Thanks for your continued support. Looking forward to an exciting 2012!

Over in the shop, the Ochre Spreadshirt stores have been updated with a new shirt option — an ultra-soft vintage fit, tri-blend, adjective-laden American Apparel Track tee. I recently discovered this comfy garment after receiving it in Bandcamp-print guise; it’s the softest tee I own.

Meanwhile, I’m excited to be working on the soundtrack for the animated documentary, The Centrefold Project, due for release during Spring 2012.

Although all the tracks have been previously released online in one form or another in the past, to collate and properly sequence them, give them a polish and adorn with some great nkurence-penned artwork, has breathed new life into them.

Early Learning constitutes most of my pre-’Midsummer’ output from between 2001 and 2003, and in some cases required revisiting the Cubase VST 5 song files, to be remixed and re-rendered for a cohesive release (i.e. tracks 1, 3 & 9). Being a download-only album, it seemed like a good opportunity to encode the FLACs in 24-bit, exceeding the 16-bit sound quality typical of a CD-borne album. (Which reminds me, I can also upgrade the FLAC editions of ‘Like Dust’, Lemodie and ‘Midsummer’ with 24-bit FLACs too. Shall arrange this when I get the chance.)

I’ve also taken full advantage of Bandcamp’s bonus-bundling capabilities, uploading a couple of extra tracks (a remastered ‘Bipolar Bears’, plus my Zelda remix), in addition to Chris Larkee’s video for ‘Esign’. The Esign video has been updated with the remastered audio, and rendered to a 720p H.264/MPEG-4 video file.

Enjoy!

Please remember to hit those like/tweet buttons on Bandcamp and help spread the word. Much appreciated, thanks.

Initially I was a little reticent to combine my recording and production work under the ‘Ochre’ umbrella, but seeing as though the production side of things now (thankfully) makes up a sizeable portion of my working life (along with my mastering work), it seems to make sense now for my site to reflect this. It’s also a good means of keeping my portfolio neatly catalogued, online and in one place, as I had almost forgotten about some the work I’d undertaken in the past (I’d been busier than I thought!).

Additionally, I’ve created a small library of available production tracks, which will hopefully serve both as a demonstration of my compositional versatility, as well as a catalogue of pieces that are available for licensing.

I’m very keen to expand my portfolio, particularly with some game audio work, so if you’re an aspiring game developer in need of some music or sound effects for your game, please get in touch. Although I’ve licensed my music for use in games in the past, I’m really itching to get stuck in with some game audio production, interactive music and sound design, so I’ve been poring over various audio APIs, raising my proficiency with FMOD and Wwise.

Finally, I’ll be dropping some news about some Ochre related releases over the forthcoming weeks, so stay tuned. Thanks!

Although I’ve still got both shops on the go, the US-centric .com and the Eurocentric .net, there’s nothing to stop you ordering from either. Spreadshirt seem to operate on a 1$=£1 basis, which while initially baffling, might not be far from the truth when you factor in customs and VAT if ordering from the US store to the UK, for example.

I’ll also be ending the current sale on physical products soon. No set date, but probably some point this week, so if you’ve been thinking about grabbing a Lemodie CD or Midsummer vinyl, act (moderately) quickly.

Lastly, you’ve probably noticed the new ‘Production’ label in the menu. As well as being kept comfortably busy with the mastering, I’ve also been doing more bespoke production work for various media clients, which I’ve been thoroughly enjoying. The frenetic work pace, prescriptive briefs and urgent deadlines contrast nicely with my (perhaps overly) leisurely Ochre output of late. I’ll add these projects to the site once I receive the completed video files etc., and will no doubt post an update.

As you’re aware, I’ve had the rights to my last two albums kindly returned to me since the closure of Benbecula, and have since sought to distribute my music directly. Through Bandcamp, this has been working remarkably well so far, even on a ‘name your price’ basis. Certainly, I’ve no doubt that my profile has been momentarily raised following the release of LBP2, yet I’ve been pleased to see the purchase-to-freeload ratio remain a steady 10-11%. For me, this is highly encouraging, and gives me hope for future releases, offered directly to fans through my site via Bandcamp. Bandcamp’s 15% slice of each sale, plus PayPal fees (which end up being about 5-6%), is perfectly manageable and a realistic compromise as far as I’m concerned — certainly worth the services provided.

