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Autopsy of a Lollipop Lady

Feb05
2012 4 Comments Written by Mick

SpinTunes is back!

After sitting out the last couple, I’m back in the game with twist. As “Drei Viertel Drei”, Katharina and I entered our song “Lollipop Lady” into the first round. The challenge was to write a song about a childhood nightmare that featured rubato, so we worked up a song about a little boy and his fear of his local lollipop lady (or crossing guard for those of you outside the UK). Here it is:

Thirty-four entries were made into the first round, with some really strong competition. My personal favourite was Rebecca Angel’s song “Monster’s Lullaby”, but there were several really good songs and a healthy number of pretty good (if needing work) songs. Our song came in at position 28, which sounds worse than it is, because we suffered badly in the public vote by not really doing too much promotion of the song. It wouldn’t have made that much difference, but it could have been enough to see us into the second round. One of the great things about SpinTunes over Song Fu is that each judge (5 in total, plus ‘Spin’ himself as backup judge) provides a review as well as a score. This, from Denise Hudson, really made me laugh:

This is terribly weird and really interesting. Psychological and troubling. I don’t really like it, but it’s because it BOTHERS me. And it’s not because it’s not well done. It’s because you are creepy.

or this…

As I hate this more and more and swear never to listen to it again, I put it higher in the rankings.

The general consensus amongst the reviewers is that the chorus and pre-chorus are much better than the verses. They were certainly more fun to write the music for, letting loose the creepiness, but they actually didn’t come together like that until the mixing stage. When the song was still being recorded, the verses were actually the strongest part, but that may have been because of some fairly severe tempo changes in the choruses that made them quite tricky to record certain parts for.

We’re out of the official competition now, but can still produce “shadow” entries. We already have lyrics and a little music worked out for the next challenge: a slightly dark and sad love song. Keep an eye on my Twitter feed for more regular updates.

All 34 songs from round one are also available from Bandcamp. You can listen to the songs below or download the whole album – a great way to get hold of some creepy and fun songs without spending a cent/penny.

Posted in Song Fu / SpinTunes - Tagged , ,

Creativity and Marketing Models

Aug15
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Mick

Over at Chocolate Scotch, Sue Taliaferro is running a series of guest posts on the subject of Creativity, Art and Inspiration. She has featured viewpoints from writers, musicians, podcasters and artists in varying media, with almost fifty posts online and more to come. My post on the subject appeared a couple of weeks ago and is focused on the tools available and the filtering processes involved in creating something new.

At the other end of the creative line is an article by Julia Sherred at Geek Mom about new music marketing models. There you’ll find a range of opinions from musicians working on getting their music out to the public (including me), using some of the tools available online. There are some interesting ideas included and many are applicable beyond just music distribution. Worth a look.

Posted in Writing

The Highland Coo Song

Jun21
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Mick


Here is a new song, written for the SpinTunes challenge. It’s a happy little ditty about life in the food chain. A previous challenge from SpinTunes was ‘write a sad song about birth’, and this was the polar opposite: ‘write a happy tune about death’. Not an easy topic, by any means, but then that’s the point of a challenge. There have been some really good songs written for this round, though the tone is certainly a little darker than usual. Visit the SpinTunes Album page on bandcamp to listen to the tracks or to download the whole album for free.

I have started using Bandcamp for my own recordings, as I believe it offers the best experience for listeners. You can listen to the track right here and if you like it, download it straight away in whatever format you like – from high quality FLAC files to standard mp3s. Lyrics and artwork is all included, so when you view the song in a suitable player (e.g. an iPod touch or iPhone) you can view all those as the songs play. You can also choose to pay whatever you like, so you can download it for free, or pay something to encourage me to write more! All the music is also released under a Creative Commons licence, so you can download it and share it with your friends. If you liked it, then chances are good that they will too!

Posted in Featured, Song Fu / SpinTunes

Tryptophan Synthetase and other Songs

Mar03
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Mick


There is an album’s worth of songs that I have written for various Song Fu and SpinTunes challenges over the last few years, just kicking around the internet. As time passed, the quality of the songs improved, but they are all really just demo-quality tracks, so I’ve never really wanted to put them out in any sort of official format.

However, they do form a thematic album of some sort, so I’ve pulled them all together and stuck them into an album on last.fm. All the tracks are free to download, though you can only play short clips on the website itself. It’s not ideal, but if you want them they are all there.

