Emusic - It's Not What You Think It Is!

Hi all you blog fans out there. I’m going to take a little break from my passion for gaming posts and tell you about something I think you should know. It concerns a music download site which give away free downloads but unfortunately, their output is not to everyone’s taste. I’ll start at the beginning. I recently bought a new television and was offered a range of free things. One of these free things was a trial with Emusic, which is a download site similar to Itunes and Napster. Actually, it would seem this way from first glance but I was wrong. I got on there and it was basically a breeding ground for old recordings and unknown artists.

I personally don’t mind this as I listen to a lot of non-mainstream stuff. I was thrilled at the amount of Show of Hands material which was available to me, and cheaper than any other download site to my knowledge. I was offered some free downloads and I took them. In doing so, I had to sign up and choose a payment plan. I was told I could just cancel quite easily once my free downloads had been done. Unfortunately, I didn’t cancel quickly enough and sure enough £25 had been taken out. My answer to this is just to use up all that credit, because in my opinion it is good to discover non mainstream stuff, and then try and cancel.

I would beware that a lot of the older recordings of 60s artists appear to be rerecorded. These are sometimes inferior to the original and as some would say, not worth the money you spend. I think part of the attraction of the site is that downloads are only 42p, as opposed to 79p on some sites. This was great for me to get those older songs that have been stuck in my head for ages. Songs by Chuck Berry and the like are easily accessible, with most of his known recordings on there for all to download. If you’re looking for DJ Wotsit or MC Mammy featuring Miss Warble, you’re not going to find it here. I wouldn’t say it was suitable for the teen market unless they have a very eclectic taste in music. I would recommend this site strictly for people who prefer non mainstream or music from the mid 20^th century. I was interested to see an album by Inkspots on there, certainly not to everyone’s taste but I’m sure someone out there appreciates it.

So there you go, they are a non mainstream music provider. I was even shocked to see my own song on there. Just type in Jamie Dyer and up it comes, I Gave You My Lovin’. Shameless piece of advertising but I was thrilled to see my own recording up on this site, I wasn’t sad enough to download it from the site though!

Thanks all for reading and please leave any comments or stories of experience you may have on the subject below!

Gaming - One Of My Childhood Passions - Part 2

Hi all you blog fans out there. I hope you’ve been enjoying the recent posts, I try to update as much as I can in between work for University and the voluntary work I participate in. In the last blog post, I talked about my passion for gaming in the 8-bit era. In this post, I want to talk about the 16-bit era, in which my passion got bigger for the medium. This is the era of the SNES and Megadrive. As a child, I was a Super Nintendo person, mainly due to the great experiences I had with Nintendo’s 8-bit console. This is where the passion truly hit its peak.

As with many people, my first experience was the enhanced versions of the original Mario games from the NES era remade for the SNES. I loved the graphics and this new polished feel of these classic games. I spent a lot of my time on third party titles who were trying to make money from the success of platform games. I loved games such as Plok and anything made by Disney. They always had the imagination and new ideas. I never quite had the same enthusiasm when 3D platformers came rushing by when the N64 hit the scene in the mid 90s. 2D platformers were, and still are, the way to go in my opinion.

In addition to the newly improved graphics and sound, the group feeling we started in the 8-bit era stuck. I still remember playing the original Mario Kart and being amazed by the graphics and the fact I could race my favourite characters round a track with a friend. Competition really did ensue!

I didn’t have much contact with the Megadrive until much later on in years when I decided it was time to experience it. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations but maybe that was because I decided to do this in the PS2 era. Games like Sonic on the Megadrive weren’t as good in my opinion as their 8-bit counterparts. They still had that platforming magic but it wasn’t as easy to master in my opinion. I also found that there was a lot of repetition with the Megadrive’s output. I mean a lot of the SNES games from that era, would also be on the Megadrive, but would have things cut or added on; most of the time it seemed like the latter. The SNES had something its competitor didn’t, the Mode 7 capability; quite what this is I’m not sure of even today.

I’m going to end this post for now, as the 16-bit era is massive in my opinion and there is so much more I wish to talk about in respect to this time of gaming. Thanks for reading and please don’t hesitate to comment if you have any opinions on what I have said in this post.

Gaming - One Of My Childhood Passions - Part 1

Hello all you blog fans out there. Sorry I haven’t posted in the last day or so, have had things on. Hope everyone out there is ok and enjoying the blog. As I’ve said previously, I’ve tried to do this daily but material can go dry after a while. You begin to not know what to write about. I would like to talk to you today about Gaming. People will be aware I have a bit of a passion for the subject. I want to take you through my journey as a gamer. This might not sound very appealing, but to the fan, I’m sure you can relate to it.

