mistrustmusic's posterous

Pitch Black Rude Mechanicals mistrust remix

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I'm now officially a "Remixer for Hire"! The official remix I did for New Zealand band Pitch Black is back from the mastering house and going to be released on all the major download sites at the end of October. I've done a couple of remixes before, just for fun, but never an official one with all the stuff that goes with that sort of thing (royalties, writing credit, legal stuff etc.). Doesn't seem like much compared to what a lot of bands and musicians have been upto,  but I'm 40-something and doing it as a hobby when my kids are in bed and it's my first "official" release, so I'm chuffed to bits! The track is now up on my Myspace music player, but if you like it, please buy the hi-res version when it comes out on iTunes, Beatport, etc. Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) on Myspace here... Pitch Black on Myspace here.... For the techies out there, here's the blurb about the gear I used: Acid Pro 6, Izotope iDrum, TAL-Dub 2, and LiveCut VST plugins, on Windows XP laptop, Behringer USB soundcard, using some of individual Wavs (24 tracks) from original version of Rude Mechanicals (supplied by the label). Mixed down using cheap headphones from Tesco!

Filed under  //   big chill   mp3   music   pitch black   remix   rude mechanicals  

Writing from my iPod Touch

I'm finally blogging on my iPod Touch. When I say MY IPod Touch, I mean it's sort of on permanent loan from work. I've had a bit of time to play with it and see what it can do now I've finished the Pitch Black remix. So far, I'm fairly impressed with a couple of things, but overall it looks like Apple are tying people's hands when they should be making things easy to access. Pros: the Apps - some great little progs, especially iDrum and MooCow Band. There's also stuff like this Wordpress app I'm using now and the mobile twitted one. Very handy. It's also good for auditioning different mixes of my own tracks, as a good mp3 player should. Cons: a couple of things- iTunes and Flash. iTunes, because you pretty much have to do everything through it, and officially can't use anything else to manage your files on the player. Flash - because the Safari browser doesn't play Flash movies, which covers a lot of web content. All in all, it's ok, but if I was spending the cash myself, I'd look around a bit more before deciding what to buy. There's an interesting discussion about the iPod Touch at createdigitalmusic.com, so hop on over and have a look.

Filed under  //   Apple   ipod   music   touch  

Jog the web and e-learning for bands

[caption id="attachment_144" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="mistrust jogtheweb"]

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[/caption] I was at an e-learning workshop yesterday as part of my day job (e-learning developer). I wasn't originally supposed to be going, but my boss couldn't make it and asked me instead. The workshop was about using new and emerging  technologies for work-based learning.  Whilst looking at all the weird and wonderful gadgets and websites that were meant to be making life easier and more efficient for assessing and gathering evidence from work-based learners, I realised that a lot of this stuff could benefit a solo artist like me or a band trying to spread the word about themselves and get their music out there..... There are quite a few bits and pieces that I could mention - I'll do a list and review another time - but the one that could help someone like me who has profiles, songs, and videos on loads of different sites, is Jog the Web. It's basically a track of whichever websites you want to feature - all viewable inside a player. Your viewers can follow the trail from 1 to - wherever, or click whichever page they want. You can make a slideshow too. This could be great for a musician who wants to point people to their music sites, without having to rely on visitors deciding on with link to click. Have a look at my "Jog the web" track for some "mistrust music" sites.....

Filed under  //   music  

A "proper" release at last

It's taken me long enough (how long have I been making music?), but I'm finally getting an "official" release - as in, on a proper label, legit, and I'll getting a % of sales, licensing, etc. I've done a remix of a track called "Rude Mechanicals" by a New Zealand band called Pitch Black (dub/electronica/IDM stuff), which is being released on their label at the end of October on all the main music download sites round the world (iTunes, Beatport, Amazon.com, etc.) It's part of a remix singles release along with versions by some well-know remixers and DJs from Australia and NZ. I know people do remixes all the time, but this is an official one - I got all the parts from the band's management, they and the band approved it, and it's being properly mastered this week. Took me a long time to get it sorted into something that sounded ok and did loads of different takes on it, but finally finished it last week, 2 days before the deadline! I know it's not quite all my own work, but I'm chuffed to bits. Not really bothered about the money (what's 50% of 99p per sale?), but it means a lot of exposure and maybe some more work as a remixer! I've mentioned the Pitch Black remix earlier in my blog.....

