Category: General

Pieces: The audiophile master

Posted adfielding6 CommentsPosted in Geekery, General, Pieces

Hello, and welcome to a series of articles I’m going to be writing about the creation & release of my compilation album Pieces!

Pieces Audiophile Master artwork
The audiophile master: is it right for you?
Today I’m going to talk about one of the bonus features for those who pay for the release via my Bandcamp page, and why I decided to release it in the first place. This feature is something I’ve wanted to experiment with for a little while now, and it’s called the “audiophile master”. To explain what that is, we have a bit of ground to cover first. This will serve as more of a primer for the overall concept – if you’re looking for an in-depth look at mastering and the processes involved, I would strongly suggest looking elsewhere.

So: What does the mastering process entail? Generally speaking, the mastering process is the final creative step between an otherwise completed project and the listener. As songs are recorded, produced, and mixed individually, this can result in a collection of tracks which may have some quite wild sonic variations throughout. Naturally, this would not be particularly useful for the average listener – an album should flow naturally with each track sitting comfortably alongside the next. Listeners should not have to ride the volume control while listening to an album to compensate for wild amplitude fluctuations between tracks. It is the job of the mastering engineer to take the final project mix-down, and make sure it all sounds correct as one complete work. It is also the job of the mastering engineer to get the project ready for distribution, which can involve adding ISRC codes and other meta-data to the release.

Why are there two masters in this case, then? Well, this actually goes back to the point I made above about the listener not having to ride the volume control while listening to an album. It has become common practice over the past two decades or so to raise the overall level of a project during the mastering stage, so that the final album will sound satisfyingly loud next to other commercial releases. While this sounds like a reasonable thing to do on paper, this practice involves the use of heavy compression and limiting, which will result in reduced dynamic range and, in some instances, distortion in the form of digital clipping. There is only so far you can push digital audio before this happens and, naturally, this is not a good thing. It is up to the mastering engineer to strike a fine balance between perceived loudness while preserving a project’s natural dynamic range. While a listener should not have to ride the volume control while listening to an album, there should be room for an album to ebb and flow in a satisfying manner if necessary. While listening to an individual song that is AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE might be satisfying at first, this may fatigue the listener over the length of an entire album or with repeated listens. Again, this is not a good thing. An often cited example of an overly compressed record is Metallica’s Death Magnetic. It is compressed to the point of repeated clipping, and – even to the average listener – sounds distorted throughout.

Bad master example
How not to do it.

Soooo… why are there two masters in this case, then?! See, I came across this idea last year with the release of Nine Inch Nails’ rather fantabulous album “Hesitation Marks”. They made a big deal of the fact that copies of the album purchased through the website would feature the regular version of the album, which would be compressed & limited to a commercially viable level, and an “audiophile” version of the album, which would be specifically designed for those wishing to listen in a dedicated listening environment with the dynamics preserved to a much higher standard. This sounded like a fantastic idea to me – a commercially loud master for regular listening, and a dedicated master that eased up on the compression for those who want to kick back and listen to the album in a quality listening environment.

What you’re saying is that, basically, you stole the idea then? Well… yes and no (buuuut… mostly yes!). To be honest, I wasn’t particularly satisfied with the NIN audiophile master. It sounded different, and there was definitely a bit more going on in the low-end which was a bonus, but it didn’t preserve the dynamics of the original album mix as well as I’d hoped – especially when compared to the vinyl release. There is no reason for this in my opinion. Vinyl is not a superior format in terms of potential dynamic range, but vinyl masters are often far more dynamic than their digital counterparts. This is a huge issue in my opinion, and is not something that can be solved by releasing albums at a ridiculous sample rate and high bit-depth. This is one reason why I was a bit miffed at the marketing for the Pono player, which seemed to completely skirt the real issue entirely. It is for this reason that I decided to go with a sample rate of 48khz at 24-bit for the audiophile master – the difference in dynamic range comes from the master itself, not from the distribution format.

If the audiophile version is better then, why not just release that? That is an excellent question, and there’s one big thing I want to point out here. The “regular” Pieces master is in no way compromised or inferior to the audiophile version. They are meant for different purposes. Strictly speaking, I wrote the album with the regular master in mind, and it was the first master that I heard in its entirety and was completely happy with. I would never put out a release that I felt was compromised in any way. For everyday listening, the regular master is the way to go, and I imagine it will be the version of choice for the vast majority of listeners. However, for those with a dedicated listening environment with high quality equipment, the audiophile master provides a nice alternative. When I use the word “audiophile”, I am referring to the kind of person who loves listening to albums from start-to-finish in a dedicated listening environment, and not to the kind of person who would spend hundreds of pounds on hi-fi cables because they sound “cleaner”.

