girl in a gale

Street Photography?

2024-06-05T08:45:00.001+01:00

I enjoy youtube videos about street photography. I have my dad's old digital camera which is only 8mp but has a wide to telephoto analogue zoom lens. On Bank Holiday Sunday I went into Bourne to try some pictures of people. First picture I lined up a huge poster of tomatoes to fill the frame and waited for someone to walk by. An old lady with a little girl did. Then I walked towards Costa where a young guy with a tiny black dog was standing. I took a picture. But he didn't like that. He angrily asked what I thought I was doing. I said it's street photography, art, and if he wanted I'd delete his image. But he accused me of being a paedophile and insisted on seeing the other photos on the camera. The little girl was a trigger and he threatened to take the camera off me. I deleted the girl and managed to de-escalate to the point I could walk away. I was shaken and felt suddenly aware of small town ignorance. I got in my car but he'd followed me and was now on his phone, reading out my car number plate. Sunday evening was time to think about the challenge of pointing a camera at strangers. It's entirely legal in public spaces but not entirely safe. Next day was bank holiday Monday, a quiet time, apart from my slight anxiety about being confronted. The incident went round and around in my mind. I concluded I would have liked to have a black belt in ju jitsu and stood my ground, before flooring the guy with a deft move. Monday night soothed me with some Star Trek and herbal teas until just about bed time. 10.30pm DING DONG the doorbell rang. Flourescent jackets illuminated through the door glass. Two policemen. I let them in, they suggested coming in - so the neighbours weren't alarmed. We chatted about street photography, they assured me it wasn't illegal but could I show them my photos. I showed them my Instagram then they asked to see my camera. There was nothing to see. They suggested I try Stamford as more suitable, and even asked if I felt it was an assault on me (they're always looking for a case!) They left and I stayed up till midnight calming myself with another herbal tea. I wonder if I can learn ju jitsu on YouTube!

Seastate

2022-01-23T23:45:00.004+00:00

New album release on #bandcampfriday girl in a gale - Seastate. Synth suitcase, electric bass guitar. #dubtechno

I remixed the title track as a live YouTube stream:

The Synth Suitcase in flux and unknowingly recording a new album.

2020-03-29T20:33:00.000+01:00

Wanting a standalone drum machine with good synths I put the Novation Circuit into the suitcase, it enables a drum sequence to keep playing while transitioning from one track to another on the Synthstrom Deluge.
I Removed the Alesis NanoComp even though I value it's colouring of drum sounds, but I no longer separate synth and drum channels using hard panning because many Synthstrom Deluge synth patches are built to work in stereo.
Novation Circuit is very immediate, great drums and synths. Not clocked, just beat matched so far, I don't want start/stop messages over midi clock sync.
Overall I put too many synths in and don't really work drums. The "Function Boiler Room set" is my influence and has long drum machine tracks with sprinklings of synths. I tend to use three or four synths but can restrict that to one at a time which gives great variation as different synth parts come and go. Also the focus and clarity is much better.
Task. Mute all synths except one on each Session, when I play discipline myself to stick to this.
Mute Deluge drums as Circuit drums more playable.
Use H9 Control to find simple delays to replace the reverby ones and save to first slots. Done. And Circuit is so playable, sounding excellent.
Two months later I removed Novation Circuit to focus on Synthstrom Deluge and Eventide H9. Adding a microphone and digging out the pink trumpet. I'd heard some Jon Hassell and suddenly that's how I wanted to sound - all harmonized trumpet pads, not necessarily in the "correct" key.
One afternoon I recorded an hour of Deluge/Eventide Harmoniser/pink trumpet, just to listen back at how it was sounding. Liked it so much I cut the hour into a new album. That's how "Trumpet Deluge" was done.
She Stares Into The Pond - Trumpet Deluge.

