mistrustmusic's posterous http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com Most recent posts at mistrustmusic's posterous posterous.com Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:34:52 -0700 mistrust music has moved http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/mistrust-music-has-moved http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/mistrust-music-has-moved
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I've now moved my "mistrust music" blog to www.mistrustmusic.co.uk/blog so please go over there to read my blog posts. If you don't want to go there yet, why not read my previous posts on here first.... Go to the new mistrust music blog>>>>

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Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:51:27 -0800 Why Facebook and kids http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/why-facebook-and-kids http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/why-facebook-and-kids Well, I'm certainly getting a lot of hits on here about kids using Facebook. Why's that then? Dunno, really. Maybe a lot of kids go on it, and a lot of parents either want to monitor what they're doing on it or don't want them on it all. I like all this social networking thing. Don't get me wrong. Think it's great. Very useful, very now. Can't see the world going back to a Facebook-less era. However, why are parents still letting their kids as young as six or seven going on Facebook? Why? What reason? Have they forgotten how to talk? Fine - if your relatives are halfway round the world. What about Skype. What about setting up your own family social network on blog thing. Anyway. The debate still goes on and it rankles with me that I still see all my kids' friends on there. So what are the schools doing about it? Not a lot at the moment, but maybe it's finally getting through to the schools that something should be done about it. Take this for example.  Internet Safety for children.  Maybe things will start changing. So, why am I on Facebook if I'm not happy about young  kids being on it? Well, I've been in touch with a few people from school, and I'm using it to plug my music. That's it. That's all. If you're on Facebook and want to become a fan of my music, click here and "Become a Fan". I'm also on Twitter. The gratuitous plug. I did a remix for dub band International Observer a while ago. The track is called "Popcorn Slavery (mistrust remix)" and is out on the band's EP on Monday 22nd February. You can hear previews of it on my Soundcloud and Myspace pages, and it's available to download from Monday on all major music sites, and the band's own Bandcamp page. Spread the word. Here's the soundcloud player for it.... [soundcloud url=http://soundcloud.com/mistrust/international-observer-popcorn-slavery-mistrust-remix]

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Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:48:52 -0700 Up Peel Monument http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/up-peel-monument http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/up-peel-monument [caption id="attachment_302" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="View of Peel Monument"]
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[/caption] Hello, it's been a long time since I posted a new missive on this blog! All of you who subscribe via feed readers etc must be shocked to see me posting again. Well, what have I been doing over the last few months? It seems like not a lot! Actually, I've been trying to keep fairly fit and healthy, doing a lot of walking - mainly taking Paul up to Peel Monument (see the photo - it's near Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester). It's an old folly on top of a hill, 1100 feet above sea level, and a very steep climb. I've also been taking the dog for a walk, about 2.5 miles, three or four times a week in the evenings. It feels like I've lost some weight around my middle, so it's doing something! I've also been trying to get some new tunes written, but severely lacking some inspiration. I've got some ideas in my head, proper ideas, rather than just fiddling with loops from a cover disc. I've been using a vst host called Minihost, which loads a vst plugin and lets you use your computer keyboard to place the vst instrument. It's got a built in chord maker, arpeggiator, and sequencer, which is great for fiddling around with. My 5 y.o. also likes playing with it - saying he's playing Kraftwerk's Man Machine, and the Dr Who theme tune! Expect some new tunes soon...from him, not me! Only kidding.... The Rude Mechanicals remix I did for NZ band Pitch Black is still around on the web and on the band's remix CD, Rhythm, Sound and Movement. The remix is also going to be used to promote a big music and arts festival in New Zealand, called Splore. More news to follow soon. I'm also going to meet Paddy and Mike from Pitch Black at the end of October when they play their only UK gig in London. I'm also supposed to be getting the stems to remix a track by International Observer. Other stuff....been doing a lot of Moodle stuff at work - very busy these days. I've also made a website for Paul's dad and his painting and decorating business, D and S Decorators.  Oh, and I'm now on Facebook, and Twitter, so follow me on there if you're on there....

