The eventful return to Perth

Well it’s back to college after a pleasant break at the home on the west coast and already the first week has been both exhausting and eventful. College continued as usual on Wednesday with both first study and band rehearsals taking place in the morning and composition skills in the afternoon. My drum lesson went well howeve I feel that in my band situation there is not enough progress being made as in the last 6 or 7 weeks we haven’t really got one cover or an original fully completed yet. It’s amazing how two hours fly by every week in the rehearsals and it just goes to show that you have to use your practice time wisely.
After college on Wednesday I got a call from local saxophonist Felix asking if I could lay down a trombone line for a Dixieland song at Clearwater studios. I had no idea really what to expect for I had never played Dixieland before let alone recorded anything however agreed to do it as the experience alone would be rewarding. On arrival I was shown the track and straightaway began to experiment with ideas but it didn’t matter what I felt was right, as it was what the band wanted. In the end I got an idea of what the band were looking for however there was a section they wanted that was out of my range, which I couldn’t reach comfortably. In the end though I managed to get the trombone line down with a great deal of strain on my lips. It was a great experience for me for I have never been under so much pressure in a studio before and also was a awake up call to my need of range extension. The band however seemed happy with what I played and said if anything else popped up, they would give me a call.
In session skills this week we carried on learning “The Broken Hearted” and also learned the cheerful song “Your love lifts me higher and higher.” So far I am not struggling with the reading material but yet again I am coming to terms with the fact I have to start to using dynamics to a larger extent, especially on the quieter side.
Friday morning was full of nerves for it was the debut performance of my new band “Feel Free Conspiracy” at the midday show in the Goodlyburn theatre inside the college. I always enjoy playing in the theatre for the sound engineers are so easy to communicate with and always get a good sound out of the bands. The whole band including myself were anxious about an audience appearing let alone entertaining them with our music however in the end a good crowd appeared and we were well accepted and received good feedback from the gig. This has helped to spur us on and we soon hope to be gigging locally and further a field with a few recordings under our belt as well.
The other half of the day was spent with a fiddle and bow in hand with a fellow classmate and banjo playing over some Irish reels and jigs. Playing traditional music is brilliant for not only does it help with improving my technical ability playing with another musician but also is quite relaxing for there are no pressures to it. It is also great in terms of building on sight-reading as we have both started purchasing books and books of tunes and started trying to play them on sight. Already we are both capable of playing on sight at a slow pace and its just down to tempo and articulation before we will be stacking up the Scottish/Irish sets for public ears.
Saturday turned out to be very intriguing day as it was the first of a four session course into composing with Scottish composer John Maxwell Geddes (legend). Not only is he demonstrating famous composers methods like Bach Tchaikovsky and Beethoven but is also given the students advice on melody, motifs, harmony, development and instrument ability, (to say a few). At the end of the course I hope to have a three-minute piece written and recorded for cello, flute and marimba with the guidance of John Geddes. The three musicians that will be playing my piece are all from the Paragon ensemble and it will to get professional feedback for wrting for all three of them. In the past I have written for classical instruments with both my higher and advanced higher music but never with a guided hand and in such professional conditions. I look forward to the following weeks and watching how my piece expands with help from the professionals. Well this week has been very demanding and has showed me that I need to begin organising and keeping tracks of gigs more often as it is only going to become busier as the academic year continues …I think my next step shall be to buy a diary lol. I feel that my un prepared time in the studio with trombone has helped me with one of my biggest flaws of coping under pressure and the fact that my band Feel Free Conspiracy is on the uprising live experience will greatly increase with every live show. Although the composition course I am under taken is not a big step towards becoming a session player it will help my musical knowledge and hopefully open many doors to becoming a professional musician for you sometimes find what you ‘re looking for in a place didn’t expect.