I started gaming back in the early 90s, a peak for the activity. There were no Wiis, Xbox360 or PS3s around at this time. No waving your arms about in front of a sensor, it seems primitive; but it was enjoyable. Two of the first consoles I ever played on were the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System. I probably played the Mega Drive around that time too but I’m sure. I have vivid memories of playing Fantasia or some kind of Mickey Mouse game. Just for the record, anything with Mickey Mouse featured, is absolute gold until the Gamecube game in my opinion. Anyway, I started playing things like Sonic and Mario, the real kings of platform games. They might seem very basic now, but back then and still now, they are some of the best games ever released.

I used to play other games too, such as the puzzle game Kickle Cubicle. This was a puzzle game with very impressive graphics for the NES. What I love about these old games is although they look extremely simple, they are very difficult to master. I can say I’ve only ever completed less than 5 games in my collection, and they were probably on easy. I always take the opinion that it doesn’t matter what difficulty you have it on, as long as you enjoy the game. I must’ve completed Hercules several times on easy and still find it entertaining. Who wouldn’t love Danny Divito’s voice telling you to concentrate?

I’m digressing a bit here; I’m still talking about the early days. I used to play Paperboy a lot too, and I found it much easier on the NES to master. I played the arcade version through a compilation years later and it just didn’t feel the same. It wasn’t the Paperboy I grew up with. Arcade conversions were quite popular at this time; there were some good ones and some bad ones. I loved the NES conversion of Double Dragon; I still play it today via the WII’s Virtual Console. It was a fighting game at its best. It was immersive enough for you to get involved, but not realistic enough for you to take it seriously, unlike some of today’s games.

Gaming seems to have this reputation that it is a solitary activity, which I don’t personally agree with. Even before all this casual gamer stuff, I’d always try and play things like Mario with other people, even if it was just on one player. You make it a group activity and it suddenly doesn’t become a solitary geeky pastime anymore. Even when I first played a SNES, it was still a group activity.

Anyway, I’ve talked about Nintendo, perhaps I should talk about Sega’s 8-bit console while I am here. There were only ever three games I played on the SMS. These were Sonic the Hedgehog, Taz Mania and the arcade conversion of Rainbow Islands. I loved the 8-bit Sonic; it is still one of my favourite games. It was easy to get into; it was a lot simpler than its Mega Drive counterpart. Taz Mania was a challenging game but I found enjoyment out of it all the same. I loved the TV show and loved to play as Taz. I guess these TV shows adapted for games have this affect; you want to play as your favourite characters in a scenario similar to the TV series. I played Ducktales a while back, it was a good old fashioned platformer, but it was difficult!

Rainbow Islands was just one of those arcade conversions that was actually better than its original source. I played the Amiga version years later and it was terrible, almost unplayable to me who is used to the SMS version. I then realise the Amiga version was identical to the original; this made me love the version I love even more!

I guess what I take from the 8-bit era is this; a majority of the games were very good, there are a few turkeys out there, for their design and replay ability! One of my most played games of all time is Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES. It is simply, in my opinion, one of the best games I have played, and is one of the gems from this era.

Anyway, I think I’m going to write this blog in parts, as I’m writing a lot here. So, in true TV show style, join me on the next blog when I will be talking about the 16-bit consoles. This is where my passion for gaming really took off. Thanks for reading and if you have any comments on anything I have mentioned, then please comment below!

Blog TV - CCTV in your bedroom, with some guy on chat.

Hi all you blog fans out there. Just chilling to the Silicon Teen’s version of Memphis Tennessee and thought I’d come on and write a blog. Since the last post, I learnt many new things. One of those things was that they are making a Mr Men movie. First off, what are they thinking? Still, I will hold off any reservations and critique until I see something more concrete about the story and the film.

As some will be aware, I have been doing this thing for two weeks or so and I think I’ve got the hang of it now. I have done blogs before but this is the first regular one where I have something to say. I used to do video blogging/broadcasting through Blogtv.com a few years ago; it’s not the same I know. I enjoyed it but then you realise it’s you on video and random people talking to you; but still I enjoyed it at the time.

The whole concept of Blog TV is an interesting concept. It’s a chat room with someone on camera talking to you, similar to the BBC’s web chats; although the person talking to you is someone in their bedroom eating a bacon sandwich. It doesn’t seem gripping but somehow, it is.

