Lockdown Projects

It is early May, the swifts have arrived this week in Edinburgh, meaning that Spring is now moving into Summer. And yet we are still in this stage world of pandemic and lockdown and I hope that everyone is safe and looking after themselves and those they love.

In Scotland we have had 6 weeks of lockdown and the early adrenaline rush that led to panic buying (toilet rolls? what was all that about?) has mostly subsided. I am fortunate in that I am still working, albeit from home. The bay window in our living room has become a low-tech mini studio for delivering content to schools and I am in there most days.

The FluteFling fraternity that is on Facebook now has a small but active community and that has been a good way of keeping in touch for some. I know Facebook isn’t for everyone, but is is one of many ways of keeping things going and supporting each other. Recent chat has included how to roll on F natural, Swedish traditional flute music and the sharing of videos. If you’re on Facebook, the group can be easily found.

Talking of sharing videos, I have a project of my own, to rediscover forgotten repertoire and learn those tunes I never got around to learning. Every Friday I record something and put it up on YouTube. It gives me a focus, even if I don’t feel like doing it and even if I don’t have the tunes *completely* down or the performance fully thought through.

Many of the tunes have been taught in FluteFling classes or workshops, but not always by me. Here’s the latest one and if you head over to YouTube you can catch the rest and future ones too:

Hopefully, you’re able to find your own way to engage with your music, be it videos, going through music books, looking online, recording yourself or just listening to music. A year or so ago I was aware that a number of classical musicians undertook a 100 days of practice challenge whereby they recorded themselves for 100 consecutive days. Over that period, their focus shifted, their performances and technique improved. It’s not for everyone but I liked the idea of commitment to something you care about.

Another thing I am trying to do is to digitise some of my cassette archive. It is taking a while to get off the ground, but the numbers of forgotten gems, private recordings, cassette-only releases, copies passed on by others is a great incentive. It will take a good while once it gets going, but I feel it will be worth it.

Similarly for boxes of misfiled sheet music. Some people are able to file things very neatly and are much more organised than myself in a way that I can only admire. If I can’t be quite like that, I can at least sift through those duplicates, manuscripts and print-outs a bit more. It might make locating some of the tunes to learn a little easier.

A couple of final points. Many independent artists release recordings on Bandcamp.  They recently had a Friday whereby they waived their fees to artists on all purchases. There will be other ones coming up too. Spotify etc. are great for convenience, but give the artists next to nothing per play. If there is someone you really like, consider buying something from them to keep them going.

Look out for livestreams of concerts by musicians on YouTube and Facebook, maybe other platforms too. As gigging, teaching and collaboration is much harder at the moment, this is one way of getting to see them and putting something in the tips jar. Wintertrad in Edinburgh is one example and can be found on Facebook, with online gigs and workshops. There are many others, from sessions in Berwick, Boston and Belfast, to Fèis Rois virtual workshops available online until 15 May.

Stay safe and enjoy your music however you can.