Filed under  //   mp3   music   news   pitch black   remix   remixer   unsigned  

9-11 7th Anniversary

As you all (well, maybe all) know, today's the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 September 2001 air attacks in the USA. I wrote 2 tracks a couple of years ago, using speeches made by George W Bush and Billy Graham just after the event. I'd always wanted to put music over the spoken word and decided to have a go, using something related to a tragic event. I didn't want to chop up the words and come up with some new meaning like they do on "Remix America". Just the original words and meaning, along with some suitable music. Well, the tracks are up on my myspace music player now - they're a bit rough and ready, not mastered properly and probably needs some tweaking, but have a listen and see what you think.... mistrust: 9/11 Farewell mistrust: Billy G says hello

Filed under  //   music  

Talacre Sands and other tales

[caption id="attachment_133" align="alignleft" width="246" caption="Talacre Beach at Sunset by Tim Blackburn"]

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[/caption] Should have posted this a few weeks ago, but seem to have had very little time these days. Anyway, the "mistrust" clan went away on holiday (vacation) at the end of July for some much needed rest and recuperation. Nowhere really special - just a Haven Holidays caravan park near Prestatyn, in North Wales. The best thing about it was the scenery, including the wonderful Talacre Sands and rabbit warren. Very inspirational for some ideas for new tunes (yes, I DO actually make music!), very calming. The kids loved it apart from the first night when no-one could settle (well, Paul couldn't settle and disturbed the rest of us. We managed to get some great footage on video and some great still photos of the surrounding area. I'll put them up on Youtube and Flickr when I get time. I took one of those small handheld video cameras that uses a memory card - an Aiptek. I was a bit doubtful about what the quality would be like, but in the end I got some great results. Have a look at the header image of my blog site (the one you're on now!) to see what I mean. That was taken on the 3MP setting at sunset on Talacre Beach. I actually submitted the full size version of that photo to BBC North Wales' "Your Pictures" feature a few weeks ago, and it's been added to the "Sunrise/Sunset" section. You can see the picture in full-size on the BBC North Wales site here. In contrast, I nearly ended up in hospital at the end of the holiday.....but that's another story that will appear in a couple of days' time.....

Filed under  //   blogging   family   holiday   mistrust   music   photographs   photography   sunrise   sunset   talacre   vacation   wales  

Guitar Hero and the great untalented

I've so far managed to avoid all the fuss surrounding Activision's Guitar Hero video game that's taking the world by storm. I'm not really a fan of video games and consoles such as Playstation 3 and XBox, and never have been, and I'd much rather use a computer for either searching on the web or making music. Could never see the excitement or the fun of things like computer games, and even when I had a Spectrum ZX81 when I was a teenager, I tried to learn how to PEEK and POKE it, rather than play games on it. Even had a Commodorer 64 and an Amiga, and used them for making music. However, I've suddenly seen the light and think that Guitar Hero 3 is just great. Paul (my stepson) got the demo on a PS3 magazine disc the other day and immediately took to it. Even though he had to use his Sixaxis controller, he loved it. The next morning, he wanted the real mccoy. Paul being Paul, with his impulsive nature (he's got Autism) desperately wanted the full version, complete with the guitar. Fast Forward to 9.30pm and a trip to the Trafford Centre,  we found what he was looking for, and traded in a few of his other games to get it. We got home, and Paul thought it was great. I spent ages afterwards just watching him getting hooked and thinking I could do that. I had my first go of it last night, and just wanted to stay on it. It's a great thing for someone like me who tried to learn the guitar (a real one, with strings) years ago but never had the co-ordination or the ability to play a proper tune.  Now I can play the lead on Anarchy in the UK or Walk this Way without looking a fool if I get it wrong. Paul's been trying to learn the guitar himself, but hasn't got much idea of a what makes a good tune. Paul, being Paul tends to give up because of stuff like that. Now he has Guitar Hero, he can learn more about how a song is made and maybe get back to playing the real thing. I used to think the same as John Mayer - via Rolling Stone magazine - that things like Guitar Hero are  "making it easy for untalented people to pretend they are good at playing the instrument". just another excuse for people to sit at home and think they were become proper musicians. After seeing how Paul has taken an interest in it, I really think it's a good thing. My only wish now is that someone will come up with something like "Synth Hero" for eighties throwbacks like me!

