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The Pussycat Waltz (For My Daughters)

The Pussycat Waltz by Simon Wilkinson

When my daughters were babies, they were both bad at sleeping.

Really bad.

We’d be extremely lucky to get more than a couple of uninterrupted hours at a time for the first few years. It was exhausting (and still is) but everyone goes through it and you eventually come out the other side and gradually forget how nerve-shreddingly debilitating it all was. I almost have.

Molly was our first born and one thing I started doing to try and calm her down at night was humming a simple lullaby. It was just a simple waltz melody that I made up which fitted the rocking motion as I tried to lull her to sleep. She’d rarely actually go to sleep but it was often enough to keep her calm, and you take what small mercies you can get when you haven’t slept for 3 days…

Over the years she began to know it as the ‘Da-da-da dee da-dum’ song and she started to sing it to herself. She still occasionally sings it now she’s almost 5 and I also used to hum it to our second daughter Ada when she came along.

The Pussycat Waltz by Simon WilkinsonSo I thought it would be nice to try and take that simple hummed tune and orchestrate a recorded version for them to hear in case they forget when they’re older.

I fleshed it out a bit more than the simple hum it started off as, but it’s still essentially the same tune (Molly also makes cat noises when she hums it now, so it’s been named The Pussycat Waltz).

I also kept picturing the Grand Central station dance scene from The Fisher King when I was writing it. It probably wouldn’t send anyone off to sleep in its finished form (try tracks like Frozen White Light for sleep) as it builds up to a couple of rousing crescendos, but it was fun to do and I hope they’ll listen to it when they’re older and maybe remember how mum and dad went through those long, long (did I mention long?) sleepless nights.

If you’re interested you can get the track here on my site and it’s also on iTunes, Spotify etc.

http://www.thebluemask.com/music-tracks/the-pussycat-waltz/

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ASMR Music And Triggers

Recently I’ve had several people contact me telling me they find my music useful in triggering ASMR. If you have no idea what ASMR is (I didn’t at first) it stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It’s a physical (but almost internal) sensation usually characterised by pleasant tingling feelings in the scalp or down the spine, although it affects different people in different ways, and sometimes not at all.

From what I’m told, it’s an abstract experience that’s hard to explain but often likened to things like water rushing under your scalp or having your brain gently massaged or tickled! While I’ve certainly experienced similar tingling feelings when listening to music before, I wasn’t really aware of it as a specific phenomenon, but it’s interesting that so many people report shared experiences.

Common things that can bring about these pleasurable feelings are known as ‘triggers’ and include things like quiet soothing talking, soft whispering or even something as abstract as watching videos of people carrying out simple but deeply-focused tasks. There are thousands of ASMR videos on YouTube if you want to find out more. From what I’ve been told, it’s a very unique experience and what triggers ASMR in one person may have no effect on another.

It seems that my ambient space music is the most common trigger out of all my tracks to use as ASMR music, probably because it’s often very calm, atmospheric and soothing. I also tend to put a lot of detailed but subtle layers of sound in my music, so I guess that’s certainly likely to enhance the effect.

I’ve put together a playlist above of some of my ambient music videos that you might want to take a listen to and see if it triggers anything for you! And there’s links to more tracks below if you want to try them out (some are also available on Spotify/iTunes/Rdio etc.) and you obviously don’t have to license them if you’re just downloading for your own listening:

http://www.thebluemask.com/tag/asmr/

Obviously, listening on headphones is likely to reveal more detail and make the experience more intense. If any of my music does anything for you, I’d love to hear about your experiences -- feel free to let me know.

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Dark Ambient Space Music Through The Ergosphere Promo Trailer

Dark Ambient Space Music: Through The Ergosphere by Simon Wilkinson

New promo video clip for my dark atmospheric ambient space music Through The Ergosphere. The track is a dark and slowly evolving seven minute atmospheric ambient soundscape set to a film of ethereal dark space visuals and other worldly imagery from the European Space Agency Hubble Telescope project.

Quietly dramatic, the music is ideal textural underscore for films and documentaries or simply for fans of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, Brian Eno’s ambient music, Biosphere, Stars Of The Lid and other similar ambient artists and drones. Put it on headphones and drift away to dark and atmospheric sci-fi landscapes.

Get the full mp3 track or license the music for your film or documentary from my music shop:

www.thebluemask.com/through-the-ergosphere

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Promo For Dark Ambient Space Music Polaris

Dark Ambient Space Music: Polaris by Simon Wilkinson

Here’s a new promo video for more of my dark ambient space music set to atmospheric space video footage. This track is called Polaris, a dark eerie atmospheric ambient sci-fi soundtrack, available to license at low cost for use in your own videos, films, documentaries and Youtube videos.

The full length track is 10 minutes long and is available from my website store. No drums, no percussion, just long, organic, dark & evolving hypnotic soundscapes and relaxing mesmerizing atmospheric drones. Perfect underscore music for documentaries and films or just for fans of atmospheric ethereal music from artists like Brian Eno, Biosphere, Stars Of The Lid and other ambient textures. Put it on headphones and drift away to dark sci-fi landscapes.

