The music makers

I reckon it's been around 20 years since I wrote any music with another person (which isn't to say I've written much on my own since, either). After leaving Halo Jones, I was briefly involved in a heavy metal band from Ulverston before I placed an advert in the Musicians' Co-op in Lancaster looking for new people to work with. 

I was contacted by a couple called Teresa and Jeff, who were music students at the university, and who had never heard of any of the bands I cited as influences. Oh, except Peter Gabriel: they knew 'Solsbury Hill'. We never had a name for our band but we did write and record about ten songs, and I never met anyone apart from us who liked them.

Recently, though, my friend Simon asked if I fancied helping him to do some music for a two minute film he's been commissioned to produce. Obviously I said yes but, as this weekend approached, I felt less confident. To be honest, I've only really ever fiddled about with the music software and hardware that I have plus I wasn't certain how I'd be in this collaborative situation.

I asked Simon to get a recording of a canal boat and my original plan was to detune this to D (which Simon thought was the key of his recorder) and then create a 'bed' of sound over which Simon could play. Thus, I reasoned, I could make a contribution and also leave Simon to do what he wanted (what with it being his project). Having a plan successfully dispelled the mild anxiety.

In the end Simon bought a recording of a canal boat and of himself walking along the towpath at the speed of the boat (four miles per hour). I layered these up and added two drones in D using different sounds. Simon then tried out a few piano melodies that he'd prepared and found one that worked well. However, it was when he put his recorder over the top that the magic happened: a gorgeous, breathy, atmospheric sound, complimenting the piano.

The best moment for me, personally, though, was when I had Simon playing a D chord on the keyboard while I messed around with the sounds. I came across a sound that lower down just sounded a bit like strings but, when Simon added another D further up, resulted in a gorgeous bubbling, electronic sound, which I then ran all the way through the recording. I was delighted with how the whole piece turned out.

Here is Simon in the Royal Barn afterwards as we had a gently celebratory pint. Later we went back to the house and the Minx joined us, cooking an amazing rice dish for us - 5-spice fried rice with sweet potatoes - from the 'Thug Kitchen' cookbook, while we carried on tinkering. It was, all told, a blissful day.

****-3.9kg