It’s this whole human nature thing where we like to peer into other people’s world. Facebook is a great example of this. Still, Blog TV doesn’t just cater for the UK, it’s all over the world. Americans have certainly taken to it, with America’s Third Party broadcasting to a worldwide audience. Some of the American broadcasters I encountered during my journey with it were fascinating; it was like looking into a different culture. The only difference is they give their consent.

There are dangers with this thing though, such as you don’t know who is watching you; it could be anyone. There are a lot of musicians out there who use it, and probably love the attention they deserve. It’s just that a majority of the output on the website is just people sitting in their bedroom waiting to talk to people. What is funny is that some people when they do get viewers get all excited. This makes it entertaining somehow.

Anyway, that’s my view of Blog TV. It’s not all good, but then something like this is going to have its faults and critics. If you have any opinion on this, then please get in contact by leaving a comment below.

Cartoon Violence and the Big Scissors of Society!

Hi all you blog fans out there and welcome to another one of my media blog posts. I’m never quite sure what to write on these things so stay with me here. I was just looking at a 1930s cartoon starring Mickey Mouse, made by the brilliant Disney. A cartoon named “Pluto’s Judgement Day”, in which the character of Mickey Mouse has become rather scary. Let’s just say, you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of the mouse. Anyway, on with the blog post after that pointless observation.

In watching this cartoon, I got to thinking about how some of these old cartoons get cut up because of political correctness. The cartoon with the biggest amount of cutting has to be Tom and Jerry. It was deemed so important that they broadcast that the vintage cartoons had been edited, mainly getting rid of smoking scenes between the characters.

While I agree that it sets a good example to today’s youth, it does not preserve history as it was intended. Sure there are racist things in these old cartoons but they should be left in to teach children about previous generations and the way they consumed media. I was quite annoyed to find scenes had been edited out of the Tom and Jerry DVD releases, plus some of the voices of the woman had been overdubbed with a “less offensive” voice. This really effects the authentic experience I expect when I watch a vintage cartoon from another era.

Luckily not all cartoons have suffered this fate, ones I have seen of Woody Woodpecker and the classic Disney shorts are all in one piece. Although I realise that while we all enjoyed them when we were young, they could perhaps be deemed too violent for today’s audience. This is probably why they don’t get any showings on TV anymore. One example of the violence in a Disney cartoon, Donald Duck throwing knives in a kitchen, well that just won’t do! At the end of the day, I think it is the parent’s decision to decide whether to show these aging cartoons to their children. I personally watched some of them and thought it wasn’t suitable for a very young audience. While I was struck with this impression, I still believe, as I have already stated, that they should be kept in the way they were originally intended.

So have you any opinions on this matter?  If you do, then please comment this. Everyone seems to have an opinion now on what is supposed to be shown to children. I find the programmes now are very tame, they don’t dare to go anywhere which might be on the edge, unlike the programmes aimed at adults! Look at Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, in my opinion, it just seems all education, education, education. I agree this is important for children but surely they need a bit of entertainment, perhaps with an educational message which is subtly hidden underneath the lashings of colour and movement in a cartoon.

Anyway, that’s my opinion on the subject, thanks for reading!

Radio Work - My Tips

Hey all! Below is a post I did for another blog some time ago, but I feel it is relevant to the subject of Media! Enjoy.

People have sometimes asked me what I use to broadcast a show each week on Real Hit Radio. Contrary to some opinion on internet radio DJs, I try to get the best professional sound possible. Its not high tech equipment but it does its job. Most dedicated DJs have to start at the bottom in terms of equipment and build their studio up. Some of the older DJs I'm sure started with a mic socket in their hifi and a cheap microphone from Tandy. It is a modest beginning but its a start for the budding DJ who has just heard a show on Radio One and thought, "I can do that".

Sound Desk
One of the main things I use is a sound desk, used to fade vocal and music up and down. There are several channels on this desk but I only use 2 (3 if you count the use of vinyl on occasions). One feeds from the microphone while the other feeds from the music and jingle source. The only setback to using this setup is that the headphones are playing what is going through the desk, not the encoder feeding to Real Hit Radio servers. Most of the time the sound is perfect for broadcast. This desk then feeds into the machine that broadcasts the show to listeners listening to Real Hit Radio

Microphone
The use of a microphone is essential for recording links between songs and other voice related parts in radio. I use a cheap Talkstar microphone, which runs through a Line 6 pod set on vocal, to amplify speech. If I was to just run the microphone through the desk, the sound would not be loud enough to be heard on the broadcast. I have tried previously to turn all the settings up on the desk when trying this method and although vocals are loud, they may not always be clear. So this is the reason for using the pod, which works well in the current setup. Making the vocals even clearer is the use of a pop shield, used to filter out unwanted "spit" or "pops" when someone is pronouncing their P's and S's. Shields like this one can be bought for under £10 over the internet and make a difference when recording. Some of the older Real Hit Shows didn't use one and the difference is there, links are now much clearer and noise is reduced to a listenable standard.

