Time For A Change!!

Due to being busy and not posting, I am going to be doin even less on this blog!

I have a site for my North West Function and Wedding Band which is now my main priority, along with my Wedding Band Blog for which I have written a good few articles so far!

If you look at this blog and live in the North West if England and are in need of live entertainment and want a Function Band, then please get in touch. We cover Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

If you are getting married and are looking for a Wedding Band, then give us a shout, you might be surprised at what we can offer! As before, we cover Cheshire (Chester, Ellesmere Port, Crewe, Sandbach) Merseyside (Liverpool, Crosby, Formby), Lancashire (Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn) and Greater Manchester (Bolton, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale).

Hope you like!

Spoti-Bye??

Does "Free" Digital Music Exist?

As reported in the Guardian HERE, Spotify are having to change their business model for Free users after reported severe losses using their current "Commercial Break" system. I myself am a user of this system and when I first heard about Spotify, back when it was invitation only, most of my friends, and many technology sites were starting to believe that maybe the days of "owning" music (as much as you can own a series of 1's and 0's, but that's a WHOLE other blog!) were soon to end. Listen to as much as you wanted and every so often, a commercial plays. BRILLIANT!

Over time, the amount and variety of music available increased, and in some cases has been used by artists as a viable and "cool" alternative to iTunes, Amazon and friends, enabling them to get music to a wide audience without them having to pay for it. R.E.M. recently had previews of their album available. Whilst many artists obviously use Spotify as just another revenue stream, there are bands that have songs solely on Spotify, an example being Foo Fighters' cover of "Band On The Run", which I needed to learn for my own band, something which normally requires a visit to iTunes. Now, I can listen 5 times and then that's it!

From a business point of view, I can understand how difficult it must be to make the model they had work, as I don't really remember there being any logic or reason to the frequency of their ads, and surely the payment for the adverts split between operating costs, artists / publishers etc... is not going to be huge. And lets not forget that anything with an " i " in it is always going to be tough to beat. Still, it did seem that Spotify had a quite a communal ethos to their business strategy, and given that the software interface has been smooth and the quality of the tracks excellent, it seemed like they had finally got a handle on how to deal with digital music in a legal and cost-effective way given the proliferation of torrents / P2P and File Hosting sites.

So, what does this change in T&C's really mean for the future of Spotify?


Ripping?

After a quick look, its quite easy to find "Spotify Rippers", but with the Free / Commercial Model, is there really that much point? Not previously, but if you only have 5 chances to listen to a song, then i am sure that more of these will end up appearing. After all, the whole Playlist thing is really a waste of time now surely?


Pricing Changes?

If the current £0, £4.99 and £9.99 stays, then surely it won't be too long, before they HAVE to drop the Free option, then maybe charge a VERY low monthly option to essentially recreate the current Open option, Commercial revenue, but no limit on track plays. Or introduce another 4th option into their model, so you can still have the free version as almost a sample of what Spotify is all about.



Bump?

Well, obviously, business is business and they can't continue generating losses in the £m / $m. This means that unless they can change something in their own revenue streams that don't affect customers, the new 5 listen limit will stay for free users, and the dream is over for those of us that play back a track 10 times to learn the thing. That said, I am sure nobody wants Spotify to go out of business, and maybe then we have to accept some changes to what was quite a ground-breaking business model. Even if that means paying!


I am not wishing to get into the rights or wrongs of illegal music downloads, but to answer the post title, no, free digital music doesn't exist, it can't, unless the band themselves foot the bill for the cost of producing the music, because people NEED paying for what they produce and create. They odd song here and there is fine, but whole albums? Not going to happen, certainly not for established artists. Yeah, Prince may have given away his album in a British Sunday Newspaper, but he was PAID by the newspaper for that and they saw a huge increase in their own sales.

So in the end, we have 2 options for digital music, legal or illegal. Not paying or free.

After all, to get it illegally you are going to need anti-virus because those sites can be dodgy, especially P2P Networks. Oh, yeah, and most File-Hosting sites are rubbish for free users.And don't forget that ISP's and BPI / RIAA are also on the look out, so in the end each track might end up costing more than 79p.

