my coat - sound is everything and we are the sound in everything or perhaps you know different?

The percussionist

(a small tribute to Evelyn Glennie)

Drums mark the rhythm

of the melting icicle and the dripping tap,

the interval between the beats decreasing with precision

as the tempo rises.

Music lives in the silent lines

raked into the gravel of the samurai garden,

echoes in the surge of shingle on the highland shore,

lingers in the attenuated note

of the distant sunlit horizon.

The percussionist plays the rusty xylophone

of farmyard scrap, the breeze ripples the puddled reflections

of the cowshed wall, shimmers the corrugations,

provides the visual score.

Smashed glass in the derelict warehouse

paints a crescendo of recent events, a static explosion,

the pigeon’s cooing in contrapuntal harmony

resounds from staircase and rafter,

the distant descant of metal sheets waving loosely

in the urban wind.

Mirrored glass distorts the urban architecture

into a cadenza of modernity,

chanting the times to unhearing ears,

to unseeing eyes.

The roots of rhythm are all about us,

music is within us,

in our blood,

in the fugue of our heart,

in our breathing,

our inspiration.

We are the sound.

Your comments on Tina's poem would be most welcome.

PB.....What's yours

During the L2012 Olympics and Para Olympics the term PB (or personal best) was raised and talked about constantly. In the quiet early light of day as I head for New York I begin to wonder what this means to us as individuals. My life has been full of firsts, most notably I am the first person to create and sustain a career as a Solo Percussionist. However I have never quite thought about my achievements as personal bests. I always try to do my best at everything I get involved with and I definitely know there are some things that I am never going to be brilliant at, like maths for example!

I am also competitive and like to win if I play scrabble or monopoly and I remember fondly the arguments I had with my brothers when we tried to beat each other at various games.

The need to achieve seems to creep into so many aspects of our daily lives. As the car I am in heads towards the airport, I can see people around me trying to overtake, change lanes, weave in and out of lanes to gain a bit of an advantage. I am not sure why this happens perhaps you know? Everyone seems to be trying to get ahead, in front, or just overtake to arrive a bit sooner, get that favourite parking spot or avoid delays further down the road.

Right on the back of the Olympics Britain is celebrating yet another incredible achievement from our very own Andy Murray. Andy has finally won his first Grand Slam and it makes me so proud, I am enjoying his achievement too - Well done Andy!

The psychology behind achievement is just as interesting. We may all have sensed a great day or a special feeling or simply a resounding YES! when we have achieved our goal. But how many of us actually set out to create and beat our own aims and objectives mentally? In my normal working day I often think about how much rehearsal time I want to achieve or perhaps I might want to ensure that I have got to grips with a set piece of music and as I break it down I set myself the challenge of making sure that I do not leave the studio until I have mastered a particular section. I find this is good practice but as I reflect on the due processes that I put into action I guess I am constantly trying to create and maintain a sense of achievement.

The best bit is when I finally get it right I reward myself with a cup of coffee and a piece of shortbread!

For my next performance there is technically no need for rehearsal but there is still a challenge. I will be improvising with the wonderfully talented Zeena Parkins at the Skirball Centre, NewYork as part of the Joshua Light Show. Improvisation can be just as nerve racking as a concerto and my excitement is already mounting as I think about meeting Zeena for the first time and working out how we can improvise together!

I genuinely want to know what your PB's are, however great or small, I know when you achieve something it will make you feel good and that has to be a good thing. Good luck and please join me on my Facebook where I will try and respond to as many of you as possible.

'Isles of Wonder' behind the scenes

Copyright Philipp Rathmer, Brigitte

"When I was invited to participate in the London 2012Olympic Opening Ceremony I was both honoured and humbled. The onus on all the people who have donated their time, energy and effort towards the world's most prestigious event is enormous. The attention to detail has been second to none from everyone who has participated both on stage and off stage. For my part I was delighted to introduce the Aluphone to Danny Boyle and his creative team. In turn I believe it's beautiful tone and sound colour have been incorporated into, what I hope, will become an iconic piece of music helping to introduce this exciting new instrument across the globe." Evelyn Glennie DBE

Meeting people like film Director Danny Boyle is awesome in itself. However working with him and his team on the music and staging of an event like the L2012 Opening Ceremony takes the term 'awesome' to a completely new level.

