Okay, I’m sitting at my computer at 2am, trying to design the new site after plotting various designs with pencil and paper. Nothing is sticking, so I move over to the Evolution, jack in my Sennheiser headphones and play around with some music. Trust me, if you need a break from designing and all your housemates are sound asleep, music is the key. I usually design with music constantly playing in the background anyway and if I’m on a roll, out comes some trance tracks to keep me going, pushing me through any slumps I inevitably get into.

Naz recently posted a good article on the design process recently and how frustrating it can be when nothing is coming out, what methodology designers take, etc’85 It’s a great read and a must for anyone out there designing. Jason Santa Maria also posted a ‘must-read’ article on the use of Illustrator and what he calls the ‘grey box method’ for designing a site. It seems from both of these articles that pencil and paper is the best way to start, and when you finish, either move to Illustrator or Photoshop. Some of the comments on these articles are worth reading too, making you think twice about going straight into Photoshop from the get-go (note: not a good idea from experience!).

Anyway, back to the music. I’ve been throwing around scoring cues all over the place recently, using different effects and features within the monster that is Reason. Most of the time though, I strip everything back because I almost always use it for film scoring, which in my case, only consists of a few instruments at once. Drawing inspiration from music has always been in my veins, ever since I was really young and so sometimes I’ll even come up with a short or feature film concept, just from a single piece of music.

I recently saw Million Dollar Baby (an excellent film) and when asking others, “Did you like the score?” most agreed it was fairly non-existent or memorable. Hell you can’t even buy a soundtrack since there isn’t one yet (although a cue can be heard at the beginning of the trailer and possibly at the Oscars soon, although the music wasn’t nominated) But Clint Eastwood’s scores generally consist of very simple themes that repeat throughout the film, so that they stick with you long after the credits roll (albeit slightly subconsciously in Clint’s case, at lease for me). I prefer these types of scores more often than not because they support the other elements within the film frame such as the cinematography and performances, as opposed to blocking them out.

So what is ‘Nebula Love’? No it’s not a movie, or a short film idea (although it may be brought back in one form or another for future projects) but a complete 4:40min track I just finished on the fly. There are no drums, there are no vocals, there’s just ambiance. Visually, I see two bodies wrapped in the sky, making love and this is what they’re hearing. Close your eyes and:

Listen for yourselves (5 meg, .mp3)

But in another context, I can see it working as well. For example, play the track backwards in Quicktime (select ‘Loop Back and Forth’) and you get another variant on the theme, giving it pace (which is a fortunate accident). I deliberately used a very simple approach because I wanted it to support the visuals I was creating in my head. Who knows? Maybe this will be the start of my next film venture. Time to pick up that notebook again and start writing!

The only downside I saw initially with digital copies was the lack of some fantastic cover art that comes only with a vinyl or CD package. Luckily iTunes supports the inclusion of cover art so you can add the covers, backs, inlays, etc’85 to any track you wish. Still there is a coolness factor involved with having a shelf full of vinyls or CDs that you can proudly display to all your friends and acquaintances when they come over to visit. Then there is the knowledge that you have something physical in your possession. For some people it’s the same as having a physical book to read rather than having to scroll through a computer screen.

I’ve been slowly ripping and encoding my entire music collection for a few weeks now and I’m happy with the results. I use LAME technology for the best quality mp3′s. Much better than the iTunes encoder. The best thing about software such as iTunes is the ‘search’ feature which lets you locate a track in seconds. I’ve spent a good half an hour looking through my CD collection in the past just to find one particular track. It’s crazy. I think what the online revolution has taught us if anything is that people want music immediately. You hear a song on the radio, you want it immediately. Online digital purchasing allows this. Then there’s the ‘album-with-only-a-few-good-tracks’ factor. Buying select tracks online means no more crap in your collection. For me, it’s like going from dial-up Internet to broadband – there really is no turning back.

Quick Links:

- New Queens of the Stone Age album ‘the best shit‘?
- The original Star Wars trilogy on DVD finally. Yes but they’re not the original versions or the special editions released in 1997. Georgey boy is still tweaking them!
- Scarlett guest stars for The Pussycat Dolls. Yes James, wipe that drool!