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	(Surprise) Old Grey Whistle Test. 09/05/08 - Old Git. Tomorrow I have to do a pop session which I'm probably not at liberty to discuss, divulge etc. for fear of litigation etc., etc., blah...blah...zzzzzzzz. It involves whistles in D flat, D and E (see Truck Drivers' Gear Change Hall of Shame) and, whilst the high and low whistles in D flat and E are, pretty much, spoken for, I have tons of whistles in D (now there's a surprise!). I was playing through the tune this evening on whistle after whistle to see which one I might, at least, start with. The list included Abell, Rose, Hudson, Oz, Harper, Vargas-tweaked Waltons and Le Meur. These are all great whistles but to my surprise I kept picking up the Jean-Pierre Le Meur. This whistle plays itself. With all the others you're aware of having to play the whistle to some extent. With Jean-Pierre's, you just play the tune. In terms of wooden whistles, the Oz came out tops. Art and football news. 07/05/08 - Tony Hinnigan My wife and I went back to the Tate gallery on Bank Holiday Monday to see the exhibition of paintings by Peter Doig (born in Edinburgh, raised in Canada, two decades in London, now resident in Trinidad). She was intrigued by the posters on the tube and so off we went, though neither of us had heard of the artist. His (very large) paintings are visual feasts and the exhibition included many smaller studies made prior to embarking on the big pictures, all of those being equally interesting viewing. This time I can recommend the book, published by the Tate. The ISBN no. is 978-1-85437-782-1. Last Sunday Crystal Palace FC beat Burnley FC 5-0 to secure their place in the Championship play-offs. The first leg of the semi-final will be against Bristol City at Selhurst Park next Saturday. COME ON YOU PALACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gig in historical place. 04/05/08 - Tony Hinnigan Well, all places have their history but I have just returned from a Michael Nyman Band gig in Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland, scene of the infamous siege by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 and the Battle of the Boyne between the Catholic King James II and the protestant forces of King William III in 1690. Whilst we were there, my wife and I went to Saint Peters Catholic Church in the town to see the preserved head of Saint Oliver Plunkett, the last Catholic Martyr in England, who was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, London, in 1681. The gig was in Saint Peters, Church of Ireland, which was absolutely packed with one of the warmest and most appreciative audiences the band has ever played to. We spoke to many of them over pints of Guinness in Clarke's Bar afterwards. My wife had an early flight the next day for recording sessions in London, so headed straight back to the hotel via a fish and chip shop to get a bag of chips. One of the the audience members was in there doing the same thing and, after congratulating her on the performance, said "Would you mind if I buy your chips?" She graciously accepted! More art news. 30/04/08 - Tony Hinnigan Living in London can have its frustrations, but one of the huge benefits (for someone who likes looking at paintings as much as I do) is the large number of top-quality Art Galleries with fabulous permanent collections and imaginative temporary exhibitions. Yesterday, my wife and I paid a visit to the Tate Britain to see their exhibition of paintings by the "Camden Town Group". This was a group of painters formed in North London in 1911 whose art "embraced the life of ordinary people - its beauty and magic as well as its boredom and anxiety - and it represented life sympathetically as it was led, rather than how it ought to be". The large exhibition included paintings by Walter Sickert (the only painter I had heard of before), Spencer Gore, Harold Gilman, Charles Ginner, Robert Bevan and Malcolm Drummond. I was quite staggered by the quality of these artists' work. They took their inspiration from the likes of Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Seurat but adapted their techniques to capture a London in the midst of enormous change and upheaval in the lead-up to the outbreak of World War One. Normally, I would include the ISBN no. of the exhibition book, but I feel that the reproductions therein don't really do justice to the actual paintings. Next stop, the Peter Doig exhibition!!! And the score is.... 28/04/08 - Tony Hinnigan Well, two sorts, really. I've had my head down scoring arrangements for a Summer School where I shall be teaching, whilst listening to endless football commentaries on the radio. The West Coast School of Chamber Music will take place in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in August and I shall be coaching and playing in a number of classes but chiefly focussing on classes on rhythm. I am arranging a number of folk and jazz tunes to try to get the classical students to rethink their approach to rhythm. Sadly, classical musicians and string players in particular have a less solid grasp of the concepts of rhythm than musicians from other disciplines. It seems perfectly acceptable to pull music around all over the place but, when faced with playing a load of offbeats in time, well, it's impossible(!). This nonsense has to stop and it will, in Pembrokeshire, this August. By the way, yesterday's commentary was from Parkhead, Glasgow, where the final score was Celtic 3 Rangers 2. Technically speaking, this scoreline would make me "over the moon" and Jim, my brother-in-law "sick as a parrot". I phoned Jim after the game and I can confirm that he is, by his own admission, as sick as a parrot Time to move on and excellent whistle news. 04/04/08 - Tony Hinnigan Yes, Ollie is neither under the ground nor ashes in an urn yet - funeral is on Fri 11th - but he would thoroughly approve of moving on. I was recently sent some "tweaked" whistles by Erik Torp-Olsen at vargaswhistles.com. Erik takes cheap factory whistles and dismantles then rebuilds the mouthpiece according to his own cunning plan. He sent me his versions of a Generation, a Feadog and a Waltons Mellow D. The first two are very good indeed and a vast improvement on the factory versions but the Waltons is absolutely out of sight. I've been playing it for days and spent this morning comparing it with other, much more expensive, metal whistles that I own. I have to say that Erik's Walton's Mellow D has shot to the top of the list. I recently raved about Mitch Smith's ozwhistle as a great wooden whistle and I feel the same way about this one. Apparently, Erik charges US$45 for them. That has to be one of the greatest bargains of all time. And it's tuneable. A very sad day. 31/03/08 - Tony Hinnigan I learned, last night, that one of my dearest friends, Oliver Nicholls, was killed in a hit-and-run road accident. I had known Ollie for more than 25 years, initially in his capacity as recording engineer at Backtrack Studios and, later, at his own Dove Studio at the "Log Cabin" in his family home, Daneby Hall in the village of Fordcombe, Kent. I have driven to Fordcombe so many times (and was planning to do so again in the near future) that it's difficult to take in that I shall never do it again. Ollie recorded many Incantation tracks over the years and played keyboards in the band for a number of years. I recorded my album "Camera" with Ollie engineering and co-producing and I should now like to dedicate that album to his memory. I spent some of my happiest and most stimulating times in Ollie's company and, though I don't have an actual brother, he was like a brother to me. His genial personality and positive nature, along with his superlative professionalism and inexhaustable patience will be sorely missed. If you look at Picture#7 in the Gallery section of this site, Ollie is in the middle, at the back. The picture seems to sum up just how he was. R.I.P. A funeral and a concert. 23/03/08 - Tony Hinnigan In the past week, my wife and I attended the funeral of our old friend (and her former Beau) Noel Abel. Noel was a talented trombone player and was a member of some of London's finest orchestras in his 20s. He found that the pressures of the profession did not agree with him and moved on to other jobs, although his love for music burned strongly for the rest of his life, and he maintained regular social contact with many professional musicians, a large number of whom were at the funeral. It was referred to in the service, and I shall repeat it here, that Noel spent the last half of his life determinedly drinking himself to death. In a way, he should be congratulated for finally getting there. I feel his pain and remember with fondness the many enjoyable times we spent together. R.I.P. Three days later we went to see a performance of Bach's Mass in B minor in St. Johns, Smith Square, London. This is supposed to be Bach's crowning masterpiece. Personally, I don't get it. I'm not an automatic worshipper at the Bach-Mozart-Beethoven shrine and, whilst these composers wrote some wonderful music, they also wrote some real tosh. I realise that a large degree of subjectivity accompanies any appreciation of music and I completely dig many other works by Bach, but the majority of the B minor Mass leaves me unmoved and, quite frankly, puzzled. The performance, however, by the Academy of Ancient Music and the Holst Singers conducted by Stephen Layton, was very fine indeed and made the concert a most rewarding experience. Don't take my word for it. Listen to the B minor Mass yourself. Make up your own mind. Enjoy! A must-have for all musicians. 14/03/08 - Tony Hinnigan I received a mailshot the other day from my colleague Sebastian Comberti who has a website called www.celloclassics .com. I may have raved before about the wonderful book "Cello" written by my late teacher, William Pleeth, in the "Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides" series (ISBN 1-871082-38-2) which is an essential read and re-read for all musicians, regardless of the instrument they play. Sebastian's website has just released an 8-DVD set entitled "William Pleeth - a life in music" which is a series of hour-long masterclasses given by William Pleeth at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in Snape, England. The films were shot in 1996 to celebrate his 80th birthday. I watched the first one last night and was moved to tears, not just by the memory of my teacher (I had four years of weekly lessons just like that), but by the quite extraordinary intensity of his teaching. I learned most of what I know about music from Bill and I would urge all musicians, again, regardless of what instrument they play, to go to www.celloclassics.com and buy the whole set. This is the only footage available of an absolute legend of instrumental teaching at work and is an experience not to be missed. It's all Greek to me. 10/03/08 - Tony Hinniganipedes. Just got back from a very sunny and spring-like Athens to a very grim and still-wintery-like London. My wife had not been to Greece before, so we did the Acropolis shuffle and, I have to say, even though I have been there a number of times before, the concept of the civilisation which was Ancient Greece is a wondrous thing when you consider how much of what they invented is now taken for granted, including medicine, philosophy, politics, literature, mathematics, science and, undoubtedly, music. Sitting at the edge of the Acropolis, with the Parthenon at your back, and surveying the city and surrounding country is a mind-concentrating exercise in what a society with noble aspirations can bequeath to the world. I, more humbly, hope this week to bequeath a new webcast to my long-suffering readership. Pppphhhhhh!!! Classic Hinnigan 4 09/02/08 - The Producer The new Classic Hinnigan webcast is now up people. TP General gets the first crack! 