London Viola Player, Violinist & Arranger For Hire

Martin Ash LTCL

Monthly Archives: April 2021

They’re leaving home

It’s become clear that Flux Ensemble have outgrown the page on this site that was their initial online home. I’m delighted to say the group have now moved out to a much more spacious and stylish location of their own:

https://www.fluxensemble.com/

Incidentally, I wish it was this easy for me to move out to an offline place of my own …

On there, you can find our services, sample repertoire, video and audio demos, some photos (more are coming soon) and contact details. So why not take a look at what we could do for you / your event / recording / project? Or just send us some feedback on the design and construction of the website!

Hoping to be playing live for you in a matter of months now …

When is a music video not a music video?

I’ve always found the mimed music video a profoundly weird form. (I think basically I’m that rare person someone whose sensory preference is for hearing over sight, and therefore watching a song, especially watching a song not actually being played, doesn’t have much appeal to me.) And while I acknowledge there are angles (including by multiple takes) and visual performativeness you can get miming that you can’t achieve while recording release-quality audio, and indeed studio audio is very rarely done all parts at the same time or in a single end-to-end take, some of the miming footage created for music videos is a lot weirder than is inevitable.

So it’s profoundly satisfying to me that for Flux Ensemble‘s first release we’ve been able (with the help of producer / engineer / impresario Alan D Boyd) to cater to the demand for glossily presented video versions of music while basing the whole thing on the actual studio takes used in the recording:

So there’s a very real sense in which this is both a music video and a performance video (and while music videos may be important to recording artists, I know only too well that bookers, especially event / function ones, want to see performance footage!).

As I said at the beginning though, I’m not that interested in watching a song. So while we would all love you to check out the video and subscribe to our channel (we’re just 84 subscribers away from being able to change the address to something memorable!), I’d personally even more like you to head over to https://fluxensemble.bandcamp.com/releases where you can buy the track and its companion cover ‘Break My Heart’ (video coming soon – another reason to subscribe on YouTube!) or stream them. Because the music is what it’s really all about.

Kindred Spirit Calling

I’ve long been a fan of ceilidhs. They’re almost the only form of public dancing I’ll engage in these days (unless being paid to play in a rock band, and I’m not sure that really counts as dancing). I’d also suggest that if you have a big event with a lot of people who only know a few of each other and you want them to relax, mingle, have fun and perhaps even get to know some people they didn’t know beforehand, a ceilidh is one of the best options – with the greatest of respect, better than a DJ or a covers band. Embarrassment is limited when you’re all doing the same steps, and not knowing what to do is limited (even though experience does help somewhat) by having someone tell you what to do and walk you through it before really kicking off. What sort of gathering might fit that description? A wedding reception, perhaps? Maybe even the more informal kind of corporate event? Of course called dancing is pretty much impossible to make Covid-secure, with all that exercise leading to breathing heavily and all that touching strangers (especially in the dances where you spend your time changing partners!) but we live in hopes that will only be a serious issue for the next couple of months or so. There’s less I can say about it’s unsuitability for stilettos. Put a warning on the invitation. Or follow the example of one wedding reception and put a huge washing-basket of cheap plastic flip-flops in front of the stage.

Elaine and I are no strangers to playing for ceilidhs, either as individual musicians or as Kindred Spirit Duo. But, much to my personal satisfaction, this seems to be a growth market as the country unlocks and event planning builds up again – certainly one we’re seeing more enquiries about lately.

So it makes a lot of sense for us to join forces on an ongoing basis with an experienced pro caller (well in fact we have two, a reserve is always a good plan) to offer package deals. A completely self-contained (own PA and lights, we just need space and electricity) three-person act comes at a competitive budget, but we can cover all the bases musically (especially if I start using the stompbox and foot tambourine again … ) and play / sing appropriate ‘performance’ material between dances as a trio to let your guests have a sit down and a drink.

Enquiries welcome for any future events and to establish more details – you can find us on our own main page, Elaine’s website, or our Last Minute Musicians listing. You can even watch some excerpts of ceilidh-suitable music in this showreel. Look forward to playing you through some gallops, promenades and right-hand stars this summer!

How [do] You Like That?

Back in late March, Flux Ensemble gathered for the first time this year. Even that far back, performances to in-person audiences may have been absolutely off the menu but professional recording work was (and is) fine.

We were collaborating with producer / sound engineer Alan Boyd at his Kentish Town studio on our first release as a group: a double A-side of string quartet covers of K-pop band Blackpink’s ‘How You Like That’ (arranged mostly by Alan) and Dua Lipa’s ‘Break My Heart’ (arranged mostly by me).

I’m delighted to say that, after a lot of production work by Alan (and special shoutout to design work by our violinist Alleya Weibel), that release is now out in the world, available for you to stream free or buy from our Bandcamp page. Why not go and check it out now? And watch this space, or Flux Instagram and Facebook, for music videos and more news!