Let’s get down to it then: what are the main differences between the two masters? Here goes…

  • The audiophile master is less heavily compressed & limited than the regular master. For those who like to listen out for this kind of thing, this means the audiophile master likely have a bit more of a dynamic feel to it though, having said that, the regular master was designed to have a satisfying ebb and flow to it as well.
  • The equalisation is different throughout. In the regular master, there is slightly more of an emphasis on the high-end. In the audiophile master, the extra headroom means that there is a bit of extra room for the lows and mids, and so the audiophile master capitalises on this. Which one you prefer will purely be a taste thing.
  • The audiophile master is released at a higher sample rate & bit-depth. As I mentioned above though, the difference in sound will come much more from the actual master than the distribution format. That said, I felt it made sense to release the audiophile master in a slightly higher quality format for those that want it. The regular master is released as a CD-quality master at 44khz/16-bit. The audiophile master is released at 48khz/24-bit. If you want me to release it at a higher sample rate then allow me to re-iterate what I’ve said previously – you’re going to be in for a bloody long wait!

In short: The main reason behind the existence of the Pieces audiophile master is to provide some additional choice for those who want it. When I say that “most people will prefer the regular master”, this is not a condescending or disparaging statement. Which version you prefer will likely come down to taste as much as anything, and I would much rather offer the choice to those that want it than offer a one-size-fits-all release with no alternative.

Regardless of which version you prefer, I hope you enjoy Pieces when it’s released on the 8th August!

Upcoming releases, Nucleus SoundLab, and (gasp!) another video tutorial!

Posted adfieldingLeave a commentPosted in General, Music, Nucleus Soundlab, Patch design, Reason, Tutorials

I was thinking it was about time I posted an update here, and it’s just occurred to me that quite a lot has been going on over the past few months.

So! Starting with the obvious – I am incredibly pleased to announce that I have recently started working with Nucleus SoundLab as a Product Specialist. “What does this mean, exactly?” you may be asking. Well, as you may (or may not) know, I’ve been working on-and-off with NSL for the past six years or so on various Reason ReFills, along with some VST patch design work. Now that I’m working as a product specialist, I’ll be continuing to contribute to said projects, but I’ll also be working a lot more behind-the-scenes with the rest of the talented NSL crew. I’m also producing demo material for said projects, including demo songs, videos, and the like. I’m thrilled to be taking a bigger role with NSL,  and I’m looking forward to what the future may bring! Of course, I’m still working on my own music and other assorted projects around my work with NSL. So that segues quite nicely into…

…my next release! I’m keeping certain details under wraps for now, but I’m happy to disclose a couple of bits of information regarding my next musical release.

  • It’s going to be a full-length release. Not an EP, not a single, but a full-length release.
  • It’s not Album 4. Sorry. That’s still quite a way off… but I am currently working on it.
  • It’s going to be a digital-only release. This is a topic I will probably talk about properly at some point, but this will not be getting a physical release.
  • I’ll be releasing it later this year.

I’ll be releasing more information closer to the release. Having said that, I’ll be giving away two FREE songs from said release once my Facebook page hits 1,000 “likes”, and I’ll properly lift the curtain on the release itself when that happens. At the time of writing, it’s sitting around 900 “likes” so… spread the word! In the meantime, you can check out a small clip from the opening track here.

You may have noticed that I mentioned Album 4 before – as I said, I’m currently working on it. So, you may be pleased to know that not only have I (FINALLY!) put together another video tutorial for one of Reason‘s devices, but it’s also a very, very sneak peek at something I’ve been currently working on. Whether or not it’s an Album 4 track remains to be seen, but if you’d like to see how I’ve been using Reason’s Synchronous device in my work, then this is the video for you.

I hope some of you find this video useful, and – as always – I’d love to know what you make of it!

