UGFL & Needle Fac7ory : a collaboration.
I’ve known Needle Fac7ory for a number of years. First as someone to have a beer with and hang out with, then as a fan of his music and recently, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with him on a track. Originally written as a piece for a university assignment, I asked him if he’d do vocals on the track. He obliged , I booked the studio session and we went in with the intention of recording the vocal in order that I could then mix and produce the track at a later date.
The session did not however go to plan.
The original version of the track was recorded at 130bpm but when I took it to a colleague of mine that was working with me on the assignment, it was slowed down to 120bpm with the intention of adding live guitars, drums and bass. N.F felt that this was too slow for the style of vocal he had in mind and preferred the original tempo. We’d had a few technical issues in the studio anyway and so decided that N.F would record the vocal at his house in order to get the best out of his voice.
I sent the stems over to N.F at 130bpm and a couple of weeks later, he showed me the finished result. –
I couldn’t have been happier with the final version! N.F is an extremely talented producer and in my opinion should already be a million selling artist! I know I sound like an overly obsessed fan but I have so much respect for the guys’ knowledge and creativity, it’s not something that can be taught and I look forward to collaborating with him more in the future.
You can find Needle fac7ory here:
Official Needle Fac7ory Facebook
Official Needle Fac7ory
Official Needle Fac7ory Twitter
#ELVSS12 – LOOSE ENDS. – The Final word.
Over the last few weeks, I have been involved in a project aimed at creating movies for the small screen using mobile devices which combined the efforts of 3 schools from across the globe. These were: Salford University,UK; Unitec, Auckland (NZ) and the university of Strasbourg, France. The brief was to create a short film using mobile devices ( iphones, ipads, Android handsets etc) that highlighted the issue of sustainability. Here is the final edit of the film our team came up with –
More information can be found here: Mobilexhibitionists Team blog
It was a very exciting project to be a part of and I hope that I can do more of this kind of thing in the future. I have gained some valuable skills whilst being a part of the project including elements of leadership, communication and technical skills. Things I can definitely use in any role I may undertake in future employment. As a team leader on this project I was required to be involved in regular meetings via Google Hangouts with lecturers from each university to make sure the project was on track for our deadline as each team was comprised of members from all 3 countries, each with different tasks to complete in order for the video to be a success. In our team, New Zealand did the first part of production, filming and editing the first half of the narrative, my colleagues and I in the UK organised the second half -filming and editing shots then writing the soundtrack and our colleagues in France created the title sequence and soundtrack. It was then uploaded to dropbox where we could access the clips, download them and complete the final edit. – This is what you can see in the video above.
Having been part of such an innovative project , I feel, has been a huge privilege and it is a credit to the tutors from each university and them being such forward thinkers that this was so successful.
I would personally like to thank the lecturers – Helen Keegan, Ben Shirley, Dan Wagner ,Tom Cochrane and Solene Trousse as without them, we would not have had such a brilliant opportunity! THANKS GUYS!!
I know I have already posted about the ELVSS12 project in terms of reflections but I felt that I wanted to conclude my work tying up loose ends so to speak.
Heading down the road…. the road to recovery… A LONG ONE!
So, as most of you will know if you’ve been following my recent escapades, I had a crash…. blah blah blah…. anyway, it’s been 5 weeks, yes, you read it correctly!! 5 WEEKS!! (i’m just as shocked writing that as you might be reading it! ) since I went bouncing along the road on my head.
Today, I went for an ultrasound scan on my shoulder. This to me felt like D-day. I walked the 1.6 miles from my house to Salford Hope Hospital, headphones on, music loud, hoping to drown out any thoughts I had of what news was coming my way. It was sunny and warm so that made the journey pleasant, I suppose.
