Russell Davies

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31 Days in C - a one man Portsmouth

I saw a slightly odd documentary a while back called Here's A Piano I Prepared Earlier - about the experimental music of the sixties. The two bits that really struck me were about Terry Riley's In C and the Portsmouth Sinfonia.

It occurred to me that I could combine the two by trying to get people together to do a spontaneous, unprofessional version of In C, it then occured to me that that would be loads of work, so I decided to do it myself.

The score suggests an ensemble of around 35 people so I decided that I would record a single part on m'computer everyday during October. Just stick the headphones on and bash it out, no rehearsal, no retakes, trying to collaborate with and accompany, myself.

I haven't read any sheet music since I got an E in my music A level 30 years ago so loads of this is wrong. There are bits around bar 35 I just didn't bother with and I'm sure I didn't get all the dotted notes right (not least because my failing eyesight means I missed quite a lot of them.) For the most part, if I got something wrong the first few times through then I just agreed with myself and compounded the mistake.

I'm also not very good at mixing and mastering stuff so it might not just be the playing that's horrible.

Also, In C is supposed to be about 40 minutes long, but I couldn't manage 40 minutes a day for a month so I aimed for 10 minutes. That means some of the shifting tides of the original come and go rather quickly.

Anyway. Here it is: