WFH: DAY 136: A colder night, anticipating a warmer day, than is usual for this time of year:

8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: I, duly masked (in compliance with the Welsh Government’s regulations), headed for the Post Office to send-off an eBay sale. ‘Stand and deliver’ (as Adam Ant would say):

Signs of the times:

9.00 am: A view of the inbox. This week I’d ‘transition’ from research to full-on teaching prep. This would be my final whole day (albeit responsive to incoming requests) of research. The aim was to finalise methodological and technical explorations, as well as the CD’s track listing. (This would not be necessarily definitive, but it would be more or less finite.) Back to pitch-shifting. ‘Try something! Try anything! Try everything! Try what’s reasonable! Try what’s irrational! ‘Try and try again, John!’

I’d returned to ‘Like Children in Bright Clothing’. There was nothing wrong with the composition, but there was something missing. I strained to hear what was presently inaudible, re-reading the account for suggestions. With the sound of spirits singing came a bright light. (What might light sound like in the realms of angels?) I recorded the English translation (Which Jones supplied) of the text to their psalm singing. In the background, I dealt with MA inquiries regarding pre-registration for this year’s admission. 12.30 pm: I interrogated the processed samples of the translation.

1.30 pm: After lunch, I made a last-ditched attempt to finalise a list of those students who’d accepted offers for the MA schemes. 2.00 am: I continued my review of the processed samples, with a view to extracting usable sub-samples. It had been a productive exercise. Although, I wasn’t sure whether they could be used in the context of the composition to hand. There’re times when sounds find their own composition.

7.30 pm:

I needed to bring the day’s initial objective to a close — namely, to ally a few samples to ‘Like Children in Bright Clothing’. A better ending was had. There was a new beginning also, but it sounded too familiar. I’d used the idea, or something like it, before. I pushed harder, and inserted a sound that, notionally, ought not to have meshed — but I was wrong. There’re times when only trial can decide.