I was asked to do a radio interview for Radio Leeds but this one was different. They emailed me the questions beforehand so that I could prepare the answers. Ha ha! - me!! Words are not my thing - they tumble out completely unorganised, often making no sense, and, even though I had elocution lessons for years as a child, the stutter comes back ...
Imagine my surprise when a 'famous' person knocks on the door to do the interview. Ian Clayton apologised and said that he had 2 more interviews and miles to travel so he had to leave in an hour. I can't quite remember when it was but certainly much more than an hour later Ian set off to Leyburn.
I had yet another reporter here yesterday. We were supposed to be up on the moor tops taking pics. It was 'wuthering' - majorily wuthering actually. Luckily Dave is quite an up-and-coming photographer so we have a 'bank' of pics of me-plus-harps on rocks (Yorkshire rocks). Well, it turned out that Roy and Ian live in the same area and go to the same pub on Friday nights!
I got a hug goodbye from both men to which Dave chuntered under his breath 'don't they have women in Castleford or something' !
The Square Chapel, Halifax, tomorrow night - 8 pm - see you there?
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Monday, 13 September 2010
and pretty maids on all a row ...
Three weddings in three days - and they all got the sun! I sat next to two ancient (absolutely huge) coffers in the Church, iron bars strapped round the edges, black split oak - absolutely gorgeous.
I have never seen a vicar blush so deeply for so long. I can't actually remember him saying 'you can now kiss the bride'. The Groom grabbed his Bride and launched straight into a very long, very passionate snog! I could see the panic on the Vicar's face as he tried to look above them as it passed the 2 minute mark and there was no sign of it ending. The Congragation was doubled over laughing egging them on!
Two weddings before I had loads of young fascinated bridesmaids and pageboys. 'But HOW do you do it?' they kept asking. Short answers inbetween sets were not enough alas. Eventually I abandoned the set list given by the Bride and entertained them with jigs and reels. The bells were hidden under my long dress but they had spotted them. They were dancing around but suddenly ended up in a long row - like line dancers - all stamping their right foot in time and slapping their thighs. I started drumming on the soundboard. Slight puzzlement, then one of them turned and drummed on the back facing her, so they all did the same!
The Square Chapel this Friday - 8 pm - thanks to everyone who has bought tickets - (Wow!!) :)
I have never seen a vicar blush so deeply for so long. I can't actually remember him saying 'you can now kiss the bride'. The Groom grabbed his Bride and launched straight into a very long, very passionate snog! I could see the panic on the Vicar's face as he tried to look above them as it passed the 2 minute mark and there was no sign of it ending. The Congragation was doubled over laughing egging them on!
Two weddings before I had loads of young fascinated bridesmaids and pageboys. 'But HOW do you do it?' they kept asking. Short answers inbetween sets were not enough alas. Eventually I abandoned the set list given by the Bride and entertained them with jigs and reels. The bells were hidden under my long dress but they had spotted them. They were dancing around but suddenly ended up in a long row - like line dancers - all stamping their right foot in time and slapping their thighs. I started drumming on the soundboard. Slight puzzlement, then one of them turned and drummed on the back facing her, so they all did the same!
The Square Chapel this Friday - 8 pm - thanks to everyone who has bought tickets - (Wow!!) :)
Friday, 10 September 2010
Valour
My Mum says that people are behaving so badly because they are not scared of the 'devil'. It used to be drummed into everyone every Sunday morning and if they didn't come to Church the likes of Haworth's Grimshaw would round them up in the pubs! There is literally nothing to be frightened of anymore.
I love researching history and spend a lot of time playing to specific groups of people/children. The Celts used to take music therapy very seriously and laid down the rules very early on ...
'bring about an atmosphere of repose and slumber, bring them through to valour and tears but, always, always, leave them with the foot atapping ... '
I am in need of my own therapy today! After the ripple of nastiness has upset and affected people's lives the only thing we can do for them is pray ...
Bring back good old fashioned valour ...
still smiling :)
I love researching history and spend a lot of time playing to specific groups of people/children. The Celts used to take music therapy very seriously and laid down the rules very early on ...