08/02/08 - Tony Hinnigan A while ago I raved about a new whistle I tried, made by Mitch Smith of Ozwhistles.com. I acquired one of these shortly afterwards and was looking forward to my first opportunity to play it "in anger" as we demented musicians say. Lately I've been recording some library music with my old mate Mike Taylor (aka "The General"). Mike and I co-founded "Incantation" many years ago and he has been a soloist on a large number of movies, such as "Lord of the Rings" and others we have both worked on, including "Braveheart", "The Mission" etc., etc. The other day, on one of these library sessions, we ended up doing a tune Mike had written, on whistle and guitar. Mike hadn't expected to do be doing it so hadn't brought any whistles to the studio. I offered him the pick of mine including Abell, Rose, Hudson, Harper, LeMeur etc. Guess which one he went for? Yes, the ozwhistle won the day, and the General got the first crack!! Yesterday, My producer and I recorded the fourth classical music webcast, which will be uploaded onto the site shortly. The next one will probably be, specifically, Baroque music. If anyone has any suggestions for other genres to home in on for webcasts, e-mail me! The Taxman Cometh! 30/01/08 - The Producer. I'd like to apologise for the lack of webcasts in this last period as Chief Wanganui has been otherwise disposed with the inevitable end of year paperwork. I am assured that he will be back on form in the very near future. Please see NEWS section for pic of The Chief before he submits his final return. The snow in Spain falls mainly on the plain. 08/01/08 - Sancho Panzigan I've just returned from San Lorenzo del Escorial, near Madrid, where it was..... snowing!! Don't quite know why that should be such a surprise but, out of the great many visits I've paid to Spain, it's the first time it has actually snowed whilst I've been there. I returned to ongoing "works" in my house so, quickly scarpered to the abode of my producer where I recorded another classical music webcast which is now up on the site (under "Webcasts"....duh). My producer had a pleasant surprise for me upon my arrival - a whistle I had ordered from Mitch at ozwhistles.com after trying the truly amazing one he had sent my producer. The latter was in gidgee wood and the new one is blackwood with sterling silver mountings. It plays like a dream. I've had little time to spend on it since its arrival but will find all the time I can in the coming days and say something about it on the site. Today, I went into London's West End for the post-Christmas errand run. No-one gives me presents any more, so I had the ironic task of buying my own socks and handkerchiefs. I also looked in at Air-Edel Studios where composer Richard Wells was mixing his score (on which I had recorded in December) for a forthcoming film called "The Mutant Chronicles". Suitably gory sounds from oneself seemed to complement the action! There was some splendid Theorbo playing on the score too so, to match, here are a couple of bass guitars. Onwards and Upwards!!!!! 01/01/08 - Tony Light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnelagain I'll like to take this opportunity to wish everyone on my mailing list (and anyone else who drops by) a very happy and peacefull New Year. I appreciate all the comeback from readers and will continue to try to get back to you all as soon as I can. Happy New Year! P.S. To slightly misquote Mike Oldfield, here are some "slightly distorted guitars". So, that's the Festive Season over and done with, is it?....Please!? 31/12/07 - Ebenezer Scroogeigan My wife and daughter and I spent the Christmas period with my extended family in Scotland. In addition to all the usual malarkey, we managed to get out and about a bit and, one day, headed west, on the advice of the BBC weather-forecasting supremos. We drove up the west side of Loch Lomond in dense fog and a thick hoarfrost which covered the ground and trees, so that the land seemed to be under the spell of some wicked witch. We turned left at Tarbet and, as we approached Inveraray, the BBC chaps were proven right as we emerged from the fog blanket to hills glowing pink in the low-lying winter sun. A magical moment which could, probably, happen only in Scotland. Off to Madrid in a couple of days with the MNB. Here's the next instalment in the "So, how many etc., etc....... series. Guitars! Out of the frying pan into the fridge, Take 2 - Oh, and an astonishing new whistle!! 16/12/07 - Tony Hinnigan Yes, almost directly from Mexico, where the sun beat down from a cloudless sky, to Lithuania and Estonia, where the snow carpeted frozen streets. In Mexico, the Michael Nyman Band played in Puebla, a very pretty town about 60 miles south-east of Mexico City. The light is one of the most striking things about that region of Mexico, owning to the thin high-altitude air. The colours of the buildings are so vibrant and made me think of Venice, where the light reflecting off the lagoon has inspired so many artists over the centuries, and Ireland, where the brightly-painted houses nestle in lush, rain-fed greenery, a green like no other I have ever encountered. Contrast that with the low-lying winter sun glinting on the snow in Tallinn. These are some of the the things which make the travel grind bearable. In Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, we played in the National Philharmonic Hall on the very stage where an 8-year-old Jascha Heifetz played the Mendelssohn violin concerto (which he had debuted the previous year in Kaunas!) to an audience including violinist and teacher Leopold Auer, who immediately whisked the young lad off to St. Petersburg to study with him. The rest, as they say, is history. I've played on many a European concert platform where momentous musical events have taken place and it continues to be a fascination, to stand on that stage and try to imagine how that evening was in 1908, 1762, etc., etc. Since then the band has done gigs in Rome (which we made by the skin of our teeth - high winds at the airport), the Barbican concert hall in London, and the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-On-Sea, Sussex, which is a delightful (recently restored) Modernist style building which I would invite you to google for an architectural visual feast. The MNB has also been in the studio recording Michael's song cycle "I Sonetti Lussuriosi", a series of settings of erotic poems by the 16th-century Italian poet Pietro Aretino. The piece was premiered in the Barbican concert and caused amusement in the British press, not least because it occasioned the first ever "under the counter for consenting adults only" programme in the history of the Barbican Centre, owing to the severely explicit nature of the lyrics! Additionally, a BBC producer was thrown into a state of panic at the English translation of the the words when Michael was doing a Radio 3 promo for the the gig and required the soprano, Marie Angel, to hum, rather than sing, the song they were performing live on air. Lots of Italian speakers in the UK. Hilarious! The other day I repaired to the house of my producer, foggy of head and irkish of humour, to be presented with a new high D whistle made by Mitch Smith at Oz Whistles. I immediately cheered up upon playing the instrument. I've played many a musical instrument in my time and, when you get a good one in your hands, it's an absolute joy and when you get something really special, you don't want to do anything else but keep playing it. Mitch's whistle is one of the latter. I understand that he has only been making whistles for a couple of years and I, therefore, have to accord him the instrument-making equivalent of an Oscar-Board-Sweeping-Best-Everything award. Best Newcomber? You bet! There will be some garbled footage on this site shortly under "Old Grey Whistle Test" on the subject of the whistle and, as soon as I can collect 250 of yer Australian dollars to send to Oz Whistles, I will have one of my own. I can't wait! By the way, it not only sounds brilliant, it looks FANTASTIC!! Great work. I'll be playing the whistle some more on the site when I've got one and lived with it for a bit, and will publish details of recordings on which I will (undoubtedly) use it. On the subject of whistles, here's the latest in the "So, how many o' these....zzzzz....zzzzzzzzzz...... series and it's - whistles! See site NEWS for pics. P.S. My producer tells me that the Oz whistle will be in with five other whistles under "Wanganui's Whistle Wish List". Most seasonal. So, how many o' these 13/11/07 - Tony Yes, that's right. The postman turned up today with a cylindrical parcel. Ominous. It contained an F whistle in boxwood made by (the previously mentioned) Jon Swayne. The gentleman who recently sold me his Low D Swayne told me he was going to concentrate exclusively on bagpipes, so would I like to take his place on the Swayne waiting list? Seemed like a good plan and, in fact, a couple of days later, Jon contacted me to say that he'd already made the chap's whistle so, if I was still interested, he'd send it to me straight away. I've gone from a lifetime of not owning one of these flutes to having two delivered in the space of a week. I'll give the F a spin on this site when I've found a nice tune to play on it. I have never met Jon, but he tells me in his letter that, years ago (I was in the Balanescu Quartet and Jon ran a bagpipe trio called Moebius), jazz pianist Keith Tippett was trying to book both groups for a gig in his Rare Music Club. Actually, I think I'd already left the BQ by that and Jon was out of town so Keith couldn't get hold of him. Nice to think how small the musical world can be, though. Incidentally, please find, above, another photo from "half the contents of my attic" (minus today's new arrival). My producer will post the picture as soon as he has put the finishing touches to the 95% scale model of the "Graf Spee" he is currently constructing in his shed. "Cheeky B*****d" TP. "I think we should adopt the "Classical" approach, don't you, Carruthers?" "Absolutely, m'lud." 08/11/07 - Viscount Wanganui the 94th. There is, currently, a new webcast on the site devoted to classical music. Hold your horses! My producer is, as I speak, re-formatting the show to make it consistent with 21st century technology. Once he has done that, and after we have taken tea (Earl Grey, of course) on the lawn with toast and bramble jam, he will upload a second classical music show, all of which goes to prove that, if you are patient and tolerant enough, you CAN get the staff. Incidentally, as you can see from the previous news item, I have commenced to place on the site images from my extensive collection of Hellenic pottery (shurely, a load of junk on your front room floor?....Ed.). So, how many o' these " musical instruments " dae ye actually have, laddie? Dunno guv, do I? 07/11/07 - Curator of the Adam Carse collection, Horniman Museum, South London. Part the first - flutes. I have, miraculously, survived another visit from my "Producer". 06/11/07 - Cat-who-is-rapidly-running-out-of-lives. Hang on, I'll just open the front door and check up and down the street. Yes, he really HAS gone. Phew! The "gentleman" turned up with a number of items, including a flute and a B-flat whistle by Tony Dixon, for my perusal. This perusing can be found in the "Old Grey Whistle Test" section of "Downloads". Also in this section are comparisons between two Jon Swayne low D whistles, one which my producer has owned for many years and one which I recently purchased from a chap in the United States. There is also a short clip of a Bahu that I recently bought in Shanghai (more detailed Bahu stuff to follow later) and, under "Walkabout", the actual Bahu purchase and some transport footage which my producer has temp-scored with some music by Ralph Vaughan-Williams to interesting effect. The trams in the footage are the same ones which I travelled on as a child in Glasgow and which, 45 years ago, the good burghers of that city decided to scrap. They are still running fine in Hong Kong. