Andrew S. Dalby

Category: Dark Horse Musings

  • Out of this World

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    It has been a funny old week in the office with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and I seem to have arrived at Friday again sooner than expected! Outside of the demands publishing and writing place on me, I also teach, but the summer holiday is looming and a…

  • What a Week!

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    This week has caught me out, what with stuff going on outside the office and of course the General Election. I didn’t stay up all night, but I did get up at 3am in time to hear back to back declarations for Islington and Clacton! What with all that excitement and a lean week in…

  • My Creative Process

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    I have had a piece outlined for a while and have been doing research to help structure the work in order to have a framework within which to begin composing. A blank piece of manuscript and a pencil is rarely sufficient for successful composition, there needs to be some sort of design brief. I find…

  • Cooking Up Some Ideas

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    It has been a quiet week in the Dark Horse office as other commitments have kept me away from the business of composing, but that is not to say I have not been sketching out some ideas. Composing can be like cooking spaghetti, you have to throw a lot at the wall before any sticks,…

  • What Took Me So Long?

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    I have lived and worked in North Yorkshire for pretty much all of my life and over the years, like most wind and brass musicians, have often bought music from June Emerson (Specialist Sheet Music Online | June Emerson Wind Music), but I have never, until Wednesday of this week, actually visited their premises. What…

  • Then Four Arrived at Once!

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    What a week it has been here in the Dark Horse office. I am really pleased that 4 pieces for Brass Band have been added to the catalogue (see the publications page) and are now available alongside my Concertino for Trumpet and Thirteen Studies for Brass. I have also had a very satisfying week completing…

  • A New Beginner’s Brass Course

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    Well, we had a great time in Scotland on holiday, but inclement weather persuaded us to come home a couple of days earlier than planned. This is not as bad as it sounds because it allowed me time to finish proofreading my up and coming Brass Tutor book Core Skills Brass. This has been a…

  • Gathering Momentum

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    Over the last few weeks I have been busy gathering together a number of mainly older pieces to populate this website with “stock”, and so far this has been progressing steadily, if not as fast as I would have liked. I must confess to being impatient and this process is a valuable life lesson in…

  • Tempus Fugit?

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    When it comes to publishing music the old Latin saying tempus fugit seems a little bit wrong, time drags and it seems to take forever to arrive at a final draft. The music is truly complete, but all the dressing up and presentation that accompanies it is what takes the time. Still, I am not…

  • At the Bus Stop

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    DarkHo_Admin
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    It has been a productive week here in the Dark Horse office which has seen me almost complete a major project, more news of this will follow shortly, which has been a long time in the making. I have also been busy with a couple of smaller finished works preparing those for publication, and rather…