New Media & A Night Alone...

Robin has arrived in Miami after a 9 hour flight and was consequently very pleased to be shown his lovely room on Crystal Symphony.
He now has a few days to relax and prepare before his first concert on Saturday.

I found myself in a strange position yesterday.
Husband away.
Then a call from my Mum asking if she could have the children for the night.
Yes was my reply.

So, there I was, in the house, alone, except for my three furry friends.
What should I do?
Call some friends and arrange a wild night out?
You have to remember that I haven't been in this position for many years - about 11 actually....

What I did.
Some site maintenance, the observant amongst you will see that I have added Google Ads to the blog.

Then I checked out some of my favourite sites and became inspired.
Jason Heath has made a really interesting video on 'New Media Marketing for Arts Organizations', and it's well worth a look.
It amazes me how he finds the time to be a technical whizz kid, and regularly perform as a musician, but he does.

When you are computer illiterate, as I am, it's very nice to have someone out there explaining the fast changing face of the media today, in terms I can understand.
So thank you Jason!

Also I noticed that Robin now has a Wikipedia page.
Whilst I didn't add this, it is of course, much appreciated.
You can find it here, 'Robin Hill (guitarist)', but, if you are searching for it away from this blog, remember to add the 'guitarist' part, otherwise you will find yourself looking at a theme park on the Isle of Wight!

Recording For Teldec With Sutured Finger....

After reading, 'Painful gig story from Don Mincher', over on, 'Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog', and leaving a comment, I feel I should tell the whole story here.

Some years ago, the Hill/Wiltschinsky Guitar Duo were asked by Teldec to record two new albums, 'Les Deux Amis' and 'The Sound of Strings', with a five week break between each album.
This is, of course, an honour, from such a well respected label.
The duo obviously spent many weeks in preparation for their trip to Berlin.
One week prior to departure, Robin, who is so careful with his hands, cut the index finger of his left hand, opening a tin can.
This required a visit to the local Accident and Emergency department, where a very anxious doctor, was given the job of suturing a musician's finger....

There was no way Robin would cancel the recording.
He continued his rehearsal as well as he could, and a few days later, set off for Berlin.
The duo quickly got into the recording, and Robin was able to transcend the pain and focus on some rather demanding music. The sound engineer found the blood and sweat (but no tears) rather difficult to deal with, but he just had to focus on the mixing desk.

The music ranged from 'Suite Italiana', composed for the duo by Mario Gangi, Fernando Sor, Pierre Petit, J.S.Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Scarlatti, Rossini, Faure, Falla, Tarrega and many more, plus their own compositions.

For Robin, the main problem was barring, as the left index finger is under a lot of pressure, but he managed it.

The duo were so delighted when the last piece was finally recorded that they celebrated by walking into Berlin. They didn't appear to notice that it was a 12 mile hike, each way, until they got up next morning to discover the blisters - on their feet...