PGC
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Posts posted by PGC
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I wish I could put more than one agree with your last statement, Jock. It wasn't only the sacred music that Finzi wrote which I find amazing, it's his music generally. For example, a little known piece, Eclogue. As I write I'm listening to it, and loving every second. It's so gorgeous.
As you say at the end of your post, Jock, anyone who doesn't know Finzi's music should research and listen to it. You'll be amazed by it's beauty for the rest of your life.
Phil
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Not put much on this thread recently, as I've been busy elsewhere. However, today I had the great delight of singing "Lo, the full final sacrifice" by Gerald Finzi in a devotional service for Palm Sunday at Chelmsford Cathedral.
A simply stunning piece of music that really caught the emotion of the day. For the text, see here. One wonders how many composers could write "O soft self-wounding Pelican!" and make it sound wonderful rather than stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h8v_-QiCH4
Phil
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Best one liner of the year?
"If we can manage to convince the Chinese that Jihadists' testicles are aphrodisiacs, within ten years they'll have all disappeared..."-
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Here are some shots of the progress made so far.
A view of most of the basic chassis kit parts and the simple 20 thou brass chassis sides. The High Level gearbox fret and gears is on the left. I have noticed that my brass chassis side members are different to Gordon's. I hope it works! I used a wheelbase of 24.5mm, the same as the recommended 'Spud'. The driven axle will be fixed and the other will pivot centrally hence the slot.
The kit chassis sides and ends soldered together. The footplate surface has been marked for cutting. I drilled a series of holes along the edges and cut through with a heavy scalpel, filing up the edges afterwards.
Parts Chassis Frame and Marked Footplate.A.jpgFootplate now has a hole cut in it to clear the mech, same size as the inside of the bonnet. I now realise that I will have to cut away some of the cab front inside the bonnet and also extend the footplate hole into the cab floor.
Cab is now built (but roof not attached yet). I used 5 min epoxy for this rather than solder to allow some ability to get the corners as exact as possible. They are mitred which doesn't always work very well with white metal castings in my experience. They never seem to be exactly right even with some 'adjustments' and the epoxy does also have a gap filling purpose.
Cab and Footplate with Hole.A.jpgThe bonnet is here shown 'dry assembled'. Again the parts are mitred at the front and I think that some slight bodging may be required to get all the joints close. (Please note that 'Bodgers' are actually skilled woodworkers and chairmakers so my use of the term may be a bit out of place here!)
Cab, Footplate, Bonnet dry run.A.jpgNext job is to assemble the gearbox!
The first photo shows your chassis sides. How did you cut those out? I assume the top is the cut edge of the stock used, so the bottom edge would have to be cut, and it's a very straight line and neat edge. I always have trouble getting a straight line when cutting something like this, so any tips you can offer would be appreciated.
Phil
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A man walks into his bedroom and sees his wife packing a suitcase. He asks, 'What are you doing?'
She answers, 'I'm moving to London . I heard prostitutes there get paid £400 for doing what I do for you for free.
Later that night, on her way out, the wife passes the bedroom and sees her husband packing his suitcase.
When she asks him where he's going, he replies,
'I'm coming too. I want to see how you live on £800 a year .. -
A SMALL GLIMMER OF HOPE IN THE POST-BUDGET GLOOM!
'Viagra' is now available in powder form for your tea.
It doesn't enhance your sexual performance but it does stop your biscuit going soft.
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I havent decided yet Phil, point motors will be servos however.
I'd be most interested to know your thoughts when you get round to them
I'm trying to find some stretcher bars, and am thinking of Ambis or Masokits, but the Masokits one only seem to be available as P4, which for an EM modeller doesn't help much!
Phil
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A new aquisition, a EM gauge Bachmann class 9 from Tim Easter, lovely runner ive been testing it on Crown Street over the weekend. Copperclad tiebars are only temporary.
Knowing you are a bit of an innovator, how are you going to do the stretcher bars (tie bars), Mike?
Phil
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How very dare you!
A4s don't thump! They purr!
If only the Knaresborough viaduct could talk, then we'd know for sure whether they purr or thump!!!!
Phil
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Depressed? Don't let the bottom fall out of your world, have a vindaloo and let the world fall out of your bottom!
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Phil,
It's set in contemporary times, so the A4 was one of the preserved examples; the problem is that the tender type it was towing (a 1935-streamlined corridor, if my eyes weren't deceiving me) does not exist in preservation. But, I admit to being pedantic.