I am astounded that such a vision could and has come together in this spectacular programme. The common theme behind the scenes has been, were it not for the volunteers this programme could not have happened. They have come forward in their thousands and I salute them.

My contribution is minimised by the efforts of so many but for me it is also a pinnacle, an aspirational achievement and without a doubt a day I will never forget. The daily process working with artists, production teams, technical and personnel crews has been a constant reminder of the skills and expertise that have also contributed in silence behind the scenes. 

Our sense of pride in our great nation and its contribution to the world is played out during the Olympic Opening Ceremony programme this evening from the work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel through to our modern interactive technology. 

The United Kingdom represents so many aspects of our lives. Our islands and relationships across the globe have been forged and interlinked in many ways over hundreds of years.

As you know I was born in Scotland and I am proud to call myself Scottish however my country is the United Kingdom and tonight I was part of the best show on earth.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the weeks to come and celebrate the spirit of the Olympic Games as the worlds best athletes compete for the highest prize.

The 'not so blue' Danube...

I recently visited the beautiful city of Linz in Austria to give a motivational speech on for delegates attending the ICCHP  conference. Whilst I enjoyed my supper one evening on the terrace overlooking the famous Danube River I reflected on the fact that due to heavy rain the river was flowing very fast and looked decidedly muddy and brown, not quite the romantic image Johann Strauss had portrayed in his beautiful Blue Danube Waltz.

Talking to people living in Linz about the weather (as we British love to do!) it seems the weather patterns are very similar to ours in the UK. As I watched the heavy barges travel up and down the river I found myself thinking about other similarities between the music business and the Danube.

By day the Danube is full of long hard working barges pushing heavy loads up and down the river both with and against the flow until the evening brings on the twinkling lights of the restaurant and hotel boats trading their wares. The river morphs amidst the moonlight and romance of the night, masking the muddy brown waters below.

Of course the industrial aspect of my musical world is not quite so obvious and the hive of activity behind every performance is well and truly hidden from view. For me and my team the flow begins as soon as a promoter books an event. The administration wheels go into motion and the groundwork begins in earnest.

My team beaver away discussing and agreeing various points, negotiating, organising, liaising on every aspect of my involvement, repertoire is discussed, instruments are organised, travel and hotels are booked and contacts are made. We pride ourselves on creating and maintaining long term relations and we recognise the importance of good communication. This is absolutely critical to ensure the flow is completely synchronised with our customers needs, regardless of the many activities that come and go between us and the promoters we simply must get the show on the road.

Our journey is sometimes very hectic and we have occasionally need to move heaven and earth to ensure the performance goes ahead. Just like the barges we sometimes have to push against the flow, occasionally we get caught up in the reeds (metaphorically speaking!) but we always pride ourselves in ensuring the curtain goes up on time and the audiences are Wowed!

How do I look today?

I have been watching an article on BBC 1 this morning stating that girls as young as 11 are so conscious of their looks they are posting airbrushed images of themselves on their own Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The apparent cause for this unnatural behaviour is the media, fashion magazines and social networking sites which make youngsters feel they are somehow not normal unless they look and dress in a certain way. This has resulted in children, because that is what they are, feeling the need to alter and enhance the way they look in order to fit into their social world.

Like many people I find this very distressing and worrying and would like to offer my own perspective based on my life and experience.

To this day my mother, much to my embarrassment, tells of how I was not a bonny baby! I had a shock of black hair sprouting in all directions and apparently I was not the prettiest baby! what a negative start to my growing-up process!

I grew up on a farm which probably contributed to my ability to put material looks to one side because together with my two brothers we all had chores to complete early in the morning and again in the afternoon when we returned from school. This meant I did not have the time to spend examining every spot and pimple in front of the bathroom mirror. I also did not have a mobile phone let alone a camera with an airbrush facility to send altered images of myself to my mates.

I did however have a strong family and social support which enabled me to concentrate on the important things in my life such as how well I did in something and when I did well they would praise me for my efforts. I quickly learnt skills and attributes that would far outweigh how I looked and as long as I could do my best at something it did not matter if my physical appearance did not fit with fashion models portrayed in adverts and magazines.

My confidence was encouraged and developed around aspects of my life that would stand me in good stead.

When I lost my hearing at the age of 12, my parents continued to support my aspirations and goals even though they must have worried a lot about the challenges I would face. Looking back I can see their help was invaluable in creating the person I have become.

