New Year Resolutions

Well it's fast approaching that time of year again when we all make our New Year resolutions - and no doubt pretty quickly break them!

This time around mine are relatively simple, in theory at least . . .

- to be a better husband to my wife and father to my children
- to do something worthwhile each and every day
- to make a difference to a persons life in whatever small why I can

One person cannot change the world. But you can change the world for one person

I will at least try

Prepare

Getting prepared for a day of recording tomorrow with a local singer/songwriter I've met called Jason. We have already recorded two tracks of his on my new gizmo (Korg D1600) and have to say I am quite pleased with the results - especially as Jason has never done any form of recording work before.

Just going over some tracks he did rough recordings of to ascertain what will be required for tomorrows session - should be fun. (Shouldn't it always?)

More gadgets & gizmo's!

Well I've gone and done it now! My trusty old Akai DPSi12 Digital recording studio has been playing up of late and to be honest was not getting any better - so I've purchased a second-hand Korg D1600 Digital Recording Studio.

Not only does it have the additional tracks (4) but also has two effects units built in as well as a CDRW unit, USB, phantom power for the mic's and lots, lots more. Really looking forward to getting to grips with it, especially as I've a new album of my own to start recording and also I'm producing an album for a local song writer - Jason.

No doubt the first few weeks will be a bit of a learning curve but hopefully the end result will be worth it - will have to wait and see!

Chuffed!

Well chuffed this morning as I got the following in my Inbox . . .


Dear Paul S Fletcher-Tomlinson,

Congratulations! We've chosen you to be our Featured Artist on our www.musicians.com home page.

Be sure to let all your fans know, as this is great exposure for you. Our homepage receives hundreds of visitors a day and now has a direct link to your profile.

Keep up the good work!

Best wishes,

CJ | Musicians.com Administrator
www.Musicians.com


... nice bit of exposure!!!!!!! ;-)

Funny old day . . .

It's been a funny old day really - started off with some really good ideas for some new tracks to record (new age/Synth' type) but just couldn't get the feel I wanted so instead went for a walk and took the camera with me in case I saw anything inspiring! Didn't see anything I wanted to photograph but I think that I was sublimely thinking about the music whilst I was out and when I got back home a couple of hours later everything just gelled and I now have the basics of two really nice tracks.Plenty of work still to be done to them but at least the basic structure has now been recorded.

Later in the day Bassoon practice just didn't go well - seemed to be having difficulty with my breathing and had one of those really annoying tickly coughs - hopefully be better tomorrow.

Films

Just watched the film Avatar on DVD - awesome!

Practicing

I recently came across an interesting web site called 'How To Practice . . . better music practice' (http://www.howtopractice.com/) and found some quite useful material there. However it got me wondering - how many musicians actually dislike practicing?

I personally find this notion a little strange as I've never had any issues practising even when I was at music college and playing 5-6 hours a day (individual practice, groups & ensembles, orchestra etc). These days my time is taken with way too many things and I have to make the time to fit any practice in, but I always look forward to it and rarely if ever find it a chore.

I suppose it could be because I am always looking to improve my playing and I do vary the format of my practice sessions regularly - but it would be interesting to hear other peoples views on this.

Exercise

Further to this mornings blog when I remarked about long note practice and deep breathing making you feel invigorated - I started in January this year both Tai Chi and Chi Kung exercises as a means of improving my health, suppleness etc (not getting any younger - past the half century now!). One of the extra benefits I have noticed is how my breathing has improved, which in turn has helped to improve my playing of the bassoon. I have also noticed that my general posture has also improved which again has helped with my playing of various musical instruments.
My question is - how many other musicians out there have tried something along these lines (Tai Chi - Yoga etc) and has it helped in any way?

Practice

A nice early start this morning with scales and long note practice on the bassoon - not sure if the cats appreciated it though!!

Something about deep breathing exercises first thing in the morning that makes you feel invigorated for the whole day - beats aerobics or jogging anyway!