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Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:09:12 -0700 Young kids and Facebook #2 - Parents strike back http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/young-kids-and-facebook-2-parents-strike-back http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/young-kids-and-facebook-2-parents-strike-back More on from my recent post about Young kids and Facebook, where I read on my local school's newsletter that some of the 7-11 year olds were going on Facebook. I decided to take matters into my own hands and send an email to the headteacher, asking if they knew there was information readily available on the internet about the pros and cons of children using Facebooks and other social networking sites. I also suggested that they look at sites like Thinkyouknow and maybe list them in one of the newsletters. To my surprise, I got an email back the next day, thanking me for pointing out what I did, and then got a mention in the next newsletter, in a paragraph telling parents about the Thinkyouknow website. So, a big tick for Parent Power! It's probably the first time I've written to the school about anything - probably because it bothers me so much. We'll probably never know if any of the parents take notice of it, but it's a start. However, I'm now waiting for the backlash from parents saying "how dare you tell me how to bring up my child!" It actually makes you wonder why the Local Education Authority haven't issued guidelines to school about things like using Facebook etc. Surely they're the people who have more influence. I think I'm going to have to suggest going in and talking to the staff and kids about all this.... As you may know if you're following my ramblings regularly, I am a Twitterer as well as a Wordpress blogger. As such, I'm interested to read that Wordpress have finally got round to adding a Twitter widget to the list available to those of us with Wordpress.com accounts. I won't go into details about what the widget will do as there's more information about in Wordpress.com's blog post here - "Bring Twitter to Your Blog". However, I'm still not convinced about having all my eggs in one basket - in other words, will people prefer to follow my tweets in Twitter, and my blogs in Wordpress? And finally - for those people who don't know me, or are just interested in the ramblings about Facebook etc., you might like to know that I also make music in my spare time. In fact, I've been quite busy recently with the music-making. I''ve been making my own tunes for a few years, but a chance meeting with a DJ from the Big Chill organisation put me in touch with New Zealand band Pitch Black. I asked if I could do a remix for them, just because 1. I like their music, and 2. for a bit of experience of doing a remix. I sent it in, and they liked it so much they released it on their EP of the title track of their last album, and it's on their new remix CD out in May. Because of that, I was asked to do a remix for Big Chill band Animat for their next single - that's out early May too. Not bad eh? I'm on the lookout for some more remixes to do, but so far, so good! If you'd like to hear the remixes, please go to www.myspace.com/mistrust The tracks on Myspace are: Pitch Black - Rude Mechanicals (mistrust - ambiotik remix) Animat - Deep Space Lament (mistrust remix)

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Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:57:29 -0800 Three-legged cats http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/three-legged-cats http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/three-legged-cats It's been a funny (as in, "strange") few weeks. I've been on a trip "down south", ended up with a three-legged cat, and been to Silverstone Racing Circuit! To explain more......I took my 4 y.o. son to visit his grandparents at the end of October. They live about 30 miles north of London, so it was a long way to travel from up here (Bolton), so we went on the train. My 4 y.o. loved most of the trip down and we had a good time when we were there. His grandad took us up to Silverstone - the motor racing circuit - where he works part-time, and we saw the McLaren team trying out a couple of new drivers. I've seen and heard the Formula 1 cars on TV and thought they were loud, but when you hear one in real life, shooting round the track at 150 mph, it's just like a really loud, high-pitched scream. I'll put some photos and videos of the trip up as soon as I can. It was really strange being at Silverstone with all the grandstands empty and seeing just one or two cars going round the track. Now for the three-legged cat! Skye, our 1 year-old cat, was hit by a car outside our house the other week. We couldn't find her until the next day, and then took her to see the vet. It was obvious her front-right leg was broken, and her shoulder was dislocated. The vet kept her in overnight, and the next day said the cat would need an operation to either pin the bone or to amputate her leg. There'd be some potential problems if the bone was pinned, like she'd have a short-leg and the bone may not set properly, so we told them to go ahead and remove her leg. When she came back from the vet - the RSPCA Animal Hospital (the one featured on BBC TV, with Rolf Harris) - the kids were really upset to see a three-legged cat, and Paul just didn't want her around. It's taken the cat (and Paul) about 10 days to come round to her having only three legs, and she's somehow managing to hop around ok inside the house. So, we've now got a three-legged cat. The kids seem to be getting used to her being like that, especially as she looked like something from cruel experiment that had gone horribly wrong...

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Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:51:08 -0700 Talacre Sands and other tales http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/talacre-sands-and-other-tales http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/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.....

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Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:30:11 -0700 A is for Amazon http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/a-is-for-amazon http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/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.