Thanks Tony - I couldn't imagine A4's would have worked over Knaresborough viaduct in regular service, from the thumping of the exhaust beat etc., I would have expected the viaduct to fall down!
Phil
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The layout depicting Knaresborough was simply stunning and in terms of scenic modelling it was breathtaking. However, and this is typical of me, I admit; an A4 (Hornby) appeared and it had the wrong tender!
As a Southerner, I don't know the geography of the Northern rails too well, and assuming the layout is based in the days prior to the end of steam, in reality, would an A4 ever have appeared anywhere near Knaresborough? I know it would have been possible after dieselisation as I've seen at least one special run over the viaduct with a streak at the head, but before then?
Phil
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Until today, I didn't realise this early existed!
Off to set up for the East Anglian MRC show - if you're there, come and say Hello, I'll be with the Blackwells Brewery layout from Mid Essex MRC.
Phil
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Just spent the last two hours at the modelling bench, during which I listened, among other things, to Cyril Scott's piano quintet No 1, Symphony No 3 (The Muses) and Aubade (Morning Sun). The more I hear, the more he's becoming a favourite composer.
Phil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aDhAgQ5KNw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR4WvxfgfSE
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As you can see on my Saxlingham thread, I tried to spend some time at the modelling bench yesterday, but because our boiler had failed (it's fixed now!) the room was like an ice box so I couldn't do much modelling and ended up working in the lounge while listening to the Schubert Winterreise recording with hurdy-gurdy that was mentioned quite early in this thread. It's a great recording and one I've recommended to a friend who likes this type of music.
Before I warmed up in the lounge, I did, however, manage to get a few jobs done at the bench, during which I listened to Symphony No 2 by Richard Weitz from the Unsungmasterworks channel on YouTube, which has very quickly become my favourite listening source. I thoroughly enjoyed the piece and will listen to it again. I've also noticed that on the channel there's a mass setting by Ethel Smyth on there. I've listened to the Kyrie - it sounds really good so next time I have a modelling session, guess what I'm going to listen to!
Phil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhVbZt41sJg
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Just had a further thought and done a search on Google. Apparently I can buy the complete series of Orchestra! (didn't know that was what the programme was called until I started talking about it on this thread) on DVD and CD from Amazon. I am going to do this. Then, when the clip I posted above had finished, in the selection, there was one about the metronome and this is fascinating. It's not he clip I talked about, but shows what he was talking about and what I believe, don't believe the metronome!
Phil
Oh, and if it's good enough for George Solti, it's good enough for me!
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Just had a thought, did a search on YouTube and Lo and behold, a clip of the Dudley Moore and George Solti programme I was talking about.
I don't know if the quote I heard is in the clip - I'm watching and listening as I write.
Phil
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So was Les Dawson, he had to be to play so badly, deliberately.
When young, Dudley Moore was the organist at a church in Dagenham. My Father, who was Deacon for a Baptist church in Barking, went to an ecumenical meeting at the church where DM played - my Father commented on how the hymn singing was very well led with accurate rhythms and all the notes correct, but he was most amused by the improvisations that were most decidedly not of a classical nature! :-)
Les Dawson was a trained concert pianist, and there has been a documentary in which he was recorded playing something such as one of the Rachmaninov preludes, and you don't play those unless you're good.
You stick with Wiki and I will stick to quoting from notes with CDs or books.
I know which I place most trust in.
Good to know that at least some body has heard his music.
Bernard
Rather than trust Wiki or CD notes, does anyone have access to Grove? I'd believe that over either of the other sources!
Phil
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My piano teacher was very impressed with my rendering of that piece today.
I trust she was hard but fair about your fingering!
Phil
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Knowing Dave's prodigous point building skills, I'd rebuild them first!
Mike.
I haven't yet tried running locos on the layout, so I won't say for certain that the pointwork's perfect, but it certainly looks good (have to say that in case Dave finds me and does a Jeremy Clarkson on me!!!!! )
For the last 10 days we've had no central heating in the house so it's sometimes been quite cold at the modelling bench, and today was one of those days. So, rather than doing any work on stock, I spent time in the lounge (where we had a couple of halogen heaters, so it was warm!) I finished off the template for the new bridge to disguise the fiddle yard entrance. Once I'd got the dimensions right, I got out my supply of plasticard, chose some plain 40 thou and cut the two sides and some stretchers to create the basic frame you can see in the photos.
The next bits I'll build will be the wing walls, after which I'll use embossed plasticard to put a finish on. I'm hoping that I can buy 40 thou brick embossed so single layers either side of the 40 thou plain make a wall 3mm thick which is the scale equivalent of a real 9" wall. If I can't get 40 thou, I'll use a layer of 20 thou either side of the 40 thou and then embossed brick; either way, I'll get what I want!
