LIFE AFTER DISTIL

We have contacted the previous participants from Distil 1 (New Lanark, October 2002) and Distil 2 (Inverness, March 2003) and asked them for a paragraph(s) on how they feel Distil has affected their musical outlook. All feedback has been very positive.

Distil 1

Corrina Hewat:
The weekend 'Distil' was a completely inspiring time for me in many different aspects. I am a professional musician (voice and harp) and also a composer and arranger. Having been professional since 1994, everything I am involved with; projects, band touring and performing, recording, teaching, all involve travelling time, preparation time and the work in-between. So there is actually very little time to 'play' with other musicians for no other reason than just to share knowledge, ideas and music. And I was fascinated to find how creative I could be when given a little space and an encouraging group of people to work with.

We had one-to-one time with each tutor, plus group work with everyone involved. I enjoyed both ways of working, mainly because we were being challenged to work fast and to consider other ways of approaching performance and creativity. We also had a few 'informal' sessions out-with the course time, incorporating some 'chord function' chats, some swapping of music and ideas and some playing.

The week after the Distil course, I had to do the recording of my album 'My Favourite Place' which has since been released on Footstompin' Records. Only once I was in the studio did I realise that what I had planned to do would not be sufficient anymore. I would have to trust in myself, and what I had experienced at Distil, and believe that I could take some of the inspiration from the weekend and use it in the album. So there are six tracks on the cd that happened purely at the time of recording, which were created from the Distil time. And I am very pleased that the album is so influenced by the weekend, as it still surprises me when I hear it - as if I am hearing it for the first time.

I must admit, I had forgotten how inspiring someone's music can be when you are able to talk to them and 'understand' what they are trying to achieve. I also had forgotten that this inspiration is crucial to continuing to develop your own music. This is what Distil reminded me.

Louise Hay:
For me, Distil was an amazing experience which I think really opened my ideas and mind to other means of writing and composing music, and also making my writing much more free for traditional musicians - not giving them static parts to play but allowing for a part of the musician to be in the piece.

I think generally the whole Distil has brought out many more ideas, as well as colouring some of my writing more than it may have been. An area I also benefited from was my teaching - using the improvisation as Keith did has led to a lot of interesting and fun workshops for the kids I work with in school who are part of my folk groups (they all feel part of what is being done as it is improvisation and they join in without worrying how good they are or worry about if they can fit in).

As a player I am much improved and confident at improvising on both pipes and fiddle and continue to work on this as we did at these courses so it has helped me in many more ways than I would have ever expected. Working with the best in the field also has let me see not to be shy or half hearted about new ideas with may seem bizarre or strange but work from them to develop more. Working with the other participants really was good as I could see how they approached things and overcame obstacles. Playing music with others, I could get ideas and stylistic things from them and hopefully them from me. The environment that it was held in also contributed greatly to the course.

Phamie Gow:
Since doing the Distil workshop in October 2002, I have had three commissions as a composer to write new material. One was for a website (www.ricardopinto.com), one was for the Lothian Gaelic Choir, and the other being a film called 'Across the Waters'. Since doing Distil it has confirmed my confidence as a composer and helps me to complete the given challenges when receiving commissions such as the above. I think all musicians that have an interest in creating their own original voice, or style would gain by doing the Distil workshop as you meet other musicians and composers in the same boat, which can only encourage and enhance what you already have, and therefore you can move into the future with more vision through experience.

Wendy Weatherby:
The 'Distil' weekend in October 2002 was an interesting experience, enabling the participants to share experiences and compositions in an informal way, but with the luxury of being able to fully concentrate on the programme without outside distractions! The tutors chosen were diverse in their approaches and styles, and because of this, ideas and musical forms with which we may not have been familiar were available for performance , discussion and dissection.

I personally found the most daunting thing about the whole thing the thought of laying bare my musical ideas in front of my peer group, but we were all in the same boat and after the initial nerves, most just mucked in. The most important things I learned over the weekend were to have more confidence in my own compositions, not to be afraid to experiment with unfamiliar styles and not to be put off if something doesn't work immediately! Although I felt uncomfortable with some of the more 'off the wall' moments of improvisation, it was still good to have had the chance to try it in a 'safe ' setting. The whole experience was a very positive one.

