A Room For London Jan 15th

....... I have been entering a ballot for over two years to go and stay in a boat on a roof. It came real on January 15th this year... The idea of the boat was an architectural competition to create a room for people to stay in, in order to contemplate London. The location..on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, The South Bank. The winning solution, a boat... a free standing, self contained unit, with the romance of travel, discovery and adventure...teetering on the edge of the roof ready to launch into the Thames. It was enchanting...exciting...it felt like we were flying...we were in the boat in the sky. I couldn't relax I leapt around taking photos, looking in the library of books, stared out the window, looked at the cupboard gallery, leafed through the giant ships log book full of other visitors comments, dreams, drawings, weather conditions, temperatures. It was blowing a gale outside but toasty indoors. You reach the boat by going through a disguised door, past the loading bays of the QE Hall and into a make-shift elevator. Due to noise disturbance in the Queen Elizabeth Hall the lift was slowed down and now takes 2 minutes which feels like you should be arriving in space! You cross a scaffold walkway over the roof to the boat entrance and then enter the 'Scandi-wegian' style boat interior. a We listened to London fall asleep and wake up in the morning. London has a low rumble which quietens down at perhaps 3 am and starts up at 7am... the trains, the traffic.. At 4am the roaring sound of a motorbike hurtling over Waterloo Bridge woke me.. it was the sound of an adrenalin-filled rider claiming London for their own...whaaaawwwwowww... we watched cormorants, gulls and crows in the morning, wrote in the ships log and left. A truly special time. My relationship with London has changed... I'm embarrassed to admit, I fell in love...even though it's full of greed and suffering, it became something else...I can't put it into words... a feeling... a feeling of awe for the energy, the beauty in the man-made.

Neutrinos Writing Weekend Day 3

Day 3... we were still excited to start...bring it on! Plot a musical:time limit 10 minutes I have to share our outcome of this games as it's quite something!.... Tescos! The Musical. Tales of the unexpected item in bagging area Act 1: Fruit and Veg. denatured salads, fast food Act 2: Stock room. back stage intrigue, romance, freezer room(dry ice) Act 3: Checkout. Jeopardy, thrills and spill. plot lines.... Bread shortage, shoplifter falls in love with security guard, price war with Asda, under the radar price increases on everyday items and price drop on luxuries, stock-take huge choreography piece stacking shelves...breath taking, All the check-out machine ladies come alive and get out from in the machine and do a big song and dance routine 'Check me out', Behind the fag curtain.... cigarettes booze and gambling, Aisle always love you, Every Little Helps. Go outside: walk an idea further: time limit 20 minutes Pedal note:. example Twice by Little Dragon choose one chord play it on repeat sing a melody choose another chord play it on repeat sing another melody Finding your note Masterclass intervals! learn them. create muscle memory through repeat practice. Become familiar with a major scale. 12345678, sing it where ever you may be, or walking along. learn familiar intervals to help find your note. 1-3 Zed cars 1-4 Amazing Grace 1-5 Last Post 1-6 And now, the end is nigh 1-7 (don't worry about this one for now!) 1-8 somewhere over the rainbow Mood evocations explore creating intentional moods Menace - Massive Attack 'Angel' Joy - Song 2 Blur Melancholy - Billie Holiday Suspense - John Barry Yearning - Jeff Buckley, Ry Cooder-Paris Texas create a melody with a mood in mind and all create a melody conveying HOPE : time limit 10 mins Wearing a suit Masterclass Make sure the shoulders fit Wear the suit don't let it wear you. Enjoy looking at other peoples' clothes ... Sartorialist website. CONCLUSIONS>>>> K: I enjoy writing songs if I break the process down into small bits/exercises/games really like the word pool. J: I enjoyed being in the zone playing music. M: I liked having permission to spend time on song writing. All: Listening to music together was really intense and enjoyable.

Neutrinos Writing Weekend Day 2

Set-up musical instruments. 1 hour Create a drone create lyrical content, have a word pool. create a melody create a sonic world introduce a new person to your working group. Simple Accompaniments choose three chords create a pulse create a melody play choose three more chords repeat Make a chord sequence by assigning ABCDEFG to a word. KLANGHAUS ABCDEFG HIJKLMN OPQRSTU VWXYZ HOV = A IPW= B JQX = C KRY = D LSZ = E MT = F NU = G DEAFGAAGE Go Outside Take a book and turn to page 113 point to the middle of the page and read your instructions for outside. Story Telling warm-up.... word association word non-association word association loop - the start word needs to be returned to after three circuits. Make up a story...give it a soundtrack Break it into a beginning middle and end. Read it aloud to the group Using your Manifesto or 'what do we want to write about' list write some phrases with a word pool. write a story, research your subject to add to the word pool find a pulse choose some chords/ an atmosphere/mood play.