And how much of that goes to the artist? Less than the Spotify micro-payment I bet.


Ritchie

Doing Something Different With Music?

God, I am on a roll at the moment!

Well, the reason for this is myself and my cover band (same guys from The Small Party minus the drummer for the moment) are just putting together the backing tracks and getting ready to go out gigging, and this point in itself could add some brilliant posts regarding sounds, track suggestions ( myself and Leighton "what about some rocking Michael Jackson?", Mark "What about The Way You Make Me Feel??" FACEPALM") etc...

For the most part you would have to have been there.

So, I thought I would go on a bit about our production of our backing tracks, because although I am not very good at playing keyboards, drum programming, mixing, mastering (hmmm, my little project studio is now looking to be, maybe, a waste of money!), I am pretty good on a computer, and before we started in The Small Party, we used to play acoustic covers. Just two acoustic guitars and the other two singing

It was music Jim, but not as we know it!

In the video we do an acoustic version of one of our album tracks segued into Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall pt2, but we also did an 8 minute Beatles medley that we created, run 3 or 4 juxtaposed tracks into each other and would start The Coral's Dreamin' of You by playing the intro / solo to Metallica's Fade to Black. Oh, and I played the wah on the acoustic too.



Nowt Like A Good Challenge!

Now, the originals band came and went (long story, hate Bodog!), so after a bit of a break we decided that rather than do nothing, I could use basic midi files that are freely available, process them with some VSTi's in Cubase in my studio and happy days. The problem was, we changed tempo, groove, key and arrangements in the songs we had done previously, but as the versions we did previously were quite rocking, we thought we should keep them as they are. That is when this nightmare began! Playing the tracks through initially caused comments to be made in the vain of :-

"Its much slower than before"
"We kicked in a bit earlier before"
"Why can you just put the track in 5/4 straight into the one in 12/8?"

As so on, and so forth!

Well, that was 12 months ago, and now, after many an hour / day locked in my studio, I have indeed managed to sequence the 8 minute Beatles Medley together 9 (all 7 tracks at different tempo's, keys etc...) to produce what hopefully sounds like one homogenous piece of music.

Oh, and last night we finished sequencing a new medley that features 7 tracks including Shakin' All Over, Metallica and With a Little Help From my Friends, so as you can imagine, when finished I felt more than just a little self-satisfaction. Moreso when I re-learn the solo for Enter Sandman!

So when doing this, the comment was made

"I bloody well hope that people appreciate all this effort"
Well, sadly, we all know in our heart of hearts that they won't, not even remotely.

When the paying public see a band in a pub, for the most part, they don't understand or appreciate the HOURS AND HOURS that have gone into getting on stage (longer for me if I could actually program a midi track from scratch!). But honestly, why should they? They are only out for a night on the town, to get leathered, have a dance and maybe get a bit of action when they get home! Are we, the musicians expecting too much? Possibly. I have never expected to get someone coming up after a gig and complimenting me on the segue's we have come up with, or in the future remark on the fluid-like melding of Punk, Glam, Metal and Soul. The best in the past I would get is

"La, playing Floyd on acoustic, thats just sound!!!"

I suppose that is better than some of the things that could be said.

But if you do come and see us and have something negative to say, remember, we have Limp Bizkit tracks just waiting....

^ Amateurs, Meet The Professionals!!!

Now, as you could probably tell, I am quite proud of what we have managed to do with songs, but on my way to rehearsals on Tuesday, I was listening to 106.1FM Rock Radio and I heard a revelation of how to mix tracks together. Now, I know there have been mashups done before by people, but when I heard Thunder Busters by Wax Audio I knew they were something special. And I was also gutted that I never heard it before!

In the past few days, I have been looking for other great mashups, but nothing even comes remotely close to this and the other tracks which I have added below.

So, THATS how it done then!!

Wax Audio, I salute you!!!



Ritchie

 

When Bad Things Happen To Great Songs

Firstly, I want to thank Mike Senior, a Sound On Sound contributor, for the inspiration for this little ditty. Its been in my head for a while, but due to an article in the latest edition of the magazine, it was the prompt I needed to get my fingers tapping. I am not going into the technical side of things too much, Mike does a far better job in the article, but its more of a rant about, well, you will see.

