After the warm up, music morning in the school started with listening back to the percussion and basslines, adding some flourishes, then making some choices about which instrument should play the bassline and the flourishes - the instrument left over will play the melody. Stu is making Dorico files with the children’s musical choices and instructions (which beat of the bar the melody starts on, for example) which will become notation and a sound file to give the chldren.
choosing which instrument plays which line
After this I show the children a piece of lapis lazuli (kindly brought in by Pat Thomson) and explained the history of its use for blue pigment. Along the way we also covered blue pigment from a special snail and the indigo plant.
The painting exercise that followed involved liberal use of blue with some gold - I didn’t give them specific instructions on how to make their lapis lazuli paintings, and the results were amazing and varied!
Khalicee’s lapis lazuli painting
Teddy
After lunch Marie Burhat came in to start the giant knitting with the children. She tasked the older boys with working out the maths of how much yarn was needed for the number of stitches in the pattern, and the younger children with re-rolling her giant yarn ball so the darker blues were at the start of it.
Then she sat down with the giant knitting needles specially made by Ian Best, and the giant knitting began.
making a start on the giant knitting
After this CHROMA rehearsed, and we rounded off the day round at Houll with a splendid lamb stew and pavlova made by Eileen Thomson.
rehearsal (lapis lazuli paintings drying, cyanotypes now dry)