Twoisnoe

We've heard the chant of your name even wayyy over here in New Zealand. :) Just a small question. Favourite astronomy point in the night sky?

(A bit late off the mark here, but if you're still around..!) - Any memorable/favourite recording location? Studio musicians fascinate me, because I keep assuming they get exposed to so many different types of music and have to be quite flexible!

Ohhh I wish I'd caught this sooner! I know it's not about NCIS or your mystery novel (which I shall check out!!) - but I am a fan of yours going right back to Sapphire and Steel. Do you ever think that series should be revisited?

(And even if it's unlikely that you get to see this question now that the AMA's over, I just want to say thanks :D )

That is a fantastic anecdote! :D

It seems that music must be like a 'beautiful language' to you, and like BSL, not all languages need to be audible to have beauty!

When you are composing something in the mind, do you imagine it in a sensory form, or do you visualise a 'notation' of sorts in your head as you go, like reading?

Also, do you think there is any 'hereditary' nature to musical thinking, within your family, beyond simply growing up in a musical household? Are either of your siblings musically inclined in any way, or is it just you?

I ask this because I come from a family where one side definitely had musical tendencies - including that trait of 'playing by ear' - which I inherited (neither of my siblings did). As a hearing person, I could not discipline myself to ignore this instinctual auditory recall, (even with several years of lessons) and am still terrible at sight reading as a result. The act of trying to play without being allowed to hear, would (in hindsight) have been the only way I could have learned how to read successfully, I think!

I wonder if you had some other instinctual equivalent, musically, that presented itself in 'playing by touch', or did the reading aspect come before you set hand to a piano? (Or was it a bit of both?)

The potential of playing by sight (without sound), or playing by touch, is wonderful - to consider the different sensory aspects that surround music beyond the auditory. My apologies for so many questions, but I get nerdily fascinated by how the mind works, especially when it comes to processing music! Thank you for doing this AmA.

P.S. - I saw on another response that you had tried the violin but not so successfully! Please, if you have the opportunity, try a Nyckelharpa. (a.k.a. "Swedish keyed fiddle".) It has remarkable resonance - and is pitched by a series of keys along the neck!