"No Gospel Choir This Season? La La La I Can't Hear You"

Loudness, Strings and Key-Change Things The X-Factor, love it or hate it, you just can't get away from it. Some say that it has brought music to the masses, some say it is a great launch pad for talent without which they may not get their shot at recognition. I say it is an opportunity to recycle the same songs year after year and possibly ruin a few new ones to boot. Oh, and for people, who clearly have no friends kind enough to tell them they can't sing, to expose themselves (not literally, we have Britains Got Talent for that) to the ridicule of millions. Every once in a while a real talent (Leona Lewis for example) is found, whilst for the bulk of the contestants, who may get an album of material out of it, with a few key cover songs from the show thrown in to pack out the song-by-numbers tunes they are contractually tied in to recording, are soon forgotten, destined for a life of club personal appearances and maybe some gigs on the function room or even Butlins circuit. That is just the nature of the business that we call show. Oh yeah, don't forget the OK magazine "deals". They went into it, its not a new show format, so in part, they should expect what they are going to get. So I am not going to waste time writing about that, or for you to waste reading it, I think my contempt for it all is quite clear at this point. My big gripe really is the weekly shows that are put on and the tracks that are played and sometimes released on the back of this whole fiasco. Part of me wants to slap whichever publisher agrees to let them be used, and maybe some of the time the writer should stand up and say no, but for now, lets call them collateral damage in what appears to be a war against good songs. Year after year we can expect a bunch of the same tracks to be wheeled out with maybe the odd arrangement change. Yes, we refer to Somebody To Love, With a Little Help From My Friends, Angel of Harlem / One / I Still Haven't Found What I am Looking For, Angels (any Robbie goes down a storm) and maybe Tracks of My Tears. Let us not forget the famous Big Band, 60's / Motown, ABBA or Movie nights, where the same old same old tracks are crowbar'd into the evening, with tenuous links in some cases to what the night is meant to be all about. And breathe....... The main issue I have though, is in the arrangement of these tracks. Which is generally formulaic, for want of a better word, and for some reason the producers (yeah Cowell, that means you too!!!!) do because they think they know better than Messrs Mercury, May, Lennon et. al. You don't! I could try and explain the formula using some fancy comedy picture, but as I am not too great at this, see below... 1. Soft Start Pained expression? Check Solo acoustic guitar / piano? Check 2. Building 1st Chorus Bring up the level of the strings? Check Add a synth of more orchestral sections? Check 3. Building Verse / 2nd Chorus Looking even more pained, like having a full cavity search at airport?

"No, I didnt pack them bag myself, what ya gonna do 'bout it??"

Check More strings, synths, vocal level becoming inaudible? Check 4. Middle 8 / Bridge Bobbing head up and down whilst singing to the floor? Check Vocal levels becoming irrelevant in the mix with the other instruments shouting "listen to me!!!? Check 5. Delivery Of Motherload Key Change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One whole step? Check Check

Indoor fireworks?????? Check Check

Backdrop raising to reveal gospel choir????? CHECK CHECK CHECK, OH BABY CHEEEEEEECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mixer - "Hey, is xxxx microphone even working?"

Producer - "Does it matter?"

Check

And thats how we do it baby! I have a similar formula for another type of entertainment, but we shall leave that for now.

Why Biffy? Why?

I suppose the final thought I have and need to mention is this years' sorry tale, with the winning track being a murdering of the Biffy Clyro masterpiece, Many of Horror (a name clearly too unsettling for the X-Factor audience to even dream of buying into!).

Now, this is a band that has been around for a long time and are just starting to reap the rewards they so richly deserve, but I can't help but think, why would a full on rock band, who had only released the track not too long ago, allow the producers / Cowell to, well, I won't use the "r" word, but lets be honest, the song would feel pretty grubby afterwards, "ruin" the song with such a shocking mix, arrangement and the unholiest of key-changes at the end?

Maybe the devil does indeed walk among us.

