They say you never forget how to ride a bike. That's only true if you learnt in the first place...

Thursday, 27 March 2014

The Fluorescent Pianist

Yesterday was a running day.  I was absolutely dreading it after Sunday's pitiful effort, but thankful that my "consolidation week" of training meant that it was only a 20 minute run.  I was also extremely conscious that, having done the run, I would then have to go and play netball.  So, I set off with a small amount of trepidation at lunchtime to have an amble around the City.  I ran up London Wall, past the Museum of London, towards the place where my work netball team plays its matches in a summer league and then cut through a pocket park and down the side of Waitrose onto Bunhill Row.  Then I ran through the Bunhill Fields cemetery, where such luminaries as William Blake, John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe were laid to rest, before turning onto Finsbury Pavement and heading back towards the office.

However, when I got to the next junction, I realised that my time was nearly up and I was very near to a Cycle Surgery shop where I could buy some cycling gloves to replace the pair that is no longer a pair (I've come to the conclusion that either (a) the missing one has been accidentally thrown away, in which case I'll be waiting forever for it to turn up or (b) having bought new gloves, the missing glove will now immediately turn up, so I'll have two pairs).

The run went much, much better than Sunday and, although I did have some pain above my ankles again (and had to stop to stretch a couple of times), it wasn't nearly as bad as Sunday's and it went away after a while.  As a result, I managed to keep going for the full 20 minutes and I ran 2.21km - when added to the 1.67km I didn't want to talk about on Sunday and the other running sessions I had done previously, I have now run a total of 7.91km.

Today was supposed to be a cycling day, but I think the emotional drain of Tuesday's funeral was greater than I expected and, added to my doubling up of running and netballing and an extra early start today because of a conference call, it meant that cycling just wasn't happening.  I could quite happily have stayed in bed all day.  I also didn't want to be in the situation where I cycle into work, don't feel I can cycle home again and leave the bike at the office and then have to deal with strenuous logistics regarding swimming kit and bike tomorrow.  So, I'm going to try something new tomorrow - I'm going to get an early night tonight and then I'm going to cycle to the swimming pool early in the morning, do my swimming session and then head to the office (and then cycle home again).  Believe it or not, this is better logistically (from a kit management perspective)!

My lack of cycling today does, however, give me the opportunity to tell you about something else I've been up to.  You may recall that in my post entitled "More Haste, Less Speed" I wrote about going to my friend Rod's house on a special mission.  I had had several discussions with my parents about the music that we were going to have at Uncle Donald's funeral and my Mum had decided she would like to have the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata because the Second World War Blitz on Coventry (where Uncle Donald spent the war, working in the automotive industry and, apparently, brandishing a broomstick as part of the Home Guard) was code named "Operation Moonlight Sonata", which he talked about every time he heard the piece - as I learnt to play it as a child, this was fairly frequent!

Something was holding me back from saying "yes, this is a great idea", but I couldn't work out what it was.  Then, on the Sunday morning before last, I woke up having had an idea while I was dozing - I almost dreamt it, I think.  I had to play it myself - that was it, that was why I couldn't just say yes to my Mum.  The only problem was that it needed to be a recording as there would be no facility to play it live.  As soon as I got up, I put a post on Facebook asking my friends for any help they might be able to give me in recording the piece, such as putting me in touch with sound engineers and studios or lending me equipment - it had to be a really good quality recording or it would sound like bad lift music.  Many people made helpful suggestions and gave me encouragement, but it was my friend Rod who ultimately came to the rescue.

Rod is a professional composer and pianist.  He writes music for films, TV shows and plays - you've probably heard some of his work (and whether you have or not, you can find out more about him and his work on his website here).  He has a home studio and he invited me to go round and record Moonlight Sonata there, which I did the very next day.  Rod works using digital technology and records music as MIDI files.  He has a full weighted 88-key keyboard and a choice of piano samples to use - I chose a Bechstein grand, with the lid up, of course.  After a few practice runs to get used to the set up, I recorded three takes and we (well, Rod) then edited the best of them a little to get it at its absolute optimum.

Recording Moonlight Sonata: how it might have looked!
Now, you may remember that the reason I mentioned this in the earlier post was that I had cycled to Rod's house because I didn't have time to go home first.  This meant that the entire recording session was done with me in my cycling gear, which was a bit strange.  I meant to ask Rod to take a picture of this spectacle, but in my excitement I forgot, so you'll have to make do with the reconstruction I've included here!

When the music was played in the service, I knew that I done the right thing and I think that deciding to record the piece for the occasion was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  I couldn't have done it without Rod's help and I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for his generous assistance and advice.

1 comment:

  1. Oh! i love the photo, the idea (love the helmet just in case you are emotionally overwhelmed and bang your head on the piano) And yes the fluorescent top is very useful in the moonlight, it is still very dark!!!

    Mille bises ma belle, ma super shining star!

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