On Writing a Blog...

One thing that has been suggested to me from several people on setting up a new website is the idea of a blog, or something similar – this I suspect is something that will fill many composers with instant fear and loathing, and I guess I count myself in that group to some extent. However, I’ve decided to give it a go; maybe because I hope it might demystify the composition process and generate some interesting debate, maybe because it seems to be something that very few other composers are doing. Either way I am aiming to write regular thought-provoking comment on my work as a composer, the composition process, the idea of being a composer in the twenty-first century and miscellaneous other topics that surround the contemporary music world. I shall not (I hope) provide a truly dull and pointless diary of the mundanities and minutiae of my day-to-day life (if you are interested I took my daughter to the park and had Moroccan food for dinner) nor seek to wage war on other composers and artists on these pages.At first glance there don’t appear to be many composer blogs around, certainly not from composers I am familiar with. I know some composers have written blogs for projects they are involved with (such as Elizabeth Winters on the LSO Panufnik Scheme http://panufnik.wordpress.com) and some ‘microblog’ on sites such as Twitter or Facebook, but few have taken that fatal leap into the unknown. Maybe because they would rather spend their time composing, which might be much more sensible? It brings into question the whole idea of composer’s own websites and the point of having them, which is a debate for another day. I hope my website provides all the information about me and my work that anyone would need, I guess that is the point. Whether it achieves that or not is up for debate...but I welcome comment any time!PAC