And maybe he wears his belt too high above his waist.....

Ritchie

Once again, thanks Mike for the inspiration!

Expectation vs. Reality

As someone that uses software LOTS in work and has been playing games and using computers for fun for years, I do sometimes get frustrated when things don't quite work as they should. If I am trying to achieve something in work or playing a game and want to get to a new level but can't, then I do get wound up about it, but in most cases it is down to my own lack of understanding of "how" to do what I want, and it is rare that a workaround cannot be found or a bit of direction from a search (cheers Google) provides that eureka moment.

I do find that this is part of what makes me, well, me.

I enjoy the challenge of thinking how I can get around a problem, be it technical or how to do something within a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation, such as Cubase), and even finding my own methods to get things that cannot really be done with the software, or discovering a new level of how to use the tools I have.

Not Actually Me! Still, Really Like The Sense Of Achievement!

Are You Being Serious????

The main reason I am writing this is really because, as stated in my About Me, I am a bit of a forum lurker. If I am looking at a subject online, I will have a look at open forums, but rarely do I join them! What I do tend to find is that for the most part you have the widest spectrum of knowledge there, from those that understand every single nuance of the software / application / game, to those that, it would appear, seem to struggle with which way to insert the installation disk. And that is not just because they are posting on an English language forum and it is not their native tongue.

Now, I could spend hours writing about why the pedantry I have seen over someone's misunderstanding on a subject or the simple mistakes that you cannot believe a supposedly intelligent person will make, but that is not actually the point of this post. The real reason is because sometimes I struggle with the belief that people have over what a piece of software can do.

I am not going to start on specific subjects like

"Why Does AutoCAD 20xx Not Automatically Build 3D Models From 2D Drawings?"
"Why Doesn't Word Make My CV Look Better?"
"How Come Internet Explorer Didn't Stop My Wife From Finding My 'Specialist' Sites?"

At present, my focus is a LITTLE more specific!


In Formula 1 2011, Codies, Can We Have....

I have been lurking on this forum for about a year when news of the 2010 version came out, and whilst it may be that other game forums are LIKE this, surely some of these members need to just take a reality check on what is actually achievable by computer programmers and the hardware at this point in time. Maybe in the future, when we are all plugged in, your eyes are the screen and moving your head will do the same in the game, then some of this is achievable, but for now, reality check anyone?

"Well Mr. Smith, your copy of C.O.D. 27 is now installed.
Thank you for shopping at Game, Just remember all
software is non-refundable"

When Williams announced their new supercomputer 4 years ago to do much of the work of the wind tunnel, it contained 500 processors and even last years' Virgin Racing car that was modelled 100% using CFD was not exactly a world beater, but over at the Codemasters website, the poor developers are being berated by members of their community because the F1 car in the game, being played on £150 games consoles "doesn't feel like how an F1 car should handle", or because the effect of slipstreaming is not as dramatic as they thought it would be.

Unless Fernando, Seb, Lewis et. al. are playing it, HOW THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW!!! I once read that only about 850 people in the world have ever driven an F1 car in anger, so even though Antony Davidson (Former F1 driver / Test driver) was a consultant, it just simply isn't possible for the mass populous to know.

Don't get me wrong, there were bugs in the previous version, but as I am not a hardcore gamer and don't own a £10k Scan 3XS Gaming PC (great system, but think of all the studio hardware I could get for that!!! Hell, I could even buy a Leica GS09 GPS system for £10k!)), they weren't exactly showstoppers for me. I just loved seeing the tracks, the thrill of using my Microsoft Gaming Wheel (the discontinued one, hunted bloody high and low for it!), flooring it up Eau Rouge at Spa, getting lapped by Vettel. Just awesome!

Even bought a new LED TV just before it was released, just for that!

I do appreciate that people can be passionate about gaming, but in the case of this, the forces involved in just one car are complex, factor in 23 others, track geometry, dynamic weather and it is going to be far too advanced for what can realistically be achieved in todays commercial systems. Its when people then want realistic physical modelling of mechanical failures and wheels to be tethered, but still break off and fly into surroundings and other vehicles you just have to think, be sensible! The intertial modelling to do this is difficult even when doing CGI for movies, which is controlled and not a realtime gaming environment.

