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A Christmas Toot
Tuesday, December 24th, 2013 06:49 pmAs I type, Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins are finishing up on their second EVA to replace a faulty pump unit on the ISS. Despite some drama earlier with a misbehaving connector, it sounds like it's turned out well in the end. I moved away from the coverage for a while earlier towards my recorders again, having gone back to them for the first time in ages last night after watching A Very CraftLass Christmas.
My recorder-playing break was mostly good, the only real problem I have is that my hands are too small for the Tenor. The Alto is just the right size, but there isn't much music written which doesn't dip below F. I know it's possible to transpose, and I did for a few things, but I prefer to play as is written rather than fall back into old habits. The Sopranino feels like a toy recorder (and sounds like one), and the Soprano makes me feel like I'm back at junior school.
To be honest, the feeling of being back at junior school isn't all bad. I enjoyed junior school a lot, and Christmas was the best part. There was a massive Christmas tree in the centre of the school - outside the hall, where the upper corridor met the main corridor. Each year our Christmas festivities would alternate between a Nativity play and a themed Christmas concert. During my third and fourth years, I was part of the recorder ensemble which played at the festivities. I think mostly we played the same songs each year, possibly in the fourth year (a concert on the theme of Christmas around the world) some of the songs were sung by the choir rather than by everyone.
Playing my recorders this evening, there are many Christmas carols and songs from back then that I don't currently have sheet music for. However, I found that I can still remember how to play some from all those years ago. I've also learned a brand new one - It Came Upon The Midnight Clear - which I've always liked, but we never sang it in school or church, and CraftLass sings it in her Christmas show. CraftLass and I had a long Twitter discussion last night about festive songs and religious denominations, and how these were influenced by the respective churches we were raised in as children. Please do listen to her show - it's 86 minutes long but you can listen while doing other stuff as it's all CraftLass playing guitar and singing, plus some talk between songs about the song's history or why they are meaningful.
It's likely I'll be Internetting for some of tomorrow as I don't expect things to properly get going in our house until people arrive in the afternoon. Have a happy Christmas everyone!
My recorder-playing break was mostly good, the only real problem I have is that my hands are too small for the Tenor. The Alto is just the right size, but there isn't much music written which doesn't dip below F. I know it's possible to transpose, and I did for a few things, but I prefer to play as is written rather than fall back into old habits. The Sopranino feels like a toy recorder (and sounds like one), and the Soprano makes me feel like I'm back at junior school.
To be honest, the feeling of being back at junior school isn't all bad. I enjoyed junior school a lot, and Christmas was the best part. There was a massive Christmas tree in the centre of the school - outside the hall, where the upper corridor met the main corridor. Each year our Christmas festivities would alternate between a Nativity play and a themed Christmas concert. During my third and fourth years, I was part of the recorder ensemble which played at the festivities. I think mostly we played the same songs each year, possibly in the fourth year (a concert on the theme of Christmas around the world) some of the songs were sung by the choir rather than by everyone.
Playing my recorders this evening, there are many Christmas carols and songs from back then that I don't currently have sheet music for. However, I found that I can still remember how to play some from all those years ago. I've also learned a brand new one - It Came Upon The Midnight Clear - which I've always liked, but we never sang it in school or church, and CraftLass sings it in her Christmas show. CraftLass and I had a long Twitter discussion last night about festive songs and religious denominations, and how these were influenced by the respective churches we were raised in as children. Please do listen to her show - it's 86 minutes long but you can listen while doing other stuff as it's all CraftLass playing guitar and singing, plus some talk between songs about the song's history or why they are meaningful.
It's likely I'll be Internetting for some of tomorrow as I don't expect things to properly get going in our house until people arrive in the afternoon. Have a happy Christmas everyone!
