Copying & pasting: Dan Black style

Hi, hi, hi.

It's been an age since I posted anything musical here so I hope this tickles your nicely-done-pop-tune sensibilities as much as it does mine.

I first heard this in a lecture I was taking notes in [yes, I get paid to take notes and listen to lectures ... which is usually as good as it sounds!]. The topic of the lecture was 'mash-ups' - a totally perfect 'copy + paste' style philospphy if ever there was one.

A mash-up is where an artist [of any media] takes two or more things and throws them together to make a new one. [If you've ever seen Glee you'll have seen how they mix two songs together ... and that's a mash-up] ... anyway ...

In this particular lecture the following video, Dan Black's 'Symphonies' , was used as an example of mashing-up various films and genres into one video. See how many you can spot:



I'm tempted to offer a prize to the first person to leave a comment [after listening to the full thing] about why this particular song might have an additional resonance for this blog ...

You might as well leave a comment anyway ... and I'll have a think about what prize you might want to receive ...

Enjoy the tune and the video - it's one that's gone round and round in my head ever since I heard it. So much so that I even bought the CD ... which has so many songs that sound like other artists / tunes you get the feeling the whole album's one big mash-up.

Don't forget to keep an ear out for it's special affinity to us here ... !

Julie :-)

I've Been Copying: Notes on Paper

Yep, that's 'Notes on Paper' as in C+P's very own Julie Kirk and her really rather splendid blog. Obviously, I keep up with it on a regular basis, and would highly recommend you check it out too, but there's a very particular reason for doing so at the moment. In case you haven't already spotted it, Julie's just launched her first free (and fabulous) solo class, Tips For The Twitter-Curious.

Whatever your feelings about Twitter or social networking in general, it's well worth reading through the first few lessons. I'm a pretty seasoned Tweeter and there have already been tips I've found useful, as well as plenty of points I hadn't considered before. Equally, if you're not interested or have decided Twitter isn't for you, there might just be something there to make you reconsider. Not in a mind-washing, Julie-will-make-you-love-Twitter-come-what-may kind of way (you know her better than that, right?). She just has a really interesting perspective on the world of Twitter and how you can tailor the site to make it work in a way that suits you.

The first three lessons are already available for you to read through on her blog, and despite being packed with information, they're hugely accessible and easy to read. You hopefully already know what an engaging writer Julie is, and I can promise you she's also a pretty corking teacher.

For my part - and because I did, after all, suggest I'd been copying Ms Kirk - I have a quick but pretty download for you. If you head over to the blog post I wrote yesterday, you'll find a couple of free patterns, ready to use as a background for your Twitter page. Whether it's for a brand spanking new, inspired-by-Julie account or an older one that could do with some added cheer on a chilly January afternoon, you're very welcome to help yourself.

We'll be back with more very soon, but in the spirit of Tips For The Twitter-Curious, you can generally find both of us - Julie and me - hanging out with the bird.

Kirsty

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