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Over the last few days I have been compiling a photographic inventory of the musical instruments I possess, as I'm fed up with people asking me how many instruments I actually play and having no idea of the answer. The photos should start to appear on the site later today. By the way, my street address is:- Vault 106, Fort Knox, KY, U.S.A. Rule 1 - If you want something done right, do it yourself. 27/10/07 - To Ni-Hin. Yesterday afternoon my wife and I returned from a trip to Shanghai with the Michael Nyman String Quartet and the Maestro himself. We thought we'd go early to China and have five days getting over the jetlag and, generally, exploring a city we hadn't been to before. How wrong can one be?! When we got to Heathrow airport, the Virgin Atlantic security guard looked through our passports and said "Where are your visas?" "Our promoter assured us we wouldn't need one," we confidently replied. "Not only do you need one to enter China" said the chap, "You need one to get on the plane in the first place." He then outlined the long list of options open to us. 1. Go home, get a visa from the Chinese Embassy in London, and try again another day. 2. Purchase some onward tickets from Shanghai to Hong Kong and, upon arriving in Shanghai airport, take the first available flight to Hong Kong and remain there for as long as it takes to get a visa to fly back to Shanghai. 3. Er... that's it. (Apparently, the Chinese Authorities had recently moved the goalposts on visas and had started sending visaless passengers back, fining the airline 7500 quid and requiring them to repatriate the hapless travellers at the airline's expense). Option 1 went straight down the pan as all flights were full for the next week. So it was that, two hours later, we found ourselves racing through the terminal building, clutching our onward tickets, to board a rapidly closing flight by the skin of our teeth. Promoters, eh? Don'tcha just love 'em! It wasn't so bad in Hong Kong, although we'd been there several times before. Shanghai, when we finally got there, proved to be an exhiliarating city. Shame not to have had more time to enjoy it. Ggggrrrrrrr!!!.... Would you be so kind as to pass me the bottle with the orange pills in it, please.... and maybe I'd better have a few of the pink ones too, and the red ones and....... An auspicious occasion! 14/10/07 - Tony Hinnigan Yesterday, my wife and I attended the celebrations, at my "producer's" abode, for his 18th birthday. Fortunately, recent demonstrations on this site resulted in him being able to prepare gin-and-tonics of acceptable quality. An enjoyable time was had by all, although I did find it necessary to remind the "gentleman" that, as I am shortly to turn 21, a modicum of respect for his elders continues to be appropriate. That being said, happy birthday Mr. Hardy! Name and shame - it's your public duty! 26/09/07 - Professor Hans Kellerigan. Yesterday I had the enormous pleasure of listening to Neil Diamond singing "Cracklin' Rosie" on the radio only to discover, to my horror, that the song contains a classic "Truck Driver's Gear Change". Let me explain to the uninitiated that a "TDGC" is a truly appalling musical device whereby a popular songwriter hikes his/her song up a key (or even several keys) in a desperate attempt to persuade the embattled listener to stick with the wretched "composition" until it ends. I went straight to the appropriate website, www.gearchange.org, to check that "Cracklin' Rosie" was on on the list and discovered that it wasn't! Needless to say, I have done my duty and nominated the "song" for inclusion. I would urge all readers to be vigilant and, upon hearing a "TDGC", check the Hall of Shame at www.gearchange.org and, if the offending opus is not listed, nominate it! When I become a ruthless dictator, my first act will be to compel all writers of popular songs to take a ten-year course in the theories of Arnold Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School. Travels with my cello, No.94 - Jobsworths. 21/09/07 - Aristotle Wittgenstein. Travelling with a cello is, indeed, an exercise to tax the patience of the most eminent philosophers. Jobsworths abound on aeroplanes (...Yes, I have a ticket for it, at the insistence of your airline and it, therefore, has a seat. Which part of that is difficult for you to comprehend?...etc...etc), trains (...It's not a cello, it's a viola da gamba. Would you like to look that up in your book? It's not there? So I can bring it on, then...) and coaches (...The cello is damaging your coach? Could you point out the damage to me? No, I can't seem to see any either. Oh and, by the way, the instrument is not only extremely old and fragile, but is also worth several of your coaches...). This morning, however, I was astonished to be confronted by the best one yet. I was attempting to take a cab from my hotel in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the railway station. As I was about to enter the vehicle, the driver said "you can't take that in there." "Why not?" I asked. "Too dusty" he replied and, by way of providing me with a visual aid to reinforce his point, he ran his index finger over the surface of the cello case and held it up for my inspection. "Look at that" he said, "Dust! - That thing is not going inside my taxi". You couldn't make it up. Note to self - must get proper job. 14/09/07 - Orson Wellesigan I regret to say that there is new "footage" in several sections of the DOWNLOADS part of the site. if there really is nothing on the telly and the rain is too heavy to allow a wander to the pub, you could be stuck with this. Sorry. Tony Reviews Thornton High D 13/09/07 - The Producer Tony has now reviewed Tommy Martin's high D Thornton whistle. You can view the review in DOWNLOADS under Old Grey Whistle Test - Thornton Whistles. Pics from Apocalypto 12/09/07 - The Producer After sifting through some old pics, I came across this nice little number. All the soloists from the score of Mel's film Apocalypto doing the Abbey Road quickstep last October. Doesn't time fly? The Producer. One has finally managed to re-locate one's home. 11/09/07 - I live here, officer - honestly. Look, this is my key. Er, maybe the lock's rusted up ?? Yes indeed. A chilled-out holiday in the village of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast. It occurs to me that Captain James Cook, in 1745, aged 16, became an apprentice grocer/haberdasher in Staithes. After 18 months he got the sack. Perhaps if he'd stuck at the haberdashery with a bit more application he wouldn't have become a Commander in the Royal Navy, thereby leaving the field clear for someone else (the Dutch, Spanish....etc...?) to discover the Antipodes, in which case Scotland might have more chance of winning a game in the current Rugby World Cup. Yet another example of incompetent trainees altering the course of history. A family funeral followed, in Dalmuir, Dunbartonshire, for my mum's younger sister, Hetty. R.I.P. Several days ensued recording library music in Somerset. What's library music? A graphic guide to the genre will appear here in the near future. Film footage was taken at the sessions and will be posted on this site soon. Do hold your breath. From Templecombe, Somerset directly to Riga, Latvia, and it's time for a rant. Riga is a pretty city and, on Saturday morning, my wife and I paid a visit to the Central Market. This is, quite simply, the biggest market I have ever been to. You can buy almost anything there, whether to wear, eat or use and the "produce" was either in the ground, walking around on top of it, or swimming off the coast of it, an hour or two earlier. We could do that in the U.K. We've been doing it for thousands of years. Now, however, the "moneymen" have decreed that we must buy all our days-old, chemical-ridden foodstuffs from large buildings at stupid prices so as to adequately line the pockets of faceless shareholders. Likewise, our hopelessly overpriced clothing is made on the other side of the world by people on less-than-subsistence wages. I'm no Luddite but I'd like to have a few less large buildings in my life, if you catch my drift. The Latvians are managing to cling on to reality (or, at least, the ordinary everday Latvians are). Why can't we? Official end of rant. Next stop Gateshead. Wayay man! Onwards and Downwards. 22/07/07 - El Turisto Wanganisto. I write this whilst ploughing through central Spain in a coach on the last leg of a MNB tour. If I had a 5 pound note for every occasion when I've ploughed through central Spain in a coach, I wouldn't have to be doing it now, if you catch my drift. It always seems to be the same. Hundreds of miles of flat, dry land, covered in olive groves and vineyards, with mountains in the distance that you never seem to get to (If there are so many olive groves in Spain, how come all the olive oil in British shops is from Italy or Cyprus?). The day started at 4.30 am in Grado (scene of last night's gig), a small, sleepy Italian fishing town in an archipelago near the Croatian border. 2 flights and a cancelled flight later, we boarded this bus at Madrid's Barajas airport for the long grind south to Malaga (scene of tonight's gig). With luck and a following wind (there doesn't appear to be any wind), we'll get there just in time to play. Fortunately, gigs in Spain rarely start before 10pm. Our Italian promoter is putting himself through this hellish journey with us, as he wants to see tonight's show, where we play with the Orqesta Andaluzi de Tetuoan, a splendid traditional orchestra from Morocco, with whom we have shared many a concert platform. That's what I call dedication, but he is a thoroughly decent fellow, unlike our Spanish promoter, who.... no....,let's not go there. If I get out of this alive there will be forthcoming news of forthcoming excitements - coming forth. P.S., Does anyone know the latest score in the England v. India Test Match??? P.P.S., Does anyone know how Crystal Palace got on in their pre-season friendly against Barnet FC?????? P.P.P.S. I've just learned that Palace beat Barnet 3-2 at their place. COME ON YOU PALAAAAAAACCCCCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations and all that jazz. 29/06/07 - Tony Hinnigan Yes, indeed. I'd like to offer my warmest good wishes to my "producer", Phil Hardy, and especially to his wife, Bruny, on the birth of their first child, Aysha. I had the good fortune to hold the wee smout in my arms yesterday and a great delight it was. Looking into the eyes of a newborn baby as they ponder the environment, into which they have been deposited by the explosion of birth, never fails to amaze. A recent flurry of gigs has included playing cello solos on Richard Harvey's score to the forthcoming movie "Eichmann", playing a bit of whistle on a track (Ashokan Farewell) on an album by a new group, "Blake", to be released on one of the Universal labels, and a couple of days in Abbey Road, as a temporary member of the Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra, (honestly!), recording an album with sax player Nigel Hitchcock, to be released on Sony/BMG. I'd like to take this opportunity to "big up" the Khazakhstan Phil, who are some of the most diligent and dedicated musicians I have ever had the pleasure to work with. I've just (yesterday) done some more "Old Grey Whistle" testing and this will appear on the site shortly. P.S. It occurs to me that "Ashokan Farewell" was, in fact, written by American fiddle player Jay Ungar, with whom I worked on the score to the movie "Legends of the Fall" some years ago. What goes around, comes around. New and exciting stuff! (generally happens to someone else). 05/06/07 - Tony Half-empty/Half-full/Half-empty/Half-full/Half...etc...again. There is an entanglement with some Overton whistles (the original "Low" whistles) in the Downloads section of the site. Also, expect a new webcast to hit the airwaves any second now. It's in the can, at least. New webcasts are being slowly fermented, for maximum flavour, as we speak. I would urge readers, once again, to submit their poetry ideas for the forthcoming poetry webcasts. Recordings have commenced and I have already read a poem submitted, by e-mail, by a reader. You can submit poems you like, or have written yourself, for me to record (or, if you can, record the poetry yourself and e-mail it to me as an MP3 file or similar format). I'm heading for Europe on the weekend for MNB gigs in Metz in the Lorraine district of France followed by two gigs in Torino, which is the first place in Italy I ever went to (also the setting for the original "Italian Job" movie). Let's hope the band bus doesn't end up teetering over a mountain road precipice. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. 24/05/07 - Professor Anthony Wanganui AGSM LTCL As warned, there is some more stuff about quena playing (how not to do it) in the "Downloads" section under "Tricks of the Trade". There is also new rambling about whistles in "Old Grey Whistle Test". In a future issue, my wife will explain how to play Sudoku. Splendid new stuff!!! (Shurely pointless fillers - you're fired - Ed.). 21/05/07 - Tony Gisajob. As a result of recent e-mail enquiries re. quena playing on the subject of "how do you play it?", I have recorded some more quena-related video and, also, some whistle reviews. I am happy, at all times, to answer any questions (as best I can) via e-mail on how to play instruments. I consider passing on any tips on the subject of instrumental expertise to be a public service so, feel free to ask. Your humble servant, TH. Letter from the N IV. 18/05/07 - Tony Hinnigan I am writing this on the MNB tour bus on the main highway from Madrid to Sevilla. We'll leave the road before Cordoba to go to Ubeda, which is where the gig is (!). I thought I'd been everywhere in Spain, after all these years, but here's somewhere I've never been before. We've travelled from Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife this morning. In the past we've played in a theatre on Tenerife but now there is an astonishing new auditorium which I would urge readers to search on the net for a look. Unfortunately, photographs are only in two dimensions and cannot do it full justice. There's always Plan B. Go to Tenerife! I plan to go back there on holiday ASAP. Before coming on this tour I was playing in the Loch Shiel Spring Festival in the Scottish Highlands. The main concert was in the church at Glenfinnan, home of the Glenfinnan Monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie. Body-swerving those excellent topics, politics and religion, I can report that, the previous week, I went to Paris to record the Promoreel for a Jean-Jacques Annaud film "Sa Majeste Minor" with composer Javier Navarrete. More on that directly. When all this touring has died down, i.e., soon, expect the poetry webcasts to commence. Also the first webcast featuring "novelty records". If you can get on the next flight to the Betelgeuse System, I'd do it. New Webcast concept. 16/04/07 - Tony Hinnigan I recently decided to try a new idea on the webcast front which is to have poetry readings, as opposed to music, as the basis for webcasts. The music webcasts will, of course, continue but the poetry idea appears to be something which is striking a chord (!). I have asked a number of friends, relatives and colleagues to consider reading some of their favourite poems and the response has been 100%! In fact, in the first minute of conversation, most people have said "I can already think of half a dozen". I am, therefore, embarking on a programme of recording these poems and the results will start to appear on the site within the next month or so. I would cordially invite readers to also consider recording their favourite poems and send them to me as an MP3 file for inclusion in the poetry webcasts. Ideally, a short introduction to each one would be good saying why you like the poem/anything you know about the poet/why it's special to you etc. The poems can be anything you like, including childrens poetry/nursery rhymes, song lyrics, hymns, poems you have written yourself, with the proviso that, at least initially, they should be sonnet length or slightly longer. Sections of Epic poems are possible. In the future I may try entire Epics. (I can think of a couple I'd like to do!). Poems in languages other than English are also most welcome! So, watch this space. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... 11/04/07 - e.e.wanganui some more poetry came along! This is a very famous poem and I'm sure many readers will already know it but, hell, I like it! John Keats wrote this poem in October 1816, having stayed up all night reading Homer with his friend, Charles Cowden Clarke, and was, unbelievably, criticised for reading a translation (by Elizabethan playwright George Chapman), as opposed to having the education to read Homer in the original Greek! Well, I studied classical Latin at school but not, sadly, classical Greek, so I'm definitely with Keats on this one! ON FIRST LOOKING INTO CHAPMAN'S HOMER Much have I travelled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; Round many western islands have I been Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. Oft of one wide expanse had I been told, That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne: Yet did I never breathe its pure serene Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes He stared at the Pacific - and all his men Look'd at each other with a wild surmise - Silent, upon a peak in Darien. Apparently, Mr. Clarke found the poem on his breakfast table at 10 o'clock the following morning. Let's hope Mr. Keats had a good sleep. Poetry corner etc. 10/04/07 - Tony Hinnigan Regular readers of these news items will have worked out that I enjoy looking at paintings. In fact, I recently attended the "Canaletto in London" exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in South London, in the company of my wife and a friend and colleague from the USA, who is a crazy enough dude to travel all the way from Los Angeles to Dulwich to look at some pictures. Needless to say, it was well worth it. The exhibition was based on Canaletto's 10 year sojourn in London in the middle of the 18th century, during which he applied his extraordinary talents (well known in his many Venetian scenes) to painting scenes in London, including a number of views of Westminster Bridge and Somerset House, as well as scenes up-river and views of other parts of England, including some wonderful studies of Warwick Castle. Once I've been shown how to do it, I plan to post facsimiles of paintings I've seen on this site. Which leads me to the main thrust of this piece of news, namely, another passion of mine - poetry. I have, generally, preferred poetry to prose due, possibly, to the concise nature of the artform. I would like to share with readers some of the poems which have spoken to me over a number of decades and the difficult part is to know where to start. I shall, therefore, take the plunge with an anonymous 15th century poem which takes a well-documented scene - the crucifixion of Jesus - and treats it in a very close and personal way. The language may be difficult but I think it's worth persevering, as it certainly takes me straight to the centre of what the poet wished to convey. MARY MODYR, CUM AND SEE. 'Mary modyr, cum and se: Thi Son is naylyd on a tre. 'His body is wappyd all in wo, Hand and foot; he may not go; 'Thi son, lady, that thou louyst soo, Nakyd is naylyd vpon a tre. 'The blyssyd body that thou hast born 'To saue mankynd, that was forlorn, His body, lady, is al to-torn, His hed with thornys, as ye may se.' Wan Johan this tal began to tell, Mary wyld not lenger dwell 'Tyl sche cam to that hyll Ther sche myht her owyn Son see. 'My swet Son, thou art me der; Qwy haue men hang the her? 'Thi hed is closyd wyth a brer; Qwy haue men soo doo to the?' 'Johan, this woman I the betake; Kep this woman for my sake; On the rod I hyng for mannys sake, For synful man, as thou may se. 'This game and loue me must pley For synfull sowlis that ar to dey; Ther ys no man that gothe be the wey That on my peynis wyl lok and se. 'Fadyr, my sowle I the betake; My body deth for mannys sake; To hel I go withowtyn wake, Mannys sole to make fre.' Prey we al to that blyssyd Son 'That he vs help wan we not mon, And bryng us to blys that is abone. Amen, amen, amen, for charite. I will ensure that the next poem is in modern English (!). Just got back from Somerset/Scotland to discover that Spring has sprung. 17/03/07 - Tony Inlondonagain. Yes, after a weekend recording library music in Zomerzet with various old muckers, including Robert A. White and James R. Shenton (we recorded some very nice 18th century arrangements of Scottish tunes, amongst other things - watch this space!), I went to Scotland to see my mum and to get my electric cello serviced in Ballachulish (by Starfish Designs - check 'em out). We had a pleasant lunch in the Crannog restaurant on the shore of Loch Linnhe (check 'em out) and an equally good lunch at the Kelvinside Art Gallery in Glasgow (check....) which has some astonishing paintings, including a fabulous Botticelli and a whole roomfull of French Impressionists that they don't even admit to having! More art nonsense to follow. Hot news! At least 5% of webcast 20 rumoured to be appearing within next century. 08/03/07 - DJ Wang. Yep, my producer lost his glasses but, nevertheless, managed to soldier on and commit a portion of the non-stop party mix to the webwaves. There is more, much more of this stuff heading your way. Do panic. Splendid new way to encourage me to shove off! 07/03/07 - DJ Wang. After some olympic-standard headscratching, I've managed to get the correct e-mail on myspace, so that's another method of communication and, you could always apply to be one of my friends. I could use a few of those! http://www.myspace.com/tonyhinnigan My "producer" has donned his thinking cap again and insisted that Webcast 20 be put together 5 minutes ago and should consist of "DJ Wang's 2-hour non-stop party mix". How is it possible, I hear you think, that such a miserable git as yours truly could possibly have any funky records in his collection. Funnily enough, I was just thinking the same thing. Miracles, however, can happen, and I'm just off dahn the shed to see what I can dig up. If anyone has any thinking caps they don't need which contain less time-consuming ideas, please forward them to me and I shall ensure they are rammed firmly onto the appropriate head. "Planetary Bodies are Spherical" shock!!! 04/03/07 - Tony Hubbleagain. I have just witnessed a total eclipse of the moon over London (something which doesn't happen all that often, as the air above London is not the clearest in the world ), and I can confirm that the moon is a sphere! Normally, the moon looks fairly two-dimensional, as we all know but, in a total eclipse, it suddenly acquires a third dimension. I can feel some inspiration coming on. Webcast up and some other stuff. 03/03/07 - Tony Overworkedagain. Firstly let me allude to singer-songwriter Jeremy Dundas (see previous news). I had the pleasure, the other day, to be involved in the mixing/producing process for Jeremy's first single "What I do". Let me give the track a completely biased review. It's very good! The track has a light, upbeat feel with a number of acoustic guitars (played, very expertly, by Jeremy himself) to the fore. As the title implies, the song describes his current way of life, and the accompanying video (shot by Phil Hardy and edited by Marco Alessi) is a kind of "day in the life" of a young Kiwi arriving in The Smoke (that's, er, London, to foreigners and people aged under 100), and a thoroughly entertaining watch it certainly is. Jeremy did all the backing vocals himself and you can enjoy the entire experience on his shiny new website, www.jeremydundas.com. I wish him all the best with it. My "producer" persuaded me to demo, on camera, one of the tunes I shall be recording for my forthcoming "Slow Airs" album. Needless to say, when I do it "for real" there will be live humans playing the strings etc. but, you've got to start somewhere. You can witness the work in progress in the Downloads section of this site - click on "Strings and Things" then "Slow Air demo", and it's also on the Kerrywhistles.com site, should you happen to be trawling around there. Finally, the latest webcast, using entirely dusty and dodgy old cassettes, is now in the "Webcast" section. The sound quality is absolutely dire but, hey, it didn't used to bother us in the tour bus! Know what I mean? Oh yeah.... 03/03/07 - Oh come on, I can't remember everything all the time. There is a competition on webcast 19, where five lucky(!?) listeners can win a copy of "The very best of Incantation". It's not that bad, as albums go! Onwards and Upwards! (Oh and, er, backwards). 