Get Polaris from:

www.thebluemask.com/polaris

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YouTube Content ID Problems & False Claims

Content ID False ClaimsIf you’ve ever uploaded a video to YouTube you might be aware of their Content ID system. Basically whenever a video is uploaded, it scans the content and tries to match anything within it against its huge database of known music and video content.

So if your video includes (for example) a Michael Jackson song, you’ll likely find yourself with a Content ID claim from Sony Music Entertainment (SME) on your video. And to be honest, this is absolutely fair enough -- they do own the rights to the music so if anyone is going to earn advertising from that music, it should be the rights holders.

It’s a pretty clever system and it actually works fairly well, most of the time. If the song has distinctive vocals, melody, drums etc. then it will probably correctly identify any music used in the video. But what happens when it makes a mistake? For example, it doesn’t always work so well on more atmospheric music with no drums or vocals -- like ambient or instrumental music! Or maybe you used a loop from Garageband or a commercially available sample collection that other people have also used.

In these instances, it’s not unknown for the system to incorrectly match a similar sounding track against a completely different track. These false positives maybe share the same chord progression or musical key but without a vocal to latch onto, the system sometimes wrongly matches similar sounding instrumental tracks.

This is where the system gets infuriatingly difficult to actually resolve the issue with a human. If you get an incorrect/false Content ID claim on your video, you can file a dispute and try to explain the problem within YouTube’s ‘File a dispute‘ process. But guess what; the people who investigate and judge your dispute are the very people who filed it (not YouTube, but usually a record company or rights management company acting on behalf of the song). So the claimant can effectively act as judge and jury on their own cases…

In my experience, these initial disputes are often just blindly ignored by the claimant (or possibly even automated) who will commonly just click ‘Reject’ against your claim without even checking whether what you say is true, in the hope you’ll just go away and leave them to earn a few pennies off your video.

At this point you have one last chance to file a counterclaim (though many people stop there, particularly if they are using material without permission and don’t want to get into legal trouble or risk a copyright strike on their account). It seems that it’s only at this point that the claimant might actually begin to take a look at your video to see if what you say is true, if only because they can at this point, also be held legally accountable for their decision.

If you are genuinely using copyright material without permission (which you shouldn’t…) the claimant will probably stand their ground (as you would expect…) and either pull the video or mute any music they own the rights to. I don’t actually know what usually happens here because I’ve never used other people’s music in my videos!

But I have had false/incorrect Content ID claims put on my own music! Currently if you include my 100% original music track Outpost 31 in a YouTube video, you will automatically get a claim from WMG (on behalf of Sumerian Records) saying that you are using a track called ‘Filth Friends Unite‘ by a band called I See Stars. I had never even heard of this track or band until I got a claim on my own video so I looked them up to see if there were any confusing similarities.

WMG/Sumerian Records & I See Stars

This is Filth Friends Unite by I See Stars (top) compared to Outpost 31 by me (bottom):

I SEE STARS - Filth Friends Unite (Official Music Video)
False Content ID claims by WMG/Sumerian Records: Outpost 31 Test

As you can hear, theirs is a kind of thrashy pop-punk, metalcore song with vocals and guitars (song starts about 45 seconds in) whereas mine is a slow, downtempo, orchestral, electronic instrumental.

The 2 tracks are completely different: different tempos, different musical keys and don’t share any samples, dialogue, loops or anything else that could be remotely confused. So I can only assume there is some kind of glitch or error in the Content ID database or metatags that is causing it to wrongly match two completely unrelated tracks.

Yet every time I try uploading a test video containing my song, I get an automatic Content ID claim. So I file a dispute, which I would expect them to look at and realise there’s been a mistake and release my video. But instead they just sit it out and leave the claim to expire after 30 days, presumably because they know they have no case (or more likely because up until now, they receive any advertising revenue generated by your video during that crucial 30 day period when you’ll probably get the most hits on your video -- see update at the end of this post).

The reason I’ve uploaded my test video above with my music on is to highlight the problem -- I’m not trying to get this particular video released from the claim (that always happens anyway after 30 days when the claim expires and if they want to uphold it and take it further legally I’m happy to do so -- I will definitely win!) I just want to get whatever the problem is, fixed, so that my clients don’t also receive false/incorrect claims on their videos.

But they’re putting blanket claims on any video that uses this particular track so if you want to license Outpost 31 and use it on YouTube (or if you have licensed it and got a Content ID claim) please contact me and I’ll explain the process of how to successfully file a dispute if you get one. I can guarantee that Outpost 31 is 100% my own work -- my track was written and released several years before theirs and I have all original multitrack recordings to prove I created it with no samples (not that there’s even a similarity to dispute!) I’m sure it’s a genuine mistake but they have no right to put claims on my work.

I’ve tried contacting both WMG and Sumerian Records numerous times via email, on their Twitter accounts, Facebook pages etc. to politely ask for help but they refuse to acknowledge any kind of response. I’m sure it must be some kind of technical error within the Content ID system but for some reason no-one at WMG or Sumerian Records is willing to talk to me.