When it comes to digital distribution outside the cosy sphere of Bandcamp, things have been decidedly trickier. This is not down to the actions of my own chosen aggregator/distributor; Emubands have provided a sterling service for me so far, and I can give them an emphatic recommendation without hesitation. Instead, it’s the changeover from one aggregator to the next that reminds me of just how cumbersome our distribution system remains.

In a similar manner to physical distribution, you can’t have multiple aggregators supplying the same stores, so your only choice is to wait for your releases to be removed by one aggregator, before going ahead and re-uploading them with another. Which means losing all your reviews, ratings etc. (though I’m hoping Amazon’s will persist because of the physical versions available), along with a certain amount of unavoidable downtime. For the stores that had direct relationships with Benbecula, take-down was swift and painless. iTunes, for example, had Lemodie off the site within days (and has since been re-uploaded by me). However, for the stores supplied through a larger chain of mediation via the label’s distribution network, things appear to have stalled. Not so much dropping the baton, more losing it completely.

I’d like to think I’m a patient chap, but I can’t pretend to understand why it can take months for some stores to remove an album; why some chains of command can be so inefficient as to impede the seemingly simple action of removing a database entry (I don’t know what the actual process entails, I admit). Is it simply a case of too many mediators leading to diminished individual responsibility? Perhaps. It’s just a job, after all, and tending to the incessant stream of new music can probably result in the occasional overlooking of secondary requests such as release amendments and take-down requests.

But we could be a little more cynical and presume the processing delay allows the distribution network to squeeze a little more money out of us. If the contract between label and distributor has been terminated, then what’s the rush in removing music? It’s a little cream you don’t have to pass on, isn’t it? It’s unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence — distributors delaying or withholding payment to indie labels, which they may or may not ever see. While I am not accusing anyone of such practice in this instance, I can certainly think of a few labels that have been hung out to dry by their distribution network, causing their release schedules to stall.

So to cut to the chase, this is what irks me: a fan buys music through a store, thinking that they’re supporting the artist. They don’t know how much of their purchase reaches the artist, but they’ll assume an arbitrary slice will be taken off for the store’s ‘overheads’, with the remainder reaching the label, to be split between label and artist. But at present I have no idea what happens if you buy ‘Like Dust’ from Amazon mp3, for example, as Benbecula’s affairs are all tied up in a bow. Does the customer’s cash simply end up in a digital limbo while the distribution network catches on? So much for nimble disintermediation. The more things change…

My track ‘Infotain Me’, taken from Lemodie, was licensed for use as part of the in-game soundtrack within LittleBigPlanet 2, and features alongside tracks from the likes of Plaid and Squarepusher. Needless to say, I was thrilled to be involved.

Infotain Me by Ochre

All three albums are downloadable on a ‘name your price’ basis, currently with no minimum charge, so if you simply feel like swiping them without paying a penny or sharing your email address, you’re free to do so. Better yet, you can set a price you deem fair for my hard work, and sleep easy knowing you’re incentivising future Ochre output. Please spread the word; retweet, share, post etc.

Each full-album download contains a bonus track, with ‘Lemodie’ and ‘Midsummer’ having their respective CD ‘secret’ tracks appended to their tracklist, while ‘Like Dust’ features ‘Threnodie’, a track previously released as part of the ‘Death of an Aura’ EP (which I’ve now retired).

The expiry of my contracts with Benbecula also means that both albums will start to disappear from third-party download stores. Once all down, I’ll set about distributing them through my own digital aggregator (probably Emubands, as they currently handle ‘Midsummer’ distro).