Filed under  //   activision   guitar hero   mistrust   music   paul harrison   playstation 3   ps3   rolling stone   special needs   synth   tune   videogame   web2.0   xbox   zx81  

Stop: Windows misery strikes again

[caption id="attachment_110" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Tree Swirl, by Paul Harrison, aged 15"]

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[/caption] Windows never ceases to amaze me. It's like the be-all and end-all to the world of computing. It's like gateway to a parallel universe, that will only let you in if you meet a million and one criteria, all encrypted in hexadecimal code. BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), followed by STOP: 0x0000007B. What's that supposed to mean, then? Run Chdsk /F or something - that'll get you a ticket to ride the rollercoaster again. I feel like the world's a blur when this happens...... As you've probably worked out by now, my laptop with all my Acid Pro files, VST plugins, and all my work projects, died on me. Or rather, Windows XP Pro died on me. It's a 2 year-old HP/Compaq NC6400, which has been running very slowly for about 5 or 6 weeks but has been more reliable than my old desktop. Should have backed everything up, but there's probably 20 gigs' worth of files on there, but you wonder about viruses and spyware being passed on. Took ages to load up last week, then on Friday evening: STOP: 0x0000007B. Couldn't run Chkdsk because I couldn't get into Windows, so that's not much use. So much for Windows. Lots of trawling on the internet later, a Linux Rescue disk came to my aid - System Rescue, with TestDisk on it. It told me that all the contents of the drive where safe, and not corrupted. Runs from RAM, not the HD. Thank heavens for that! How to get to them without a good knowledge of Linux. Ahaaa! Bypass Windows! Find a sneaky way past the guard dogs at the eternal gateway! Took the drive out of the laptop, plugged into a USB drive adapter connected to another PC, and hey presto! There were all my files, looking the same as ever and (hopefully) not corrupted. This little incident, along with many other run-ins I (and so many people I know) have had with Windows, makes me realise that I should either by a Mac and get some decent recording software, or install Linux on a laptop and make music the open-source way. Either way, I'm getting very tired of having to second-guess the system and waiting around for an error message to appear. I very nearly lost all of the Pitch Black remix stuff I've working on for months, just when I'm clear about finishing off. If you're a Mac or Linux user, please don't laugh at me. I've seen the light and I'll be converted soon.... Don't forget to bookmark this post, in case you ever get this problem!

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Filed under  //   0x0000007B   Apple   BSOD   Blue Screen of Death   Mac   STOP error   Windows   audio   blog   blogging   music   pitch black   technology   thoughts  

Audio Podcasting for the idle blogger

Apart from actually reading out the various posts on here and recording what I'm saying, the only other way I can make an audio podcast of my blog ramblings is to use one of the many "audio feed" tools that are out on the web. There are quite a lot of these things suddenly appearing all over web, and if you're not familiar with them, they take the RSS feed from your blog and play it back using an articifial voice. I've used Talkr on my blog before and it had a nice synthetic feminine lilt to its voice. However, I can't seem to get on to their site anymore and fear that my audio feeds are no more.  So, what else can I use, seeing as though it's impossible to get any peace and quiet at home to record a podcast myself? Well, according to various blog posts, reviews, and promo sites there are several, so I thought I'd test what some of them sound like, and what other things they offer (eg the ability to add your audio blog to iTunes. Let's have a look at a few and compare what they sound like. First up.... odiogo Offers a whole "audio" and sharing page, including a link to subscribe in iTunes (which I've added to my "subscribe" links on here), plus a direct mp3 stream for each post. It also creates an M3u playlist. Here's an example or two - see what you think: A is for Amazon (on odiogo) Stream all articles Audiofeed This is the "free" version of Readspeaker, which seems to be making a big impression with allsorts of companies and organisations. It offers a HTML link to your own "audiofeed" page where there are a few sharing options, in addition to a player and direct to mp3 download for each 'cast. There's a really useful link to a mobile version of your page. More soon.... By the way, I'm trying out this new social networking toolbar called "GetSocial", to make it easier for people to bookmark these posts. So go on then, give me a whirl!!!

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Filed under  //   add me   audio   blogging   getsocial   mistrust   music   odeo   podcast   podcasting  
Posted July 14, 2008

A is for Amazon

Not exactly music-related, but some news anyway. I've recently had an article published in a popular e-learning magazine in the USA. I wrote about how young kids are growing up learning the language of the World Wide Web and how we should encourage them to become proficient in using the internet at an early age. The article was reproduced from my own e-learning blog that someone from the magazine found a while ago, and asked if they could publish it. I'm quite chuffed, as you can imagine, and it just adds to the the list of other articles/letters I've had published in the last year or two (eg in Future Music magazine). You can read the whole thing (and the rest of the magazine) online in a virtual magazine reader here at E-Learning Magazine's website (go to page 50 of the NextBook edition.) or see it in its original form on my e-learning blog. Also.... I'm seriously considering moving all my other blogs into one place (here!) as it's easier for me to keep tabs on what I'm writing and who's reading them.

Filed under  //   b2bmediaco   blog   blogging   children   e-learning   family   kids   mistrust   music   web2.0  
Posted June 17, 2008