And this highlights one of the worst things about Content ID. YouTube have no interest in looking into genuine false claims or monitoring the way claimants are abusing the claims process; they just want to appease the record labels and minimise the admin involved (hence there’s no way to contact YouTube and ask for help). I know this kind of thing also happens a lot to other people but YouTube won’t get involved. Just search Google and you’ll find thousands of genuine Content ID problems and similar issues that are continually ignored.

When Content ID works correctly it’s a pretty workable solution to help copyright holders rightfully monitor and administer their work, but when it doesn’t work it’s an extremely frustrating and poorly implemented procedure with no real right-to-reply that always works in favour of the big companies.

Update: The one good thing which YouTube have just announced is that instead of diverting any advertising revenue to the claimant for the 30 day period (while the claim is supposedly ‘investigated’) they will now hold the revenue and make sure the winning party in the dispute receives any advertising earnings if and when the dispute is finally settled. But the system still makes it incredibly frustrating to try and resolve when things go wrong (as I mention here in a brief interview with CBC). YouTube should provide some kind of mediation to help resolve technical problems and wrong IDs within their Content ID system.

If you receive any Content ID warnings using my genuinely licensed music on YouTube, please contact me and I’ll help you to try and resolve it (there are certain steps to take during disputes which can make it easier). I absolutely own 100% of all my copyrights and I don’t sample anyone else’s work, so no-one should be making any false claims on my work!

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Promo Video For Atmospheric Ambient Music: Frozen White Light

Ambient Space Music: Frozen White Light by Simon Wilkinson

Frozen White Light by Simon WilkinsonHere’s the promo video for my latest atmospheric ambient music track Frozen White Light which features a short extract from the full length track (the full track is over 30 minutes long) and is available to buy and license for your own films and documentaries from my website here.

The track is a long and slow moving ambient piece of music with a peaceful atmospheric and hypnotic feel, ideal as musical background for films, documentaries, time lapse films, art installations and exhibitions etc. (as heard in the soundtrack to the full length Dakotalapse time lapse film Horizons by Randy Halverson). Due to its long and unobtrusive nature, it can also be used as calming background music for studying, writing, relaxation, meditation, yoga etc.

When I was working on the track, it was usually in the small hours of the morning and my 1 year old daughter (who’s always been a problem sleeper) would often start her nightly routine of waking up crying. I noticed that when I went to comfort her and brought her into the studio while the track was playing, she would immediately calm down and become transfixed with the music and the video. After about 10 minutes of sitting there listening quietly on my lap, she would always fall back asleep, which amazed us because we’d tried everything up until that point. So it could also work as sleep therapy if you or your children have problems sleeping!

Get the full length 30 minute track and find out how to license it for use in your own projects here:

http://www.thebluemask.com/frozen-white-light

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Tom Baker Reads Poetry Over My Ambient Space Music For HCS Voice Packs!

The inimitable Tom Baker is heard reciting poetry over some of my ambient space music in this Soundcloud preview from HCS Voice Packs!

HCS Voice Packs provide audio overlay voice packs for games and space simulators such as Elite Dangerous, Voice Attack and more. Tom Baker is a legend in the acting world and obviously known for his iconic portrayal of Dr Who, so I’m honoured to have some of my music playing underneath his dulcet tones!

HCS have recorded a huge library of voice packs with other icons from legendary sci-fi shows and actors such as Blakes Seven, Brian Blessed and many more. Check out their websites:

http://www.hcsvoicepacks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/elitedangerousvoicepack/

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New Atmospheric Royalty Free Music Collection: Vol. 6 Dark Matter

Royalty Free Music For Documentary & Film Vol.6 (promo video) by Simon Wilkinson

I’ve just released a new collection of royalty free music available from my website store. Royalty-Free Film & Documentary Music Vol. 6: Dark Matter is a collection of 17 tracks of atmospheric music ideal for documentaries with dark subject matter, e.g. crime, investigation, conspiracy, betrayal, intrigue etc.

It could also be useful for films and trailers needing a soundtrack with dark music and textures. You can watch the promo clip above which features short extracts from each of the 17 tracks to give you an idea of the style of music. Or head to the shop to hear full length previews of all the tracks where you can buy the collection in mp3 or wav format for just £39.99:

www.thebluemask.com/royalty-free-film-documentary-music-vol-6-dark-matter/

Simon Wilkinson: Royalty Free Film & Documentary Music Vol. 6: Dark MatterAll my royalty free music collections include a license which means you can keep using the music in as many of your films, documentaries, trailers and videos as you like without having to pay any further fees each time you use it.

The included royalty free license covers use on Youtube, Vimeo or Facebook videos, commercial or personal websites, trailers, DVDs etc. (full details of the licensing info is in the store here). And if you buy the complete collection of all my royalty free music, you’ll automatically receive a 30% discount on the total price.

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New Subway TV Commercial Featuring My Music

Subway Commercial Feat. My Orchestral Music Track Excelsior

Music for Subway commercial by Simon WilkinsonMy dramatic orchestral music track Excelsior is being featured in the latest Subway ‘Breakfast Barrier’ TV commercials for their sub-200 calorie breakfast sandwich on US TV networks.

Excelsior is also available to buy and license for use in your own trailers & videos:

http://www.thebluemask.com/excelsior