'bring about an atmosphere of repose and slumber, bring them through to valour and tears but, always, always, leave them with the foot atapping ... '
I am in need of my own therapy today! After the ripple of nastiness has upset and affected people's lives the only thing we can do for them is pray ...
Bring back good old fashioned valour ...
still smiling :)
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Near Calamity
The worst thing you can hear on a harp is the sound of wood creaking - like an old boat. Sometimes it is barely audible to me but I sense it first. The design of Mystic-Al is very radical. I have succeeded in making a modern quad harp but had never tried making a traditional sound - ie more 'sweet' but involves more stress. I am no joiner so the first few weeks of tuning up are quite stressful. You are loading over 2 tons of stress onto a frame which could 'explode' at any time.
Mystic-Al was holding its tuning - usually a good sign - but I suddenly noticed that the forepillar didn't look quite right. It is made up of 3 pieces of wood and the point where all the stress 'hits' is about a foot up from the floor. One of the pieces of wood - mahogany - had started to warp along the grain. Astounding - the wood is about 4 inches wide and 1 inch deep and it was bending along its length not across the inch depth!
I stood transfixed and fascinated by the sound and then leapt into action. I had to loosen all the strings below middle C - being careful not to create a see-saw action by taking the stress off un-evenly. Getting clamps onto a triangular shape is not easy so I have an old margarine tub full of off-cuts. I had to find the right size and angle of wood and hold it onto the forepillar with my teeth whilst I tightened the clamp under the base of the harp using both hands! It took 3 clamps before I could persuade the wood to straighten again.
Dave came in at this stage from glazing my greenhouse and took one look and got his drill! It takes him half the time to drill holes and then drill the screws in - a knack I have never managed to master so do it laboriously by hand!
As I write this blog the harp has come back up to pitch and is holding its tune well - phew!!!
I have 3 weddings this week but am back on stage next Friday at The Square Chapel, Halifax.
Mystic-Al was holding its tuning - usually a good sign - but I suddenly noticed that the forepillar didn't look quite right. It is made up of 3 pieces of wood and the point where all the stress 'hits' is about a foot up from the floor. One of the pieces of wood - mahogany - had started to warp along the grain. Astounding - the wood is about 4 inches wide and 1 inch deep and it was bending along its length not across the inch depth!
I stood transfixed and fascinated by the sound and then leapt into action. I had to loosen all the strings below middle C - being careful not to create a see-saw action by taking the stress off un-evenly. Getting clamps onto a triangular shape is not easy so I have an old margarine tub full of off-cuts. I had to find the right size and angle of wood and hold it onto the forepillar with my teeth whilst I tightened the clamp under the base of the harp using both hands! It took 3 clamps before I could persuade the wood to straighten again.
Dave came in at this stage from glazing my greenhouse and took one look and got his drill! It takes him half the time to drill holes and then drill the screws in - a knack I have never managed to master so do it laboriously by hand!
As I write this blog the harp has come back up to pitch and is holding its tune well - phew!!!
I have 3 weddings this week but am back on stage next Friday at The Square Chapel, Halifax.
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Pick of the Week
I was on Pick of the Week on Radio 4 today - huge surprise!! This is the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpdd
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpdd
Saturday, 4 September 2010
The Weasal Dance
Dave has a new hobby. The superb weather has brought about a spate of chinese lanterns. We can sit at the kitchen table and watch them appear over the horizon and float up the valley and can work out where they might crash land. Dave then sends me out to rescue them and tapes another night-light in and sends them off again!
Had a fun gig at Cobbles and Clay in Haworth last night. It is so nice to play near home! I used to be terrified of playing infront of friends or family but this crowd was a blast, or was it the wine? It is quite an experience to hear a crowd of people joining in singing Italian Neapolitan at the top of their voices!
Had to repair Mystic-Al this morning. A screw had popped out with all the pressure on the soundboard so stuck a few more in. Eventually it will have wooden trim over the top of the screws but it is one of the last jobs. We are repairing a harp that was left in the sun (apparantly Dad had cut a tree down in the garden and they didn't notice that the harp wasn't in shade anymore). The whole soundboard has popped off all the way up. Luckily a clean break so have taken all the strings off, then: re-glue, re-string and tune up again ...