2020-02-24T22:28:00.000+00:00

Albums that have shaped my musical taste:
Day 8: In the Land of Grey and Pink - Caravan. Track, Golf Girl.
Growing up is a minefield of friends surrounding you. Some are clear and kind, others self-destructive.
I had enough sense to stay with the good-uns, mostly.
Mates played albums that you'd never heard before. They maybe had older friends, teachers, brothers or sisters who had contact with the good stuff.
In the 70's Caravan came into my listening, bringing nothing but goodness, quirky pastoral vocals, jazz standard playing and energy but not the heavy rock of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath or the trippy indulgence of Gong and Hawkwind, even though I loved those things.
Caravan were like that intelligent friend who would reassure you while too-stoned, not by being too adult, but by the wit and empathy of a loving human.
So In the Land of Grey and Pink is both trippy and grounded - and that's what I liked about it and why it has shaped my musical taste.
Golf Girl - Caravaan - In the Land of Grey and Pink

Backing tracks, sequences, samples and stems.

2020-02-13T22:24:00.001+00:00

Loops, samples, sequences, stems and backing tracks.

Someone said to me, 'Oh so you use backing tracks'. I was showing my synth suitcase with a five track loopstation and two Moog Mother 32's, each with 64 prepared sequences. I used to be an entertainer playing saxophone with jazz and pop backing tracks. It was cheesy but cool and people liked it. I was a solo artist with no band to organise and the backing tracks carried the sax making a full and entertaining sound. My electronic music is mostly played solo.

I use sequenced drums, synths and samples. One question I've been asked is, 'Oh so you can just press play and go and have a beer?' If I did that a 32 bar sequence would play over and over, there'd be no drums or bass because they'd be initially muted, no modulations on synths, no fx and no dynamics. Last year I was using a five track looper to play, each loop would be a three minute pre-recorded track, a stem, and I would fade tracks in and out, use effects on some and live play the two Mother 32's. The loopstation had 99 sessions each of five tracks so I was able to perform and live remix my own music. At a gig two youths stood pondering my synth suitcase for a moment, but dismissed me as, 'Just a DJ' and wandered off.

I was feeling too locked into my stems/loops. They were wavs and couldn't have instruments altered, only mixed and effected. So I got a proper sequencer. Synthstrom Deluge suddenly enabled any instrument to be changed for another. Sequenced synths are triggered as a living entity so the modulations in a patch are live, not a recording. I'm no longer limited to five stems, I can have as many as I wish. Deluge is as powerful as a Mac running Ableton. And instead of that ubiquitous Apple logo obscuring my hands at work, Deluge has 128 candy coloured led lit pads. And it has no screen, only a tiny indicator which scrolls the current value or clip title. I find the idea of playing live with Ableton unattractive, moving a cursor with a mouse or track pad isn't fun.

An elderly man came up and stood over my synth suitcase for a while then said, 'I played Classical music for 50 years and this isn't music!' I reply I patched a hasty LFO to filter resonance and cranked the rate up to make the classic synth fart noise. The Woodbridge Shellfish Festival have not rebooked me. Recently I've used a more compact suitcase with built-in power block, Deluge, Eventide H9 (excellent midi synced looper algorithm) and Zoom H1 which can record my performance. This suitcase to me is a wonderful instrument and the 50 years Classical guy would be lost with it, it's a whole orchestra including the scores, which I conduct and play solo. He can go do one. Clarissa Vincent (artist name - girl in a gale)

Vondelbunker Amsterdam Unknown Electronics 2 - Live Sets

2018-10-28T21:02:00.000+00:00

Looking forward to playing in the Netherlands 10th November 2018. So nice to have friends to stay with in the city and my travel costs paid by gifts from people who know and respect my music.

It will be interesting to hear the other artists, line-up:

*Beens
* Frablum
* girl In a gale
* Cool Tiger (Junction Records)
* A.J Vile
* Jack Fresia

Resident Advisor event listing

Some paid gigs, some unpaid gigs - never free.

2018-09-30T21:48:00.003+01:00

I always loved succulents, sort of cacti without the spines. I'm pleased to see my parents have nurtured living stones for a few years and that they flower almost yearly, but I've never seen them flowering before and they are beautiful.
I take many opportunities to play music, mostly hardening up the situation to involve an invoice, otherwise I'd be working full time for absolutely no pay - there is plenty of demand (at that level).
Sometimes a studio opening party or a local cultural festival is fun to play music at for free, because I gain exposure and experience, give out a few cards to genuine fans. That's promotion 100% and actually higher value than a nominal payment.
Often my musical activity is a living stone which slowly matures until it is time to flower: I meet a genuine fan of my music: I meet another electronic musician who has been doing it decades longer than me: I exchange email addresses with a producer who eventually asks for my music so they can do a remix - and they run a record label in Europe - so that's a good thing.
What is the function of a flower? Beauty, art, impression? No, it is about reproduction and multiplication - the living stone - it is survival and actualisation of the life force.
Being a musician is about developing quietly inside, working at your art and sound and preparing for an occasional flowering - a gig where listeners are in awe.
There is no other way to promote your music than to be yourself with all your restrictions and self-doubts, for long periods of time, but to flower where the intensity builds until that just happens. And to know both are necessary.

