The (craziest) Record Player (in the history of sound)

Building a record player is a tough challenge. Firstly it's not easy to get a turntable to be flat let alone to move smoothly at a regular and reliable speed. The sound that comes out of the pick-up (another challenge in itself) will be dependant on the speed of the record and it would be much louder with an old 78 rpm record which unfortunately we don't have. Then there is the problem of how to power it?

We could have a handle and power it ourselves, but then one has to make sure that the handle is turned very evenly and it's a bit boring to do for a long time! What follows are a few scattered memories of the last few days in our island paradise…

A Rough Night's Sleep
I woke up very early. My mind was full of images and feelings from the last few wonderful weeks. Paul (the producer) and the crew had been chatting about the challenges for the final programme in the series and a record player was mentioned! Now, with my mind jumping from one thought and image to another, a design for a record player started to come together in my mind's eye. It was about five o'clock in the morning and I tried to ignore these images to go back to sleep. The last few weeks had been fun but completely draining. I needed my sleep, not a brain full of designs.

It was no good though, I couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I got up and drew some of these ideas down in a notebook that I carry around with me everywhere. Everything goes in this book: positive, negative, good, bad, interesting and even naïve thoughts - it's a sort of extension to my thinking, memory and mind. After about an hour of sketching out one design after another, and from solving one problem to the next problem that comes along, I had somehow come up with what, I thought at the time, was a great idea.

I was so relieved that I had got this out of my system that I felt much more relaxed and found I could go back to sleep. I slept for an hour or so, then awoke itching to get on with it. However, today was a day-off designed for us to relax and get some rest. I decided to take-off on one of the lonely island walks that treks across the rather barren landscape to explore and take some photos.

Capraia has these rather amazing paths made up out of large square blocks of rock. They wind their way along and across the island and allow one to get to see the wonders of the island by foot - boat being the only other way. I took one of these paths across the island, up and over one of the high spots, and from here I could see Corsica and its amazing timeless looking mountain ranges.

I got back around lunchtime and joined up with Mike L, Mike B, Paul, Angie and David. Paul, the two Mikes and I spent a happy afternoon chatting and relaxing near to the coast in the gorgeous late summer Mediterranean sun. I think the others were off diving, swimming or exploring the island.

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