Kathryn Tickell:
For me it was a challenging weekend that gave me many new ideas, not just for my composition but also for my teaching, lecturing and workshop leading. So often as professional musicians/educators we spend so much time trying to perform/educate others and have no time or energy left to educate ourselves; Distil recharged my batteries in a creative way, made me excited about composing again and eager to go out and teach again.

My only suggestion for future years would be to strongly recommend that all participants keep at least a couple of days free after Distil is finished so that they can work on ideas they have formulated/developed/dreamed of whilst on the course and take advantage of the upsurge of creative energy that I am sure they will experience. (A common suggestion - ST)

Andy Thorburn:
DISTIL was a very valuable experience for me and I learnt a lot about the relationship between different musical styles. Traditional musicians in Scotland have a curious approach to jazz and it was this that produced the most interesting practical results in developing musical ideas. There was a blurring of meaning between improvisation and composition, and between written (fixed) music and music from the oral tradition. The combination of ideas from the mentors and the students and the resulting sounds were all fascinating. It was a pity that there was not enough time to explore the nature of the musical imagination, musical memory and recall, and the deeper sources and manipulation of compositional raw material (before its conversion to sound).

David Milligan:
In October 2002, I was one of a group of privileged musicians who took part in an all-too-rare event in Lanarkshire called Distil.

One of the main strengths of the weekend for me was the fact that there was no performance or concert at the end, which I find (having previously taught on many workshops and short courses myself), can be somewhat of a hindrance to the learning process, as most of the students or participants spend the majority of their time in "practice" mode. It's very rare that musicians get the opportunity to experiment with aspects of music that they're not often involved with, and as ridiculous as it sounds, being given a space to talk, share and play music with other professional musicians almost seems like a luxury these days! Creativity and inspiration are such a huge part of music making, and I don't think there was one musician who didn't get something out of the weekend.

The whole set-up was pretty much ideal; all accommodation and meals provided on site, which meant that everyone had immediate access to the playing facilities (although they weren't available 24 hours a day, which might have suited some of the musicians better!). As probably the only "jazz" musician participating in the weekend, it was very apparent to me how important events like this are for musicians; I think it is quite common for professional musicians to feel that to put themselves in the situation of being the "student" may somehow threaten their standing or profile within their respective scene. The way the Distil weekend is set up, you immediately feel on equal terms with everybody else, and there was no sense of a "student-tutor" relationship with any of the three guest musicians. Having been involved in the Scottish music scene for some time now, I sense the need to give more folk and traditional musicians the opportunity to develop improvisational and compositional skills, and Distil seems to be one of the best ways of achieving that.

Distil 2

Karen Marshalsay:
The Distil experience was invaluable in several ways. In the first place it gave me a sense of validation of what I had already achieved, and encouragement, by its very existence, to keep on composing and dedicate more time to developing further. This is very important if, as most of us are, you are juggling various other teaching and gigging commitments and it becomes difficult to set time aside for the kind of research or experimentation which will enhance and develop your work. Distil provided an escape from all those things that impinge upon you and enabled you to spend several days solely working on your own compositional skills. Secondly the contact and shared experience with the other participants, whether in plenary sessions, improvisations or just general chats and discussions were a really important part of the weekend. The third benefit was of course, the input from the tutors. Part of this seemed to be a 'cramming' course to fill in gaps in our musical education and experience and for me Dave Heath's orchestration sessions were great from this point of view. The one to one sessions gave me lots of ideas of how to explore and expand and challenge myself in my writing.

Since the weekend I have kept up the directional push that I received at the time. One of the things that came over from discussions with the tutors was that my work was quite far along the road already in that it's well structured, melodically sound, with room for improvisation from the players, interesting ideas etc, but that I needed to find the next place to take it to, whether in terms of instrumentation/orchestration or in breaking away from what can be seen as the tyranny of 8 bar phrases and tune structures! I've been experimenting with this since the weekend by continuing to work on an orchestration (something I never would have attempted or even thought much about before the weekend) of a piece I originally wrote for harp and fiddle, and by playing around with various ways of breaking out of that '8 bar phrase' mentality. This is definitely influencing the solo pieces I've been working on since the weekend. I've also kept up musical contact with James Ross, one of the other participants and we've been having great fun working on improvisations and discussing what we're both developing.