So what will I do in Amsterdam?

2018-08-29T23:26:00.000+01:00

I will play a 45 minute set of my work, my current things. If you have 45 minutes to chill out you may like my new album Lenticular, here mixed into a continuous set. Like a DJ? Yes, but all my own music and everything played by me, on the houseboat with Hamish asleep on my big river feet.

girl in a gale live set Amsterdam

2018-08-24T10:58:00.000+01:00

I have been asked to play my Electronic Listening Music (chilled-out ambient techno) at Vondelbunker club in Amsterdam. I play regularly in East Anglia but I really value the exposure I would get from a gig in a cool venue in Amsterdam so I aim to make £210 in the next month and go to The Netherlands in November. If I sell 30 of my albums as digital downloads from Bandcamp I will have funded travel costs. The club will pay me 60 Euros so that’s a start, now I need a few album sales to start the musical journey.
You can listen to my work for free on Bandcamp. If it’s really not your thing but you really like my determination, you might wish to contribute to my Amsterdam gig through PayPal (please use “Friends and Family” so there are no charges), to: clarissa.vincent@gmail.com

Three tiers of support:
Tier 1. An album sale on Bandcamp costs the buyer £10 of which I get £7.

Tier 2. £10 paid into my PayPal (clarissa.vincent@gmail.com) costs the payer £10 of which I get £10.

Tier 3. Get all 16 girl in a gale releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Lenticular, techno brunch #4 live set, Beowulf,live set at the barbershop, live set at the smokehouse, Blackcurrant,Animal Hands, Suitably Lizardy, and 8 more. Buy Digital Discography £104 GBP or more(35% OFF).
In addition, tier 3 supporters will be gratefully offered a girl in a gale live set at their venue (within East Anglia). A chilled-out hour of Electronic Listening Music played by myself out of a suitcase of analogue synthesizers.

My music is written, played and recorded by myself on a houseboat in Woodbridge and is available to purchase at https://girlinagale.bandcamp.com/ Thanks for reading this far and for considering supporting my musical journey.

The suitcase of synths will go on a musical journey

Techno cost benefit analysis?

2018-08-19T20:30:00.000+01:00

I've been invited to do live set in November at Vondel Bunker in Amsterdam.
I have friends there who will put me up, I know the city well and the venue would pay me in Euros (but only a third of the costs of doing it).
First thoughts oh yes of course!
But, research on trains and ferries shows a total cost of around £250. But I need to MOT my car at the same time.
A live set in Amsterdam would look very cool on Facebook and on my website. The question is: would a gig in a cool Amsterdam club be worth the investment?
My car MOT is really important to me, to drive to local gigs and make my money.
If I had disposable income then definitely yes.
But I don't.
So it's no.

Vondel Bunker, Amsterdam

Not so much planning as passion, for lentils.

2018-08-15T21:42:00.000+01:00

I go through weeks where my music is disorganised. I'm trying different routings, different instruments and sounds and gigging in other bands than my own thing. At some point I reset things to the point where I was last most creative, and then spend days perfecting sounds and focusing into making new tracks for me.
I have a new album, Lenticular, just started with a track finished today. It has no cover, just one track - All your troubles Vanish - which I really like, the Moog sequenced by Novation Circuit is so dynamic.
I am intentionally working at 124bpm, as a process after listing my favourite electronic music tracks of this year - those that influence me most - and averaging the tempo to 124bpm.
It is somewhere between House and Techno music. More a chillout ambient groove with a 4 on the floor kick drum. Neither disco nor hard techno. OK let's call it Electronic Listening Music.
The other quality of Electronic Listening Music is it is best listened to at a lower volume than clubs and festivals generally have. And I don't clown around onstage like those Electronic Dance Music dudes ate Tomorrowland Festivals. When I play live I am producing album quality music.
Here is All you troubles Vanish, the first of a set of 124bpm tracks building to my next album. And the first full version will be an hour long Mixcloud set without separate tracks.
Lenticular by girl in a gale

