mistrustmusic's posterous

Everything's gone (Pitch) Black

I've been working on the Pitch Black remix for the last week and a half, but I'm getting quite bogged down with it. The problem is that I've been too reliant on sample CDs to find something that fits the existing tune ("Rude Mechanicals") and not really restricting myself to only a few sounds. I use Acid Pro pretty much all the time for getting ideas down quickly, but it's too easy to become lost in all the options that it gives you. My attempt at this remix is a bit "directionless" at the moment, and I'm probably doing the wrong thing by listening to remixes of other Pitch Black tracks in order to get some direction. A friend of mine - DJ and musician, The Only Michael - who did a Pitch Black remix a couple of years ago, advised me not to listen to other remixes, and to just do what inspires me from the original track.

Filed under  //   artists   band   dj   download   music   pitch black   remix  

I'm in Music Tech Magazine

Just to let you know I'm finally in Music Tech Magazine for winning the Motif XS6 synthesizer! The article is in February's edition - but in case you don't want to buy it, the editor sent me a copy of the page, and I've attached it here as pdf (the whole page) and a jpeg (click to see the whole pic).

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Other news... the manager of a band from New Zealand called "Pitch Black" has said I can have a go at doing a remix of a track from their new CD, "Rude Mechanicals". If it's good enough, it'll appear on the band's remix CD and as a download on music sites like iTunes and Beatport. More on that soon when I decide which track I want to have a go at.... Non-music stuff: we took Paul to see a residential school in Shrewsbury today. Absolutely amazing place. Part of a 16th century hall and estate. Class sizes are usually 2 students and one teacher - it's for kids with autism. He sounds relatively keen on it, but we'll have a job on convincing the education authority to pay for him. It's around £30,000 per year! Page from MTM magazine reproduced by kind permission of Music Tech Magazine/Anthem Publishing/Yamaha UK (c)

Filed under  //   band   blogging   creative   family   label   mistrust   mp3   music   pitch black   rude mechanicals   xs6   yamaha  

I've won a Yamaha Motif XS6 workstation!

And it's absolutely amazing!!!! I won it in a promo that Music Tech magazine were running on their new Studionet forum. I went down to Yamaha's R&D offices in West London yesterday and got the official Yamaha training from one of their product specialists. I spent most of yesterday afternoon grinning like an idiot after hearing the sounds the Motif can make and just how incredible the whole thing is. I think I can seriously say goodbye to making music on Acid Pro from now on! It seems to be able to do everything - it's got 355MB of ROM for the internal sounds, 6000 arpeggios, song and pattern-based recording, backup over Ethernet, full integration with Cubase 4. I can predict some long nights over Christmas getting to grips with this thing!!!!

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This is my first post in two months - more about what's been happening later this month. Needless to say, it hasn't been very pleasant.... At least I'll have a nice Christmas present!

Filed under  //   band   dj   motif   xs6   yamaha  

Now form a band

Just came across an interesting site which gives a really good breakdown on the things you need to do these days to get your music "out there". It's been set up by Last FM, the music networking site, who are calling the site "Now form a band", and has a manifesto of "The Campaign for Better Music". Aren't we all looking for better music? Well, hopefully this will explain.... The Campaign for Better Music is here to say: it doesn’t have to be like the old days. We’re going to show you how to produce, promote and distribute your music, without spending a load of money, and without lots of other people getting involved. Have look for more information over at Now form a Band.... 

Filed under  //   artists   bands   blogging   group   label   lastfm   mistrust   mp3   unsigned  

Winner of Star Letter, Music Tech Magazine October 2007

I've tried to write about music-related things recently (when I've actually had time to get on the computer!), as that's what my main interest is. I struggle as a bedroom (or rather, lounge - as in where the tv, sofa, children, wife, etc. live) musician, hoping that my tunes will make it onto some tv or movie blockbuster, so I can invest in some better recording equipment. That may not happen for a while or a long time, so the only way I can seriously get some decent gear is to either steal it (no way), borrow it (who from?), or win it. Which brings me nicely onto the fact that I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago on the new Music Tech Magazine Ning community, saying what a great place the site is. Then a few days ago, I got an email from the site admin people, saying they'd used my blog post in the latest edition of the magazine and I'd won the prize for "Star Letter." Talk about chuffed. My ramblings published in a major music tech magazine, and winner of Letter of the Month. The prize? A "Rode" studio microphone, complete with all the trimmings. Not bad, eh. If you're into music production, music technology, or anything like that, get yourself over to Music Tech Ning and join in....

Filed under  //   blogging   letter   magazine   mistrust   music   ning   tech   technology  

More satisfaction recording with hardware?

