News from Away

Whilst away for the weekend we were sans PC, sans email and sans internet, which is always rather refreshing if a little frustrating at times. At least I did remember to take some music paper with me and sketched out a group of motets without the aid of computer or piano. When writing music, I invariably fall back on using a piano or Finale software to try out sounds, melodies and harmonious. But it is always good to kick away the crutch and I was quite please at how quickly and easily I managed the musical sketches. I have only just started transcribing them, so will report back on how satisfactory they are.

We caught up on a couple of BBC Proms on the BBC 3 television channel. We can't get it at home, but my Dad has a Freeview box. I enjoy watching the odd concert, but am I the only person for whom the TV presentation does little to enhance the aural experience. I can manage to live with the odd bit of hyperactive camera-work, but I found the spoken contributions and instant reviews of what we'd just heard profoundly annoying. And I certainly don't want to hear interval interviews with the performers hot (and sweaty) from their triumph. Or is this just me being an old grouch.