This week, I have been mostly...

I've been working on the electronics part of my oboe piece US4 this week. I had an original patch which I cobbled together for the workshop that spawned this monster, but it was a bit Heath-Robinson in its construction. I'm really starting from scratch and attempting to 'build' it as logically as possible: i.e. with different 'instruments' and a central triggering mechanism. It's looking pretty good and I think that it's going to work, but it's a long way away from the 'rehearsal-proof' patch that I think that I'm going to have to put together at some stage. At the moment, it's just going to be a matter of starting the piece at the beginning and then letting the electronics run the show.

Some of the rehearsal proofing that will need to be done, sooner or later, will also involve recording sections of the piece so that any section can be rehearsed without having to first go back and perform the earlier sections. I'm convinced though, that when it's performed, I want it to be done live, not prerecorded. There's just something about a live performance, something messy that I want to be reflected in the recordings. If someone coughs, I want that replicated!

Staring at the screen all day isn't doing my eyes any good, but at least I got out of the house and talked to real people today!