Over the years I have experimented with different hair colours, makeup and fake tans but have always been able to return to the real me and the real person I need to be in order to continue to work in a very eclectic business. I work for myself so I cannot afford to be pushed and pulled by other forces, least of all demoralised by the way I look.

A few years ago the inevitable grey hairs began to appear and I was dismayed, however I stood my ground and let them grow and now I am complimented on how lovely and shiny my hair looks and I am proud of my decision not to succumb any longer to the pressure of fashion.

If I were asked to give each young person a bit of advice I would say 'We are all different and beautiful in our own way. Don't fall into the trap of exchanging your own unique identity for someone else's idea of what you should look or behave like. Always be true to yourself because that way you are in control of your own destiny. Do the best you can in everything you do and dwell only on your achievements'.

I would be very interested to read your thoughts on this subject and what your advice to youngsters might be?

Photo © Philip Rathmer 

Sunshine

I am off today to perform with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at the Concert Hall in Singapore. I have been back and forth to Asia for several trips over the years and it is always exciting. On this occasion I will be performing Yiu-Kwong Chung's Concerto for Percussion and Traditional Chinese Orchestra and "The Sun" from The New Millennium of the Dragon Year" by Kuan Nai-Chung.

As I depart from our wonderful sunny weather here in the UK I feel very refreshed having enjoyed a beautiful weekend of clear blue skies and the warm kiss of the summer sun at last. I am always amazed at the way the weather affects our mood and general feeling of 'well being' it must be all the vitamin D!

When I look around me at the airport I notice throngs of people heading off with their bags packed full of holiday items with an eagerness that at last they will be able to sit by the pool and bathe on warm sunny beaches. I am not sure if it is a because I am from the North of Scotland or that I was brought up on a farm but I have never actively sought the sunshine. However I do feel revived and replenished and happy when I have been able to get out into my garden at the weekend.

I get a lot of inspiration from gardening and I often feel there is a definite sensation of 'power' gained when pulling weeds out! As I tug and pull I imagine a musical garden with plenty of exquisite notes represented by flowers and plants and as I move along the rows I weed out the rogue notes allowing the music to flow gently onwards and upwards. Border plants become low notes spreading along the bass and delicate Lilly's and Orchids reach for the high notes. Bright sounding Marigolds push themselves forward and Marguerite Daisies prance around in the breeze like delicate violins.

I become systematic and almost aggressive as I wrench out the weeds that choke the stems of the plants I want to encourage, I can also become totally absorbed in the garden, so much so that I forget the time.

When I am done and put away my tools, I stand back and get a great sense of achievement at a job really well done - to me if feels just like practising for hours before finally getting it right and knowing that I have conquered the piece - Just in time for tea!

'A Dangerous Journey'

As patron of Able Child Africa I am acutely aware of the challenges faced by many countries through poverty. More recently I have been made aware of another form of insidious crime against innocent young victims involving exploitation, abuse and degradation.

Ruth Beni, Director of Animage Ltd, sent me a video depicting the plight of 2 young girls, Rose and Grace. She asked me to consider composing some music to accompany two animated stories.

As soon as I had time I duly sat down and began watching the videos. I would say I am a fairly worldly-wise person and I am very well aware of many injustices in this world but nothing prepared me for the impact of the stories about the plight of these two young girls - victims of sex trafficking.

It is my understanding the characters featured in this animated film titled 'A Dangerous Journey' are based on real people, coerced as children, out of their homelands and exploited horribly in other countries including the UK. I cannot comprehend the trauma they must have suffered in their very young lives. I cannot begin to assume I know how they feel or how they and countless others will ever lead normal lives. What I do know is I cannot ignore their plight, do nothing, get on with my life or forget what I have seen.

I immediately contacted a composer friend of mine, Philip Sheppard, and we set about writing music to accompany these two animated stories. I hope we did them justice and I hope awareness of crimes like this can be eradicated.

Please watch the video and let me have your thoughts but most of all please send the link to as many people as you can and in doing so hopefully we can reduce incidents of this nature and make our world a better place......

Shadow behind the iron sounds

Shadow Behind the Iron Sun

I recorded a CD titled Shadow behind the Iron Sun in 2004 and some of you will have noticed the short music clips heard on my website are from the CD. The recording was totally improvised which gave me the freedom to create onto a blank canvas.