I arrived at the hospital and navigated my way through the long temporary corridors through crowds of people all with their own illnesses and ailments, following the signs to the nearest reception desk. Once there, I was directed towards another long winding corridor, but first, I had to have my caffeine fix. I made my way to the news agents, picked up a copy of MCN and a can of Monster – Two necessities in a waiting room. I had reading material AND caffeine. SORTED! So anyway, I’m heading slightly off topic… back to the corridor…. I followed the signs for the purple zone. I was heading to RADIOLOGY. The temporary corridor seemed to go on forever, I asked a lady if I was heading in the right direction and she told me I wasn’t too far so I continued, I got the the end of the corridor and arrived at the Radiology Dept’s reception desk. I was given some barcoded stickers with my details on to hand in at another reception desk further down the hall…. I’m sure they do it on purpose to delay the bad news. – I’d rather just get it over and done with!! I handed in my stickers and then was directed to a small seating area. I sat down and began reading. I waited about 10 minutes, seeing as though my haste had got me there early. I was eventually called in to the room where I was asked to sit down, remove my hoody and t-shirt in preparation for the scan.
The specialist arrived and explained the procedure. I asked a whole heap of questions about my injuries. The main thing I want to know is WILL I BE BACK TO 100% HEALTH??
The lady covered my shoulder in a gel substance and spent about 15 minutes moving my arm in to uncomfortable positions in order to get a good look at my injuries. After doing this, the diagnosis was that I HAVE torn the muscle in my shoulder and it WILL need surgery in order to repair it. I asked her if I would be able to –
1. Ride again
2. Weight train again
3.Do any kind of physical work again.
– to all 3 questions, her answer was that there shouldn’t be any reason for me not to be able to do these things but, unfortunately, I will be out of action for at least several months. I should be back to at least 95% of my full capacity once I’m healed from my operation. Although this news is infuriating as it means I will miss out on nearly all the things I love doing for a while, it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I just have to take it easy for a few months and in time, I will heal, enabling me to come back FITTER and STRONGER!
Looking at the positive, it gives me chance for some down time and also has motivated me to train harder once I’m back to full health. It will be a long road to recovery but I guess, at least, I’m alive….?
I really hope that reading these posts, people are made more aware of the fact that bikers ARE on the road. We are NOT all idiots, we have families & friends. We are educated, have career aspirations and are part of the community. Just because we choose to wear leather and ride motorcycles, this doesn’t mean that we’re brainless! Wearing the leather keeps us safe, riding with clubs means we hang-out with our friends, we look out for each other. If we don’t, WHO WILL??!!
SHINY SIDE UP – RUBBER SIDE DOWN.
#UGFL.
Heading down the road.
Monday morning, It was a cold but sunny day. I was up early to give my partner a lift to work as her car was out of action. The ride up to Brierfield in Burnley was a cold but uneventful one, I dropped my lady off, said goodbye, gave her a hug and a kiss and set off home.
Having never been to Brierfield I followed the signs to find my way back to the motorway and within minutes I was on my way south back to Manchester. There wasn’t much traffic as it was still relatively early and the morning rush was heading the other way. I was expecting a quiet ride home and had planned to look at my partners’ car to fix the fault in order that she could use the car the day after so I could enjoy the rest of my half term holiday.
I must’ve been on the road for about 20 minutes when everything started to go wrong. I was in the middle lane of the carriage-way when a car from my left, joining the flow of traffic pulled in front of me and slowed down causing me to hit my brakes hard in order that I didn’t end up in the cars back seat!! – the bike began to slow down and then the front end slid from under me, I felt myself fall toward the ground.
When I eventually came round, I was being told not to move and being strapped to a spinal board there were several people crowded round me, I was then lifted in to an ambulance. I remember saying to the paramedic I couldn’t move my little finger on my right hand, it was really bothering me – i didn’t realise at that point that I had actually done more damage than just hurting my little finger!! I was given morphine for the pain and I was taken to Blackburn Royal hospital.
I was in and out of consciousness (due to the effect of the morphine) I was taken to the resuscitation unit by which point I had started to come round a bit. My partner arrived at my bed side and then I was checked out by the doctor. The nurses had to cut my leathers off me as when I tried to move my arm it caused me too much pain. I had landed on my right side at speed which had put a lot of force on my shoulder so movement was and is still limited! As the staff began cutting my jacket, and trousers off me, I was fully aware that I was wearing my cut. – (Being a member of a motorcycle club (http://www.getnottedmcc.co.uk) my cut is very important to me. It is worn at all times when on the bike, out with the club at rallies, ride outs or meetings. The cut is part of tradition and mine is part of me.) I protested about them cutting my club cut off and put up with the pain in order that they didn’t destroy it. Luckily, the staff were accommodating and my partner explained the reasons to them so I still have my cut. It is scuffed and blood stained but it bears the scars and tells the story of my riding life. – It is still wearable and still makes me proud to wear it.
