Everything’s gone green - The world of mistrust music

In fact, I seem to have forgotten who I am. Or at least forgotten that I’ve got a musical alter-ego who likes making tunes and whose music some people like listening to. There’s been so much going on at home and work that it’s been impossible to even think about making music recently. Me and Mrs mistrust have been occupied with Paul almost every waking hour (and those times we should be asleep), so there’s been no time to think of other things.

As you may have read in his blog, Paul has PDD-NOS and has become more and more anxious and socially reclusive over the last few months. Helping him to make some tunes and sorting out the production for him was an excuse for me to get using the music software, but now he doesn’t seem interested in creating some of his own tracks and getting some plays. Mrs m and I spend most of the evenings sorting out his needs and then desperately needing a rest when he goes to watch a dvd, or at least checking emails, forums etc.  Last evening I took him to the Trafford Centre (big shopping mall) almost straight after work and got home at 9.30pm, all because we’d promised him a reward for going to the child psychology day unit and seeing the registrar. The result was Gran Turismo 4 for PS2.

Come on Paul, get making music again and writing your blog.

I came across a website called Talkr that claims to let you listen to text-only blogs on your iPod and other mp3 players. The idea looks great for someone like me who wants to have a podcast but hasn’t got time to record one. All you do is add your blog’s RSS feed to their site, and a permanent link to your blog post, and Talkr will create an MP3 of what you wrote in your post. I tried it on my last post here, and although I was disappointed by the automated female voice, it’s really quite good. I can see it being quite useful for people who want to listen to what I’ve got to say another time, rather than read it in one go. Also, visually-impaired visitors may like it. More features will be available soon!

Find out more at Talkr.com or visit the Talkr blog.

Try it for yourself and….

Listen to this article

I’ve sort of mentioned this before, but now I can tell all…..

I’ve signed a non-exclusive deal with a major UK music library, called CandyCover, that supplies music to TV, film, and advert production companies. They’ve worked with big players like Orange, O2, Virgin, and the Ministry of Sound. It’s a massive break for me - never had anything like this happen before. They’ve asked to use 8 of my tracks - not my long, instrumental tunes that have been doing the rounds for a couple of years like Never Alone and For All we’ve done, but my more recent ones that are available at Music Freedom. They’re all fairly short and are wanted for the library’s “Art/Quirky/Cult Drama” section. I’ve signed a contract with them and the tracks are going to be registered with MCPS, the official publishing organisation in the UK, which means I get paid the proper rate if any of my tracks get used.

I know that a lot of musicians get tracks signed to music libraries, and the competition is huge

Listen to this article

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Should this blog be entirely about music? Comments please! I just wanted to put in a quick word about Paul’s blog. Paul Harrison is my stepson, who happens to have PDD-NOS, a condition similar to autism and asperger’s syndrome. He’s very withdrawn and hates having to meet new people, as it makes him anxious and can’t cope. He can’t get into school at the moment as his stress levels go through the roof whenever he thinks of being in class - he’s 14 y.o. and you just try making him go! The whole thing makes him more anxious and less confident. His school agreed to send him work home, which is a start… (more…)