Tips for doing links
When presenters start out in the presenting game of Radio, there is a lot of hesitation there. You have alot to say but are shy in front of the microphone. You have what you are going to say all figured out but all that comes out are a bunch of words and a series of ums and arrs. Its rather degrading being on air and presenting in this unprofessional manner. It is only natural to be like this at first as you've never done it before and its completely new to you. You are probably thinking, what can I say about presenting that is of any use to you. I have been presenting for 2 years and have learnt many things about the world of radio. Here are a few tips to help you when on air.

Tip 1
Try to imagine there is no one listening to you and that you are completely alone with anyone who is in the studio at this time. That way, conversations with these people flow just like an ordinary conversation, which is radio at its best. Theres nothing more entertaining than listening to two people chattering away about absolutely nothing at all. After all, DJs such as Chris Moyles and Terry Wogan have conversations with their peers all the time about minor things and they're doing pretty well for themselves.

Tip 2
Try to think what you want to be in the presenting world. Do you want to be a pretender, or an out and out real person. Pretenders are those who put on a persona in order to make themselves more appealing or more entertaining to an audience. The real people angle is where someone goes into a studio and they are completely themselves. You find a lot of this on Community and Hospital radio as they are newbies to the game. Part of the pretender angle is putting on a voice. When I'm on air, I tend to put on what is known as "the broadcasting voice" or to anyone with a mobile, the "phone voice". It is a slightly pumped up version of your voice filled with positive angle. DJs such as Tony Blackburn are known for this kind of presenting. They are putting on a show for their audience!

Tip 3
Think about your music choices. I've always tried to stand out from the others while trying to provide an enjoyable and familiar experience for the listeners. If your doing a Folk show, you don't want to play Rock music, it goes against what you are supposed to do. Also, most stations don't want tracks with swearing in. I was recently sorting through tracks and found a track by Blink 182 called "The Rock Show". This song is known for having one or two swear words in. Playing this record would cost me my place at the station. If someone requests something like this, just play the clean version or play another song by that artist, most listeners like the idea of having a song dedicated to them, no matter what it is. It makes them feel part of it.

Anyway, that is my short but sweet starter tips and a runthrough of the basic equipment used in broadcast of Real Hit Radio. If you have any questions or would like to know a bit more, just email JamieD@Realhitradio.co.uk. 

Thanks!

VHS Blog Post

Hi all you blog fans out there. I was just loading up Spotify and thought I’d just write a quick blog about something completely random. In thinking about this, I thought maybe I could write about a tired old video format that is not in mainstream usage anymore. After all, I’ve written about Blu Ray, why not this particular format I am going to refer to. I am of course talking about the VHS, or video as it will be widely known

.

The battle between Betamax and Videotape was fierce, and unfortunately Sony lost out. I’m glad this happened as I can’t see us saying we’re going to watch a betamax tonight. I mean, every time we would have said video; we would’ve been corrected by a smart relative who wants to call everything by its proper name. I personally love the VHS format. Well ok, love is probably the wrong word to describe it. There is something about VHS which makes it special. Not the static you’d get if the tape was old or the flicker on the screen but just the feel of watching a video.

I still buy the odd video tape from the charity shop, although sadly they’re beginning to be phased out as they are considered a fire hazard. This really is health and safety gone mad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tape explode into flames. I don’t quite understand it myself.

I know part of the trouble of having these tapes was the size of them, big boxes that would fill up a shelf in no time. DVDs and Blu Rays have much smaller boxes so their storage takes up less space. Also, once a video got old or damaged, the picture would deteriorate and suddenly that recording you did of CITV is just a static flicking mess. Despite this, millions of users used the format to tape any programme of the TV they wanted to watch or keep. This has been useful in recent times as sometimes the broadcaster do not have original recordings of stuff, so have recovered recordings from home users. I personally discovered many programmes I didn’t know about previously through just taping a channel while at school then coming home to watch. It’s still giving the channel the audience right?

Anyway, I shall end this rambling post about an old video format by saying thanks for reading, and if you’re still using VHS, just comment here about your thoughts on it!