Laid back grooves live at The Table

2018-07-22T01:34:00.000+01:00

DJ David Freeland does a regular night at The Table restaurant in Woodbridge called Street Food Sundays. He invited me to play and I have prepared a gorgeous set of synths, beats and laid back ambient techno which I am really looking forward to performing.
The Table is a lovely restaurant with an outside covered section and attracts a good crowd of nice people. I'm going to blow their minds with my synths and drum machine, because that's what I do, it's my nature.

Sudden business

2018-07-16T20:22:00.000+01:00

I have joined a Celtic fusion band on drum machine - oh what fun, and an electro folk band on saxophone - also a great gig.
Suddenly my agenda is being filled with dates, paid work and good times.

At the end of July I'm going to Hull Folk Festival to play drum machine with Aartwork, a Celtic Fusion band. I hope the trad folkies don't lynch me!
In August I'm blowing my heart out with Mista Beat at Maui Waui Festival.
In the meantime I have some ambient techno, solo gigs, actually where my heart is (girl in a gale core work), a constantly evolving set of tracks made in the moment with techno grooves and sonics out of my suitcase of analogue synths (The Smokehouse, Ipswich, supporting Slow Down Missy 19th July) (The Table Restaurant, Woodbridge part of DJ David Freeland's Soul Food Sundays 22nd July 2018).
Festivals are fun, the sub-bass of various stages clashing with sounds, straw hats and cheerful consumers enjoying the performances. Here's a photo by Jerry Tye from Norwich Chapelfield Gardens festival of me playing saxophone with Mista Beats.

Photo: Jerry Tye. Mista Beat at Norwich 2018

Intentional error.

2018-07-03T19:53:00.000+01:00

In Springbroke (girl in a gale - Beowulf album) I played slightly haphazard phrases on an electric piano as a way to bring some tension to the piece. My music is not about total control; It is made in an instance of expression and energy complete with intentional and allowed errors.
I dislike music with phrases and motifs rendered too precisely. That is boring. More about a pretentious mastery of the instrument than an ability to play with timbres and feeling.
If music is essentially a dynamic consisting of tension and resolution, then to create tension and resolution too precisely is to actually not understand music, to create false tension, and to be unable to explore the power of "wrong" articulation.
I am lucky because I have played saxophone in drunken jazz bands for decades which gives me a sense of the carefree and the happy-go-lucky.
Music is similar to cooking, after decades doing it you get to know a lot of things that just work. And there is no need to follow recipes, gram by gram, there is only inspiration.
Listen to Springbroke to hear my ideas.

Facebook is a local echo chamber of Likes.

2018-06-30T19:14:00.001+01:00

How to distribute your work to a wider population? You've got your music distributed on Apple Music, Google Play and Spotify, feels great - a global audience bound to gain listeners - no, just a postage stamp size site on a moon sized platform. The top 10% of streams on Spotify gain 99% of the streaming revenue. The 90% of artists like you and me have to share that 1% of remaining streaming revenue - the postage stamp.
Example: I sold an album on Bandcamp for £7 and recieved a net £5, doesn't seem a lot until I compare that with streaming royalties from Spotify. 1.78$ over the last few months. Another example: I have set my Bandcamp album prices at £0 or pay more if you wish. Someone purchased an album for £2. I thought hmphh did you really want it and if you valued it enough to purchase, why not a tenner?! But compare that to my Spotify streaming royalties and it's a whole lot more. One album sale for £2 on Bandcamp makes me more than several months worth of Spotify streaming royalties.
So. I will consider my online streaming music as like a business card. One does not ask for money for a business card. Bandcamp is my shop, where fans can take a card - listen for free or download for free or pay a decent amount for an album, to support my work.
At least with Bandcamp I can set my own price and explore the market over time.
In the end it is collaboration, intelligent sharing of content and news, creative marketing and branding (establishing a focused vision and personal integrity of presentation) which gathers interest in an artist's work.
Meanwhile my Facebook "business" Page continuess to p**s me off with how ineffective and restrictive it is in letting me build my work on a wider scale than those dozen local friends who always Like every post I make (because that means I will also Like their locally limited posts of arbitrary works).
The question is: how to reach out to a much wider population of potential customers?
This website is part of that effort. I do not know who the visitors are, but I get a lot more visitors here than to my Facebook business Page and thank you x
And if you really like my music, then please go to my Bandcamp site and give it a gifted listen (I love people to listen to my music - it is the biggest compliment), or even bung a tenner for an album (tbh that trounces the pleasure of being listened to for free :-))