Improvisation can be liberating and exciting but it can also be frightening at the same time because I am never sure where the inspiration is directly coming from. For me improvisation is about spontaneity and mood which can be triggered in many ways. The daunting aspect comes when there is an expectation of improvisation.

Last year I joined a group of musicians at Kings Place in London to perform improvised music to an audience who were watching old black and white silent movies. The event was titled Not so Silent Movies and it turned out to be enormous fun. The audience triggered the music for each set which ran through the films in all directions. We, the musicians, could see the films and the idea was to just play! The audience were invited to choose an instrument they wanted  to begin each set, which was extremely nerve racking as each of us wondered who they would chose next!

There is also a shadow that occurs before an improvised performance. it can drape like a cloak of anxiousness and concern about what will happen if I cannot think of something to play. As soon as the performance begins it evaporates and the creativity and music takes over.

It would be almost true of most musicians to say there is a nervousness prior to a performance - we are human after all! but for improvisation it can be different because there are no notes on the score spinning around in the head we will not have practised the pieces in advance and all we have to go on is the' ideas' that may come to us as the curtain goes up! I can tell you the' ideas' can be very elusive at that point!

I often tell an audience they are the inspiration, they provide the impetus to begin the process and the applause provides the energy to continue. The excitement builds in different ways depending on the audience. Some audiences are slow to respond but when they do it feels like a burst of sunlight. Others are exuberant from the outset and they keep the tempo buoyant throughout.

Another source of creativity comes from the instruments themselves as well as the collaborators. In the clip attached the set up was magical, the colours and sights of so many instruments positioned in front of me turned into a colour palette to create a supernova of music and sounds. Together with Trilok Gurtu and Fred Frith we created the spirit of Shadow Behind the Iron Sun - I hope you enjoy it and look forward to your comments.

Where have all the emails gone..

Once again I am standing in airport queue waiting for hours to be 'processed' and assessed for security risks. As I stand slightly shifting from leg to leg to avoid getting too stiff from inactivity, all kinds of thoughts begin to go through my mind. Is there an Art of Queueing? are certain nations better at queueing than others? is this a British thing?
I wonder if we can train ourselves to constructively use our 'mental time'. Can we go into 'a queue mental zone' and use the opportunity to let our minds rest or wander loosely around the brain in thought. Perhaps you already do this.

Some thoughts that instantly pop into my head are about emails. I find myself reminded of emails, ones I have not responded to or forgotten, emails that I have not received a response from and emails I need to write. Instantly my head goes down to the examine the tiny screen of my mobile phone and I begin scrutinising each entry to see what news is contained in the plethora of emails squashed into my inbox. The new ones have been vibrating constantly since I began queueing, eagerly jostling for me to address them
As I do the luggage shuffle, I am such an expert I don't even look up when I edge my cases forward with a deft shove of my foot! I exercise my thumbs by typing essay emails whilst struggling to check for spelling errors. I am one of those people who type the full email, almost without abbreviation, I wonder what that says about my personality.
Three hours of queueing has resulted in 25 emails, I think I will begin keeping a tally of how many emails I can type per hour.

I ritually look up briefly to check my place in the queue. I assure myself I am in the correct queue, feel in my pocket for my passports and tickets before turning back to the icon of communication staring back up at me, urging me to do just one more email or perhaps a text or even a tweet or maybe not.
I don't find queueing very inspiring, for me it is rather a process of reflection. Mentally checking and double checking and for wondering what to cook when I get home. I have started cooking meals relevant to the place I am visiting. This weekend it will be goulash because I am on my way to a percussion festival in Gyor, Hungary. Ah I can make a note of some of the Facebook tips I have received about making this traditional dish, best cuts of beef, plump peppers, sweet onions only one problem it is making me feel hungry now and I have only moved a few feet in the queue! Bon apetite and have a lovely weekend..

Feed the brain music

SESAME STREET

Do you ever encounter something you knew all along and then read it in an article and suddenly it all makes sense?

This happened to me recently when reading a back copy of International Arts Manager magazine, titled 'Study in children's music training has enormous implications'.

The article carries forward the ongoing debate about the importance of music education in schools, a subject very close to my heart and indeed I was part of a consortium some years ago with the late Michael Kamen, Sir James Galway and Julian Lloyd Webber together we lobbied the then UK government of the day to increase funding for music education - we succeeded and the budget was increased by £332 million.