Until next week, however, no more work will be done on the layout as the boilers been fixed, the office where the modelling bench lives is no longer an ice box and I've got the finishing touches to put to stock for the St Neots exhibition at the weekend.
Phil
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Seeing a bit ago there was a mention of famous Belgians reminds me of a composer of Belgian descent Reinhold Gliere. He worked in Moscow between 1920 and 1941 and although a tool of the state his music deserves to be better known. Try the 3rd symphony if you can find a recording.
Mentioned a while ago was the timing of various works. There is a metronome available on the ipad, ticking or silent options available. SWMBO was using it yesterday to get the speed right for an adagio. It does highlight the difference between performances.
Bernard
I recall a television programme many years ago where Dudley Moore was being taught the art of conducting an orchestra by George Solti.
There is just one thing I remember above all else from the programme. Dudley Moore didn't know the piece Solti was teaching him to conduct, and he asked Solti at what sort of speed the piece should be taken. Solti's reply was similar to "a musician always feels and knows the right speed". Since hearing this, I have never taken note of the metronome speeds written in music when conducting. Some people argue, for example, that I take the Magnificat from Stanford's Evening Service in C too slowly. However, when hearing the result, my speed is agreed to work and it adds a solemnity to the piece that is often missing in other performances. What most people don't realise is that the service is the last set of Evening canticles Stanford wrote, and they show a maturity and simple elegance in the writing which is nigh on impossible to enjoy if the metronome markings are obeyed, as the piece almost dances along in a most undignified and inelegant manner.
Phil
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I've got a copy of the piano version sheet music and have practiced this all the past week. I have it down note and beat perfect for tonight's piano lesson.
Wow, you must have practised super fervently. The piece is so difficult to play perfectly that even the top flight pianists fight shy of performing it.
Phil
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I recommend John Cage's 4'33".......
Is that the choral or orchestral version? :-)
Phil
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Thanks for the comments about the headphones - I will have to investigate those.
As I may have said earlier in the thread (if I didn't, I'm surprised, I seem to be telling everyone!) I've been working in a school for the last 10 years as Network Manager and they got fed up with me pointing out their managerial ineptitude so paid me to go. We've now gone our separate ways, but this means I don't, currently, have income, which means I will have to put off buying luxuries like wireless headphones and further upgrades to the Hi-Fi until I get an income again. In the meantime, however, as well as job hunting, I'm also doing more modelling, and this gives me plenty of time to listen to music as well, so don't be surprised if I start putting up more posts of hidden gems.
Last night I spent the evening detailing the front of my Lima Class 20, ready for the St Neots show this coming weekend (if you're there, come and say hello, I'll be with Blackwells Brewery Comapny, the layout of the Mid Essex MRC), and listened to my CD of the Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy yet again. However, this time I wasn't interrupted by the DG so heard the rest of the disc, which includes the piano concerto and Prometheus (Poem of fire). I just wish he'd written some choral music, I bet it would have been great to sing.
While looking for links to YouTube clips of the piano concerto and Prometheus, YouTube suggested I might be interested in Symphony No 5 by August Klughardt. I've never heard of this composer, so looked at the piece. The notes on the recording make him sound an interesting composer and I started listening to the piece - it sounds good, but I'm not going to be able to get to the modelling bench today so I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to listen to it all, but in the meantime, if you're interested, I've put the link in. I noticed that this is yet another piece on the YouTube channel Unsungmasterworks so I've had a look at the channel, what a wealth of hidden gems. I'm going to have a lot of pleasurable time listening to unknown music while modelling. Going back to work will be a wrench - I wonder if I can find a rich benefactor who decides I don't need to work again so I can just do modelling and listening. Better start doing the lottery, then!
Phil
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Walton on the hill 27E Liverpool, EM gauge.
in Layout topics
Posted
Just taken delivery of a package from Andy Reichert of Proto87. Inside are two samples of stretcher bars (he calls them throw bars), one with plastic tie bar material and one with copper clad, both have etched tie bar details and I suggest would be worth looking at.
In addition, I've also received one of Andy's point motors "The Mole" and will be taking it to the club tomorrow evening. I would suggest these are also worth a look as an alternative to a Tortoise. I'm not totally certain what the exchange rates are but according to Google, $12.95 equates to £8.75 which, even plus shipping, is a lot less than a tortoise.
Phil