Su loves Hamish. He is with me all the time while making my music. I made a track called TooSu

2018-06-26T21:48:00.001+01:00

Track titles are fairly arbitrary but always grounded in the time and location of the music's creation. My dog Hamish lays his head on my feet while I'm playing my synths and drum machine. Dogs sleep around 14 hours a day: producers produce about the same.
My friend Su is that friend who often responds instantly to a suggestion for a nice river or heath walk.
My new album "techno brunch #4 live set" is five tracks of live ambient techno, 48 minutes of improvised electronic listening music. Track 5, previously unreleased, is "TooSu" (click link to listen): a nod of appreciation to my friend who also loves Hamish and the places he takes us.
Such things are important in life: My dog laying on my bare feet, fresh espresso coffee brewing while I'm producing in the Summer, and on my walking boots in the Winter, and that friend Su, who loves Hamish almost as much as I do.
Where does music come from? Simply the dog on my feet, that feeling of animal magnetism, and that friend who loves going for walks and the feeling of being in nature.

Take me to your Ledr.

2018-06-25T18:22:00.001+01:00

Techno Brunch #4 live set, has the tracks I played on Ferry Quay at The Caravan Cafe' as the fringe Woodbridge Regatta on 17th June 2018.
I am getting more into the rhythm machine as an instrument. On YouTube I found, long established, Detroit techno guy Jeff Mills doing a 15 minute drum machine solo and like it a lot.
Also a Celtic fusion band have recruited me on drum machine to substitute for their drummer who has become too busy with the band, Caswell, who are doing rather well. I played a gig with the Celtic fusion band, Aartwork, last weekend and really enjoy playing a drum machine live.
My new album, yet to be released (expected 6th July 2018), has Ledr as the first track and the drum machine attitude had already come to the fore by the weekend of Techno Brunch #4 live set (click link to hear) at Woodbridge Regatta.
Instead of the drum parts being a carrier for the melodic parts, the melodic parts are reduced and mainly there to highlight the drum machine.

He sampled my track, I made a new track with his sample of my track and now he wants to release his sample.

2018-06-19T20:00:00.000+01:00

A Sydney based hip hop/beat tape producer, Y 2 D, sampled my track The Messenger (album - "The Messenger" click link to hear the album from 2011) and sent me the beat. I really liked it so made a new track (titled "msg rcvd" click link to listen) using Y 2 D's beat as a middle section. In 2016 "msg rcvd" ended up on my album "Jetsam" (click link to listen to the whole album) and was published and copyrighted to me.
I got a message today from Y 2 D saying he tried to release his sample on a beat tape but his distributors detected my copyright and it was rejected.
So I contacted my distributor to ask for Y 2 D to be added to my track as a co-producer and this will enable co-copyright ownership and also I'll be credited on Y 2 D's work.
Samples are a minefield, I use only a few nowadays but if I do I apply synthesis and effects so they are not picked up by the computer algorithms as someone else's copyright.
The Messenger is a very odd album, I released it only on Bandcamp because I felt it only represented my earliest stage of making recorded music and was not good enough for Spotify and Apple Music etc, but listening again with this current activity around one of the tracks I hear an odd album but one full of naive imagination and originality, some beautiful saxophone and electric guitar loops.

