Longplayer Live at The Roundhouse

Longplayer Live is an incredible endeavor. I first blogged about it here.

A single composition playing for 1000 years. It started in 1999 and on the 12th of September I was invited by Artangel to blog about it live.
It was a great day. It was a long day. 1000 minutes of 1000 years.

You can find some Audioboo’s by myself and others tagged with Longplayer here and some of my Flickr images here.

Here is the Longplayer Posterous blog.

The Longplayer trust has been set up to keep it going. Click HERE if you feel you can help.

Thanks to @Encosion for letting me use the audio he captured on the day and for Artangel for helping the whole thing happen.

Longplayer Live

On the back of a bus in 1995 a guy called Jem Finer had an idea. Nearly five years later in 1999, on the verge of the third millennium that idea came to life as a thousand year long musical composition was set into motion.
Longplayer is a piece of music that’s been playing since 31 December 1999 and will keep playing until 31 December 2999. The composer Jem Finer created it in such a way that it will never, ever repeat itself and an organisation called The Longplayer Trust was created to ensure the music continued to play through the coming centuries.

For the last five years there have been a handful of dedicated listening posts around the world – but on 12 September 2009 they’re attempting something completely new: a 1000 minute section performed live by a relay team of musicians in the aptly circular setting of the Roundhouse in North London. It will run from 8.20am that morning until 1am the next.

At the same time, elsewhere in the building a historic relay conversation will be taking place between 24 leading writers, filmmakers, scientists, academics and technology activists, inspired by the philosophical implications of long time. Participants include Jeanette Winterson, Cory Doctrow, Rachel Armstrong and Andrew Kotting.

Artangel, who initially commissioned Longplayer almost ten years ago, have asked me to  use social media to document the day live. This to me is an amazing concept in itself. How will the 1000 minutes of the 1000 years be remembered. Assuming the data survives who will be around to review any captured content? What will they think of the technology involved? How could i say no?

I’ll be doing whatever I can to ensure plenty of live material is streamed on the day. Using Qik, Audioboo, 12Seconds, Twitter, Flickr and as many other platforms as I feel necessary to share the moments as they happen with those outside of the Roundhouse walls. I feel this will be one of the most extraordinary musical events I will ever get to see and am really excited about exploring some of the ideas, concepts and conversations that spring up around the day. This one day in 365,000.

Fancy coming along?  Artangel have also kindly allowed me to give 20 tickets away to others willing to tweet, blog or just share the moment so please drop me a comment/email/tweet or call if you’d like to come along as well.

See www.longplayer.org for the official project website, and if you miss out on the free tickets you can still book discounted tickets direct from this link http://bit.ly/2EJDzJ (use the promo code ‘144′ to get a third off the face value).

Here is a full list of the speakers attending the Longplayer live event.

Hope to see you there.

Video For The Web

Advertising revenue is down, newspapers are struggling and as the economy takes a downturn production costs are up, at the same time online readership and revenue continue to rise. So what’s the answer? Go where the eyes are. Whether you are writing, taking pictures, shooting video or recording audio you can build communities with your content. But only if you take it online.

Three years ago online video was something I mostly only viewed. I’d played around with recording and uploading video but this was a long winded haphazard affair involving hand coded xml files every time I wanted to add a video to my podcast. Then if I wanted to share it further afield I’d upload it to YouTube giving me the option to embed on a website or link to it in an email or forum.

Now it’s just as easy as sending an email. Many of the sites I visit today are either video conversational platforms or at the very least places where video is being shared and commented on. Video is now a medium of conversation.

Recently I have been asked more and more by companies “Do we really need to get involved in video?”

The short answer is “Yes.”

For me, engaging with online video is a no brainer.

The easiest way for me to explain why this shift from old analogue methods of communication to online ones is so important is to compare online video with TV. The buzzword for a while now has been Social Media, Social Media does exactly what it says on the tin, it allows people to have conversations on a new level of engagement, be it from an entertainment or marketing perspective.  TV could not be further away from this world. The most interactive thing TV can offer us is the red button. Nowadays people expect a conversation with their content.

