Recording music is like driving down a (beautiful) new road that you've never taken before and you don't really know where it leads to. 
There are side roads with many possibilities to extend the route, deviate, stop and take-in the view, dead ends, up hills... you get the gist!
Our playing changes each time we look at a piece in that setting. We come up with new ideas and discover new sounds, new ways to phrase a passage, we keep questioning everything until the answer falls right on our lap and then we just go with it hoping it resonates with our listeners too. Sometimes getting disheartened and disappointed is a good thing; through frustration and confusion we come up with something completely new that inspires us to look at a piece with fresh eyes.
Recording music especially during this pandemic is a challenge. You are not just thinking about your performance but you are constantly thinking of Covid transmission, taking swabs at the start of each day, being careful to keep things as clean and un-contaminated as possible; it can be exhausting. But this is our reality and it's not going away in a hurry so, we have to be grateful that my studio is completely suited to being Covid-safe.
Animo is constantly evolving; we are learning from every experience. We are now working towards a 'workshop video' in the hope that even during Covid, we will be able to offer our services to Universities and share our experience of working closely with all our amazing composers.
This week we are focusing on three more new commissions and another 5 or 6 pieces from our core repertoire. Some will make it into the world as single releases, others as YouTube premieres, others may sit for a little while and then join all the others when we release our new album 'ANIMO two'.
We are constantly reminded of what's more important than anything else: kindness, family, friendship, love and care for one another. Music is the glue that holds us all safely together. 
I like to think that we are all in this together.
LIVESTREAM 12 last Tuesday's broadcast is still live on YouTube.
Next Tuesday LIVE at 12:45 (9.2.2021) is LIVESTREAM 13 featuring Edmund Jolliffe's 'The Red Birds' Suite.