Is there more satisfaction and enjoyment to be had from recording with hardware and outboard equipment, rather than the latest plugins and softsynths? Are professional musicians and engineers drifting away from all things soft and going back in time? I've noticed that a lot of magazine tutorials, youtube videos, and general features on recording (bands, engineers etc) lean more towards recording with hardware rather than soft synths, outboard effects rather than plugins. The people in question spend ages patching things together and twiddling knobs to get the required sound. I've read many times in various music/music tech mags and forums that you can't write a tune on a computer. I've always this was rubbish, especially as there are so many great compositional tools out there. I'm beginning to think it's true because there's just so much that gets in the way when you're on a computer - which softsynth to use, record midi or audio, the list goes on....I'm sure I had more fun and was more creative when I had my Jen SX1000, cheap drum machine, and recorded everything on to tape. BSOD anyone?

Filed under  //   artists   blogging   hardware   music   recording  

A career in music?

I've always wanted a job in music, maybe as a pop star or producer (only kidding), but resigned myself a long time ago to the fact that it would never happen. I've been working in education for the last 12 years, and recently started doing a lot of e-learning stuff, which involves audio and video production, so thought it's probably the nearest I'd ever get to put my music tech skills and general musical knowledge to some use. However, that may change in the near future, and I may actually get my career in music after all. I've had an interview at a university where they want someone to become the e-learning subject specialist in their music library, which covers both general music stuff and music technology. They have quite a lot of professional music people teaching there, both composers and producers, so it would be an ideal chance to learn more about that side of things, and hopefully improve my own music and production skills. Of course, a lot of you on here probably already have the ideal music career, but I'm interested in technology, music, and how the two work to not only make music but promote it too. Sounds ideal to me! The only problem now is I have to wait to see if I've got the job......

Filed under  //   career   job   library   music library   music publishing   production  

Ning not Facebook or Myspace

I've just signed up to a new "social network" for music technology and production people, run by Music Tech magazine in the UK. Called MTM Studio Net,  it says that it's

the place for producers, engineers and recording musicians to showcase their music and share production ideas.

So far, about 70 people have signed up in only a few days, probably people who read the magazine, but it looks like a worthwhile place to get some new ideas about making music and for people to hear my tracks. It's probably the sort of place to be if you don't want the hassle of Facebook or Myspace, and is part of the broader Ning umbrella where people can set up their own personal "social network". If you want to join MTM's Ning, head over to: http://musictechmag.ning.com/ Anyone else come across any other "social networks" for music technology or production that I can add to my blogroll?

Filed under  //   artists   network   ning   production   social networking  

Youtube and other video sites driving web traffic

I'd guess that a lot of people have a video or two on Youtube, Google Video, and some of the many other video hosting sites. Out of those people, how many of them use the videos to drive web traffic to their own, or someone else's website? I've got a couple of the O'Neill surfing clips on Youtube. These are two of the sections that are used in the "Deep Blue Open 2005" promo film, featuring three of my tracks.  Since I uploaded them, I've have quite a lot of hits, but it doesn't seem to be driving a lot of traffic to my this blog or the mistrust music website. The videos are amongst quite a lot of other surfing videos so you'd think that people who watch those would follow the links to my music. Maybe not. There doesn't seem to be a lot written on the web about how to improve your traffic using Youtube etc. Maybe someone could suggest something. Following on from the last post - "The Colour Purple" - I can now report that I was featured artist of the week on a show on Purple Radio, which is the official radio station of the Big Chill organistion. The DJ, Ketsbaia, played three tracks, "Dubcrazy", "Painless Light" and "Distant Shores". I got a few nice comments from the DJ, and some support on the Big Chill Forum. My tracks were played alongside a lot of "A-list" bands, and seemed to hold up ok. He ran out of time to play a fourth track "Never Alone", but said that he liked it that much that he'd play it in a couple of weeks. As for other things... The "mistrust clan" went to Borth near Aberystwyth for a week in a caravan at the end of July. It's an old fishing village, which is very quiet and suited Paul (my stepson, who has PDD-NOS, and a massive social phobia, amongst other things). It started off as a complete disaster - pouring rain, burst car tyre, everyone worn out - but in the end we didn't want to come home. Lots of nice scenery and fresh air to inspire me to write some new tunes. I'll put some of the photos on Flickr soon. I'm in the middle of applying for a new job, and contemplating a move from the Manchester area to Yorkshire. Things are happening at work which mean I could be out of a job or at least being downgraded in the next two years, so the time is write to put my skills to better use. Besides that, the holiday proved how much Paul, and the other children, need to be nearer the countryside and aware from where we're currently living. If anyone reading this lives in the more scenic areas of West Yorkshire, please can you leave a comment saying if it's a nice place to live?

Filed under  //   ABer   Aberystwyth   Borth   artists   autism   autism and music   big chill   download   exposure   family   google   ketsbaia   mistrust   purple radio   youtube  

The colour Purple

No post for a few weeks, mainly due to family commitments, work commitments, and stuff like that. However, I'm excited right now. I'm finally going to get some tunes played on an upcoming internet radio show. More details to follow after 10pm (UK time). In the meantime, you can get hold of all my music for free. See the previous post for details....

Filed under  //   UK   big chill   blog   blogging   buzz   film music   forum   free   free download   free mp3   google   ipod   ketsbaia   label   lastfm   music library   myspace   purple radio   wordpress   youtube  
Posted July 19, 2007