God that was starting to get in-depth!

I guess what I am trying to say is, those writing this game are working hard to create the full F1 experience, but people are just not happy. Time will come when all their (and mine also) dreams can be achieved, but until then, but a ticket to a race, attend a track day, or remember, it wasn't THAT long ago that Outrun was the peak of driving games.

Now, off to request that virtual wind tunnel....

Ritchie

When The Lights Go Out Its..........

GO, GO, GO!!!!!

Tension - Its Palpable!!!!



Its, nearly time! And unlike the last few years, its back at what is generally agreed to the rightful home of the start of the Formula 1 season, Albert Park, Melbourne.

Don't get me wrong, if the opener HAD been Bahrain, then that would have been a good thing considering the state of affairs there at the moment. I don't think the misery and suffering of a people is really as important as Formula 1, so lets just get that and any potential comments about being insensitive out of the way shall we??!!

However, I am sure that for many, myself obviously included, the starting of a season at any other circuit just doesn't QUITE have the same impact, the same tension and excitement that it does when Melbourne is the return of the greatest motorsport around.

Alarming??

Just what is it about the start of the season in Melbourne though that get me all excited?? I think partially its the time difference.

I know its a worldwide sport and that some races have changed their start times to appeal to the European audience (another sign of the might of Bernard!!!), but I love the early morning start to Qualifying and the Race, even if Sky+ has enabled just a few more winks before the pitlane opens for business. Even though there are other Race Weekends that have times offset from GMT, to me its the start of the season and the early start that, well, just "does it" for me.

Like A Huge Sheet Of Crumpled Paper

How will the season unfold? Without going into the different drivers, technical regulation changes and should Bernie use fake rain, I think the last few seasons have been some of the best in the 15 or so years I have been watching the sport. Yes, its a very technical sport, and with all the rule changes the casual follower can sometimes struggle to keep up, but I think with the excellent BBC coverage and their attempt to demystify some of the more confusing elements (Computational Fluid Dynamics? Anyone??) its now returning to being more of a specticle and a good way to spend a few hours without having to consider physics and chemistry.

So, who will be crowned Champion??

Can't say I really have a clue. Nobody would have predicted Brawn and Button in 2009, and although Red Bull and Vettel was less of a gamble for the title, it was one hell of a race to the end. All I know is, Saturday and Sunday morning, the alarm will ring, the coffee will brew, and most importantly the lights will go out.

Then the fun will really begin

Ritchie

I Have Started, So I'll Finish

Well, here we are, just the 6,000,000,000 of us.

Why am I writing this stuff? Probably because I can and I actually feel I have reached a point in my life that I have something meaningful to say. You may disagree, but, if thats the case, write your own blog. It is free you know!!!

And don't forget, if I want your opinion, I will give it to you!


So, You Come Here Often????

I suppose because I have a wide range of interests, this whole thing will be quite eclectic, not just about iDevices, Technology, Sport, Economics or what I am having for lunch. I think that is what Facebook and Twitter is for!!!

I want to just get my opinions out there without getting into stupid squabbles on various Forums, without offending collegues and without ending up in prison for going crazy in my local ASDA!

When I started thinking about writing this, the realisation was that I am not really bothered about people giving me a seal of approval or writing comments to discuss what I have wrote, but if my page is discovered and you like what you see, then feel free to keep coming back for more. Not sure really how regularly I will post, or if there will be any consistency or pattern to them, I will just see how it goes.

But if you do see me posting about the spag bol I am having for tea, see below!

You Said No Food Updating!!!!

Well, Now What??

I guess back to work for me, contemplate my first proper rant (READ: Topic To Be Blogged About). Will it be the start to the new Formula 1 season in Melbourne this weekend, will it be the fact that tonight at band practice the singer STILL doesn't know the words to Rockstar, or maybe it will be something stupid that happened on the way to the site office?

Either way, the names MAY be changed to protect the innocent.

Then again, if you aren't all that innocent.........

Ritchie