As the day progressed, I was taken for numerous x-rays on my fingers, shoulder and face.
The day was going so slow, when the radiographers asked me to keep my chin up as the were x-raying my face, I fell asleep and began snoring which meant things took longer than they should.
After being examined and given the all-clear by hospital staff, I was allowed to go home.
Although i was in a lot of pain, I was alive and well enough that I could recover outside of a hospital.
As any biker will tell you, no matter how much pain you’re in or how bad the accident, the first thing that comes to mind, is “SH*T! Is the bike OK??!!?” I wouldn’t find out how much damage had been done to my bike for almost a week after the crash.
My neighbour and his son helped me collect the bike. This was the most traumatic thing! Seeing the damage done to the bike from it sliding down the road was depressing! Smashed fairing, squashed (YES SQUASHED!) exhaust and damaged handlebars, the bike was in a sorry state.
As you can see from these pictures, I’m probably lucky to be alive. Looking at the damage to my helmet, you can see that I’ve bounced down the road on my head- actually, face first. My helmet did a superb job standing up to some punishment! It can’t be used again but it is still relatively in-tact my leathers did there job well and are only being replaced due to the paramedics cutting them off.
The one thing I have learned is that I will NEVER use armoured textile motorcycle clothing again as I have a large graze on my left shin where the material has disintegrated and one on my right knee where the padding should have been but had moved probably during impact.
Those who know me, know how much I love riding motorbikes, and won’t be surprised by the fact that this hasn’t deterred me from getting back on the bike. Those who read this but don’t know me, will more than likely think I’m completely insane!! but I am looking forward to rebuilding my bike and hopefully being back on the road within a couple of months.
These sort of incidents are part of being a biker unfortunately as people aren’t as educated as they should be about the dangers riders face from the careless-ness of other road users with no experience of riding a motorcycle. It has been my opinion ever since I began riding motorcycles that everyone should be made to ride a motorcycle for at least 2 years before they are allowed to drive a car in order to gain awareness as to the vulnerability of being on a bike in order that the roads are made safer for everyone and these kind of incidents can be reduced!
RIDE SAFE, RUBBER SIDE DOWN and WATCH OUT FOR BIKES!!!
Thanks for reading, please share if you have been affected by this article or indeed if you have just found it interesting.
UGFL.
Jump For Joan!
Last year, a very dear friend of mine lost her battle with cancer.
She was the type of person who would do anything to help when she could, even if it was just making someone smile.
This year, I would like to do a skydive in order to raise as much money as possible for the SUPERB staff at
Willow Wood Hospice who did a fantastic job looking after Joan during the time she spent there. Last year, her husband Matthew Swift grew a beard and refrained from shaving for 12 months in order to raise money for the hospice.
In order to do the jump, I need to raise £200 in order to pay for the jump and then all monies raised after that will go to Willow Wood.
This is an issue very close to my heart and would appreciate it if people would donate to such a worthy cause.
If you would like to donate please click the button.
#ELVSS12
A few screen grabs from our Google hangout involving 50 people from New Zealand, England and France as part of our #ELVSS12 collaborative learning using social media and mobile technology. More content will be added as the project continues.
Studio time. UGFL collaborating.
Myself, nhusband and wardy691 have been working in the studio for a number of weeks now. Here is the rough mix of a track we are currently labouring intensely over.
more info and the final mix will be posted here soon.
Career Options
For years I’ve gone from one job to another with the goal of climbing the corporate ladder at some point, but each job I’ve been in didn’t seem to give me the opportunity to progress. Even though I was good at my job ( and in some cases one of the top members on my team) I never seemed to be afforded the chance to climb the ladder. Maybe because I was so young or maybe just because people were afraid that I would do a better job than they could and thought that I’d progress too far taking their job as well….? Either way, this may have been a blessing in disguise.