TV advertising is also fleeting and expensive. After the cost of creating your media, you pay for your slot and when it’s gone it’s gone. Online video on the other hand, can be made at a fraction of the cost, and if you spread it intelligently it’s viewable forever. Not only that but the viewer can comment on, respond to, and share it for you. This conversation around your content keeps it alive, relevant, and in the public eye way beyond other forms of old analogue media.

Online video is also instantly global, searchable, on demand and with viewing stats that are easily measured.

It really is a no brainer.

Whether you want content for your website, to launch a brand or product, produce video news releases, or just show the human side of your organisation, you need to have a presence in the digital world, you need to be using online video. I can show you how to do produce content cheaply and effectively. I cover the kit, how-to shooting tips, file compression, uploading and aggregation, how to make your video visible, and loads more.  Whether you wish to use some of the free solutions out there like Twitvid, Tokbox or Qik, or shoot HD on a hand held device, I can be there to guide you through selecting suitable equipment to shoot, edit and distribute your video effectively.

For a little while now I’ve offered one to one consultation and informal training sessions on all aspects of social media and video making for the web. Now, for the first time, in conjunction with Econsultancy, I’m going to be able to offer a formal workshop (snappily titled) ‘Video For The Web‘.

4.7 billion videos are watched online in the UK every year. Make one of them yours.

http://econsultancy.com/training/courses/video-for-the-web

(Please check out the other home for this blogpost and it’s comments here.. Econsultancy.com)

My AudioBoo Podcast

Well I never. In only three days AudioBoo has metamorphosed before my eyes into a simple, intuitive podcasting solution.

It’s been around for longer than that (read my blog for more info) but I just took a look at my AudioBoo iTunes Feed and i have done what appears to be 30 mini podcasts in 3 days!

My ‘normal’ podcast is only in the 40’s!.. OK.. some will argue that they are a little more honed and probably better quality than some of my mini rants and rambles but who cares? Think of how easy it is now to podcast, albeit limited to 5 minutes. Think of all the people without the technical know how to hand code an XML file. It takes me literally hours to do my normal podcast so i can see the finished item on iTunes.. I can now do it in seconds.

Yes you need an iPhone but this will not be so in the future. And besides, look at the kit you used to need. Even on the cheap you are looking at some kind of audio recorder and a computer. Some people use mixers. Now all you need is a free app AudioBoo and an iPhone.

I guess the reason why I go on and on about how i am impressed with all of this is that I have a feeling we are going to see so many newly inspired multimedia producers not only equipped with the tech but using it in new and innovative ways. These new producers won’t be fault finding for 8 hours at a time after 5 hours of making a podcast wondering why their show hasn’t appeared in iTunes. I am not going to miss any of that.

I feel that once again I have moved from developing my own film to taking my first Polaroid. Yes it requires less work and you have not sweat blood to get the final result. Perhaps it does seem a little disposable and the purists will see it as a tweet next to a well thought out and composed blog post.

It doesn’t make the final work any less valuable. The world online is moving pretty fast now. I listen to fewer and fewer 40 minute podcasts and more and more shorter ones. I am chosing the Haiku over the ‘Long Poem‘.

This doesn’t mean i am going to stop doing my longer podcast editied in garageband.. not yet.

But it does mean you have something else to subscribe to.. If you want. Something shorter, quicker, rawer, off the cuff, unedited, not a programme, not an edited broadcast.. A little slice of life. A moment in time. An audio tweet. A Boo.

Subscribe to my AudioBoo’s i iTunes

And to my older longer podcast here.

AudioBoo

AudioBoo has me excited. It fills a gap, it’s a missing link, and while we wait for a good quality audio/video (maybe VideoBoo) on an non-jailbroken iPhone.. This is going to keep me more than occupied.

Audioboo is an audio blogging platform in the shape of an iPhone app that was in private beta in January but is now available free of charge right now in the app store.