The songs are presented in reverse chronological order, meaning that they get older and rougher as the playlist progresses. Highlights for me are ‘What is wrong?’, the song that features one of the longest words in the English language (the official chemical name for ‘Tryptophan Synthetase’) in a sort of mock-opera style, the ridiculously so-happy-I-could-punch-you fun of ‘Happy People’ and the rather silly charity song ‘Big Red Nose’

What is wrong? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Happy People [ 3:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Big Red Nose [ 2:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Posted in Song Fu / SpinTunes - Tagged , ,

So Long, Myspace

Oct24
2010 1 Comment Written by Mick

By my reckoning, it has been well over 12 months since I last visited ‘Myspace’, even longer since I posted anything there and longer still since I found anything new or made any sort of connection with other artists. Usually when I ended up on Myspace it was because I followed a link provided on Twitter or via a mailing list or web forum, I certainly rarely followed up on some of the blatant advertising posted on my page. I’ve been asking myself for quite some time why I still have a presence there and the answer has been some generic sound-bite from the back of my head, “because everyone’s on Myspace”.

Well, they’re not.

And as of today, even fewer are, with a group of musicians deciding that ‘un oeuf is enough’, leaving Myspace en-masse and making a statement that, whilst it was once, for a short time, a great way to find music, the world has moved on, leaving it far behind. Today has been designated “Quit Myspace Day”, so why not do what I’ve been considering for months now, but do it as part of a movement seeking to send a message to the powers that be: “Myspace is broken and it’s too late too fix it.”

For more information, take a look at New Music Strategies where the idea was spawned, and I would also recommend taking a look at Steve Lawson‘s blog.

Steve is a perfect example of a musician making a reasonable living (not a superstar, but really, who would honestly want all the nonsense that accompanies that lifestyle?) I first came across his music on Twitter, through a link that someone else had posted, about a year ago. He plays solo bass, speaks on the ‘new’ music industry, Tweets like crazy and comes across as a sensible and well thought-out spokesman against the traditional record company model. On top of all that, his albums are released online and generally available on a ‘pay what you want’ basis and are full of great music. I would recommend his latest live album as a taster of what he does.

Once this blog post goes live, the Mick Bordet Myspace page will be gone within a matter of minutes. I suspect nobody on Myspace will notice.

Posted in Solo - Tagged , ,

SpinTunes Round #1

Jul13
2010 2 Comments Written by Mick

SpinTunes LogoIt has been a while since I last undertook a musical challenge. Song Fu has passed on, but in its place has risen SpinTunes. This is a similar set of challenges to Song Fu, but with a judging panel rather than a public vote. I missed the deadline for the competition itself, but did complete a song nevertheless. Here it is:-

You can download the tune here or visit the album page where all the tracks submitted to the competition can be downloaded in a single file. All for free!

Posted in Solo - Tagged , , , ,

Paris in the Synthtime

May19
2010 3 Comments Written by Mick

Octobass

Octobass

I’m just back from a week in Paris where I visited the fantastic Cité de la Musique, home to the Musée de la Musique with its extensive collection of instruments from centuries ago up to the modern era. The focus of the museum is classical music, with only slight nods to folk/world/rock and other popular genres, but the collection is well-presented with many of the instruments on display accompanied by audio examples provided on a headset included in the ticket price. This is a great way to see and hear some really obscure old instruments.

Of particular interest to me were the wide range of lute-based instruments, glass wind instruments (the flutes in particular looked amazing), a glass harmonium, some truly bizarre brass instruments and the 3.5m tall Octobass (pictured here).

Moog Series 900

Moog Series 900

It was when I got to the top floor of the museum that my eyes popped out on stalks. The very first thing I saw as I came up the stairs was their RCA Theremin, complete with original RCA speaker enclosure. Beside it sat an Ondes Martenot and behind them a display of the more unusual instrumentation used in Varèse’s “Ionisation” – gongs, castanets, maracas, two sirens and the “lion’s roar”.

EMU Modular Synth

EMU Modular Synth

I should have taken out the camera by now, of course, but as I moved along the instruments I whisked it out and started clicking away. First up and close to hand (but not for touching or playing, unfortunately) was a Moog 900 Series modular synth.

Behind that sat the imposing form of the E-mu modular, but not just any model, oh no, this one was owned by none other than Frank Zappa.

VCS3 'Putney'

EMS VCS-3 'Putney'

It’s hard not to love the VCS-3 ‘Putney’ synth, apparently simple in comparison to the big modulars, but overflowing with flexibility thanks to the pin-matrix used for shifting signals around and the rather dainty joystick. These little critters were all over the 70′s, from Pink Floyd to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Synclavier

Synclavier

Synclavier & DX7 mk1

Synclavier & DX7 mk1

Zappa was also a big fan of the Synclavier and there was an early model here too. Now, I don’t feel like I should be in a museum, but there behind the Synclavier is a DX7 mk1, the same model that sits in my studio. Yes, folks, I’m playing with a museum piece.

Gmebaphone

Gmebaphone (right side)

Gmebaphone

Gmebaphone (left side)

I had never heard of a Gmebaphone, a half-hexagonal synth console that wouldn’t look out of place on a low budget scifi movie from the 60′s, but one sits out at the end of the modern music display. Designed to synthesise sound within a 3D space, it certainly looks impressive, though I suspect its use is mainly in fairly academic circles.