Some Pono-related rambling

Posted adfielding4 CommentsPosted in Geekery, General, Music

Over the past week or so, it seems that the internet (or, at least, audiophiles-and-heavy-listener-types) has been going positively nuts over the idea and concept of the Pono. Much has been said about how it will supposedly bring forth a new wave of high-quality digital music in the face of low-quality MP3s and other lossy digital formats. It supports up to 192khz audio files – I mean, more is better, right? Go go, audiophile power!

As you may have gathered from the tone of that first paragraph, I’m not entirely convinced.

Pono
In theory, I should love this thing

In my reasonably humble opinion, distribution formats and their upper-limit specifications have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of modern music masters. Zip. Nothing. For starters (and I apologise to anyone who has a passing interest in this sort of thing for posting a link you have probably seen a zillion times already),  24-bit/192khz files are pointless from a listener’s point of view. Of course, from a music production point of view, there is very much a place for 24-bit audio files and higher sample rates. But from a listener’s point of view? Nope. Needless to say, if you’re expecting me to ever release my music in a sample rate over 48khz then you’re going to be in for a bloody long wait!

So, no, big numbers do not a great music player make. But at least Neil Young’s doing something about the ridiculous proliferation of MP3s, while trying to bring a sense of artistry back to proceedings, right? Well, actually, I take serious issue with some of the stuff being churned out by Mr Young. Here’s a snippet extracted from an article here.

“This vibrant, creative culture started to go away,” Young explained, describing an entire class of musicians, studio employees, clerical workers, even deliverymen whose careers were impacted. “And it was because of the MP3, and the cheapening of the quality to a point where it was practically unrecognizable.”

This is such an absurd point of view to hold, and it’s views like this which, in my opinion, give lovers of music a bad reputation. I love listening to music – after all, I find that to be kind of important if you’re writing and producing music for a living… but there are so many things that I take issue with here.

Firstly – while I tend to listen to most of my music in my studio as 44khz/16-bit FLACs, you know what? I find it genuinely tricky to tell the difference between that and a 320kbps MP3. Heavens above! Shoot me! Before you get your pitchforks ready, I’d like to point out that this is especially true if I’m listening to a 320kbps MP3 in a medium in which it’s best suited – i.e., a situation in which storage may be at more of a premium, and where I might not be listening to my music in the most ideal setting. How about, say, every time I’m not in my studio, or not at a dedicated live venue. Listening to music in a lossy format takes nothing away from my enjoyment when I’m out of the studio, and I would argue that you are doing both yourself and the music you’re listening to a massive dis-service if you’re focussing on nothing but the numbers.

Secondly – and I’m returning to my earlier point here – I believe that the upper limit specifications of digital audio formats are not the real issue here. Curiously, I feel that it’s an issue which the Pono would do well to alleviate were they to focus on this particular issue rather than playing the numbers game. The issue is the continuing state of the loudness war, and the continued pushing of overly loud, overly compressed, not particularly dynamic masters. This is not a fault of the medium, it is a fault in the manner in which the medium is being used. I’ll come back to this in a second, but I can’t overstate the fact that this has very little to do with the current state of available digital audio formats to listeners.

Thirdly – the widespread proliferation of MP3s and other lossy digital formats has very little to do with this “vibrant, creative” culture supposedly going the way of the dodo. This is hyperbole at its most obnoxious. Again, I would argue that this has more to do with music making tools becoming more affordable and much more widespread than anything else. As for whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing – that’s a discussion for another time, and has nothing to do with digital music distribution and listening. And labelling the old guard as a “vibrant, creative” culture? Well, that only serves to further the snobbish divide between musicians who choose to work using more limited means. If they’re “vibrant” and “creative”, where does that leave saps like me? Are we lacking in vibrance and creativity? I would argue not, but I guess that’s not really my call to make. (On a totally unrelated note, if you fancy watching a film that does a much better job of highlighting the state of big-budget music making, I’d highly recommend Sound City. I thoroughly enjoyed it)

Finally – this device is doing nothing new. Musicians already have the means with which to get their music directly to their fans in whatever format they choose. Listeners already have plenty of choice regarding what format to purchase their favourite music in, digital or otherwise. You like FLACs? Buy FLACs. You’re ok with MP3s? Buy MP3s. Still prefer physical media? Buy CDs or vinyl. Similarly, listeners already have plenty of choice regarding what environment they choose to listen to their music in. Want to listen to music in a dedicated listening space? Go for it. Want to listen to music on the train? Sure. Want to listen to music in your car? Why not. This is nothing new, and I’m not even going to get started on the weird Toblerone-esque design of the thing.

