So, I was sitting outside a raft house on a Thailand lake. Peaceful, tranquil and hot. well, apart from the loud buzz and whine of the local cicada population interrupting my thoughts.

What’s my first thought upon resigning to the sound? Oh of course... I immediately wonder whether the sound is based on some pattern or whether its some kind of random white noise.

Now this is typical of me. Since my teens I've been obsessed with organised sound, or music. This is not unusual as music appears to be a fundamental of human life. For me, it sits comfortably alongside food and water. So accustomed am I to musical analysis, I can't go 5 minutes without thinking about music. It might be a desire to hear something new, or a need to pick up my flute and play something. But often it's a desire to analyse whatever music or sound I hear in the local vicinity. Some might say this is a barrier to simply appreciating music as it comes, but for me its often the equivalent of doing Sudoku and usually enhances my appreciation.

This all started through some intense musical memorises as a young child. Seemingly haunting songs by Abba, The Police and Eddy Grant (I know... bizarre!) seemed to make an impact. I was completely taken by melancholic yet euphoric tunes and chord sequences. I now understand what it was about these songs I liked  and so now recognise these same building blocks in other music.

This was the beginning of a musical journey explored through the recorder, keyboard and flute, via JS Bach and the 90's club scene. I'm now a regular performer mainly of Classical music.

I have created a new website for my musical endeavours and thought Id try my hand at writing my musical thoughts down, in a Blog. I’m told I think and analyse everything far too much, so this is going to be a challenge but I also hope an interesting experience. Perhaps I can share some of the things I've learned about music over the years that others may find useful and interesting.

Back to today, I'm here on a raft house reflecting on all of this. Well, I was but things change quickly. I'm now writing this while being driven across Thailand... err...at speed... constantly interrupted by dodgy road manoeuvrings. Hopefully, I'll survive the end of this blog entry. 

Anyway, those cicadas; as I didn’t have my flute with me in Thailand (I wonder if I can bring it next time...?) I started to analyse the cicada sound. Well, I didn't discover much in the end. I think it's white noise more or less. I picked out lots of strange intervals and realised that although my brain wants to rationalise the noise, it actually sounds a bit like someone dropping their arm on an organ keyboard. What a painful racket now I come to think of it as I am now acutely aware of many random pitches bashing together. Ouch... maybe I shouldn’t have analysed it after all.