I first got wind of it through @Sizemore via @Bash. Weirdly I had just been listening to @Loudmouthman and @doctorpod on the podcast Social Media White Noise as they talked about something i had said in an old podcast of mine about wanting a one touch podcasting solution. I have never really got into Utterli. Sometimes it takes the simple interface of an iPhone app to really grab my imagination.

I think Audioboo could be it. It was a free download on the App Store created by Best Before Media with funding from 4iP.

In a nut.. it lets you create and tag recordings and upload them to a timeline with your GPS coordinates and a photo. The app and site are very much a work in progress and I’m very excited to see how it will develop.

I have already submitted my Atom feed (http://audioboo.fm/users/124/boos.atom) to the iTunes store and recorded a couple of interviews at @StationX The RSS could do with some work and there are some UI ideas i would like to pass onto @mattwaring and the team but with plugins and access to an API on the horizon I really feel a serious journalistic tool, as well as a fun social media toy has arrived on our iPhones.

I imagine it’s only a matter of time before Audioboo is available for other phones, either as apps or within their mobile browsers.

In the meantime, while i experiment, I have fallen back in love with audio. It makes you think more about how you describe your surroundings. It makes me want my surroundings to explain themselves. Either by getting close to a person and their opinion or close to environmental sounds. Combined with a photo attached to act as a catalyst for the imagination, the listener is not being force fed the story. they have to take a moment to let their imagination get involved in the media.

If you are not keen on recording straight away, Take a trip through the timeline.. With every sound bite you are taken from one place to the next.. from one life to the next. Last night I lay in bed and visited countless places illustrated in sound. It reminded me of when I first found podcasting.

There is no hiding behind the production here though.. these sound bites, (at the moment anyway) are limited to 5 minutes of raw recording. If you make a mistake, your humanity shines through. The intro and outro do not get in the way of the content, as they are the content.

At the moment I’m playing with adding a windshield to the iPhone for cleaner outdoor interviews but to be honest, I’m amazed at the audio quality as it is.

Perhaps the words would flip round with the assistance of the iPhones accelerometer when the phone is held upside down. The button to start and stop the recording is already in a great place for this.

Here is a link to my feed.. http://www.audioboo.fm/profile/Documentally

If you have one of your own please drop me a link in the comments below. Lets experiment with this cool new tool so we grow with it and shape it into an even better app than it is today.

Thirst For Rioja

I’m in Spain! In Rioja to be precise..

We landed here last night for a quick in-out social media commando mission to visit the Dinastia Vivanco winery and it’s wine culture museum.

I have never really explored this region and so far i am mightily impressed. I am here with Rob McIntosh (@thirstforwine) and he has explained out basic goals on his blog here.. http://thirstforrioja.co.uk/.

In a nut.. Dinastia Vivanco will be sponsoring the wine at the London Twestival, so we thought a quick media gathering mission out here to the Rioja region would be the best way to share the Dinastia Vivanco story with those soon to be enjoying their wines. Instead of every glass of wine glass or coaster plastered with ad’s, we figured creating a conversation around the wine prior to the event coupled with a steady trickle of wine related content (and you know how much i enjoy wine) could allow the Twestival event to concentrate or the important matter of the night.. raising money for Charity: Water

If i can be so bold as to quote myself off Robs site..

“Using social media to highlight a sponsors product in this way, enables the focus at the actual event (in this case Twestival) to be about the charity or cause that everybody is rallying around. By creating content around Dinastia Vivanco’s wine, Twestival goers can know it is Dinastia Vivanco who is supplying the London event with quality wine without the need for on-the-night plugging and publicity. The night should remain primarily about raising money for Charity:Water http://www.charitywater.org/ “

Last night I was taken round the narrow tapas laden streets of Logroño and was fascinated by Rob’s wine and food knowledge. The food and drink culture here is second to none and I really hope to return here with others and share this Epicurian lifestyle.

Here is a couple of videos i compressed to the max and rushed out after much wine last night but today is when the work really starts..