Going back to another earlier point – if musicians and labels wanted to genuinely release music in a more dynamic, less heavily compressed/limited/clipped (i.e., more listener conscious) manner, they can already do that. There is nothing stopping them besides commercial and competitive concerns. If the Pono can encourage more musicians and labels to do that, then in my view that would be a fantastic outcome. In my mind, a return to more dynamic masters would be of greater benefit to listeners than bumping up the sample rate and bit depth, especially if you’re going to verbally slap genuine music lovers in the face while doing so. I’d also like to point out that while I’d appreciate more choice with regards to released digital masters, I’m definitely not saying that music “used to be better”… because that would be absurd.

As such – until they lay off the hyperbole and stop playing the numbers game, you can count me out.

Happy New Year, I guess?

Posted adfieldingLeave a commentPosted in General, Music

So, we’re well into 2014 now… I probably should have updated this earlier but, either way, Happy New Year all!

Anyway – I figured I should probably post an update, and to let you know that, as they say, “no news is good news”… I have been pretty busy as of late! So far I’ve had an incredibly productive 2014, and I’ve been working on something that I’m particularly excited about that I fully intend to share with you all later in the year. I don’t want to say too much at this stage other than “watch this space”.

Apologies for the tease, but I’ll be posting updates as and when I have something more tangible to share.

 

Post Civil Protection tour shenanigans, album plans, and all that fun stuff

Posted adfieldingLeave a commentPosted in Civil Protection, General, Music, Patch design, Stolen Fire

It dawned on me recently that I probably should have updated this page when the Civil Protection album was actually released, or after we finished touring it… but I guess I’m just not that smart. In any case, both of those things happened, and you can listen to the Civil Protection album in its entirety using this handy little music player doofer. Hooray! I’m afraid you’ll have to forgive the gaps between tracks, but you can get around those by buying the album.

So. Anyway. The tour. Well, that was an interesting experience – full of fun! Full of laughter! Full of Sylvester Stallone impersonations that totally didn’t get old at all, I don’t care what you say. And full of glorious, glorious noise!

We ended up performing the bulk of our gigs up North, with a couple of gigs a little further south (namely in Nottingham & Islington). Unfortunately, a lot of the planning was a bit of a last-minute affair, so there were a couple of gigs where maybe things didn’t go as smoothly as I would have hoped. Having said that, those moments were overshadowed by the moments where things went more-or-less exactly as planned, and it’s always fantastic to play to a crowd who really gets what we’re trying to do. We’ve all learned a lot from the experience, and I’d just like to say a huge thanks to everyone who came along to our noise-making sessions!

As an aside: if I ever see a lead vocalist yawn on-stage again during a set (seriously, this actually happened) then I will genuinely lose my shit.

So, right now I’m currently knee-deep in another patch design project which I imagine will keep me occupied for a good chunk of this month. However, that hasn’t stopped me from working on some new material in the past couple of months. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I have a few ideas in place regarding my next album, and what I want to do with it. One thing I am quite keen to do is to release it independently – it’s early days at the moment, but I’ve had a few interesting ideas regarding distribution since my last independent release – which would be 2010’s Lightfields album, which has since been re-released – and I’m not entirely sure whether I’d be able to do what I want to do any other way.

Anyway… I do believe I am getting ahead of myself here, and it’s going to be a very long time before I’m ready to release another album. In the meantime, you can have a sneaky listen to what I’ve been up to lately via this second handy little music player doofer.

(18/03/14: sorry, I’m being all sneaky and hiding my stuff and that)

Civil Protection album “Stolen Fire”, out 7th October

Posted adfielding2 CommentsPosted in Civil Protection, General, Music, Stolen Fire

As some of you may or may not know, I play guitar & perform vocals in a band called Civil Protection alongside my solo work.

Earlier in the year we were signed to indie label Bunnysnot Records, and started working on our debut album – which was also mixed & produced by yours truly.

Titled Stolen Fire, the album’s a bit of a departure from our earlier work, and is a mostly instrumental post-rock affair. Working on the album was quite the learning experience, especially given that it’s the first project I’ve properly worked on featuring entirely live instrumentation & manipulated audio based on live recordings (outside of a drum-machine & synth based track intro).