The article goes on to report about recent research carried out at York University in Toronto in which it is found that 'the verbal intelligence of four to six-years-olds rises after just one month of musical training'. I have always believed musical education encourages cross disciplinary benefits and this confirms my lifetime thoughts.

The cognitive improvement is apparently demonstrated clearly in response to musical training. Although I do not have children my experiences over the years leave me to believe this kind of research is true and many children are missing out. I personally feel the discipline gained from music education and indeed arts in general have enormous benefits in so many areas. Team work is definitely one area that is noticeably improved in children who have worked together as part of an orchestra.

I grew up in a family where we gathered socially to enjoy playing music and listening to music. As a child none of us were perceived as particularly gifted it was just a great family social gathering enjoyed by every age group. Encouragement from older members of the family to the youngsters was always strong and supportive. This attitude was also prevalant throughout my school years and I honestly believe it became the foundation of good communication and confidence in each of us to develop our skills and enabled us to hold our own amongst others.

Children demonstrate interests and curiosity in music when they are very young. From babies learning to create sounds from striking saucepan lids to a host of toddlers on You Tube who love having a go at playing all manner of instruments and keyboards and then it appears these traits are somehow eroded when they enter school. I am frequently told about the lack of funding, lack of teachers, lack of space etc. which means parents are left with the dilemma of covering the cost of private tuition for their children, this should simply not be the case especially where children are concerned.

Am I being really old fashioned?
Are we missing a trick?
Research suggests we are - what do you think?

I have seen and touched the sound...



As I walk a gravel pathway or across a wooden bridge the crunchy sound of stones and the boots on the wooden planks vibrate up through my body. It makes me wonder if you are feeling and touching sound or are you in too much of a hurry?
Feeling and touching sound is my domain. Because of my profound deafness my other senses are heightened. Very often I see sounds being drowned out for others by a cacophony of noise. I see headphones, mobile phones, ear muffs barring the traditional channels but I also see a great deal of  haste around me today. I see people rushing, pushing and pacing quickly to arrive on time, early or just to get there!
I have deliberately extracted myself from the hubbub of city life; I have taken a step back to enjoy the sounds of the countryside where I live. However even in the city there are places to stop, withdraw and just take in the environment. Where and when did you last stop and really listen?
March winds seem to be upon us now and I remember from my childhood how they sounded. The memory of the wind lashing against my face is my way of feeling that sound now. When I recently arrived back to the UK, to a deluge of snow, I stood at the open door to feel the snowflakes gently resting on my skin. As I did so, I was reminded of being asked to create the sound of snow on the snare drum by my music teacher at school.
My school gave every child the chance to be part of the school orchestra. My music teacher, Ron Forbes, encouraged me to explore every avenue of sound creation. He would say to me 'Evelyn create the sound of the sun radiating on your face' and I wondered - how was I to do that?
What he was really asking me to do was to express the feeling of sound. He was asking me to 'address' the environment and in doing so he was encouraging me to develop a healthy curiosity towards our own surroundings.
As spring arrives why not have a go. Stop what you are doing for one minute. Look up and down, look around and breathe in the air. Listen carefully to each sound and then take it one step further - touch that sound.
What on earth do I mean? Let me explain, if I see a bird flying way above me I use my memory of what a bird in flight sounded like and I imagine what sound it might be making now. As I grew up I felt sounds on different parts of my body. As a bird soared above me or swooped for it's prey it might have disturbed the air as it flew by and that sounded like a whoosh. Birds are also quite noisy as the gather on wires or in trees, they whistle and sing, squawk and chatter. I soon learned to recognise those sounds as they would be felt on my high cheek bones where the high sounds might still sit today.
A tractor passing by created a low sound which could be felt in the tummy. Sitting on an aeroplane I can feel the vibration of the engines through the floor and up through the seat. The rumble of the wheels on tarmac vibrates up through a bottle of water close to me. If I hold that bottle I can feel the movement.
Before you take your breath of fresh air have a listen to this piece 'A Little Prayer', I performed this piece with the Guitarist Fred Frith. People tell me it opens the body to prepare for slowing down and relaxing. It is performed in an old sugar factory which was dusty and dirty but the feeling of peace and being close to the sound was immense. Enjoy!!

Blogging a blog

This week I am cheating! I am reblogging a blog! Well not quite, I did provide some of the raw data for the following blog on behalf of Audio Network Australia. Jess Ossington transformed my responses to her questions into a very readable article and I wanted to share some of their article with you.