BBC Archive (Final Post)
Our video is now complete and during the process, here are the skills I have acquired that will benefit me in my postgraduate career.
BBC Archive (an update)
After much deliberation, minor disagreements and time spent sifting through all the footage, we decided to create a video using the musical aspects of the footage and come up with a video promoting the remix, re-use, recycle mantra. We are in the process of editing the footage and should have the video up soon.
BBC Archive (an introduction)
We have been given some footage by the BBC which they’ve asked us to use to create something ‘new’ with. I downloaded all 60gb of the footage at a very slow pace totalling 4 hours! With the footage we aim to create something both interesting AND entertaining.
24 Frames, 24 Hours.
We’re currently taking part in an inter-continental collaborative learning event as part of our degree at Salford University, Media CityUK. We have been asked to use our mobile phones to create film. I ride a motorcycle and thought I would film my ride from Old Trafford (the area – not the football ground) to Salford. To do this, I used a mobile phone bracket with a clip and attached it to my jacket. Using the forward facing camera (normally used for face-time calls) I recorded my journey. Please check out the footage here:
University as a mature student; a help or hinderance?
When I left school 12 years ago, I thought I had it all sussed. I was going to college then on to university and then in to the big wide world to work in my chosen industry. I spent a year at Wigan and Leigh college and got my intermediate GNVQ Performing arts and re-took my GCSE music due to failing it in school. I then went on to MANCAT to study for a BTEC ND in Popular music and recording for 2 years and progressed to Salford university’s BA (Hons) Pop. Music and recording course. I stuck it out for 6 months and then decided that this was not the course for me. By this time, I was 20. I’d had enough of education and decided to get a job.
New track -“Utopian”
So, my inability to be creative was making me feel bad… I got some pritt-stick, some crape paper and some gold stars… this is what happened. Not my best, but I kinda like it. It was just a bit of a brain vom… what do you think?
The Big Screen-Touch screen idea rolls on.
The idea has been expanding over the last few weeks to a point where I’m wondering if I will actually be able to pull this off… ? After a lecture from Tony Churnside and Ian Forrester, members of BBC’s R&D department covering the importance of social media, connecting with people and using Microsoft Kinect to create a unique musical experience in cooperation with the BBC Philharmonic, my brain began working at double speed. I began thinking how I could incorporate these ideas in to my final year project. I have already planned to use touch screen synthesizers, video footage and social media in order to create this project but the lecture has added another dimension to an already ambitious idea.
Since the last post on the subject, I have contacted blip interactive via email and have had several conversations regarding the use of their Nano Studio and how or if it is possible to use multiple instances of it over several touch screen tables and also contacted Chesca Miles via Twitter to ask if she would be interested in taking part in the filming aspect, performing motorcycle stunt riding at one of her training spots in London. The next big step to take is to figure out how to control video using the touchscreen tables via MIDI….
This is something I am going to have to research.
I will post more on the subject as things progress.
Thanks for reading.
#UGFL
3D Audio Research
If you haven’t checked out our podcast on why and how we did this project please do before reading the following article. You can find it on the following link
There’s one thing guaranteed to make my day…..
A guy from Uniondale NY, USA commented on a track (Super Hub) I released a couple of weeks ago that he’d like to remix it.
Here is THAT remix :
The power of social media and creative commons!!
check out : lightningdude He’s AWESOME!
Another mashup.
I got bored and had an idea. Tron seems to fit with the theme of electronic music due to its subject matter so I used Glitch mob’s “Beyond Monday” and mixed in the video with some footage from Tron Legacy. I think it works quite well.
#STEC12 and BBC ‘R & D’
@TonyChurnside and @cubicgarden from BBC’s research and development team took todays lecture. The subjects from each were rather different. Whilst Tony focused on a technological advancement and quite scientific presentation, Ian (@cubicgarden) talked more about the use of Twitter as a networking aide and how it can benefit us in todays ‘social network’ culture in terms of meeting the right people or making our voices heard by the people we are trying to reach and in most cases impress in the hope of finding employment or experience within our chosen industry.
UGFL - undergroundfreelancer.com 