Touchable Dreams

A long-awaited release!

After many months of work, initially recording, then editing and mixing – plus a tremendous amount of time spent contacting poets and their publishers in order to get copyright permissions – my CD with Jeremy Harmer entitled “Touchable Dreams” is finally at the pressing plant ready for a September 1st release.

Because of the amount of time it took to get all the poetry permissions sorted – and we really only managed it due to some superb help from professional permissions person (what would be the correct title I wonder?) Rachel Thorne – and also due to a last minute refusal for what would have been our closing poem, we have been able not only to get the CD pretty well exactly as we would like, but were also able, while trying to find a replacement final track (and with some excellent inspiration from Jeremy!), to end the CD in a really (we hope) inspiring way.

I asked my son Chris to do the CD artwork and design for us, and he’s also taken some excellent photos at our most recent live show, some of which are now online on a new “Touchable Dreams” blog site – http://touchabledreams.posterous.com. Do take a look at it.

It’s now just over a year since we first did the show live, and it’s hard to stand back from it and view it objectively, but we feel that the CD is an exciting and fairly unique recording, mixing words and music in a way that we haven’t come across before. We certainly hope that others feel the same about it!

You can buy the signed, numbered limited edition “Touchable Dreams” CD from my online store. It will also be available for download from iTunes and other stores very soon (with just two poems missing where download permission was not forthcoming!).

Our next live “Touchable Dreams” show in the UK is in Ely on September 10th (details here), but we’re also doing it in Bucharest on September 4th!

Plans are also now afoot for a new show featuring the words of Charles Dickens. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…” (A Tale of Two Cities)

Touchable Dreams

Pachelbel video

For my first post of 2010 I’ve got a new video release: It’s part of the “Touchable Dreams” performance which I did with Jeremy Harmer in December 2009 in Cambridge. This clip is just me doing a looped version of the famous “Canon in D” by Pachelbel. I worked out the programming needed in order to perform it properly in it’s original form – bass line and three canonical violin lines – a while ago: It involves a straight loop for the bass line and then lots of careful loop/replace functions for the canon. I was delighted it proved possible to do; and it proves popular in live performances.

This particular concert was the first outing for my new Bridge 5-string electric violin: More about the superb Bridge instruments soon…..

Meanwhile enjoy the video, and have a great 2010!

Touchable Dreams in Cambridge

Thursday 10th December sees Jeremy Harmer and I presenting our show “Touchable Dreams” in Cambridge, at the Emmanuel United Reformed Church in Trumpington Street.

Subtitled “Words and Music in the Key of Love” the show has had great success so far this year, and lots of our friends and colleagues in the Cambridge area were asking when we’d do it locally: So here it is.

This show blends my playing, using my usual blend of looping, electric violin, pedals and acoustic violin;  with Jeremy’s expressive readings from poets as diverse as Shakespeare and Carol Ann Duffy (with a little singing thrown in!). The words frame the music, the music illuminates the words. And when they happen together, the effect is spellbinding….

If you’re anywhere near Cambridge do come along! Tickets will be available on the door, but can also be purchased online from http://www.stevebingham.co.uk/shop/. Just click the “ticket” link.

I hope to see you there…..

Touchable Dreams