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Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:26:40 -0700 Everything's gone mobile http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/everythings-gone-mobile http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/everythings-gone-mobile I've just launched a new add-on to my blog/website. It's a mobile website, built on something called Winksite. I came across this through my elearning daytime job when I was looking into podcasting. Winksite lets you make webpages that can be viewed on mobile phone, and it's something I've wanted to do for a while, but never got around to it. I've only added a few things to it at the moment, some things are copied directly from this blog, but I'd like to have some mobile-only content. At the moment, it's in it's infancy and I haven't tried it out on many phones, so I'm hoping that a few of you who read this blog and who have mobile phones will browse the mobile pages and let me know if there are any problems with it, or if it works ok. The address for the mobile site is: http://winksite.mobi/mistrust/music or just click the Winksite logo...
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Other news: I'm still plodding along with my remix of Pitch Black's Rude Mechanicals. Should have it finished soon, but it feels like it's missing a melody or pad line, so it's that which is holding me up - plus I only get about 10 or 15 minutes a night to do something with the remix because I've started taking Paul for a drive a lot earlier than usual. I got a message posted on my blog the other day from the editor of an e-learning magazine in the USA, asking if he could use one of my posts in the forthcoming edition of his mag. It's something I wrote a few months ago on my e-learning blog about getting young children used to the language of the Web as soon as possible. I said yes to them using the article, so it should appear in ELearning! Magazine in a few weeks, in a section entitled "The Last Word". More fame!

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Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:14:02 -0800 I'm in Music Tech Magazine http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/im-in-music-tech-magazine http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/im-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)

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Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:11:48 -0700 Youtube and other video sites driving web traffic http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/youtube-and-other-video-sites-driving-web-tra http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/youtube-and-other-video-sites-driving-web-tra 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?

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Wed, 23 May 2007 15:09:57 -0700 Everything's gone green again http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/everythings-gone-green-again http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/everythings-gone-green-again I'm something of a perfectionist when it comes to something looking right, and usually I get this nagging feeling in the back of my head telling me that something doesn't look as good as it should. That explains why I've changed the look of this blog about 5 times in the last few weeks. I've reused the old "green" header and adopted a more plain-looking body. Hopefully I'll be satisfied now and not want to change it again. I've been trying to work out what to write here because there's just been so much going on at home, work, and with the music. When I've got everything straight in my head, I'll post more info here. Other things: I've been helping Paul with some more tunes. He's finally got back into music-making, so he's been asking for some help. Expect more of his stuff on myspace soon.  Also,  I came across a great Wordpress blog called Svartling.  It's a comprehensive list of loads of new VST plugins and music-making software. Highly recommended!

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Wed, 16 May 2007 11:52:37 -0700 Life, the Universe, and my alter-ego http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/life-the-universe-and-my-alter-ego http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/life-the-universe-and-my-alter-ego In fact, I seem to have forgotten who I am. Or at least forgotten that I've got a musical alter-ego who likes making tunes and whose music some people like listening to. There's been so much going on at home and work that it's been impossible to even think about making music recently. Me and Mrs mistrust have been occupied with Paul almost every waking hour (and those times we should be asleep), so there's been no time to think of other things. As you may have read in his blog, Paul has PDD-NOS and has become more and more anxious and socially reclusive over the last few months. Helping him to make some tunes and sorting out the production for him was an excuse for me to get using the music software, but now he doesn't seem interested in creating some of his own tracks and getting some plays. Mrs m and I spend most of the evenings sorting out his needs and then desperately needing a rest when he goes to watch a dvd, or at least checking emails, forums etc.  Last evening I took him to the Trafford Centre (big shopping mall) almost straight after work and got home at 9.30pm, all because we'd promised him a reward for going to the child psychology day unit and seeing the registrar. The result was Gran Turismo 4 for PS2. Come on Paul, get making music again and writing your blog.

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Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:10:52 -0700 My stepson has PDD-NOS http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/my-stepson-has-pdd-nos http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/my-stepson-has-pdd-nos I realised that I haven't posted anything on here, so that means no readers. Probably. Or too many blogs to maintain: music, e-learning, and personal (this one). Maybe I should drop this one, as the music blog is important and so is the e-learning one. Who cares about my personal life and what goes on at home? Paul, my stepson of nearly five years, is 14 y.o. He has PDD-NOS, which means he's sort of on the Autistic Spectrum. He's been having major anxiety attacks about school. He hasn't been in school for almost four weeks, until yesterday. The first two weeks were the Easter holidays, but he was too anxious to go in. We've had his psychologist involved, plus the local Special Needs Advisory service, trying to get him to go back. Finally, he's been to the psychology day unit for a visit, and into school for one P.E. lesson. Where we go from here is anyone's guess.... Paul's has a blog here where he's talking about what's happening to him.....

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Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:50:22 -0700 Timothy Blackburn http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/timothy-blackburn http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/timothy-blackburn I'm Tim(othy) Blackburn. This is my third blog. My second one on wordpress. This isn't my music blog.  That one is here at mistrust.wordpress.com This blog is more of a personal site where I can post non-musical ramblings instead of cluttering up my music pages with stuff that the people looking for my music don't want to read.