Neutrinos Writing Weekend Day 1

Neutrinos Writing Weekend Day 1 We wanted to go away...find a strange place to work. We stayed at home to see if we could be creative in our comfort zone. starting points: Friday 10am: Write a simple melody : time limit 10 mins Starting point : What did you dream last night? What do we want to say? : time limit 5 mins What do we want to say/infer in our songs/art? LISTENING choose a song each, listen to it and say why you like it. Write a simple melody : time limit 10 mins Respond to a visual: write a short melody : time limit 10 mins The musical word: time limit 10 mins find the rhythmic and melodic shape of a word Choose one word individually, choose one word you all respond to. Give a 2 minute TED lecture. Prep time 5 mins Audio Describe: time limit 5 mins describe the music in the opening sequence of a film. Cut-up: get a newspaper /magazine or just write words on paper. cut up the individual words or short phrases, put then in a bowl. mix them up, take it in turns to pull out a word. Make sentences / lyrics Go for a walk. time limit 20 minutes record a background sound record another sound record an interaction you have with a stranger record something indoors return home, share your findings. Manifesto: Write a manifesto to focus your intentions. Song Writing Masterclass: approx 30 mins - Write a paragraph telling someone to do something or go somewhere. Make that paragraph only 10 syllables. Make those 10 syllables 3 words. - Think of a subject, make a word pool by writing down any words associated with your subject. Condense and simplify each part of the word and sound of the word are important internal rhyme extended lines If you get stuck change the context of your prose ...turn it into a letter to someone (Iain Lowery top tip) At the end of day one we tried an exercise that was too big and too complicated, writing 10 riffs, 10 melodies, 10 bass lines, 10 drum patterns... we got lost and felt despondent ...so we listened to music for a few hours and felt great.

InHaus

Before Christmas we got together with KlangHaus comrades and inspirers...the aim was to play, eat, drink, think and be together. Our intention through-out this year is to continue to gather and play and compile a book of games for us to refer to and to share. Here is what we did..... InHaus or Hyggelig, meaning, cosy with friends and warmth and breathing and food and drink and moment after moment. In order to arrive before you get there and to fully be there whenever you are, the following info is really gonna’ help: To Bring and ponder 1. Bring a favourite; reading, piece, poem, song, idea, colour, shape, character… that you are happy and comfortable to present, perform, share with a busy bustling audience (ships Kitchen) 2. Bring - An object of single colour - personally significant or a random find complete with a story or a lie... A kind of monochrome antiques road-shown. 3. SwanSong – bring along a small thing, an object, item… that will make a sound – but only once, then it is broken or changed or fukt. For example a paper bag blown up then popped, a match stick snapped. This will result in some kind of short sound moment or piece that we want to record and use as the basis for a future song. 4. A small gesture of dress – water seems to be a theme! Dust off your blue peter badge, press your sailor suit, tap your shoes, splash the colour… 5. Some drink for the drink Here’s the Saturday in outline: 1pm Arrivals, Soup, Chit, Chat 2.30 pm Wording – a word and what we can do with it, investigating a word. (chosen word was enthusiasm) 3.30pm Fathoming the building. How would you interrogate a building to give up it's secrets? 4pm Tea, Cake … and what we fathomed ( Pepper's Ghost, literal histories, nosing around, feeling out-of-place, essence, who will be here in 200 years time, will the DNA of a building choose it's inhabitants?) 6pm Swan Song ReSounding 8pm – Ships Kitchen – there will be cooks cooking, eaters eating, washers upping… but, no matter what’s going on, there is always at least one person “entertaining” – reading a favourite poem, telling a story, improvising, game making, Pepper's ghost/ lighting tricks, chancing, cajoling, commenting, live writing, suggesting, challenging, enabling, quizzing, ranting, joking, enchanting, jumping in at the deep ending, silencing. Tilwenever Sunk. We carried on into Sunday, but some of us stayed up so late, drank so much, that Sunday was a late starter and when we shared our chosen text/poem/story at 3 in the afternoon, it was mighty emotional. Taking time to continue into the next day allows the night before to have no end.

Vocal fitness

Was just pondering on how all us singers at KlangHaus kept vocally fit throughout the 46 shows. I think it was mainly to do with concentrating on not being stressed. Concentrating on not being tense. Most vocal damage comes through tightening of muscles, especially in the neck and shoulders. Tension is the biggest enemy and the mind passing negative thoughts to the muscles. I made sure I had a good picture in my mind of each show. I banished ideas of lucky routines or totems of good and bad luck apart from one. I was nervous of falling down the ladder which we climbed to end the show, I had nightmares which involved me falling down the ladder in every way possible. My luck routine came as a song which I sang as Mark me and Sal descended safely, called 'Nice and safe'. I can recommend your own version in times of duress, it works!

Creative producing....

Went to a conference yesterday at Tate Britain called 'Sound, music ,visual: producing the interdisciplinary.' There was a discussion about what a creative producer is: Michael Morris of Art Angel chatted with Jem Finer ex-Pogues and creator of Longplayer, a piece of music that will run for 1000 years. Okay here is what a good producer is/does: is in harmony with the artist, has empathy with the work, knows when to hold back and when to push, the producer makes the framework of enabling, is the bridge between artist and audience, both producer and artist must trust each other and have a shared belief in the work. We heard producers talk and we heard artists who produce themselves talk. The self-producing artists were bundles of exciting chaos, but seemed like they could have done with a calm pair of hands to help them make good relationships with the major organisations they where commissioned by; the producers where much more measured and calm. Personally I would like to work with a producer and concentrate more on being an artist and less on risk assessments and insurance policies, I can be involved, just not responsible for sorting. I like being part of a team and obviously choosing the right producer is the key. In Edinburgh, the producer-role was vital and we are indebited to Ros Coleman, Alix Lingford and Pasco who shared parts of that role. The corner of the conference that was reaaalllly annoying was the 'Interdisciplinary'bit. I have had so many years of feeling at my wits end as to why working in different disciplines is ever questioned/labelled......it's art for goodness sake, the idea predicts the medium, the necessary materials the outcome...aaaa stop struggling to pigeon-hole it, is it music or art? it's both, it's neither, it's an art and music show.... How on earth did Leonardo Da Vinci cope!