Charlotte

I had a new musical experience today. One of the things I get to do occasionally is to record other musicians. Richard the drummer and I will turn up with 16 track recorder, mixing desk and a whole big bag of leads and make decent quality recordings of bands. Today, since Rich is still in America with Marillion, I took the 16 track out on my own. My job was to record some songs of a little girl called Charlotte.

Charlotte is staying at a local hospice. She's in a wheelchair and has very limited mobility. One of the things that makes her special is that she writes and sings songs. She has a musical partner in the shape of a professional music therapist who plays piano. I met up with them both in the very modern and welcoming music room at the hospice. I put cables all over the floor, miked up the piano and set up the very professional looking vocal microphone lent to me for this occasion by Richard the guitarist. After a few test runs we recorded some of Charlotte's songs - brilliant little pop gems sung with gusto, if not perfect pitch and now just a mix away from being on CD. The finished product is going to be used to raise money for the hospice's music room.

This is all very heart warming, but the thing I took away from it was that Charlotte is very much the pro musician. She knows what she wants, how to get it and how not to get it. If she wasn't in a wheelchair (and a hospice) you might decide that she was a rude and pushy little madam. But she is in a wheelchair, and probably doesn't have as much chance of reaching old age as I do. So I let the bad manners go and once again count all my blessings; one of which is snoozing on the sofa next to me while I write this.

Later: some thoughts on knitting. Really.

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