Fiddles fiddles everywhere and not a note in sight..

This week I have been mostly trying to write for four fiddles in different tunings at the same time...with only 2 fiddles..and a notation program that can't cope with things not sounding the way they look.. and a sore head. It's been a bit mathematical and I've thrown away several ideas because I felt their energy or interest got lost in a sea of adding and subtracting pitches. I'm also trying to get a bit better at storing away ideas for later use rather than throwing them all at the same canvas.

So, the fiddle day (rehearsal) is tomorrow and I have a skeleton with some flesh on it which I am going to workshop with the players in the morning then try some real-time in-rehearsal composing, do a re-jig of the score and print out over lunch for the second half of the rehearsal. I think it's going to work better that way and we'll get something that is better articulated by these fiddle players with their rich sense of style.

And if all else fails I can have a go of all four fiddles in the right tunings and do a complete rework.. It's interesting how the New Voices process has brought to light how much I work by ear as well as using notation, and how much I prefer to work through my instrument or with musicians.

Lori