We’ve had a couple of glowing reviews come in, which you can check out here, here, and here.

I’m really excited about this, and we’ll be following up the album release with a short UK tour from October 11-20th. In the meantime, you can listen to one of the tracks from the album (Alaska) on our Bandcamp page, which we will also be using to take pre-orders in the near future.

Here’s a bit of information regarding the release:

Post-rock outfit Civil Protection are gearing up to release their highly anticipated debut album ‘Stolen Fire’.

The Yorkshire band – formed of members Adam Fielding, Nathan Bradley, Josh Clark, Philip Birch and Kenny Skey – came together back in 2010. Sharing a love for bands such as The American Dollar and Mogwai, it was a natural progression for the band to edge towards the post-rock, highly atmospheric sound they quickly developed.

Their experimental approach, which favours mood and texture, transmits immediately into the arresting soundscapes the band creates. Motivated by their support slots with like-minded acts such as Scottish math-rock band Vasa and The Indelicates, the band released a handful of early demos showcasing their sound. Continuing to gig and pen material, the band caught the eye of independent label Bunnysnot Records and are now looking towards their debut LP.

Composing the record between their guitarists’ own studio and Active Audio in Harrogate, the skeleton of ‘Stolen Fire’, which had been floating around for years, soon took form. From the mysterious opening guitar drones to the final crescendo, ‘Stolen Fire’ is a truly arresting listen. Evoking elements from Mogwai’s own record Come On Die Young, as well as sharing similarities with groups such as Caspian and This Will Destroy You, the album wrestles the listener between beautifully ambient sections through to heavier moments.

The band’s talents are quite clear throughout, – whether it be in the epic guitar tremolo riffs found in ‘My Memories Will Be Part Of The Sky’, or chugging bassline in ‘Many Moons Ago’ – and their refined sound is apparent for all to hear. Inducing moments of melancholy and euphoria in equal parts, ‘Stolen Fire’ is a stunning debut release from this Yorkshire group.

You can also check out Alaska via the Soundcloud player below.

Stolen Fire will be released in physical & digital formats on the 7th October. You can find Civil Protection on Facebook and Twitter. Drop by and say hello!

Propellerhead Reason artist feature

Posted adfielding2 CommentsPosted in Distant Activity, Geekery, General, Lightfields, Music, Production music, Reason

As you may or may not know already, I tend to use Reason an awful lot in my own music – whether it’s solo works or production music, Reason pretty much forms the backbone for everything I do these days. In this video I talk a little bit about my background, my Reason use, some of the sounds I use, and I also dissect one of my production tunes, quickly detailing my process when it comes to quickly getting ideas down and fleshed out.

Huge thanks to Ryan and the folks over at Propellerhead Software for putting this together!

There’s a little bit of amusing history behind this video, as well – I’d originally been interviewed by Ryan in late 2010 for an artist feature in 2011 but, unfortunately, this fell through as a result of Record & Reason being merged into one product line. During my original interview I’d made constant references to using Record & Reason together, so my interview was more or less obsolete within a couple of months of me doing it. Whoops! Thankfully, we did a new interview in late 2012, and I made sure to avoid mentioning anything besides Reason… though the temptation to jokingly mention that I’d switched over to Rebirth was pretty tempting.

AMA: ask me anything on the 1st May!

Posted adfieldingLeave a commentPosted in General

Just a quick update to let you know that, yes, the full-length Icarus release is now only six days away, and also that I’ll be doing an AMA over on Reddit on the 1st May at 1600 EDT (that’s 9pm UK time, I believe). That gives you a good couple of days to check out Icarus, and ask me all kinds of awkward questions related to it. Or not! That’s why it’s called “ask me anything“, after all.

So… if you’ve ever had a burning desire to ask me a question, music related or not, there’s your chance! Looking forward to seeing you there.

City Link: a new contender for the prestigious title of “worst delivery company I have ever dealt with”

Posted adfielding5 CommentsPosted in General

UPDATE 13/03/13: City Link have apologised for the situation. My friend has received a full refund from the supplier, and the matter is being looked into. Below is a transcript of said apology.

