In case you’re wondering this is leading up to personal theories of music.
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Someone asked me recently how or why I work with two seemingly unrelated kinds of music-making, electroacoustic composition and playing guitars. The simple answer is that I don’t want to waste all those hours I spent as a child and youth learning and practising classical guitar music in my bedroom. But that’s by the way. 

​Another way round this is to consider that different kinds of music require different kinds of research. Some of course require none, in the sense of academic research. You just play, though there will undoubtedly have been a wider social dimension to that playing which implies some sort of  knowledge base or layered background. On an instrument that I’ve played for most of my life I can play from memory, from a score, improvise from a few ideas or improvise freely. Many musicians can do this quite easily, it’s no big deal. There’s not too much in the way of different sounds to be drawn out of an acoustic guitar, unless we get into amplification, effects and preparations which aren’t typical of the instrument. Any research tends to focus playing and listening or on the histories and traditions of the instrument and its players, a rewarding field of study in its own right. 

It's evident to me that many musicians, especially composers, require a working theory or even a simple hypothesis of what music is in order to proceed with some measure of artistic or even personal integrity. I’m one of those musicians. More specifically however it depends on what musical activity I’m involved with. If the main concern is to explore sound, generally speaking, meaning the extraction or coaxing of sounds and their sonic particularities from various generators in order to investigate these and compose or perform using them, then I’ve found it essential to think and act in a certain manner, one that requires support. Over time therefore I’ve benefited from adopting a theoretical perspective, meaning an evolving process rather than a fixed standpoint. 

Here are some stills from the moving image material I've made as part of my Landowner performances/actions/movements in Wester Muir, a large fallow field above Jedburgh. The idea behind this aspect of the project is to play (and dress) the part of a Borders Landowner, then carry out various performative actions in the environment that relate to a relationship with the land. For example, measuring, examining, assessing, recording, witnessing, embracing, being swallowed up by, destroying (pretending to of course) and so on.

These actions ask questions of what it is to own land. Does owning land confer the right to destroy it, isolate it, let it go to waste, forbid others from passing through? Usus, Fructus, and Abusus​. Those who fret over our legal systems still get their knickers in a twist over all this stuff and it fascinates me that there's still a landed gentry in Scotland, two hereditary Dukes no less, meaning unelected, who seem to own half the country between them. Not to mention a crew of minor toffs who own the rest. I love unpicking the detail behind these anomalies or injustices, call them what you will. I like to recall these details every time someone starts rabbiting on about a what a progressive and modern society we have in Scotland.

This was a great day out in spite of a rather dull cloud cover. Nonetheless the light on days like that is often perfect for photography because the cloud acts as a giant diffuser. With a smaller group, six of us this time, everything changes substantially in terms of our relationships with the landscape and with each other.

We followed a route from the road above Hunthill, down to the Scraesburgh back road then cut up through the woods to the fields and track above Coalpits. Plenty stops for photographs, chat about landscape, light and art and a silent chi kung exercise with eyes closed which was very revealing. Back at the ranch (Kenmore Hall) we had refreshments and I rolled out a length of paper for everyone to write and draw their words and sketches. Pictures below.

Look out for details of the next walk on 27 April where we'll be exploring sound.

Here are some pictures from a recent show at The Lubber Fiend in Newcastle with Craig Stewart Johnson. Thanks to Thomas Carroll for the photos.

These artworks are going very well. The second walk, on the theme of 'word', enjoyed a big turnout and a fine day. We did a circular route adjacent to the route on walk one which everyone managed easily enough. You can only do so much on the hoof with a large group so we stopped at several points and did some exercises with words, sounds and language generally, referring to how we understand, shape and produce space. place and landscape through the spoken and written word.

I was delighted to hear some days after the walk that one of the group had returned to the route and repeated it. Maybe a side-benefit of these walks is to introduce to safe and relatively easy routes to people whose mobility isn't the best.

We all had a go at writing a haiku after the walk based on there words and phrases we'd gathers along the way. I'll get round to scanning them and publish later. Here's some pictures from the walk.

And so it begins. Bob Dawson and I have built, painted and installed the planters with some cardboard underneath to suppress weeds and some old bits of wood to fill in the bottom third of each planter. We just need to figure out what to do about getting the soil in and then the schoolchildren will be able to come along and potter about with the planting.

The green itself is a fine sun trap. The main wall is a beautiful feature of the whole site. The arch in the wall has got us talking about different ornamental features. Some benches would transform the space into a place of contemplation and relaxation. And then a small hut in the corner for local resident Paul (pictured) to keep some garden tools.

This is simply the beginning. I'll get round to asking some visual artist and food growers friends to take a look and think about how they'd design the space - perhaps a dash of colour here and there, some small features. Let's see.

I call this beautiful square of land The Green. It's the kind of place that progressive towns would consider as having the potential to be a demonstration garden. Maybe Jedburgh could be that kind of town and that's what I like to think about with this project - what's possible and how can we overcome resistance to positive change.

People in Jed will know the spot. It's nicely tucked away behind the town and is the perfect place to set some planters. I spoke for a while with Paul and John (pictured). John lives in Paradise Cottage and looks on to the land. Both were very enthusiastic about the growing initiative, as was Gina in the house over the wall who said that this project has been a long time coming.

Paul was clearing the border by the track with a view to growing something along the verge which would complement the planters very well. Maybe some veg, soft fruit  and fruit bushes or climbers. We also spoke about the possibility of benches  and a toolshed in the corner which, if we can overcome the red tape often associated with good community ideas, would make the place an excellent green space for citizens to rest and relax. 

One of the finest feature is the wall (in the first picture). It looks like part of an older walled garden. I'm told the green was a market garden some time ago so there's a historical precedent for growing. In the archway they used to put sticks and branches to attract bees and wasps, I imagine to get rid of plant predators and to pollinate the produce. It's a beautiful feature and invites some creative placemaking ideas around how to design the planters, where to place them and what to grow so that it all works aesthetically as well as functionally. With the school on board I have the green marked out in my mind as a safe spot for the wee ones to come and tend to the vegetables and herbs. I think the residents, especially the elderly ones, would welcome that.

This is the start of it. Timber and compost donated by Forth Resource Management Ltd and Border Demolition Ltd. A generous discount from Mayfield Garden Centre in Kelso for Cuprinol, membrane and netting. Bob Dawson always ready to give his time to drive, collect, store and paint. The last picture is one of our sites for a planter. Jed folks will know where this is. I'll blog many more posts to thank and acknowledge our collaborators as we go along.

Spring made a spectacular appearance over the weekend. Cool and misty in the early mornings giving way to clear blue skies and the much anticipated warmth of the sun. All graced by the silvery light of Lent. 

To make my art work for the Fallow Land project I've settled on two proper fallow fields. One of these, set aside for stubble that the birds can enjoy, is to be ploughed sometime in the spring so I got in quick and made the basic audio recordings I need. If they spare the field for a few more weeks I'll do some more recordings then hopefully get the pictures I want using long lenses and getting my eyes down to ground level which will involve lying down in the stubble in the early morning or evening. Dry weather would help. These are some pictures taken by me and others on the walks. You have to be here in person to appreciate the quality of the amazing light at this latitude but hopefully the photos give you a feel for what it's like.