I’ve posted both of these as, to be frank, I’ve no idea when or even if I’ll get another album completed (for now I’m shooting for the summer!). Rather than just sit on a pile of tracks that may or may not see light of day, I’ve popped them up on SoundCloud. As you can see, they’re freely downloadable, so you can enjoy them on your portable players without being tethered to the cloud. I must say, it feels nice to be able to post tracks online for immediate feedback again.

Glassmaker by Ochre

Blue Hours by Ochre

Over the course of the interview we discuss how my burgeoning mastering business, Melograf Mastering, got off the ground, as well as getting into the logistical nuts and bolts of its everyday operation. It’s quite an extensive interview, and as such is split into two parts. The first covers why and how I decided to set up Melograf, with the second part following next week, covering the actual audio processing minutia and associated geekery. You can stream the first part here.

The procurement of a set of ADDA convertors last week (to join my lone monitoring DA) was clearly an unconscious celebration of this feat. Time to start thinking about some choice outboard for the new analogue loop.

The above video documents the production of a very unique set of musical artefacts, created initially as part of my PhD submission. The inaugural set of these ‘Auratic Artefacts’ comprises three transparent, single-sided vinyl dubplates, with a double-sided, laser-etched wooden veneer, bonded to the non-audio side of each dubplate. Further variations include sleek, laser-etched aluminium plates, contrasting nicely with the warm, almost rustic character of the wooden veneers. As you can see, each set comes with a hand-sprayed, custom sleeve, too!

This all came about through a gnawing dissatisfaction with my largely dematerialised music practice and its subsequent dematerialised output. Feels good to be able to physically see, touch and feel the fruits of my musical labour again in a non-CD format — to have something tangible to show once the computer shuts down.

But as you might expect, being able to offer these for sale would be quite a challenge; cutting dubplates and laser etching could get expensive very quickly. Then there’s the time costs incurred by all the parties involved in crafting these artefacts. Still, it’d be nice to present a few more sets at some point.

A huge thanks goes to nkurence for his design and crafting skills, in addition to his laser-etching expertise. Thanks also to Frank at The Carvery for cutting my tunes to transparent vinyl.

This month is basically the culmination of the past four years of work towards a music PhD, so I’m very much in thrall to completing my thesis, which sits alongside the musical component of my submission. I always felt a little self-conscious about doing a practical music PhD, as I was unsure whether my music was original enough, or my writing quality good enough, to be of any use at such an academic level. Although it’s a bit late now (to say the least) to worry about these things, typically, these fears have helpfully bubbled up at the least opportune moment. Great.

Anyway, I’ll be quietly having a nervous breakdown here while I write this thing up. In true testament to my procrastinatory prowess, I’ve managed to fiddle with my site some more, moving the physical music releases that I had for sale, over from the shop to the music page. Didn’t seem much point in keeping the two separate, really, seeing as they only link to my Bandcamp page, and especially when I had third-party store links on the music page anyway. So that just leaves merch on the shop page.

Which reminds me: does the number of shirts on offer induce a bit of choice paralysis, or is having that many to choose from just fine? I think I originally went along and explicitly specified several shirt colours and styles through an overblown sense of my own stylistic judgement, pairing design colours with suitable shirt colours. Would it have been better if I simply did a white design, a black design, and let you choose what colour shirt you want yourself? See, these are the kind of dilemmas solitary musicians have to deal with.

I also helped Facebook take over the internets, in my own very small way, by installing some ‘like’ buttons on these posts, as well as a ‘recommend’ button on the music page. You’re probably thinking why I’m bothering, as don’t I already have a ‘like’ thingy at the top right of my site? Aren’t I getting a little like-happy? Perhaps a little, though there is a different between the new buttons I’ve added and the ‘like’ box in the top corner. While the box pertains to my Ochre Facebook page (which I’m sure you’re aware of, being a fan and all), these new buttons will actually allow you to share these posts and pages easily to your friends on Facebook; each time you click on it, it’ll show up in your activity feed. Much easier than faffing around with ‘add to’ widgets (which I’ve only kept as I’m starting to get nostalgic about the early optimistic days of Web 2.0, before Facebook made it clear that it intends to own it).