01/03/07 - The Chief Luddite! Who wants to know?!?!? Having previously presented, for your delectation, a webcast dedicated entirely to music reproduced on vinyl, I decided to crawl around my attic (as one does - it's February - come on, giz a break!!) and discovered loads of dusty old cassettes which will yield a good 3-4 shows. The audio quality may not be 25th century but some of the recordings probably no longer exist in any other format. I've picked up these cassettes over many years on my travels and some of them deserve an airing. If my "producer" should happen to read this, get yer a*** into gear and get into your own attic and find, and plug in, a cassette player. The listening public awaits!!! A sumptuous aural feast! (And a British Rail cheese sandwich?). 26/02/07 - Tony Hinnigan As I write this news I am listening to "Classic FM" and drowning in such intoxicating musical beer-barrels as Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherezade" and Elgar's "Cockaigne" overture. Whilst I don't, necessarily, buy into the Classic-FM-chocolate-titbit approach to music, I have to admit to being, occasionally, seduced by it. On the subject of musical titbits, I have to report that webcast 18 is now on the site. My "producer" has been in and out of a job more times than I've had glasses of celery juice so I decided to give him one more go. The jury's out. Please feel to e-mail me with a verdict, the options being "guilty" or "definitely not innocent". I look forward to pronouncing sentence (!). Some quickly cobbled-together news. There are only seconds to spare. 21/02/07 - I'm sane. Honestly. Ask my wife. Got to dash this off quickly as I can see the men in white coats coming down the street. It has been pointed out to me that MP3 downloads on this site are now free. I don't know how this happened and I certainly don't remember doing it. All you have to do, apparently, is go to the MP3 downloads section of the site (cunning, eh?), and enter your e-mail address. You will then be able to download tracks willy-nilly. On the subject of e-mail addresses, I should like to take this opportunity to welcome all the new subscibers to the mailing list. Rest assured that I shall diligently forward all your details to MI94, the department of Her Majesty's Government Security Services whose remit is to actively pursue musicians and all those who consort with, or seek to make contact with, such anti-social reprobates. My "producer" has finally completed his recording complex (or so he says. Personally, I think the odd picture might be nice and a log fire and a nice bowl of fruit and a kettle and a toaster and a microwave and someone multi-lingual on the switchboard to take/field international telephone calls and a comfy sofa and a pub next door. You know, the kind of facilities that proper recording studios provide as a matter of course). Notwithstanding the teething troubles, I hope to commence an album of "slow airs" from around the world once I have finished arranging a suite of English folksongs for my wife and scraped all the wallpaper off our bathroom. Oh, and once the temperature in the "studio" has risen to a level where the icicles can safely be broken off and, somehow, melted down to provide drinking water. Onwards and upwards with this site and all comeback and suggestions are cordially invited via e-mail. Just away to scrape some folksongs off the icicles. Chief Wanganui. Another webcast and lots of news about not many gigs. 09/02/07 - Tony "SAD" Hinnigan Yes, Seasonal Affective Disorder is in full swing! When I become a ruthless dictator, my first act will be to remove February from the calendar and go straight to March. Had a MNB gig in Italy the other week in Italy and another in that country next week. I renewed my acquaintance with composer Guy Farley the other day playing on his score for an Italian film called "Operation Pilota". Perhaps it's time I improved my rudimentary grasp of the lingo! There is a new webcast on the site. It consists entirely of vinyl records and I apologise in advance for my producer's inept handling of the discs. He had never seen one before. He's only young, bless 'im. New Webcast with Live Interview. 12/01/07 - TP This is the first of the new year webcasts from T'Chief with a competition and a live interview with Jeremy Dundas. A really great show. TP Some takes from the Apocalypto sessions and some b****cks talking. 09/01/07 - Tony Hinnigan My producer has posted some footage on the site which had previously thought to be lost. No big deal, just a few takes on a particular day and some "interview" s**t. There is a certain amount of paranoia which, inevitably, surrounds the release of any major product. As a mere foot-soldier, my view is that all publicity is good publicity. A Great Night Out! 06/01/07 - The Producer I'd like to thank Tony and his family for a splendid night out last night. We all (myself, my wife, Tony's wife and two of his kids) went to see his latest endeavour, Apocalypto, in Leicester Square, London. After a reasonable session at De Hems we enjoyed a violent romp through the central American jungles to be followed by yet another small session in The Bear and Staff. Personally, I'd go for the sessions in the bar rather than a violent romp. I was quite out of breath by the end of the movie. So, thanks once again Mr Hinnigan. TP Back-breaking labour in full swing and more art b****cks. 04/01/07 - Chief Dronganui. Yes, my "producer" is extracting his "pound of flesh" in his own, inimitable, style and, when the facility is completed, I will be too knackered to record anything there for the foreseeable future. The other day my wife and I spent an agreeable morning at the "Holbein in England" exhibition at the Tate Britain gallery here in London (England). Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) had two stints in England in the early 16th century, mainly working for King Henry VIII. The boy could paint! Although mainly a portraitist (painting Henry a number of times and many of his courtiers, including his third wife, Jane Seymour), Holbein also painted other subjects including "Noli Mi Tangere", covered some centuries previously by Fra Angelico, who I have raved about before. Holbein was a highly skilled professional artist/designer and one of his gigs was to go off to various parts of Europe to knock up a quick "snapshot" of some royal female personage that Henry might be considering for matrimony. Despite one beheading already, there seemed to be no shortage of candidates for the job. Still, Holbein fulfilled his part of the bargain and, let's face it, 30 quid a year is not a sum to be sniffed at. More brain-melting art drivel coming soon. P.S., Halfway through the afternoon today, my "producer" stumbled across a half-finished glass of ale, at the bottom of which languished a videotape, previously considered lost, which, once dried before a roaring fire, appeared to contain more footage from October's recording sessions for "Apocalypto". We'll see what we can do. Happy Hogmanay, ev'ryb'dy! 01/01/07 - Chief Drambuie. Dropped my mother-in-law off in Leicestershire yesterday which, traditionally signals the end of the "festive season" in this hoose. (sic) On the way back down the M1 my wife and I dropped in at the palatial abode of my "producer". His studio is well on the way to completion and, after I have done some more back-breaking labouring for him next week, whilst he barks orders between sips of delicious English ale, (surely, between gulps of ale - Ed.), the facility should be completed in the foreseeable future, enabling an ever more relentless barrage of nonsense (and, even, some music) to find its way onto this and other choice sites. Needless to say, all readers have hereby, officially, been forewarned. Always look on the bright side of life! 24/12/06 - The Dread Demon of Horrendoville. Fortunately, we've now passed the winter solstice, so it's uphill all the way. Hurray!!!!! I did some recording the other day on Michael Nyman's score for the movie "Never Forever", directed by Gina Kim, which I see has been nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. I wish it every success. Many Thanks 16/12/06 - The Producer I should like to extend my thanks to Chief Wanganui for his help on the studio yesterday. What would I have done without him? TP Video footage on the way - honest! 13/12/06 - That poorly-paid git who has to sweep up the cutting-room floor every night. I spent an "enjoyable" afternoon with my "producer" going through video from the recording sessions for "Apocalypto". A lot of the stuff is fairly inscrutable but an edited version will appear on the site shortly, including instrument demonstrations and interviews with some of the musicians involved. There is also a lot of bollocks talked. Sorry, that's just what it's like. I hope to start interviewing many musicians as an ongoing theme on the site so stay tuned. Home-Movies-R-Us 13/12/06 - Orson Hinnigan There is now some garbled footage on the site from Abbey Road, London, Nov 2006. It's in downloads - interviews. New bow. 08/12/06 - The Producer I'd like to congratulate The Chief on his purchase of a new bow. Well done. TP Fast running out of tunes. 08/12/06 - Don't panic, Mr. Mainwaring! Apparently, webcast 15 is now on the site. I know this from feedback that I have already received. Keep it coming! I'm going to have to haunt record shops quite a bit in the near future to keep the tunes coming! I'd like to thank my producer for his congratulations on my recent purchase. I'm not planning an imminent re-enactment of the Battle of Agincourt, rather, planning to draw a warmer sound out of my cello. In the murky world of stringed instruments, you have to get lucky and I believe I just did. Bows are often overlooked (by non-players) as a vital part of the sound-production process but, believe me, they are everything, and the good ones can, and do, command high prices. On another note, as it's now the 8th of December, I believe I can speak more freely about a project I was involved with last month, i.e., recording the score for the movie "Apocalypto", directed by Mel Gibson with music by James Horner. My Producer shot some footage of the quite exotic instruments we played on the sessions and I hope to be able to post some of it on the site fairly soon. Out of the fridge into the fridge. 26/11/06 - Tony Hinnigan Back from Russia, where the weather was dreich, to London, where the weather is... dreich! Highlight of the trip was a visit to the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg where the lucky citizens have a staggering collection of Rembrandts to look at and a collection of French Impressionist paintings to rival anything in Paris or London. And then there's all the other stuff! If anyone feels like a career in car-washing, take the next plane to Moscow. You will become rich (particularly as the entire Russian car-washing industry now seems to be located in South-East London). We survived the Russian customs agents' attempts to relieve us of our valuable instruments, although they did give it a good shot. Something approaching normality looms for the next month so I will attempt the near-impossible feat of posting another webcast. Do svedanya. Out of the frying pan into the fridge. 