UPDATE 30/06/14: I’ve disabled comments here for the same reason I disabled them on my DPD post. This happened a while ago now, and while I appreciate that people might have opinions they want to share, this really isn’t the place for it. I am not a consumer blog, I write music for a living. If you have anything to say regarding City Link or any other courier, Twitter seems to be much more effective. I also think it’s interesting that, in the past week, I’ve had more pro-DPD/anti-Yodel/Hermes/whoever (maybe some people find them more unreliable, I can only report on personal experiences I’m afraid) comments on this page than in the entire past three years combined. Make of that what you will.

Dear Mr Fielding,

Thank you for contacting us.

Please let me begin by expressing my apologies regarding your concerns about the level of service you have received, I have thoroughly read through your complaint submitted on 8th March and indeed your recent blog post. City Link Ltd takes all complaints extremely seriously and we appreciate you taking the time to provide us with feedback.

I have personally looked into your consignment on reference: (reference removed). I have subsequently looked into the issues you have experienced and it is with regret the service we have provided has been unsatisfactory.

I apologise that your parcel did not arrive as you expected and you didn’t receive a card at all. I do understand how inconvenient and frustrating it is to wait for a delivery when there has been an issue of this nature. The driver said he attempted the delivery on both 7th and the 11th March, as you have said you were in at the time, I can only conclude that the driver has attempted to deliver at the wrong address.

We take great pride in always delivering to our customers successfully. I must assure you that this type of incident is rare. I am disappointed that on this particular delivery we have let you and your supplier down.

I have collated your comments, along with the information from the consignment into a case that has been passed to the depot management to look at the events so that we can take appropriate action and isolate this with the driver. We are confident that you will not have a similar experience if you choose to use City Link again in the future.

If there’s anything else I can help you with or if you would like to discuss this situation further, please do contact me. I would like to apologise once again, on behalf of City Link, for any inconvenience or distress this may have caused.

Kind regards,

(Name Removed)
City Link Milton Keynes

Original post:

Well, how’s about this for déjà vu? Apologies in advance for the wordy post!

A good friend of mine bought me a present for my birthday last week, which was rather smashing of him. My birthday was on the 7th March, and – had things gone to plan – I would have received my present, happy as can be, last Thursday on the 7th. That is, after all, how express delivery works – you place an order, it gets dispatched and it arrives quicker than the regular post. Pretty self-explanatory stuff. If you want stuff to arrive at the same speed as the regular postal service, you use the regular postal service.

However, as you can probably guess from the title of this post, things didn’t go to plan. In fact, as far as I’m aware there have been three attempts to re-deliver (maybe… I’ll get to that in a minute) and, as of the 11th March, I have yet to receive a thing. Well, I say that – there have been three attempts to re-deliver the package but, so far, I have only received one “we have been unable to deliver your package” card.

So… let’s start from the beginning, shall we? Here’s a nice little summary of the status of said package during it’s many travels so far.

Is any of this looking familiar to you?
Is any of this looking familiar to you?

My package was supposed to arrive on the 7th March and, as you can see, there was “no one to receive the goods at the delivery point so a card was left”. Well, first of all – no card was left. I only found out that my stuff hadn’t been delivered when my friend got in touch with me saying that a delivery had been attempted and no-one was in. If that was the case, why wasn’t there a card? Secondly, I was in at the delivery address all day. I was getting stuff together for the release of the instrumental versions of my first two albums but, knowing that I should have been receiving a package, I kept things quiet and kept an ear out. I didn’t hear a thing. Whether a delivery attempt was actually made or not is open for debate, but the “so a card was left” thing? That’s a complete and utter fabrication.


So, my friend got in touch with City Link and, to my knowledge, arranged for a re-delivery. From the above summary, though, you’ll notice above that this didn’t really get very far. It looks like my package had a very busy day on the 7th, so it decided to have a nap and stay in on the 8th. Bless. So, this marks what should have been the second attempted delivery of my stuff. I figured I wasn’t going to get it over the weekend, so went to the website and arranged for a re-delivery on Monday 11th – which is today. I also made an e-mail complaint because, hey, why not. As of the 11th, I still have yet to receive a response of any kind to said complaint. Classy.

That brings us nicely to today’s shenanigans, on Monday the 11th. We were having some electrical work done in the morning, so the electricity was off for a bit. I couldn’t really do a lot in the time so I decided to read a book. In silence. Next to the front door. I’m sure I don’t need to point out that I’m not particularly hard of hearing, and I should point out that the electrical work being performed was incredibly (incredibly!) quiet. Still, somehow, at 11am City Link snuck a card through the letter box saying that no-one was in. Note that this is four days after the initial delivery “attempt”, and that this is the first time I had received a card, after what should have been the third delivery attempt. There’s no doorbell here so the driver would have had to knock on the door, which – last time I checked – does not require electricity.