The Messenger cover, released in 2011

Four busy days as a self-employed musician

2018-06-17T20:25:00.000+01:00

I played saxophone in a jazz quartet Thursday eve: gave a saxophone lesson on Friday: and, played techno at two festivals on Saturday and Sunday.
In the meantime I was recruited by a Celtic folk-fusion/ceilidh band to do electronic drums - an unexpected musical direction. I went through a folk period in the 80s so I have a feeling for the rhythms and tunes, I wouldn't play in a band which didn't interest me musically and playing live with a drum machine is fun. It is like being a train driver, follow the railway lines and speed restrictions but make it a quality journey. I find a 4-on-the-floor 808 kick and clap on beats 2 and 4 adds the best meter to the fiddle and guitar. Next rehearsal will include the bassist, a strong player, so I have to design my 808 kicks to work without low frequency conflicts by reducing the decay and resonance.
Every situation is a creative adventure, an opportunity.
The Techno Brunch I played today was excellent, through Aartwork's PA (the Celtic folk-fusion/ceilidh band), not too heavy and loud, actual Electronic Listening Music.
Yesterday I played through a massive PA system with subs (bass speakers) as big as cars, and found my ambient techno to be too loud and bass heavy because I perform with the ear of a producer, listening for nuances, balancing sounds and dynamics. I cannot do that if everything is so loud only a rave audience would get it.

June 2018, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - 76 miles driven, 13 hours worked (plus weeks of practice and preparation), £70 earned. And valuable experience, promotion and contacts gained. Busy days in the actual music business.

And who was with me throughout? My terrier Hamish, adopted 4 years ago. He comes to 99% of my performances. Here is a photo of day 1 with Hamish in 2014.

Sublove

2018-06-13T20:11:00.000+01:00

Saturday June 16th 2018 I am playing a live set at Sublove all dayer electronic music festival near Beccles, Norfolk. My set on the Ushti Kusti stage may be at 2pm or 3pm, they want to ensure a good audience for me. I hope my set doesn't clash with Caswell because I'd like to see that and they are much more popular than me so will draw away the audience!
Sublove alldayer, produced by Introspective Sounds, is a tenner to enter, dogs and children are welcome and camping available onsite.
girl in a gale didn't make it onto the event poster but I enjoy being part of the fringe.

Techno Brunch #4

2018-06-13T19:48:00.000+01:00

Techno Brunch #4, part of Woodbridge Regatta (Fringe) this Sunday 17th June. The lovely Caravan Cafe' are having me back to make my beat driven electronic music. There will be more in the afternoon with ARTWORK psychedelic folk music. A hog roast, if you're into that kind of stuff, and thousands of people enjoying the river front shennanigans, stalls, boats, ice creams, dogs, children, coffee, coffee and more coffee, then beer and wine.

Sublove Alldayer girl in a gale set on the Ushti Kushti stage

2018-06-11T23:25:00.000+01:00

Finally a few days before the event, I have a set time for Sublove all dayer. 2pm on the Ushti Kushti stage. Dogs are allowed on site, great, Hamish is my sideman, for jazz and techno.

We're not camping as Beccles is only 40 minutes drive away and we prefer to be home in time for tea, usually a delicious red lentil daal and a glass of red wine, what could be better?

That's Saturday 16th June.

On Sunday there is Woodbridge Regatta and a psychedelic folk band, Artwork, are booked to play in the afternoon at Ferry Quay Caravan Cafe'. I am doing a Techno Brunch from 11am till noon and just working out whether to use Artwork's P.A. and gazebo. No-one yet knows whether things have been organised to this level - like is there a power supply, P.A. and gazebo? Basic elements of doing a performance. Of course no mention of being paid, I suppose I'll be offered a "free" hog roast, great, success at last! (unless I'm feelin' the veggy techno vibes strong that day!)

But hey, I'll almost certainly get a cup of coffee, and this is being a musician. It'll look good on Facebook so that's worth a thousand pounds? :-)

My new album, BEOWULF came out last Friday. Track 6, Sun Mor, is a delicious dive into Ambient music, recorded at 11am one calm warm Sunday morning, a harmonic drone with Moog parts surging in and then a soft powerful bass arriving to propel it forward.

Track 9, Tefi, is the last one and points toward a new Techno confidence. Mainly an 808 type beat with minimal harmonic content entering as a nod to my Ambient Techno basis.

Maybe my next tracks will be deeper into the Techno exploration, more rhythm based, even a 15 minute drum machine piece with no chord structure, just the meter and swing of a drum machine, and the confidence to perform that alone.