21/11/06 - Trammy Nerdigan. Just returned from a very sunny Lisbon and off, tomorrow, to St. Petersburg and Moscow. If you're as much of a nerd as I am, search for "Lisbon trams" and settle in for an enjoyable afternoon. St. Petersburg is known as the "city of trams". How can all this wondrousness occur within the space of a few days? I must have been good or something. Report coming soon from "Tovarisch Anorak". Another webcast? How did that happen? 14/11/06 - No idea man. What's the date and all that? Yes. Another webcast has miraculously appeared. Clueless as to how it happened. Been in Italy for MNB gigs and a performance of the boss's new opera, "Love Counts". Having returned, I renewed my recording relationship with Hayley Westenra, putting a few flutey bits and bobs on her forthcoming CD. A great pleasure. More news imminent about my previous recording project. Hanging on in there. Lack of webcasts/news/everything etc., etc. 30/10/06 - Chewed piece of string. I've just emerged from Abbey Road studios, London, after a three-week recording session. During this period I have been unable to post any news as I have, literally, finished the session each day, taken the train home and crashed out. Normal service may soon ensue, given the schedule of the Michael Nyman Band in November. There is a rumour that a webcast will take place later this week. Could be. Not the producer. BLOG 15/10/06 - The Producer We now have a Tony Hinnigan blog at MySpace. Just go to www.myspace.com/tonyhinnigan you can get involved there. Have fun. Scotland 1 - France 0. Yes, that's Scotland 1 - France 0. 09/10/06 - E. I. Addio. Not being rich enough to have Sky TV permanently at my disposal, I had to follow the game on BBC radio. As a result of this famous victory, I have decided to celebrate by buying a Scotland shirt from 1967, a year when the Scottish team delivered a lesson in the fine art of passionate, aggressive and committed football to another team which had been recently "crowned" champions of the world. I struggle to recall the name of the team in question but the match was played in the north London suburb of Wembley. Scotland won 3 - 2. You get the shirts from www.toffs.com. You can get French shirts there and also shirts from that other team. Is there a pay increase in the offing? 02/10/06 - The Producer After having found my sense of humour I approached Chief Wanganui for a pay increase as the pitifull 3 groats per week can no longer sustain my wife and 7 kids. This picture was taken at the moment of request. The Producer A splendid lunchtime! 30/09/06 - Gilbert the Gourmet I've been thinking of putting a "restaurant recommendations" section on this site. As a touring musician, I am frequently to be found at all corners of the globe (although not at the same time - I'm working on that one), and, by a combination of Michelin and other guides, local tip-offs, accidental good luck or just "using the force", my colleagues and I have, over the years found many fine establishments at which to feast and, albeit temporarily, escape from the touring loop. I'll start with one in my own town, London. The other day, after our gallery visit (see "a splendid morning" below), my wife and I went to the excellent Moro in Exmouth Market, a place we had been before. Once again it did not disappoint. Moro is a Spanish restaurant but, as the name implies, the cuisine reflects the North African influences in Spain's history. We had the full works and didn't require further sustenance for the rest of the day! Moro isn't cheap and I couldn't afford to eat there regularly but, now and then, it's a top-quality dining experience. On a Monday lunchtime it was rammed with discerning customers. I rest my case. A splendid morning! 27/09/06 - Tony Hinnigan Two days ago my wife and I went to the Tate Modern gallery in London to see their exhibition "Kandinsky - The Path to Abstraction" which encompasses a 15 year period period in the life of this remarkable painter from 1916, when he moved to Munich aged 40, until 1921. During this period the artist completed a transformation from being an impressionist landscape painter to being a totally abstract painter in a voyage of discovery which is chronologically documented by the exhibition. During this period the composer Arnold Schoenberg, a friend of Kandinsky, was on a comparable journey in the world of music. Kandinsky, a great thinker about his art, was very keen on the relationship between music and painting and, in fact, one of my favourite paintings is entitled "Fugue", which attempts to graphically represent the musical form where themes play at the same time, becoming more and more intertwined until the final resolution. If all this seems a bit cerebral, it probably is but I would urge readers to "grasp the nettle" and explore the work of these "difficult" artists. It's worth it. The Tate has published a marvellous book to accompany the exhibition. The ISBN no. is 1-85437-677-2. A splendid afternoon! 24/09/06 - Tony Hinnigan The other day I received, out of the blue, an e-mail from the son of Milton Zapata, the gentleman who made most of my quenas (Andean flutes) and with whom I had lost touch and had not seen for 25 years. He told me that he lived in London and that Milton was currently visiting him and would like to get in touch. You could have knocked me over with a feather! Milton, in my humble opinion, is the greatest quena maker ever and we spent this afternoon together. He told me that he had devoted himself to teaching South American music and, as a result, had not made any instruments for some time, but was getting back into making. He showed me some of his most recent instruments and I have taken some away to "road-test". They are the best he has ever made. Milton authorised me to post his details on this site and they are:- Milton Alban-Zapata 79 Rue Brillat Savarin 75013 Paris France Tel:- +33 145809447 By the way, I'm at the front of the queue!! P.S. Milton is having trouble getting materials, so if anyone reading this knows of a good source of Japanese bamboo, e-mail me, please. Looks like the Producer's for the chop. 23/09/06 - Judge Dreddanui I'm sure that all listeners to webcast 13 on this site will have picked up that, in the outro to the Cesar Franck violin sonata, I referred to it as his violin concerto. My "producer" failed to spot this horrendous gaffe. As a last resort, I am going to place him on an emergency "beer only" diet, as the cucumber sandwiches and glasses of refreshing lemonade are, obviously, adversely affecting his powers of concentration. New Webcast up (13) 19/09/06 - The Producer Yet another show from the esteemed Chief Wanganui, full of fun, frolics and hysterics. What more could you want? More Verbal Ramblings 12/09/06 - The Producer I have taken it upon myself to "Big Up" The Chiefs new webcast (12) and his latest interview in the INTERVIEWS section of the DOWNLOADS. Apparently, he is dismantling an electric cello, so cannot inform the masses of his latest ramblings. If you believe that, you'll believe anything. All abuse to tony@tonyhinnigan.com. Get yer lugholes around this little lot. 02/09/06 - The Radio 8 continuity announcer. Yesterday I passed a not unpleasant afternoon in the company of my "producer", during which time we completed the first of a series of webcasts dedicated to a particular musical genre. We started with classical music. It's difficult to present classical music in this format because, as every schoolboy knows, classical compositions tend to last quite a while. My purpose, therefore, is to "tickle the fancy" of the listeners in the hope that they will pursue anything they liked and, perhaps, listen to the entire composition and, possibly, other works by that composer. All feedback is, as ever, gratefully received. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. 27/08/06 - The Musicologist. Yesterday evening I turned on the television, more in hope than with carefull planning, and was lucky enough to catch the entire live telecast, from the Royal Albert Hall in London (as part of the BBC Proms series), of Tschaikovsky's 4th Symphony (in F minor, Opus 36!). What a wonderfull piece of music. I plan to do a webcast, in the near future, of entirely classical music so expect something from Tschaikovsky to be included. Note to conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi. In my score, the tempo marking for the Scherzo is Allegro, not Prestississimo. Too fast, man! If I were the piccolo player, I'd have had a heart attack in the first rehearsal. The previous evening, I had found myself playing in a recording session for the "original cast" album of the forthcoming London revival of "The Sound of Music". I'm fortunate enough not to be afflicted with any kind of musical snobbery, in fact if music is any good, from any genre, I'll give it a listen and, probably, like it, and Richard Rodgers certainly knew what he was doing. When I was learning keyboard harmony at school, "The Sound of Music" was one of the scores I used to play through, by ear, to try to figure out the chords. P.S. At my entrance exam for the Guildhall School of Music the dictation test (where you had to write something down from a couple of listens), was the Beatles' "Try to see it my way". A bit easier than "The Sound of Music" but the chaps wrote the odd good tune, let's face it. If anyone is interested in an independent analysis of the Beatles' music I would recommend "Twilight of the Gods" by Wilfrid Mellers, who founded the excellent music department at the University of York. I've checked on the internet and it's available. The ISBN no. is 0670735981. Michael Nyman Band goes electric! (or, anyway, that's the current plan). 23/08/06 - New technology baffles pissed old hack. In the light of recent aeroplane security scares and the resultant review of cabin baggage rules, the MNB has decided to experiment with electric strings, which can be flightcased and consigned to the hold. I, obviously, already possess an electric cello but the other three string players do not, so the good people at www.starfishdesigns.co.uk are helping us out with the experimental period in September, which includes gigs in Dresden, Warsaw and Turin. It's going to be interesting to see if we can make it work. Given the ongoing uncertainty over aeroplane security, we may have to! Overcome with gratitude (oh, and some recommendations). 22/08/06 - Tony Hinnigan. I have just crawled to Watford over broken glass and wearing a hair shirt, to grovel at the feet of my Producer in penitence and with eternal gratitude for his steadfast and unflinching devotion to duty in the midst of an ocean of incompetence. At the time when I should have been posting news I was, in fact, watching a DVD in which another arduous journey is undertaken, by Tommy Lee Jones in his film "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada", a film I would readily recommend. Later, yesterday evening, I repaired to the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London to see a play written by my old friend, and fellow cellist, Justin Pearson. "Elgar - Stirring The Spirit" is, as the name implies, about the composer and is set in a nursing home where he spent time towards the end of his life. The cast comprises two actors, one playing Elgar and the other with the dual role of Elgar's daughter/Staff Nurse in the nursing home, and five musicians, including Justin himself, who intersperse the drama with performances of music by the great man, including his Piano Quintet. Readers who reside in the UK may like to look out for the play, which will be touring and, indeed, other plays by Justin. His biographical dramas are, in my opinion, the theatrical equivalents of, say, Ken Russell's film biographies of composers. The website for the show is www.stirringthespirit.co.uk The New Quena Tutorial 21/08/06 - The Producer After battering the Chief about the head with a brick, I still can't get him to inform the masses about the new Quena tutorials we have recorded for his site.....so I'd better do it. Ok Folks...here it is ...the all new Quena Tutorials for the beginner. You'll find them in the Download section under "tricks of the trade". Also there are some more whistle reviews in the "Old Grey whistle Test" section..! TP. An indeterminate number of years of marriage! 