Dave at present working on downloading a new video taken at Limetree - The Weasal Dance - its good!
Had a fun gig at Cobbles and Clay in Haworth last night. It is so nice to play near home! I used to be terrified of playing infront of friends or family but this crowd was a blast, or was it the wine? It is quite an experience to hear a crowd of people joining in singing Italian Neapolitan at the top of their voices!
Had to repair Mystic-Al this morning. A screw had popped out with all the pressure on the soundboard so stuck a few more in. Eventually it will have wooden trim over the top of the screws but it is one of the last jobs. We are repairing a harp that was left in the sun (apparantly Dad had cut a tree down in the garden and they didn't notice that the harp wasn't in shade anymore). The whole soundboard has popped off all the way up. Luckily a clean break so have taken all the strings off, then: re-glue, re-string and tune up again ...
Dave at present working on downloading a new video taken at Limetree - The Weasal Dance - its good!
Thursday, 2 September 2010
stonehenge
Our neighbour next door is having a new garage built ... Whilst digging the foundations the builders have hit rocks - loads of them - so many in fact that they were desperate to get rid of them. Luckily they bumped into Dave ...
The first dumper-full arrived two nights ago and my son, Albert, Dave and friend all strained with crow bars and scaffold pole to move them. They came up with quite a nice 'feature' of rocks interspersed with all the hedging bushes I planted last year (most of which died in the drought but are still there stuck up like little bare twigs cos I haven't the heart to pull them out - and they 'MIGHT' come back to life, mightn't they?) Then the builders saw it and said it would look much better if it was a solid wall of rocks. This time we arrived back from shopping to find a huge pile. If grassed over it would have actually made quite a good ski slope.
This time help was not forthcoming - just Albert and Dave. They came up with quite a good system of dragging them off with the tractor and tow strap from the other side of the fence. Now the 'car park' (don't think posh) is surrounded with a solid wall of rocks, sadly not rounded and artistic but nonetheless quite impressive.
On the harp front - Mystic-Al got through the night without breaking a string and stayed almost at concert pitch. This is like the feeling of waking up after a good nights sleep and finding your newborn baby has slept through as well - fantastic! Dave is absolutely amazed at the hours of work that has gone into tuning it already - and it will be another 6 months before it will be steady and start to 'sing'.
Thanks for the message re concerts - much appreciated. Tomorrow night at Cobbles and Clay, Haworth with Baritone, James Hutton. Think they may still be able to squeeze a couple more in. The Square Chapel Concert is on Friday 17th. More to come so hopefully will be able to see you there!
The first dumper-full arrived two nights ago and my son, Albert, Dave and friend all strained with crow bars and scaffold pole to move them. They came up with quite a nice 'feature' of rocks interspersed with all the hedging bushes I planted last year (most of which died in the drought but are still there stuck up like little bare twigs cos I haven't the heart to pull them out - and they 'MIGHT' come back to life, mightn't they?) Then the builders saw it and said it would look much better if it was a solid wall of rocks. This time we arrived back from shopping to find a huge pile. If grassed over it would have actually made quite a good ski slope.
This time help was not forthcoming - just Albert and Dave. They came up with quite a good system of dragging them off with the tractor and tow strap from the other side of the fence. Now the 'car park' (don't think posh) is surrounded with a solid wall of rocks, sadly not rounded and artistic but nonetheless quite impressive.
On the harp front - Mystic-Al got through the night without breaking a string and stayed almost at concert pitch. This is like the feeling of waking up after a good nights sleep and finding your newborn baby has slept through as well - fantastic! Dave is absolutely amazed at the hours of work that has gone into tuning it already - and it will be another 6 months before it will be steady and start to 'sing'.
Thanks for the message re concerts - much appreciated. Tomorrow night at Cobbles and Clay, Haworth with Baritone, James Hutton. Think they may still be able to squeeze a couple more in. The Square Chapel Concert is on Friday 17th. More to come so hopefully will be able to see you there!
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