Melodious barking
On this particular hot and humid Saturday afternoon few sounds more appealing than a dog barking. You may have seen references in my tweets and elsewhere on the blog to Peter's Hill. This is the name given to the soul-destroying climb up to the isolated house which overlooks the beautiful Lyme Park.
Still finding no rhythm
I'm finding no rhythm or consistency in the running. It seems that I'm out for a couple or three days and then something comes along and that's me done for another week. Last week it was the unexpected biopsy, before that a trip to London and earlier in the month, four days at Disney.
Naranjo de Bulnes (Cosecha)
This has proved to be a fantastic exercise in sound design - something very new to me. Having to work with only one source file to create all the elements of this track proved to be a really enjoyable challenge.
San Feliz
My goal with this piece was to create something very lazy and sunny. As I mentioned in another post, "San Feliz" was inspired by long summer days reading Murakami in the garden in Spain. With that in mind, I started by writing an eight bar turnaround with some bluesy chords and just let that roll.
Cosecha – The Random Sound
The unveiling of the Twitter random sound has finally arrived. Listen and download it here. My composition will be added to this post shortly, but I'm opening this up to everybody to create their own piece. The rule is that you can ONLY use the source file in your work.
Deva
The bass sequence remains rock solid throughout the track, barring two very short pauses as the main theme is introduced. The percussive sounds and frequency changes are intended to punctuate what is essentially the exploration of a very basic melody.
12 notes
I sketched these two bars out a couple of months ago and every so often the twelve notes reel me back in for a listen. I think it's time to see if I can develop them into a piece. Not sure about the arpeggios, but I really love the simple melody.
Twitter random sound project
I'm looking for volunteers to help create a random sound to feature in a new IDM track. It's the least commitment you'll need to make to anything. The only thing you'll need to do is send me a number a few times.
Recent Posts
Midweek Long Run
Last night I’d planned to run eleven miles but was cut short because of other obligations. Tonight’s eleven miler was curtailed by ability (and it’d be wrong to ignore the heat and stupidity of forgetting to take a drink). The first five or six miles were great. I felt strong and reasonably light on my feet, but at mile eight fatigue struck. I knew there and then that I’d struggle... [Read more]
Enthusiastic, energised, feeling fab
Despite around eight hours driving and a 4:45am start to the day, I felt remarkably enthusiastic about today’s run and really fancied an eleven miler (am I nuts?). Unfortunately, due to dog-walking and child-minding obligations, I had to cut this short to 7 miles. So energised was I that I pushed the pace a little (it was 24 degrees and humid) and let my heart rate soar to an average of 173bpm.... [Read more]
4 miles in the heat with no socks
No sign of the heat letting up so another fairly “energy sapping” run this lunchtime. One of the problems of running with a partner is that it’s much harder to keep the pace so today’s easy pace really wasn’t (at least not for me). That could create a problem with my training unless I recover some fitness fairly swiftly. Too much too, soon could put paid to running completely... [Read more]
Recovery run prompts analysis
Today was a recovery run, rather than a long run. I wanted to take it pretty easy following yesterday’s hills – not least because I’m still very early into this training block and I really don’t want to overdo things. I checked my watch as I reached the front door and was surprised at just how “easy” I’d been taking it. At 166bpm, my heart rate would indicate... [Read more]
Melodious barking
Peter's Hill On this particular hot and humid Saturday afternoon few sounds proved more appealing than a dog barking. You may have seen references in my tweets and elsewhere on the blog to Peter’s Hill. This is the name given to a soul-destroying climb up to the isolated house which overlooks beautiful Lyme Park. It’s not really called Peter’s Hill, but we named it after the home... [Read more]
Lunchtime six miler
I still seem to be choosing the hottest days to run. Tempted by cloudless blue skies, I forget how much harder it is when you’re just starting out (again). True, the heat always saps some of your energy, but when you set off wishing you were twenty pounds lighter, it all seems so much more pronounced. Nonetheless – and as I so often write – very enjoyable. So why the heck can’t... [Read more]
Still finding no rhythm
Musically, things are ticking along quite nicely. Reasonably pleased with the compositions. Just finished a couple and looking to start track number three of Deva in the next couple of days. (Just giving the ears a bit of R&R.) But I’m finding no rhythm or consistency in the running. It seems that I’m out for a couple or three days and then something comes along and that’s me... [Read more]
Another hot and slow run
Those adjectives would be great for some physical activities, but when associated with running, neither are desirable. It’s going to take a while to find any form and for that reason alone, it’ll also be some time before I post anything even vaguely interesting about my runs, but I’ll continue to upload them here anyway. 4m | 33:39 | 8:26 | 171bpm | Tempo Pace View Larger Map Read More →
Back in the trainers
After a week in Disneyland with Daniel (faaaantastic!), it’s time to lace up the trainers and focus on GNR. I know I’ve had a few distractions, but in all honesty too few to justify the very poor shape I’m in. The clock has ticked, but I still want to do my very best in September so I must bring some focus to the training. MotionBased Log 4m | 34:54 | 8:42 | 164bpm | Tempo Pace View... [Read more]
Naranjo de Bulnes (Cosecha)
Naranjo de Bulnes is my working of the Cosecha file. The track was inspired not only by the sounds generated by the random sound, but also the 2500m peak in the Picos de Europa. After a couple of listens to Cosecha, I began to hear hard, edgy sounds and decided that mountains and the challenges they present would be my synesthesia. Pulling this piece together and referring to various photos of Naranjo... [Read more]