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Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:13:21 -0700 Paul can't open up to people but he can talk to his blog http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/paul-cant-open-up-to-people-but-he-can-talk-t http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/paul-cant-open-up-to-people-but-he-can-talk-t
Should this blog be entirely about music? Comments please! I just wanted to put in a quick word about Paul's blog. Paul Harrison is my stepson, who happens to have PDD-NOS, a condition similar to autism and asperger's syndrome. He's very withdrawn and hates having to meet new people, as it makes him anxious and can't cope. He can't get into school at the moment as his stress levels go through the roof whenever he thinks of being in class - he's 14 y.o. and you just try making him go! The whole thing makes him more anxious and less confident. His school agreed to send him work home, which is a start... We've had major problems getting him to communicate his feelings and anxieties, and won't go to see the pyschologist he's under at the moment, so me and his mum have to keep diaries and try to tell the psych what we think Paul is thinking. He just can't open up to people. Until he discovered I was writing a blog. Now he's blogging all the time. At first it was only to tell people about his music on myspace. Then he posted something about PDD-NOS, I helped him tag it, and he started to get loads of hits and a few comments about how he wasn't alone in the ASD world. People from around the world were writing to him. He's now added more posts, writing about his days at home, and life in general, and he's really opened up in writing how he feels, and actually puts across his anxieties. Whether he's found a way to get more hits than me (he's very competitive) or whether he genuinely thinks he can write down how he feels, I'm not sure. Oh, and if you want to read about music, I've just been signed by a major music library in the UK. Some of the tracks are on musicfreedom.com, so have a listen while you post a comment on here!

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Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:21:46 -0700 Breaking the spell http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/breaking-the-spell http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/breaking-the-spell
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I'm nervous and excited at the same time. So much stuff going on at home to keep me occupied and  frazzled and to keep me awake at night. If you've read my stepson's blog, you'll know more. Now I've got something else on my mind. Some major news - big, big stuff - about my music. Can't say much at the moment. Am I superstitious or have mildly autistic tendencies and think that if I let the cat out of the bag, it will somehow not happen. If I spell it out, does it count as telling all? Maybe if I say it backwards? Or cross my fingers? Anyway, here goes. A music library in the UK that works with the likes of Orange and Virgin want to add some of my tracks to their roster.  I've submitted 10 tracks. They want to use 7 or 8. There. I said it.  I get nervous and excited at the thought of having my music on TV. It's like the time my tracks were used by O'Neill Europe on their Deep Blue Open 2005 promo film and I found out it was being shown on Channel 4 in the UK and in 25 other countries around the world. Plus, in all the O'Neill shops. This time, if it gets used, I'll get paid and the exposure will be massive. Oh, and the tracks will be registered with MCPS.  I'm just an unsigned, bedroom musician. I'm allowed to get nervous. If anyone reading this has any experience of working with a music library, please leave a comment tell me how you got on.

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Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:31:07 -0700 How many forums - how many blogs http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/how-many-forums-how-many-blogs http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/how-many-forums-how-many-blogs
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Just how many blogs should a person have? How many forums should a musician sign up to? All in the interest of promoting a new song? My stepson, Paul, is trying to get people to listen to his music. He's only 14 and gets very focussed and obsessed with everything he does. You wouldn't say he's very musically-minded, but he wants to make tunes. He's not interested that they might need mixing properly or mastered to get them sounding good. He just wants to put them on the internet like me. He thought that people would just come across his myspace profile or his page on MP3.com and just his total plays would go up and up without any input or promotion from him. So, I told him that he should start a blog and tell people all about himself and his music. He could always join a few forums and start swapping reviews and opinions, and start to get people to listen to his music. I even mentioned music competitions. I think he's taken me a bit literally. He's looking on the web for almost every music competition that's listed. He wants to me to put him on every blog site going - especially the ones I'm on. He wants me to sign up to loads of forums and let him copy and paste a "Listen to my music" message so he doesn't have to write anything new. Why gets me back to my point. How many blogs does an unsigned musician need to do a bit of self-promotion and to get some new listeners? How many forums do you need to sign up to? Is it ok to sign up and just post a thread saying "here I am"? It made me think that when I first started putting my music on the internet just over 2 years ago, I wanted to post threads on every forum and tell everyone to listen to my tracks, hoping that someone somewhere would hear me and I'd stand out from the crowd. I'm still on a few of those forums, but don't post much these days, mainly because I haven't got time, due to other things like making music. Budding artists like Paul need to stick to getting some decent tunes together and put them on a couple of sites, and spend a few weeks plugging away and posting comments about other people's tracks, in the hope that someone will listen. It happened to me. When I go on the old forums, I see the same old names, hoping that someone important will notice them, or they'll get a good review from someone on Outer Mongolia who's never heard of them and will never ask the to play live. There's more to making music than forums and blogs.

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