Too many mind.. Viols, Tunings, Books, Traveling & Science (every now & then)...

Right!

So many things took place over the last weeks (or rather months) that I constantly wanted to write about but honestly found no time to. I'll try to describe a few while doing some chores on another window/screen (what? you didn't know I have two monitors connected to my PC?).

Μουσική... or Music:

Alot have taken place concerning music in my life. I finally went after my intentions of studying music properly (with a teacher & everything) that I had decided upon in the summer... with a twist. Instead of studying guitar (classical or otherwise) I chose to go after what I originally (& should say always) wanted to learn as early as 1992-3, the Viola da Gamba!

The Bass Viol (or Viola da Gamba) I am studying with.

But where can someone learn this instrument? It is difficult to locate a teacher, I'll admit, especially in Athens (although there is a good one). Intrinsically, it suits my lifestyle better to take up lessons in the UK rather than Greece, so I started collaborating with Wendy Hancock near Nottingham. The first experience with the viol is amazing - it's so different from a guitar. The left hand seems common in both instruments so the transition was more easy, but the right hand (the bow) is extremely difficult & awkward to me. On the same time it is marvelously intriguing & it's difference is so, I don't know how to put it. Plucking notes with the right hand on guitar-like instruments seems fragmented contrary to arched instruments in general (& the Viol in particular) where you have a more fluent sound. Or at least that's the feeling I got. Plus I approach bowing as something closely related to breathing which is just breathtaking.

The whole lesson experience was quite nice - it has been maybe a decade since my last classical guitar lesson - and Wendy is a fantastic teacher. I can't wait to get back to Nittngham in a ocuple of months to continue. Yes in a couple of months as that's the only possible way for me to study - condensed lessons every couple of months. Now I am studying over here all the things Wendy tought me plus the next series of easy pieces.

The bass clef (fa) is a bit difficult to get used to as I still think in terms of the Sol clef. But I am happy to study towards that & I so much enjoy playing even the simplest tunes.I guess it's the sound of the Bass Viol that intrigues me the most.


Indirectly (or directly) connected to that is the tamperament issue...

I was always fasinated by different than standar tunings heard in baroque and preclassical recordings, & I did have a vague perception of what it is all about, but recently I started looking into it more systematically. I think this played a role in choosing the Viol over the guitar, as the Viol has movable frets & has an "old" repertoire - ideal for using an older tuning (e.g. we are using Vallotti tuning with La or A at 415Hz). So I went looking for some literature on tunings & tamperaments, & I stamlbed upon the following blog:
http://panadam.wordpress.com/
I remember mr. Adam from my early guitar days as I had attended a couple of his baroque music & interpretation workshops - so I asked some questions about books on tamperament. Have a look here for some suggested reading: http://panadam.wordpress.com/comments-questions-2010/#comment-146

I bought the book "How equal tamperament ruined harmony: and why you should care" from Ross Duffin & I got some interesting review from mr. Adam (look here) and a reference to the review from a journal (look here). To sum it up, that book has a more historical/ simplistic approach to the subject & probably contains some errors. Still it is a good read, especially for travelling (I read it during flights between Athens, Franfurt, Amsterdam, Munich and Manchester).

The next step towards understanding the Temperament issue is Mark Lindley's book "Lutes, Viols & Temperaments", which I also begun reading on airplanes (this time including Thessaloniki as a destination), although I have to say it's less easy than the previous one and is not the ideal companion for flights.

Just a quick note, to deal with tuning I use my iPhone (yes, it's true) and specifically the Cleartune application. It is cheaper than a chromatic tuner & I test it against one only to find it as accurate as expected (& it does include the Vallotti tuning) .

One cool feature is that you can switch from A B C notation to what I am accustomed to, i.e. La Si Do etc. Unfortunately not all music related iPhone apps have that feature.

So that's pretty much it about music, trying to study it that is in between flights as the last two months have been full of flights. I went to Manchester, Amsterdam, Thessaloniki, always connecting through Germany, for business & study related issues (like handing in my MSc dissertation & planning my future PhD). I always used Lufthansa or a Star Alliance affiliated company taking advantage of miles. The good thing is I will be eligible for the Lufthansa 2010 Silver Promotion that gives you frequent flyer status after you make 30 flight segments within this year, which I just completed the day before yesterday returning from Amsterdam. Hurray for me but it was a difficult flight as our plane was stuck on a runway in Paris & it took something close to 5 hours to get back to Munich... so we were marooned over there... everything in the Airport was already closed by the time the plane arrived. You can imagine how the crew was when the plane arrived, after being stuck with passengers inside the airplane on the tarmak for 5 hours! Oh anyway, I am safely back right now & that's all that matters. I am getting tired of travelling but the frequent flyer thing will definetly help.

So yes, I finished the MSc & you would imagine that I have more time on my hands, but it is quite the opposite actually. Apart from paving the way towards the PhD, there are several research projects that have been waiting for the MSc to finsih to start, & I am trying to organise an international workshop in the UK which is a nightmare on its own.

I also started reading a book concerning biometrics and the new world order. In Greece there's alot of discussions going on due to the fact that from 2011 an new digital ID will be distributed (initially on a voluntary basis) and there are discussions on RFID & the such. This book approaches this issue from a religious point of view with a very informed & pragmatistic view - as far as I've read I really like it. You can find some links here & here. Also a good book to read on a plane.

Now I really need to get back to work - will try to find time to write more later on (hopefully within this calendar year!).

Καλά Χριστούγεννα.