In 1983 I recorded a number of piano improvisations on compact cassette. I kept these recordings to myself not really knowing what, if anything, I could do with them. Listening to the atmospheric slow pieces from time to time I felt they had some special qualities I really liked, and had meaning, but still I didn't know what to do with them. Last year I transferred these analogue tapes to my computer. This made them much more accessible and got me thinking how they might be developed and shared. The slower, more meditative recordings might be taken up and developed by an experienced pianist, or enhanced with very subtle additions. Other, more experimental recordings, playing with the sonic qualities of the piano, seemed to lend themselves to far more open ended exploration. I started with a simple, almost clockwork like track, later called Dressage Blues, where I layered the tracks over four different sequences.
From this starting point I devised two musical experiments I call Whispers and Accumulations, using the piano and other, more recent recordings as source material.
This is how the projects proceed:

Whispers
Track 1 - My original recording
Track 2 - musician 2 responding to track 1
Track 3 - musician 3 responding to track 2
Track 4 - musician 4 responding to track 3

...and so on until a conclusion. None of the musicians will have heard the track they are to respond to prior to the moment of recording. There is no opportunity for rehearsal. Each track is recorded separately by different musicians on different occasions. The recordings will follow sequentially in the manner of Chinese Whispers. I may 'interfere' with some of the recordings. A juxtaposition of the first and last tracks will from the conclusion to the project - at some unknown point in the future.

Accumulations
As with Whispers I use my original recording as the starting point. Again each track is recorded separately by different musicians on different occasions. However, with Accumulations other instruments are added to preceding tracks, layering up the interactions, creating a direct connection between the players. Again there is no opportunity for rehearsal although they will have heard one incarnation beforehand while playing the Whispers element. I have the freedom to edit and alter each recording sequence. This process continues until I decide a conclusion has been reached.