I pulled myself out of the fog of procrastination to write this one. Taking cues from the etymology of the word Monday, specifically "Murk Monday", the Scottish name for a solar eclipse that occurred on Monday 29 March 1652, and thermometer. The harmony also comes from the word Monday, which I serialised. I don't really experience traditional Mondayitis any more, as I work unconventional hours, but I had plenty of past office job experience to draw on for this one.
Read MoreHands was my starting point for this piece, and I found it quite meditative to both compose and perform. This is only the second piece I have performed on electric mandolin. The other attempt was interrupted by flooding, which was about the time this project really started to challenge me. I haven't even thought about what to do when it all ends, but I suppose I should watch everything back through from start to finish. Although each piece of music is not exactly a journal entry, they will certainly reflect my mind and life in that particular moment. If I can bear to sit through twelve months worth of videos I am curious to see how the music I have made has been shaped by the life I have lived alongside it.
Read MoreAfter my three improvised experiments using the glove mind map I used it for a little sung piece too.
Read MoreFor this piece I took the theme coffee from the previous day and in some internet wanderings came across Van Gogh's Café Terrace At Night, which I used to inspire this piece. I focussed on the bright and dark areas of the painting and did a three-minute writing exercise inspired by each. I then wove the result of the two exercises into this piece using minimal additional text. I really enjoyed this process, as the painting provided a wonderful source of inspiration. There was so much to tease out of it, and I think I might have to start a series of these pieces inspired by impressionist art.
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