Anywho, there’s a thesis I need to get back to, as well as some pizza dough that needs making, so I’ll have to wrap this up. Sorry for the lack of activity; hopefully I’ll be back on the map this time next month.

Dolls by Ochre

I’ll be posting more news as and when it trickles through, but if you’d like to actively stay in the loop with Dolls, we have a Facebook group to join, as well as a dedicated film blog for your bookmarks. If you’re on Twitter, you can also follow the Dolls team on there, too.

Meanwhile, I’m feverishly trying to complete my uni work over the summer, as well as sorting out the next Ochre project.

We have yet to determine the type of encodings used, as they match no known current data types. One theory that has been posited is the possibility to decode the data present using one of the early pre-holographic methods, possibly through the optical demodulation of a pulse-code data stream (infra red?). Given the size and dimensions of the artefact, it is presumed (or at least claimed by one of my colleagues!) to spin during the decoding process, though as always, it would be prudent to keep assumptions to a minimum whilst we uncover more information to test the veracity of these claims. As for the type of data contained on the disc, we are almost certain there is an audio component, as implied by the markings inscribed on the upper surface, but given our knowledge of the video storage methods of the era we doubt any presence of a video component.

We suspect a variety of similar artefacts may be uncovered once expansion of the dig site has been approved, but knowing how long these bureaucratic procedures can take, it may be weeks before we can continue. However, two of the three artefacts have already been quickly earmarked by research institutes (one in London, the other in Somerville, MA), so there is still one disc remaining in our possession, which we will continue to study until that is inevitably also sold, either for exhibition or research.

If you’re interested in learning more about the UDK and fancy dipping your toes into the world of game development, then this video of Dave at Psyonix gives you a quick intro to the platform. The UDK is free to download too, so given a little free time there’s nothing stopping you from crafting your own titles.

I’ve already annoyed the staff and patrons in the local Post Office by shipping the dozen or so pre-orders, so they are now well on their way to their new homes! A big thanks is in order to everyone who pre-ordered — I hope you received your instant downloads trouble-free (you’ve got to love Bandcamp!).

As usual, I’ve also sent a bundle of Lemodies to CD Baby, to make the postal fees a little easier on the pocket for US fans. I’ve added them to my Amazon seller account too, so if you’d prefer to order through Amazon’s checkout you’re free to do that (though you’ll have to put up with a slightly higher price and no download). Speaking of Amazon, if anyone wouldn’t mind dropping a quick review there, I’d hugely appreciate it (for any of my releases, not just Lemodie).

Anyway, I’ve ceremoniously updated the html in my shop to mark this momentous occasion, and hereby declare Lemodie in stock and on sale.

Back in tangible form.

At long last, after being out of print for over two years, I’ve finally managed to scrape together enough cash to organise a re-press of my 2006 sophomore album. It’s being manufactured as I type by DMS, and shouldn’t be longer than two or three weeks away, fingers crossed.

In preparation of its arrival, I’m taking pre-orders via Bandcamp here, which also covers an instant download in a variety of formats (I’ve also thrown in the CD hidden track as a bonus).

Now, I’m under no illusions as to how the market has changed in the past three/four years, and so have set the price at £6 plus P&P, which seems to me like the sweet-spot for CDs sans middleman.

Following my traditional of sporadic and occasionally regrettable social media suicides, I had removed my Facebook profile after inadvertently hosing the Ochre page (I thought it would be ‘hibernating’ along with my personal profile, but I guess not!). Now while I’m not missing MySpace, Facebook was a much handier means of getting snippets of news updates out there, and although Twitter has become increasingly useful for this, there’s no denying Facebook’s convenience and popularity.

I think it’d probably be a good idea for me to install some admin other than myself though, just in case I get trigger happy while aiming at my feet again.

Oh, and I am working on some new music by the way too, if I may self-consciously steer this post towards something a little more newsworthy. More details to come soon (demo track deleted from post).

I’ve also sent some vinyl to CD Baby, enabling stateside fans to get a better deal on shipping than ordering from me, although at the current sale price it’s probably still cheaper to buy direct.