Tracks mentioned here can be listened to on my Bandcamp at the links below: Sun Mor

and Tefi

Or search for "girl in a gale Beowulf" on Spotify, Apple Music etc

Playing to Artists

2018-06-07T20:39:00.000+01:00

The Artist community of Woodbridge. I did the 3rd Techno Brunch on June 2nd 2018.
A day with a bad weather forecast - thunder storms and 80% rain - but it didn't rain or thunder and I enjoyed my set very much. Susie Hammond sketched as I played.
Her son George suggested I half the hi-hat tempo, I ignored him because I was too involved in playing but the suggestion was good, ta George.
Jan Pulsford liked a particular bass riff, for it's timbre, and I shall investigate what the instrument was and endeavour to use more like it.
Cad Taylor danced, which I am unused to, but thanks Cad for adding your libido.
Artists all adding to an event. The best people to turn-up.The music is getting better every time.

Three friends - Album release. Sublove Festival. And girl in a gale set at DJ David Freeland's Street Food event at The Table Restaurant Woodbridge.

2018-06-04T19:08:00.000+01:00

DJ David Freeland

DJ David Freeland puts on shows with cool music and guest artists in a cool food place, The Table restaurant in Woodbridge is that. David asked me to play a live set.

Introspective Sounds are a production company doing events of varied electronic music genres and asked me to do a set at SubLove near Beccles in a couple of weeks in The Chill Out Zone.

On Friday 8th of June 2018 my BEOWULF album is released. It was a result of the cultural event in Woodbridge, The Spirit of Beowulf Festival created by Jan Pulsford and Clare Victoria Perkins (Woodbridge Mayor) to celebrate the famous Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon treasures.

Two pieces are directly related to The Spirit of Beowulf: Track 3 - The Whale Road, is a concept track about the sea voyage of Anglo-Saxon immigrants sailing from Denmark to Britain - sounds of sails flapping, shingle beaches and whales: and, Safewater - the feeling of gaining safety after a voyage, arriving at a foreign shore, including synthesized Anglo-Saxon speech.

The rest of the music on BEOWULF is pure girl in a gale ambient techno, one track #6, Sun Mor was recorded at 10am on a Sunday morning and has a delicious calm timbre - that peace you feel as you anticipate the first strong espresso coffee of the day.
And track number 7, Sun Lun, is a bit more active, Sunday lunchtime when the espresso has kicked in.
BEOWULF, over an hour long, is a representation of my musical story in Spring 2018, available on Apple Music, Google Music, Spotify and the rest from Friday 8th June 2018.

The Table, Woodbridge, outdoor music and indoor cosy quality dining ambience.

girl in a gale set in the chill out zone.

album release Friday 8th June 2018

Techno Brunch #3 and Gorilla Glue.

2018-05-30T17:46:00.000+01:00

The Ferry Quay Cafe', Caravan Cafe' has me again for a live set of my ambient techno. It is a low key affair, just a 40watt pa system, with cafe' visitors and music fans attending.
The pa system has been repaired, a tweeter had broken loose inside, I'd glued it back in place previously with epoxy resin but it broke loose again, so this time I built a mound of Gorilla Glue around it. That stuff reacts to water, expanding and solidifying into a pad of plasticcy mechanical support.
Ambient Techno is not so much dance music as an artform, not the up-market club scene, more artistic electronic listening music. Nevertheless a consistent 128bpm beat with a 4 on the floor kick for 15 minutes is actually very danceable.
The 4 on the floor kick is an essential human rhythm and takes courage to explore interestingly because there are strong associations with Eurodance pop, hard Tek and rave of the 90s. Ambient techno is more nuanced and sensual.
I'm biased, I grew up with prog-rock (synthesizers) and eventually jazz (harmony, meter, swing and rhythm) which led me into minimal electronic music (repetition as an aesthetic surface and simplicity as a relief from the chronic over-thinking of prog-rock).
My favourite performance this month (May 2018) is a half-hour Facebook Live jam with a drum machine (listen here).
The whole of modern western music culture is rooted in African influences, drums/rhythms are good so at Techno Brunch #3 I shall thoroughly enjoy the part where I do an extended drum machine jam and this is why I love playing music - it's like cooking, not following a recipe' word-for-word but knowing what can be done with a few ingredients.