17/08/06 - Casanova Today was our wedding anniversary and, such are the vagaries of the music profession that, we didn't meet till late this evening. An enjoyable "late one" included the topic - "If you could only conduct one classical music concert in your life, what would the programme be?" It's a difficult question to answer but, given the usual overture/concerto/symphony concept, I would go for Berlioz' "Le Carnaval Romain", the Sibelius Violn Concerto and "Scheherezade" by Rimsky-Korsakov. My wife was a bit more dithery and I can understand that, as we discussed all kinds of music for our one concert and I also experienced considerable "ditheration". Other recommendations to follow on the site or in answer to e-mail requests . I plan to do a classical music webcast in the near future and also other "genres" such as jazz, reggae, country, etc., etc. Feedback is always immensely helpfull. More Webcasts. 14/08/06 - The Producer. As you all may know we have a whole pile of webcasts up and available now. These shows were recorded over a period of 18 months. The forthcoming shows will be recorded week by week - gigs, sessions, movies, wives and kids allowing. So stay tuned and check out the next set of shows. The pic is of the Chief thanking me profusely for my tireless dedication to the show and my consummate professionalism. Bless. The producer. Movie "wrangling" almost complete. 10/08/06 - Tony Hinnigan. I have lately been "wrangling" for a forthcoming Mel Gibson movie.This means that I am charged with the task of assembling the, somewhat specialist, musicians from several corners of the globe. I also have to, as I did with "Troy", procure strange and exotic instruments including, for example, a Tromba Marina. The name may imply that it's some kind of deep-sea trumpet but, in fact, it's a stringed instrument, popular in Medieval Europe until it fell into obsolescence in the eighteenth century. You play it with a bow and the vibrating string passes over a "floating bridge", which rattles against the soundboard making a noise like - a deep-sea trumpet! This, along with sets of Swedish bark trumpets and Ugandan wildebeest horns, have come from the kind musicians at the "Shakespeares' Globe" theatre in Southwark, London. In addition to myself, with my usual arsenal of ethnic instruments, there will be Bob White, Jan Hendrickse and Guo Yi, all possessed of equally formidable equipment. Gary Kettel and Frank Ricotti, on drums , will finally ensure that the cavernous Studio 1 at Abbey Road will have no floor space for the duration. I have also contacted Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Pakistan, who will be singing and, as I mentioned earlier, composer James Horner has asked me to find an Ethiopian female singer, hence the "wrangling almost complete" tag. The movie, by the way, is called "Apocalypto", and is set in Pre-Columbian Central America. I'm told that all the dialogue is in Mayan, hence the orchestra-free primitive style approach to the score from James. On a slightly different note, there is a new webcast on the site and some new whistle reviews. Even more whistles arrived in the post this morning so watch the "Old Grey Whistle Test" for imminent updates. Pint of whistles, anyone? Yes, very witty. Sides currently splitting. New Webcast now Up. 05/08/06 - The Producer As you all can see,Tony has been working tirelessly to produce a new World Tour Show and here it is, number 5. All the normal frivolities and gay banter we have come to love. Enjoy. The producer Cosmic! 26/07/06 - Chief Wanganuivic. Upon returning from the recent MNB tour, I discovered, on my doorstep, a fujara that I had ordered from Tomas Kovac at www.fujara.sk. It's a Slovakian harmonic flute and is completely - COSMIC!!!! Watch out for recorded examples on this site. Artistic overwhelm-ment 25/07/06 - Tony Inventorofstupidwordsagain. Gratefull thanks to the production department for continuous application to the task of posting new nonsense on the site. The highlight of the recent MNB touring exploits was a day off (surely not - MN) in Florence, where I and a number of my colleagues visited the monastery of San Marco to gawp at the frescoes by Fra Angelico. Angelico is one of my favourite painters and the frescoes can only be seen in the monastery, where they reside on the walls. Words fail me to describe these wondrous paintings, and also the work of Fra Bartolomeo and Savonarola. It seems to me, as a (completely amateur) art lover, that Angelico almost single-handedly initiated the Renaissance. I would urge anyone reading this to repair immediately to Florence and go directly to the monastery. Otherwise, if you live in the middle of nowhere (nothing wrong with that), order, on the wondrous internet, a book (ISBN 88-09-03749-9) on the Angelico frescoes by Magnolia Scudieri, director of the Museum. It's hot in London and we're recording Michael Nyman's opera "Love Counts" in the legendary Olympic Studios. Congratulations to the Italian football team on winning the World Cup. After that semi-final against Germany, they thoroughly deserved it. Airs & Graces! 13/07/06 - The Producer. It is with GREAT pleasure that I can now inform you that the Chief has given us another selection of toons to be found in the "Old Grey Whistle Test" dept. Pray Silence. What's the Deal, Neil? 10/07/06 - Suntanned Lothario. Just returned from Deal, Kent, England, U.K., Planet Earth etc. The weather was stupidly hot and there was much swimming in the English Channel and feasting on locally caught fish and other delights from "the garden of England". "You can keep yer Costa Brava, an all that pallava 'cos I fink that I would rava 'ave a day dahn Margate wiv all me familee" (Chas and Dave). I tend to agree with the erudite gentlemen as to the delights of the British seaside, a destination which appears, sadly, to have gone out of style. Torremolinos or Torquay? Seychelles or Southwold? Long Island or Llandudno? Save the planet and don't use up unnecessary aviation fuel. Go local, it's great! I have to use up said fuel all the time, as a way of getting to my places of work, and I wish there was a better way to do it. Having said that, I'm going to be doing a fair bit of flying in the next few weeks with MNB tours in Italy and Germany. There is also some recording in Olympic Studios, London, to which I can take the train! Your travel and ecology correspondent - "Rantios O'Tronicos". Another webcast and time to sack producer. 02/07/06 - Donald Wheresyertroosers? There is another webcast on the site and the warped sadist has included an out-take. I'd like to see him try to introduce the track in question. More, much more, of this stuff to follow. I'm off to Deal, Kent, tomorrow (one of the "Cinque Ports") for a short break. Hopefully, as the French have just beaten Brasil in the World Cup, they'll be too busy quaffing Cotes du Rhone to bother invading. It's 8 am? Must be time to go on! 30/06/06 - Early Riseagain. I've just been checking the upload of the "Incantation" webcast (in the MP3 section of this site) and realised that the BBC TV gig I referred to in the "Canarios" part of the cast is, in fact, the gig which is movie no. 6 in the "Incantation" section of the site. Blimey! We didn't play "Canarios" all that often. It's tricky! Incantation Webcast 28/06/06 - Battlescarred Producer. After engaging in battle with "The Big Wanger" yesterday, I managed to get a show out of him. Idea, to get the music of Incantation heard again, as much of their music has become classic stuff, the theme from "The Mission" being one such piece. It also gives you an insight to the world of a deranged mind after too many years on the road. The Producer. Nah, honest, your Honour, it wasn't me. Couldn't have been! I wasn't there. 28/06/06 - Dr. Devious. As a P.S. to my producer's wise words, I would like to apologise for the link between "The Mission" and "Amores Hallaras". He is a warped sadist and he left it in. Hinnigans World Tour Goes Live. 27/06/06 - Phil Hardy The webcast "Hinnigans World Tour" is now live on www.tonyhinnigan.com as an MP3 download. The show is based around selections of music from all over the globe.The shows will be up for a week at a time to download. Hope you like them Requests and feedback to tony@tonyhinnigan.com Phil. It's raining. Is that good or bad? 26/06/06 - Michael Fishigan Actually, it's good but, as my old mate Kazu Matsui would say, I was "raised in the shade" so I'm at my happiest when it's completely gloomy. He may have a point. I've just received a wooden whistle in the post from Paul Busman. He made the whistle for me and, after giving it a try, I returned it to him for some tuning adjustments. These he has done to perfection, and the instrument sounds even better for his further attentions. I refer to a previous news item re. Klaus Clement and Maureen Morrison and can only re-state my admiration for the master craftsmen and (honest) dealers in this world, without whom life would be far more difficult, if not impossible, for we people attempting to pay the rent by playing music for money. Well done Paul. Check out his site. www.busmanwhistles.com Podcasts? What on earth are they?!? 24/06/06 - DJ Wang. Shortly, on this site, I will commence a series of weekly podcasts of "radio shows" presenting, simply, music that I like. The shows, each of which lasts an hour, will be on the site for a week at a time and will be downloadable as an MP3 file. A taster for the first one is currently available at http://www.kerrywhistles.com/mp3.php?group=29 Any feedback would be most welcome on this site or http://www.kerrywhistles.com New whistles surprise old git. 21/06/06 - Edward Windway. There are a few thoughts on Weston whistles in "downloads" and more to follow. The cameraman persuaded me to duet with him on the "Skye Boat Song". Watch out for the next riveting installment in the "duos" series when we tackle the cello works of Boccherini. Soundcheck MNB Japan 19/06/06 - Phil Hardy After agonizing over which section to put up,we finally have some footage of Chief playing the pole. Strings and Things. Phil. Inscrutable travel footage. 17/06/06 - Trainy Nerdigan. My mentor, guru, avowed enemy and all-round demi-god, Mr. P. Hardy, has posted on this site (under the splendid new heading "walkabout"), some footage that I shot on the way from Osaka to Tokyo on the shinkansen ("bullet train"). The footage shows the approach to, and arrival at, Nagoya station. I actually shot a great deal more footage than that. One of the reasons for my fascination, nay, obsession, with Japanese rail travel is that you can travel the (approx.) 450 miles across southern Honshu from Tokyo to Hiroshima without ever getting into the "countryside". (You can keep going to Fukuoka if you like and you still won't). A comparable journey in the U.K. would be London to Aberdeen, where you frequently get into the countryside. Additionally, the shinkansen is completely BRILLIANT!!!!! As is the French TGV, the Spanish TMR and AMTRAK. Don't start me on British trains. Sun finally rises in Land of Rising Sun. 10/06/06 - Hinnigan-san. Third day here and so far it's been dreich. (That's grey and rainy to you sassenachs and other assorted foreigners). Today, however, it's hot and sunny and the MNB is off to Osaka on the shinkansen ("bullet train"). Gig is at 4 o'clock so we'll be done by 6. Dangerous. I brought my video camera so, if I can figure out which buttons to press, some footage may appear in "downloads" in the near future. Fell asleep after Germany scored their second goal and awoke to find that Ecuador had beaten Poland 2-0. It's all that high altitude training. Sayonara 03/06/06 - Tony Hinnigan. I'm going to Japan next Wednesday (arriving Thursday 8th June). If any Japanese readers want to get in touch, I'll be in Tokyo on the 8th and 9th, Osaka on the 10th and Tokyo on the 11th. T.H. NPL Factor 30/05/06 - Professor Denzil Dextigan Today, 29th May 2006 (oops, I forgot my sister's birthday. Oh please, not again?!), I have commenced important research into the NPL (notes per lungfull) quotient of proprietary whistles. The main reason for this crucial study is to rid my life of endless "debates" on the subject of whistle "backpressure". Early results from my embryonic experimentation in this field can be found in the "downloads" section of this website (under the heading of "Old Grey Whistle Test" - ppphhhhh!). As the quest for knowledge about NPL gains pace, expect further results to be posted at this location. Regrettably, I must now return to the pub (surely laboratory? - Ed.) to continue my ground-breaking investigations. Got Back From Germany To Find London In Same Place Shock! 