Real Instruments, Real Stories – creating emotion through sound.

What if I told you there was a phone that can be bowed, struck, scratched, plucked or caressed in any manner to create the perfect atmospheric sounds for your film? Put a little water in it and you will get some amazing results. No I’m not talking about the latest iPhone! The Waterphone is a percussion instrument originating from France. An unusual instrument to look at, it consists of a wide stainless steel resonating bowl surrounded by brass rods of various lengths and a long tube like neck. What is so remarkable about the waterphone is that it can be played in almost any way to create a diverse range of sounds. It can be struck like a percussion instrument or bowed and plucked like a string instrument. This versatile instrument comes in various sizes and thus creates a range of frequencies from a low “whale” like sound to a high and screeching sound.There’s a distinct metallic yet malleable quality to the Waterphone’s sound which makes it an amazing instrument for creating atmospheric textures – perfect for film.Percussion virtuoso and Audio Network composer, Dame Evelyn Glennie has long been an enthusiast of the Waterphone, praising the instrument for its versatility in composition.

“The sounds are so special and unique. The moods I can create are extraordinary – from frightening to sorrowful; lonely to chaotic; melancholy to high spirited the range possibilities are never ending”.

As a composer for film and television, Evelyn is always searching for innovative ways to express emotion and tell stories through sound. Evelyn’s use of the waterphone demonstrates its broad sound spectrum and ability to instantly evoke a feeling; from the ethereal sounds on “Harmonix” to the chilling “Creeper”.“I can manipulate the instrument by using other “tools” with it such as placing it on top of a timpani or by using sleigh bells, rattles, whistles on and around the Waterphone to create sound extensions from the instrument. By putting a little water into the base of the instrument I can create extraordinary effects - even I don’t know what may happen! The sound palette is truly incredible!” Evelyn explains.

Evelyn has been a composer for Audio Network for ten years. As a composer for Audio Network, Evelyn says, “I have always had the freedom to express myself as a percussionist, musician and sound creator”. 

I hope you enjoy this article and if you have any thoughts about other interesting and unusual percussion instruments please let me know.

A Civilised Charm

As the sun melts the snow in the surrounding Cambridgeshire countryside I thought I would see what the internet has to offer regarding the history of Lichfield.

"In 1776 Dr Samuel Johnson took his friend Boswell to Lichfield to show him

"genuine civilised life in an English provincial town". The description still

rings true today, for although Lichfield has grown considerably, it still

retains its civilised charm and many of the fine buildings at the heart of the

City, including the house in which Johnson was born, have remained largely

unchanged over the intervening centuries." www.lichfield.gov.uk

This description conjures up the most quintessential image of a very charming place and despite the snow and cold temperature forecast I am really excited about meeting and chatting to the people who come along to this evenings event at the Lichfield Garrick Theatre.

I love the spontaneity of these events and find each one takes a new turn, a different direction and a chance to really think about who the audience are and what they experience from me.
It can be a very scary process, opening oneself up in this way. So far audiences have been very kind and considerate and I hope the genuine civilised folk of Lichfield will bring along their charm this evening.
I will pack my car with as many items of interest I can possibly squeeze in and hope the colours, sounds and instruments will work their charm!

Red Letter Day

I have just used the term Red Letter Day on my Facebook account to announce the fact that my new style website goes live today. After I pressed send I realised that I did not truly know why we use the term.
So I looked it up and found to my surprise that it has a very interesting history.
According to Wikepedia "A red letter day (sometimes hyphenated as red-letter day or called scarlet day in academia) is any day of special significance. The term originates from Medieval church calendars. Illuminated manuscripts often marked initial capitals and highlighted words in red ink, known as rubrics. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed the saints' days, feasts and other holy days, which came to be printed on church calendars in red.
The term came into wider usage with the appearance in 1549 of the first Book of Common Prayer in which the calendar showed special holy days in red ink. Many current calendars have special dates and holidays such as Sundays, Christmas Day and Midsummer Day rendered in red colour instead of black.
On red letter days, judges of the English High Court (Queen's Bench Division) wear, at sittings of the Court of Law, their scarlet robes (See court dress). Also in the United Kingdom, other civil dates have been added to the original religious dates. These include anniversaries of the Monarch's birthday, official birthday, accession and coronation.
In the universities of the UK, red letter days are called scarlet days. On such days, doctors of the university may wear their scarlet 'festal' or full dress gowns instead of their undress ('black') gown. This is more significant for the ancient universities such as Oxford and Cambridge where academic dress is worn almost daily; the black undress gown being worn on normal occasions as opposed to the bright red gowns. Since most universities now only use academic dress on graduation day (where doctors always wear scarlet), the significance of scarlet days has all but disappeared."
I hope like me you enjoy discovering snippets of detail that seem to be lost amongst our busy lives. Reminders of how traditions are created and how our daily routines and actions evolve using remnants of the past.
I am feeling very cheeky now! I quite like the term scarlet days it feels liberating and risque so I am going to wear red today to match my exhilarating mood - I hope you have a reason to be 'Scarlet' today and very much look forward to your comments.