Twestival

On the 25th of September 2008 myself and Matt (@Barnstormed) found ourselves at the first ever Twestival at the Doon Bar, Trafalger Square London.

Here is one of the videos we shot that night.

On the 12th of February 2009 Twestival really grows up, as cities all around the world will be hosting their own Twestivals bringing together Twitter communities not just to party but this time to raise money and awareness for charity: water projects.

These Twestivals will be organized by volunteers and 100% of the money raised will go directly to support charity: water projects.

Why should you care..?

We are in the perfect position being the communicators we are, to blog, tweet and disseminate this kind of information all around the world. Raising awareness, money and assistance for whatever we can.

Whatever you use twitter for you have built connections and every node in those connections can possible help in some way. They just need to know to care and knowing you care helps that message along at lightning speed.

Charity: Water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

At this moment in time 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.

Lets put our skills to good use and spread the word. I am sure we can all do good if we care to.

Even better than that.. donate some money..

More info at: http://www.charitywater.org/

Follow Documentally here: Twitter.com/Documentally

..and Matt (editor of the above video here) Twitter.com/Barnstormed

See you at @Twestival!!

Polaroid PoGo Portable Bluetooth Printer

Polaroid Kindly sent me one of their PoGo Zink (Zero Ink) bluetooth portable printers to have a play with and over this last week i have done just that.

It’s not that bad, pretty good fun in fact and I can see lots of uses other than the ones they advertise.. but be warned some of them may get you into trouble…

There is no ink to buy as some kind of crystal technology is incorporated into the paper but at £2.99 for ten 76×50 mm photo stickers.. You may want to use them sparingly unless you have massive pocket money or a decent job.

I found the battery pretty good and love the fact i could send from my laptop’s bluetooth too.

As far as the print quality goes.. I found it as good as i expected for a device this fresh out. Make sure you occasionally place a photo in upside down to clean the device (or whatever it does) this seems to remove banding in the colours that can happen. Once again it’s the content that’s the star.

If Polaroid come out with a 6×4 version I would certainly buy one if the image quality was up to scratch..

Please check out the video for a look..

Don’t forget you can support this blog and then i can bring you more reviews, interviews and of course eat!

Ourmaninside says: Find Me

I have been getting back into Geocaching recently. It all happened when I installed a couple of new gps based apps on my iPhone and one of them allowed me to check for geocaches in my area. There are loads! So now when on a dog walk I occasionally turn on my gps just to see if there may be some hidden treasure in the area.

It’s a great way of just getting out to enjoy the land around you.. be it in countryside or the areas of a city you haven’t explored yet. On top of that.. You never know what you might find.

I will probably write about this more in depth in the coming weeks.. I just felt i had to talk around the subject in order to justify a blog post where I can hide the coordinates to a real life social media treasure hunt going on right now..

Good Luck!

Dear Twitter

Dear Twitter,

I have had a great idea…

I suddenly realised that over here in the UK you have no offline presence at all. No skyscraping head office, no billboards and no sponsored parks or roundabouts.

How could this be? Especially with you being such an incredible international social media tour de force.

This got me thinking. I believe I have one of the most sociable cars ever built. It also just happens to be ‘Twitter‘ colour. As the car is so rare in the UK people already stare as I drive by. Wherever I park, people approach to find out more. What is it? Where is it from? Why do you have it?

Imagine how different the questions would be if my car had Twitter emblazoned down the side…

What is this Twitter car? What’s it all about?

It would be a cinch to also have real-time, location based tweets scrolling across the rear window.

Social media folk know all about Twitter. Let’s make social media even more sociable by reaching out of our echo chamber and into the wider world.

I am happy to be the driver/chauffeur/pilot of the ‘Twittermobile’. I could even do interviews in the back seat.

Talk to me and lets take twitter offline and into the minds and streets of the British people.

If you are not following me already on Twitter i am @Documentally

Random donations are always welcome and deeply apreciated on my support page.

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