I wonder if these turns are awkward on the tenor sax? Style is medium swing about 170 bpm: that's written pitch, not sounding. Wondering if better on alto…

Interesting. A passage of changing times signatures, 4/4 5/4 4/4 5/4 4/4 6/4 with other metres superimposed. You'd think it would work better as six bars of 4/4 but I tried it and it's better the way I had it.

New thoughts on an old piece: make it a trumpet and guitar feature for Henry and Matthew.

Messed up that the autoharp doesn't play itself.

Will the drummer actually stop, though?

Workshopping 'Triwikrama' with students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. https://www.jsimonvanderwalt.com/blog/2025/09/16/triwikrama towards performance on 4 May next year.

Love this version of Kangen https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cevOXYK7648

Finally got a sensible reply from Microsoft about not being able to turn off spell checking in the #Outlook client for Mac:

In this week's briefing, we're asking: 🇵🇸Who is the pro-Israel group trying to get the Paltire banned? 🕵️‍♂️Where's the Wally, Rangers capo turned gangster Ross McGill? 🗳️Does Glasgow need greater devolution? www.glasgowbell.co.uk/israel-flags...

Just managed to assemble and tune a Javanese rebab. Which, if you have never tried it, is difficult difficult lemon difficult.

0600 monday crossword solving https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29860

black whistles white gong yellow out green clean bright red red blue out white out (Gong part for one of the pieces we played today)

gamelan setup at cca

At CCA getting set up for Naga Mas performance with GIO tonight https://www.glasgowimprovisersorchestra.com/giofest/xvii/

Clip from oi musica Cuban big band weekend, yt on trombone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GLR7e8aoa8

Word of the day 'stultifying' – as in 'stultifying academic beaurocracy'. (Also… origin mid 18th century: from late Latin stultificare, from Latin stultus ‘foolish’.)

Have I got enough trombone-related clutter on my desk?

Success https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29855

Event Spotlight: Resonances of Nusantara 🗓️ 27 Nov, 1–3pm 📍 RS/G 01 Dive into Indonesia’s radical sound worlds at this free vocal workshop with Dinar Rizkianti & Gema Swaratyagita. Secure your free place here: hcmf.co.uk/programme/workshop-resonances-of-nusantara/

EXCLUSIVE: Scottish musician Raymond MacDonald tells the Sunday National the 10 things that changed his life

Long shot: anyone in Glasgow able to lend me a #Cajun t#riangle for a gig? Something like this https://www.studio-aube.com/shop/p/cajuntriangles – I don't have time to get one on order. Or, anyone know a #blacksmith who might make one for me?

Six months to my significant number birthday :) planning some performances of my works to celebrate

Difficult, got there in the end, some subtle definitions https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29849

Cuban Big Band weekend

Just updated macOS for the first time in a long time. Who was it that thought a photographer's loupe would be a good icon for Preview?!?

Yay managed to finish a #Guardian #crossword , first for a while! Should have got 23ac a bit quicker :) https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29843

“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”

Just had some fab news, looks like my piece 'Two Minds Three' is strongly pencilled in for a performance at the RCS Piano Festival in March. (Trumpet in D, five clarinets, piano, two accordions, bass clarinet (optional), three percussion.)

coming to streaming services on Friday after only 24 years' wait - pre-save here concertocaledonia.ffm.to/mungrelstuff

Don’t forget the clocks go back this weekend… but not far enough 😬

just found a mystery pack of paracetamol in my pocket. do my trousers know something that I don't?

Turns out Ed Neumeister and Dennis Rollins were right! An H&B straight mute makes a great pixie for trombone :) better than the actual H&B trombone pixie.

Finale versus MuseScore – re-doing an (over fiddly) bit of piano music https://www.jsimonvanderwalt.com/blog/2025/10/18/finale-musescore

If you're in Scotland and earned under £25k in the previous year, you can study part time at undergraduate level for free. Online or in-person courses. Even if you've already done a SAAS funded degree. www.saas.gov.uk/part-time/un...

I don't often post links to stuff, but this is fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pn1CvQQUc8

Wow, seven glossy ibises down the Clyde! One of these days I'm going to have to retire so that I can go twitching during the day :)

Really happy at the first run of two new charts last night with the Byres Road Big Band https://musescore.com/user/12368/scores/25691794 https://musescore.com/user/12368/scores/26835268

I don't mind hearing the trombonists playing Walküre all day long, but I draw the line at the saxophonist in the room next to me playing the wretched Fauré. Off to work in the cafe…

mon the cyclists https://glasgow.gov.uk/13887

Our new release: MuseScore 4.6 is out now! This is an enormous release. Have a look and let me know what you think! youtu.be/J2gY9CbMuoI?...

Back-to-back new student meetings :)

Ah, wait, I was just thinking -- couldn't I just skip this entire stupid UI (sorry, dearest Cupertino friends) and use a CLI? YES. Yes, you can. support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/...

Javanese pronunciation check: Triwikråmå, Brahålå Irèng, Krêsnå, Puntadéwa, Dasamuka?

Provisional title (and programme note) for the slide brass and gamelan piece https://www.jsimonvanderwalt.com/blog/2025/09/16/triwikrama

What was that great page someone posted here the other day about hating ai?

#Decanonise #scales and #arpeggios

Start of term insomnia: finished #crossword at half four in the morning. Not necessarily a good thing https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29801

On the blog: slide brass at Poolewe https://www.jsimonvanderwalt.com/blog/2025/09/10/slide-brass-poolewe

New report on City Centre West East Link protected bike lanes: ✅ Cycling doubled ✅ Pedestrian satisfaction up ✅ Support increased to 68% ✅ Traders’ support up massively ✅ Vacant premises down ✅ Traffic down 27% vs 2018 ✅ Retail spend up 20%