Cubase

I bought Cubase in preparation for my online course, Composition for Film and TV, with Berklee. It is not that different then Mixcraft except that it has a lot of nice tools and tons of features that have only aided and inspired my attempts at composition. The first piece I composed in Cubase during a wonderful spell of inspiration. It always seems to be that one moment of inspiration that I produce good work. I have hundreds of musical doodles, beginnings of compositions I will never finish. Yet the hours I spend producing nothing are worth it for the rare moments I do. (I feel like there is a quote out there that sums up what I am saying.) The important thing is that I can see my compositions improving and I am learning what conditions bring on those moments of artistic inspiration.

The second piece I composed a while ago. It is a collection of separate ideas partly to practice working with my virtual instrument libraries, getting the solo violin to sound realistic. The last idea is kind of a mock, Ed Howe, electric fiddle riff.

Farmer's Market

 I played at the Belfast Farmer's Market last Friday for four hours.  I enjoyed watching friends and strangers pass by on their way to buy the fresh produce, free range beef, goat cheese, honey, homemade baskets, wooden spoons, and more from the stalls around me.  Some would stop and listen for a while, sitting on the sidewalk, backs pressed against the brick storefronts.  Willy, my brother, came a couple hours into my street gig and joined in with his fiddle.  He is greatly improving as a musician and we have been playing nearly every day since Fiddle Camp, building up a repertoire of tunes and our own compositions.  And of course we improvise.  The nice thing about playing with my brothers is that their whole lives they have been marinated with my musical preferences and playing style making it easier to improvise as he knows what chords I'll probably go to and I know where he is going with his melodies.

Neal Parent, who's photo gallery was only a couple doors down from where we were playing, came by and took a couple photos of us.

Fiddle Camp week 3

Here are some of the recordings from my second week at Fiddle Camp.

1) A Waltz written by Madeleine Stewart.  Her and Katie Allman on fiddle, Fiona Shea on drum.
2) A Waltz written by Sarah (a young cellist) and I at Fiddle Camp.