The Cité de la Musique is certainly worth a visit – I just wish there were somewhere like that in Scotland.

Posted in Influences, Instruments - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Doug Boucher – Buy the ticket, take the ride

Feb11
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Mick

Doug Boucher

I went to investigate the reason for one of my favourite bloggers’ recent quiet spells today (he has changed blog host before and I suspected that was the reason) to be met with some tragic news. Doug died following an incident where he was tasered by police at a store for a minor misdemeanour. Anyone familiar with his writings (and they are usually not for the faint-hearted) would recognise the events leading up to his run-in with the law, as he had described numerous similar encounters, all good-natured and almost always resulting in someone (okay, usually a teenage redhead) being left feeling good about themselves.

The fact is that Doug lived the rock ‘n’ lifestyle to the best of his ability; not the drug-addled, constant partying mythology, but the real, gritty, struggling musician fighting for good, live music in the face of audiences who want to hear the same crap as they are spoon-fed on x-pop-idle-factor. It took him a while, but he did find a venue for his own blend of cover versions and original compositions that took a Zappa-esque delight in mixing the serious with the absurd.

As well as music, he loved writing, most often in a style influenced by Hunter S Thompson or H P Lovecraft. His occasionally posted recipes were always entertaining to read (and yes, his Gumbo recipe is pretty damn awesome), as were his tales of how he discovered certain bands and his explanations of his own bass and guitar-playing influences.

I can say with confidence, that it was Doug’s blog and his dedication to music that helped get me back playing music regularly after a break of many years. It gave me great delight to hear his enthusiasm for the piece of music I constructed around his original solo bass tune, “Requiem”, which then featured on our first album, Eponymous Debut.

I had hoped that I’d get to work with Doug again in the future on another project, but that was not to be. He leaves behind him two great achievements. Firstly a small, but thought-provoking and entertaining body of written and musical work and secondly his daughter Katie, his pride and joy, whom he taught to question everything and enjoy a good fart joke.

So long, Doug, keep on rocking!

Posted in The Lunacy Board - Tagged ,

Things to be done and things not

May08
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Mick

Viva La Fry

First of all, I’ve signed up to do a song for the ‘Viva la Fry‘ project. Click on the link for more details of what it is. I have no idea what to do for this, but my inclination is to keep it very simple, maybe just uke and vocal. No deadline has been set, other than ASAP, which is pretty non-specific. They’re still looking for participants, so if you’re interested in going head-to-head with Coldplay, take a look.

If you’d like a bigger challenge, there is still time (until Monday) to sign on for the next edition of ‘Masters of Song Fu‘. Having done a few now, I can recommend the experience as a way to develop your songwriting chops and getting some useful feedback about your songs. I’m sitting this one out to concentrate on other things, but will be following along as spectator.

Finally for now, I have submitted another short story to the Great Hites podcast. My first one seems to have been well-received, so the new one may appear within the next few days. More details if and when it does, but it is a more serious story which feeds into ‘Some Other Scotland‘. If you haven’t heard (or read) the first one – have a look at the site – you can subscribe to the whole podcast or just read the individual stories if you prefer.

Posted in Song Fu / SpinTunes - Tagged , ,

Masters of Song Fu – Hanging up that hat

May01
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Mick

For the first time since it started, ‘Masters of Song Fu’ has been won by a challenger – well done Molly! They have already announced the date for sign-up for the next round, but I think I’m going to take a rest from the Fu for a while.

I need to devote more time to the Some Other Scotland podcast for a while, as Song Fu deadlines meant that podcast episodes have slipped back. I have a special non-story episode coming up soon (after episode 10 launches) that will deal with some questions I’ve had about the story. That has yet to be recorded, so please feel free to send questions and/or feedback to me at mickbordet {at} gmail {dot} com and I can reply on the podcast.

When the podcast started, I hoped to be able to expand the world with a few spin-off stories giving some background to certain characters or events – short tales that would stand on their own as well as giving more depth to the main story. I have come up with a rough plan for the first of these, though it has turned out to be a bit more ambitious than originally planned because it will be more of an audio drama than the main podcast. More news on that as I settle the thing down in a script.

I’ve also completed a short story for possible inclusion on another podcast, so details of that will follow if it comes into being. If it doesn’t I may just post it here instead.

All of this writing and podcasting activity does NOT mean that the music has been abandoned, though. There are a couple of possible guest appearances in the pipeline, a Lunacy Board session of some sort is long overdue and I have a few half-completed songs still kicking around from the FAWM challenge that need to be finished off. At some point soon I’ll also revisit the Song Fu material I have amassed and combine it into an album, though there are some parts to be re-recorded with the luxury of no deadline, as the originals make me cringe in several places. Finally, I have a top secret plan for a podcast-related musical piece that will surface at some point and, who knows, maybe one of these days I’ll get round to sorting out the pile of Dunoon songs.

Posted in Song Fu / SpinTunes - Tagged , , , ,
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