I was unaware that City Link were hiring ninjas but, hey, there’s a chance that I was suffering from a bout of selective deafness. Still – if hiring stealthy ninjas for delivery drivers is City Link’s thing then they should probably know that, evidently, ninjas are unaware of the concept of knocking on the door to get someone’s attention.

You’ll also notice that this delivery attempt has been strangely omitted from the delivery summary above. I have no reason to make this stuff up, but I do wish I’d taken a screen grab while the 11am failed delivery was still there. You’ll have to take my word on this one, though having said that I do have the scrunched up card in the bin if anyone really desperately wants to see a scan.

So! I decided to call the City Link people (3 minutes after this failed delivery attempt) and arrange for another re-delivery. Good news! They’d make another delivery attempt in the afternoon, and call the land-line to make sure I was in and heard the door. Excellent. Imagine my frustration when, just before 5pm, I decided to see what was going on as I hadn’t received my stuff. I checked the tracking site and read the same “there was no one to receive the goods” bit at 1:21pm. No phone call, no card and, as far as I’m aware, no real delivery attempt. I was listening intently for the door and even had a guy come round to read the gas and electricity meters in that time. I phoned up the City Link people again to vent my frustration and, apparently, they’re going to try again tomorrow. They might actually call me this time. The funny thing is, I actually received another package from a different courier company this morning. I had no trouble hearing the driver knocking on the door that time. I wonder what this driver did so differently?

While there are similarities between this and the DPD fun I had a couple of years back, I will concede that at least this time I wasn’t waiting on important computer-y bits. My world isn’t going to end because my present hasn’t arrived, but I feel really bad for my friend who ordered this stuff – what was a really genuinely nice gesture has been kind of soured by this whole experience. I’m still excited to get it though, the suspense is killing me!

I don’t like keeping an ear out for parcels – which I think is perfectly understandable given that a very sizeable chunk of my living depends on me generating noise. Something else I don’t particularly like is being lied to and having my time wasted, which is exactly what’s happened here. Including the now absent 11am delivery from today, I should have received at least 3 (4 if you count the apparently ignored re-delivery attempt on the 8th) “we couldn’t deliver your stuff” cards through the post. Unless my letter-box is consuming those cards, someone’s being incredibly economical with the truth.

I had quite a few people comment on my previous DPD rant saying that delivery drivers have a tough job and have incredibly unrealistic targets to meet. As such, I feel it’s only fair to say that if these delivery attempts were genuinely made and I simply didn’t hear them (very, very unlikely – but there’s a slim chance) then I sincerely apologise for wasting the time of the drivers.

However – I strongly suspect that this is not the case.

Still, I don’t think it’s fair to place the entirety of the blame on the delivery drivers, rather the courier/corporate mentality that it’s ok to take on an unrealistically large volume of orders that you have no hope of fulfilling while imposing ridiculous targets for delivery drivers to meet.

There’s a very simple term for people or entities that knowingly take on jobs that they can’t possibly fulfil – it’s called “being unprofessional”.

Avoid.

edit: I received the package on the 12th. My instructions to phone the land-line before delivery were totally ignored and the box was pretty heavily battered. Thankfully the contents were fine.

Tutorial: Creating tribal/cinematic percussion with Kong

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As you may or may not know, a couple of months ago I did a live on-line stream for Propellerhead Software‘s Music Making Month, detailing how to do some quick percussive sequencing in an unusual time signature. Since then I’ve been meaning to get some more tutorials put together, and I finally decided to put something together detailing how to create tribal/cinematic percussion from scratch using Reason‘s Kong device.

The video guides you through creating a multi-layered Kong section featuring some organic sounding cinematic drums, right from setting up the sequencer lanes through to programming the drums & sequencing a short section in about 15 minutes. I’d love to know what you make of it, and I’d be really interested to hear any music written using the principles showed in this video. I’ve got a couple of ideas for some future videos but I’m totally open to suggestions!

If you’d like to check out the finished Kong sequence in Reason 6.5, you can download it from here.