How to build a great venue

As I prepare to perform Bela Bartók's Concerto for two pianos and percussion with my esteemed colleagues Janet Fulton, Noriko Ogawa and Philip Smith I am reminded of the time when I performed this piece with Sir Georg Solti

This video clip http://bit.ly/yqEh13 is a documentary of a very early performance of the Bartók with Sir Georg, older video's like this always set my staff off in fits of giggles when they hear my younger, girlie voice! I can remember how deeply embarrassed I felt when I arrived late to the session! A lesson I have never forgotten!

In Manchester we are about to perform this piece at the beautifully crafted Bridgewater Hall and I was interested to read about the history of the Hall and in particular how it was constructed. I was unaware for example that the Hall is 'neither concrete nor steel-framed, but is mostly formed from solid, reinforced concrete, moulded and cast like a vast sculpture'. I like this idea of moulding and casting a building it feels holistic is some way and wholesome. Apparently this provides the Hall with an acoustic ideal of enormous density and mass.
The roof is also quite unique in that it hovers above the building, weightless and the entire structure floats free of the ground on almost 'three hundred, earthquake-proof isolation bearings or giant springs' - now that invokes the most amazing mental image! The article also states the Hall is built this way to ensure the 'Hall’s carefully designed acoustic is protected from all outside noise and vibration'.
Well of course vibration is key to my ability to feel sound. I am intrigued by the way this building is 'crafted' to keep outside noise from entering in and inside noise from venturing out. My own sound world is heavily dependant on my body acting as a resonating chamber. Over the years I have developed a high degree of sensitivity to vibration enabling my body to identify felt sounds. I often describe my body as one huge ear.
Have you tried 'feeling' sound? Have you visited environments where you have been able to connect with the acoustics through vibration. I would be very interested in your experiences and welcome your thoughts.

'Just Listen' in 3D!

Happy New Year,
January for me is often an extremely busy Month. However I also appreciate the return to normality and the quiet after the Christmas celebrations. If I have the chance I like to try and take time, before the business of touring begins, to get my head around the schedule for the forthcoming year. I have been told that some people think January is a bit of an anti-climax after all the hustle and bustle of the December but for me it is a wonderful time to reflect and consider the projects I will be involved in throughout the year.

This period is a time of working out, evaluating and planning for the year ahead and one of my new projects is titled 'Just Listen'. This project is currently being developed by Brad Lisle and his team in Canada and is intended for the 3D IMAX cinemas and the world wide web. The idea is to investigate and present the science of sound. I am honoured to be part of this project because I am fascinated by so many facets of the natural world and have always wondered about the sound affects on and within the unconscious brain.

Since the onset of my deafness I have explored, and continue to explore, the body's ability to 'feel' sound. Our world is about vibration and as the sound waves vibrate around us it is possible to feel the impact physically. For example it always amazes me when I am on an aeroplane with a bottle of water and as the plane vibrates the water jiggles around in the bottle. When I clasp the bottle I can feel the water moving around.

The project has already begun to change the way I experience the natural world around me. Over the Christmas break I managed to take time out just to walk through the woods and lanes close to where I live. As I wandered my thoughts turned to the countless creatures that would be hibernating in the undergrowth, the birds building nests and the squirrels darting around the fallen leaves foraging for food. I became immersed in the 'feeling' of the winter sun on my skin, the wind brushing my hair and my boots crunching the broken twigs beneath my feet. The intensity was warm and wholesome.

I would be interested to hear what positive thoughts you have for your New Year and if you have any ideas about the 'science of sound' in the natural world.