Lockdown has been a bit of a bugger for trying to make a living from music, but for the first time since starting my PhD back in 2014 (how can it be that long!) I’ve had the chance to focus on regular and intense violin practice. While I’m also working on a couple of book applications, playing music has really become my main focus again, despite the fact that I can’t do this in public. As well as recording lots of stuff at home, I’ve helped to launch a couple of new projects, most notably Scots Baroque and the Scottish Freelancers Ensemble, and I’m working on some socially distanced Bach recordings at the moment with a collective of baroque players based in Scotland.
Somewhat through necessity I’ve also had to really improve my home studio set up and my expertise on editing software. I’m currently using Logic and Final Cut Pro, and I bit the bullet and bought a new Mac Mini and a Focusrite pre-amp.
I’ve started doing lots of home recordings, starting with my Lockdown songs project back in April / May. More recently, I’ve been focussing on material from my PhD research. If I can keep up the motivation, I’m planning on posting some 17th / 18th century rep once a day.
Here’s some McGibbon I recorded yesterday, complete with bassline played on viola!