Basically Distil gave me a big injection of ideas, with lots of things to go away and mull over, learn about and try out. I found that one of the most useful factors was that you were working with tutors experienced in fields other than traditional music, and that everyone participants and tutors alike were very open and willing to share. Can we do it again please?

James Ross:
Distil was an excellent weekend with great tutors. It really made me think of different ways to approach composition and gave me lots of new ideas for my own work to take home and try out. The Distil weekend was a great learning experience and very inspiring.

Gillian Frame:
I took part in the Distil project in March 2003. I had been offered a place in October but felt that it would be better to wait until I had completed my New Voices commission for Celtic Connections in January 03 as this was my first major piece of work.

I found the whole weekend to be an excellent experience. The tutors were extremely encouraging yet honest at the same time. Outwith the group workshops we had the opportunity to work individually with each of the tutors. I made the decision to look at my New Voices piece with all three tutors. This was hugely beneficial as I was helped and inspired to come up with new ideas and ways of improving and developing the piece, which was handy as it is to be performed again next year.

I especially enjoyed the group workshops with Tom Bancroft, however I did not feel I got as much from him in the individual time as I did from Dick Lee and Dave Heath. This was mainly due to fact that it was all a little too much to take in such a short space of time. Ideally it would have been much more productive if there had been some sort of follow up, once you had time to absorb all the information.

Tom Richardson:
What a great idea the Distil project is. As someone who is interested in composition, but without the training, I was very grateful to be asked to participate on the Distil weekend.
We took part in workshops which were led by successful composers from Jazz and Classical backgrounds and also had individual sessions with them. It was great to spend a weekend with 'Tom, Dick and Dave' as it opened my eyes to the possibilities of composition within the area of traditional music, and also the mixing of musical styles.

Mairi Campbell: Distil was an inspiring weekend which gave me two things

• a boost in confidence that I could write larger scale musi
• some practical suggestions on writing - nuts and bolts of composition

The interesting thing is that even though I've been too busy with other work to apply myself to composing, I often look back to that weekend as a benchmark which has started a process that lies within but at some stage will 'out'.

Dave Heath's orchestration was particularly useful and Tom Bancroft had really well thought out ideas and bite size exercises to get on with.

A fantastic experience, a real feeding of the soul.

Matt Seattle:
The March 2003 Distil which I attended was useful in identifying my strengths and weaknesses, as well as in providing a much needed creative energy boost from meeting people with broadly similar aims and experience to my own. The tutors were inspiring and enabling. It wasn't a case of breaking down the barriers between traditional music and other genres - there were no barriers.

Mary Ann Kennedy:
I accepted the invitation to attend Distil, knowing that it had been a year since I had written anything, and having spent that intervening time increasingly involved in projects which required high-maintenance administration and momentum, pushing things like personal development to one side. I hoped that the weekend would help me move back towards more writing and playing "for kicks" and I was also intrigued to hear from musicians from different, although associated, genres of music, as well as getting the chance to meet up with old friends and make new acquaintances.

Although I found that some folk wondered why I was there at all, as I had not particularly brought any material with which to work, and this made me think that perhaps I was not the right person to be there, I did gain a lot from the weekend. On reflection, I would have been better to stay in the hotel, even though my flat was close by, as the feeling of camaraderie was an important element to the openness required in such a weekend. I have a commission for late 2004, which will show the fruits of that particular weekend, even though it was only a few days - but I'd be glad to get the chance to work on something like this commission with the team leaders from Distil.

Best wishes for a project which should be allowed to flourish.

• General points:
  Definite need for our 'Angels Share' mentoring project.
• Distil has empowered the musicians to move their music to the next stage where they didn't have the confidence before.
• Participants learnt techniques that helped them in their own teaching - an area that we didn't set out to cover.