21/05/06 - Tony Hinnigan. Gig last night in Duisburg. (The one near Dusseldorf, of course). One has to admit that there is something striking, almost pretty, about the towns of the industrialised Ruhr Valley. Reminiscent of L.S. Lowry's paintings set in 19th century Salford. The gig was, even, in a former factory complex where much of the plant had been preserved as artworks. Some run-of-the-mill work in London then off to sunny Japan. P.S. Under the "further recommendations to follow" heading, check this. www.new-scorpion-band.com This is one of the best bands on the planet. Networking (!?). 18/05/06 - Chief Wanganui. Check this. http://www.badhaggis.com/ Eric is one of the most versatile piper/whistler/all-round-musicians I have ever worked with. He's also an excellent bloke. Other recommendations to follow. Overcome with emotion. 17/05/06 - Tony Moppedupandsqueezedintoabucketagain. I attended a concert last night in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, given by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. My reason for going was to hear the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz (not the useless tosh in the first half by Haydn and Mozart). It was, truly, fantastic. It's a little known fact that my two favourite "classical" composers are Berlioz and Smetana. Please feel free to e-mail me for any listening recommendations from the works of these two gentlemen. P.S. Essential reads:- "The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz" (obviously by Berlioz himself - an astounding book) and "Smetana" by Brian Large. It's all going wonderfully right! 16/05/06 - Phil Hardy A new server and a new DOWNLOADS section,what more could you ask for? Well, actually, that's what we want. We need to know what you would like to see,within reason,on this site. Please email tony at tony@tonyhinnigan.com It's all going to go horribly wrong. 07/05/06 - Tony Don'tpanicagain. This site is undergoing changes, including the addition of picture and video facilities. Sections such as tutorials, interviews and stuff about stringed instruments will, as if by magic, appear on it, subject, of course, to my being able to figure out how to do it. Do be very afraid and do lock up your daughters. I've got me a shiny new cello!!!!!!!! 11/04/06 - Tony Hinnigan It only took around four months but I completed the purchase of an instrument today. If anyone's interested, it was made in 2005 by Klaus Clement in Bubenreuth. The trouble is that the purpose of buying it was that it could be checked in to aircraft holds. Unfortunately, after four months looking for something that I like, I found it and, guess what.....I like it!!! So, back to the drawing board, then. Announcement for those in the business. I got the cello from Maureen Morrison http://www.stringersmusic.com and, when I discovered that it didn't, quite, fit in my flight case, got on to Alan Stevenson http://www.stevensoncases.co.uk who still had my original cello measurements from 20 years ago (!!) and is sending me new pads to fit the dimensions of the new cello. Without the services provided by people of this quality, life would be so much more difficult for we touring musicians. It's a pleasure to do business with them! Telephone bidder 1 - Me 0. 01/03/06 - Tony Philosophicalagain Didn't get the cello, as the bidding hit my limit and I withdrew. Good auction plan. There are plenty more cellos in the sea. And other musical instruments also. Brilliant time in Mexico City. 27/02/06 - Tony Jetlaggedagain. Couple of gigs with MNB in Mexico. Weather was hot and sunny and we talked about it at length amongst ourselves (favourite topic of conversation in the UK). Personally, I like hot weather but prefer a temperate climate where you get everything. It's character-building! Never mind the weather, I went to the house of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, which is now a museum containing a number of their paintings, along with works by other artists, such as Paul Klee, who stayed at the house from time to time. There were portraits, including Trotsky, whose house is round the corner, and other art works and fascinating furniture/personal effects etc. One of the most enjoyable all-round museum experiences I've had, along with the Burrell Collection (Glasgow), Getty Museum (LA), Guggenheim (Venice), Monastery of San Marco (Florence) and Dulwich Picture Gallery (London). Don't start me on concert halls. I'm going to Sotheby's on Tuesday to bid for a cello. Wish me luck. More Art Gallery Stuff 27/02/06 - Tony Hinnigan I was just reading the last post (no....not the sheet music for the well-known bugle tune) and realised that I'd forgotten to name-check the Jeu de Paume (Paris). What a wonderful gallery! Of course all the Impressionist paintings which used to be there are now in the Musee d'Orsay (itself a pretty good experience), but on looking at the website, I realise that the JdP now houses contemporary art. I was in Paris last summer. How on earth did I let that slip through the net?? A thought or two on big galleries. Whilst they all have some top stuff, you have to wade through a large amount of dross to get to it (e.g. the Louvre). However, it's always worth it. I'm going to Florence soon with the MNB and after the obligatory San Marco visit I'll be diving into the Uffizi for another jaw-dropping gawp at Michelangelo's "David". One positive aspect of the second-rate art is that it educates you in your appreciation of the masterpieces, just by looking. Take the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam) for example. When you walk into the main room, if you can tear your gaze away from Rembrandt's "Night Watch", you will find his "Staalmeesters". There are plenty of other paintings in the room on the same subject (a load of puritan Dutch blokes sitting round a table) by perfectly accomplished painters but Rembrandt's is out of sight, and the opportunity for instant comparison shows you why. By the way, how did the Prado (Madrid) manage to get their hands on Hieronymus Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights"? If anyone was wondering what to get me for my birthday next year....... Play in tune? Are you serious? How do you do that? 14/02/06 - Chief Inspector Knacker of the Intonation Police. I've become tired to death and far beyond by some recent threads on the Fish and Chipple website, http://www.chiffandfipple.com, regarding the subject of tuning. Herein follows a lengthy dissertation on the subject. A. If you play a keyboard instrument, tuning is everyone else's problem (unless, of course, you play the clavichord). B. Fretted stringed instruments tuned in perfect intervals (i.e. 4ths, 5ths and octaves) cannot be tuned using an electronic tuner. Neither can non-fretted stringed instruments, but we knew that already, didn't we? C. Fretted stringed instruments incorporating non-perfect intervals have to be tuned with an electronic tuner. If I had a fiver for every hour I've spent tuning charangos in recording studios, I'd be writing this on the veranda of my villa on my private island in the Tropics. My colleague James Woodrow would disagree with this but he's only a brilliant guitarist. What does he know? (Joke, James!!!!!). D. I forgot about organists. Sorry, not your fault. E. As far as everyone else goes, it's up to you to play in tune. It involves using the peculiarly-shaped organs on either side of your head. F. I also forgot about tuned percussion players. Sorry. Timpanists, however, are not exempt from this rant. I'm just off to Penge Police Station to turn myself in to Chief Inspector Knacker. OK, it's time for a rant. 30/01/06 - Mr. Angry I'm currently involved in the tedious process of buying a new cello (not necessarily 'brand new" - could be several hundred years old - but new to me). The reason for this waste of time is that airlines are increasingly making it their official policy to discontinue selling tickets to transport cellos in the cabin. To avoid boring everyone to death with the reasons for this, let me sum it up by saying that they just can't be bothered anymore. As soon as you check a cello, or anything else, for that matter, into the hold of an aeroplane, you consign it to the tender mercies of a legion of baggage handlers, security personnel and customs agents, who think nothing of chucking it 30ft onto the tarmac, drilling holes in it, or impounding it, even though you have a gig that day. Oh and, by the way, did you all know that as soon as you check anything, the airline accepts no responsibility whatsoever for its safety and offers no guarantee that it will arrive at your destination or, in fact, that you will ever see it again. I am, therefore, not prepared to let my precious and unique cello out of my sight and so will have to spend thousands of pounds on another instrument which I will grow to like and which I will not want to vanish/be smashed either. It's a lose-lose situation. Still, never mind, eh, there are some people out there who actively like music and the arts. Why don't they run airlines?? Alright, alright, STOP!! I'll talk. 25/01/06 - Tony Hinnigan I received an e-mail the other day about the film "The New World", which is apparently now on release in the USA and is certainly released here in London this Friday the 27th. The question pertained to the scoring sessions and I feel I can chuck my ha'pence worth into the ring now that the dust has settled and all cliches and mixed metaphors are free to emerge from their hidey-holes. I haven't heard a note of the score for TNW since early September so it will be interesting to hear how it panned out. The sessions were frustrating in that the goalposts kept moving. My belief is that James Horner was engaged for the gig as a composer who tells a story with a musical cue. To do this you have to have locked picture (i.e. a fully edited film which will not change after the music has been recorded, or even while it is being recorded). Sadly, in these days of digital editing, when film makers can (almost) re-edit the picture on their wristwatch on the beach at the weekend, locked picture appears to have joined audio cassettes and 78rpm records in the vast trashcan of history. Nevertheless, I'm sure that JH went into the project with his eyes open, as he always does, and was ready for anything. The moveable goalpost factor soon became apparent in that it seemed to be unclear in the director's mind whether he wanted to have music written to his picture or to cut his picture to the music that was being written. I have recorded many scores for Michael Nyman, including a number of the Peter Greenaway films and Peter would frequently cut a sequence to a finite piece that Michael had written. I've never met the late Stanley Kubrick, but I believe I can detect a similar technique in a number of his films. The problem for JH, in this case, was that there was no clearly defined way of working, hence when we turned up at the studio each day the whereabouts and reliability of the position of the "goalposts" was an ongoing enigma. I look forward to seeing the finished work. I hear that TM has half reverted to his original idea of using pieces of classical music. Let's hope the result is not half-baked. P.S. Do I get a Lifetime Achievement award for mentioning the word "goalpost" three times in as many paragraphs? Oi! (poke...prod...) Get up! The January Sales have started!! 16/01/06 - Tony Hinnigan For the time being, the price of all MP3 downloads on thi