February – March 2026: two great studio sessions with Simon Zagorski-Thomas and Jane Chapman at Vestry Hall (University of West London) on our studio version of Divertissements now in its umpteenth version for harpsichord (as always) with vintage synthesisers (this incarnation). But there is a third instrument involved on this occasion – the recording studio itself.
For us, ‘studio version’ implies music that could not be replicated live because studio technology is so ingrained in the sound. These two sessions involved a lot more than simply mixing if that is taken to mean working on the way the sonic elements sit together: fundamental changes were wrought on the way the harpsichord sounds, a multitude of ‘ear candies’ were added to promote sonic depth and enhance the flow from section to section, reverbs were tweaked, and a lot of attention was lavished on the way the many formal ‘panels’ in the piece are connected together. The result has arrived at something that is a very close match to what I imagined when this collaboration started; I find this the most convincing version of Divertissements so far (!) – the sonic textures that Simon has elaborated around the basic harpsichord/synth core have produced a richness and sense of whimsy that the earlier versions have always lacked.
Where Jane, Simon and I go now with this is to prepare a 45-minute album, probably for release on Bandcamp, featuring connected tracks that either issue from or culminate in the studio version. These tracks comprise electronic studies by Simon on selected samples from the piece, improvised duos by Jane and I that expand and ruminate on various Divertissements materials, and a recording of a live improvisation involving all three of us recorded at the London College of Music Composition Festival at UWL in June 2025.
