Today I have a go at driving a tractor! To double the fun, I am having a go at creating a “typical” YouTube tractor video too ~ so I also try my hand at giving a tour of the inside of the cab and doing a “walk around” of the outside of the vehicle 🙂 .
For today’s adventure I went for a walk in a local forest in search of images to make into backgrounds for some “quote pictures”. I experimented with the settings on my phone and really paid attention to what was drawing my attention.
I noticed that taking photographs really encourages exquisite levels of presence. After the expedition, I sat quietly in the woods for a while. It was only after I sat down and started to pay attention to my feelings that I noticed an incredible energy and aliveness surrounding me. Being still helped me to sit in this energy ~ I really enjoyed it!
I have put some of my favourite images below today’s video.
Idid it! I hosted my first ever webinar last night and it was a full-on adventure:) Watch the first video for the full low-down. For today’s adventure I tried my hand at using a kango hammer to demolish part of a wall. You can see how I got on in the second video!
Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! (That’s me getting excited!) For today’s adventure, I learned how to screen-share slides for my webinar tomorrow night. I did record the adventure LIVE on Hangouts On Air …. but I can’t share it here because it would spoil the fun tomorrow!
What I can share with you though is this : my adventuring is teaching me to appreciate, and really enjoy, the smallest things. Even learning how to share a slide made me giggle with glee. And I also realised how relaxed I’ve become with technology and with mistakes .. and that makes life a whole lot easier, I can tell you!
If you’d like to join me for my inaugural webinar adventure, there’s still time to register. You can register here and it’s completely free! Replays are available for all registrants 🙂 .
Today I attempted to record myself singing the three harmony lines and then I tried to blend the recordings together. I have to admit that it was a bit of a faff (and there are probably very clever and sensible ways to do this which might have made the task a little easier!).
So, I sang the main melody into my phone and then uploaded it onto my laptop. Then I played the melody on my laptop and sang in the bass line whilst recording this with my phone … and then uploaded that … and repeated the operation until all three lines had been recorded together.
I had a bit of difficulty balancing the volumes for each of the lines (and D minor performance had to be lowered to C minor – mainly because singing the top line in D minor made me sound exactly like the mice on Bagpuss .)
You can listen to the vocal version of my choral piece on SoundCloud here. It’s been really helpful for me to test its ‘singability’ and for detecting “harmony issues”! Now I’ve heard it sung, it definitely needs a huge cave or a cathedral for optimal performance – and maybe an Elvish mass choir 😛
Today I add in a third line of harmony to my choral piece! It’s getting a bit tricky now (my brain feels pulled in several directions!). You can listen my song “The Call” in a 3-part arrangement on SoundCloud here. The latest harmony line is the loudest ~ this is so my transcriber can pick the new line out with ease.
I’m really looking forward to hearing human voices singing this together 🙂 .
Oooooh. Last night I picked up an 80’s classic from my brother-in-law : a Yamaha organ! I’ve had a lot of fun working out how to use it and I really couldn’t help myself playing it “to the max” today 😛 .
For today’s adventure, I’ve written the base line for the piece. You can hear the base line and the main melody together on SoundCloud here (and yes, I couldn’t help myself fiddling with the Yamaha settings … ). You can hear my voice against the base line here (this is what I’ll send to Gareth, my transcriber).
One of the main things I’ve learned about composing so far is that when you’re relaxed, the music flows!
It’s Day 6 of my song-writing adventure and today I’ve written the lyrics for the final verse and published the lyrics in full here. It was only when I’d written the very last line did I realise what the song is really about!
It turns out I have written a song that works on two levels : it’s both a lullaby and a ‘goodbye’, it’s both an invitation to sleep and an invitation to the ‘final long sleep’. I’ve put the lyrics to the final verse below today’s video for you to read 🙂 .
Today I wrote the second verse of my song (I’ve put the lyrics below today’s video) and came up with a name for the piece : The Call. I sense things are heading in quite a melancholic direction 😛 .
The Big adventure of the day has been speaking to Gareth Hamill, a professional viola player whom I have never met before today!
For today’s adventure, I’ve written the lyrics for the first verse of my choral piece. You’ll notice from the SoundCloud recording of me singing that the melody has been slightly simplified. I simplified the melody to improve its SI* (* Singability Index) 🙂 .
I’ve posted the lyrics (as they stand) below today’s video.
Verse 1 Of The- Song- Without- A- Title- Yet! (You can listen to me singing it here ).