You may remember that a few weeks ago, I got given a huge bag of records, some of which were in a bad state. On flickr, there was a small discussion on the best way to clean records. Below is my response. I thought it was too long-winded to leave it rotting in the middle of a flickr discussion, so here it is. Hopefully, someone might make use out of it.

I recently got given a huge pile of records, and these were in absolute states. No covers, records dating from 1962, in a smokers house. I discarded a selection where the owners dog had chewed through the pile. You get the type of condition.

I found a few in the collection I particularly wanted to play.

I had tried a number of things, to help clean my records, with very little success. I tried the quality handwash as mentioned previously, sadly it left too much residue, and actually broke my needle.

I don’t remember what made me try this particular substance, but it worked a treat. Technically, I’ve probably broken every law when it comes to record cleaning, but hell, if it worked for me, it might work for someone else…

My miracle fluid? Washing up liquid.

Currently at home, I use a particular example which is very, very concentrated, bought in bulk, in a big 5-litre bottle. The tiniest squirt fills the sink full of foam. Costs £9 ($18ish) a bottle, but lasts a year.

I experimented, and squirted a big gloop of this stuff onto the record surface, and used a combination of forefinger and thumb to rub the crap off. No water. That comes later.

The more I rubbed, the more came off. I’ve never seen anything like it. The orange syrup-like stuff turned dark brown as 40-odd years of crud escaped from the groove.

The muck coming out was clear to see. Holding the record against the side of the sink, I’d rub off the excess, again with my finger, resulting in dark brown streaks going down the sink to the drain, flipping the record over and doing the B side too.

I power-rinsed it, using the finger-over-the-tap technique, creating a tiny yet powerful little squirt, to clean the record, and remove as much soap as I could, and repeat the process until the excess going down the drain was clear.

Just for completeness, I’d repeat the process, and rinse it again. If the water stuck to the record, this meant there was still a trace of detergent on there, and I’d give it another blast. If the water ran straight off, I’d dry it using kitchen roll / paper towels.

The way to tell how successful the process has been (without playing it) is to hold the record up, at an angle to the light, so the light reflects off the inside of the groove. If it is shiny, there’s a good chance it will play, though the less scratches there are, the better it will play, naturally. If the reflection is dull, repeat the process. If it remains dull, there’s permanent damage to the record.

You don’t have to have the super-thick stuff. I bought some cheap store-own-brand stuff. Much runnier, but just as effective at removing the dirt.

I probably wouldn’t recommend this technique for only lightly soiled records, but when it comes to neglect + nicotine + dog, this procedure worked remarkably well.

Your mileage may vary with this one…

Technorati Tags: cleaning, cleansing, detergent, fingerprints, fix, groove, Music, record, tip, vinyl, washing up liquid

Oh, okay then, I WILL update, just because it’s more fun that sitting here doing nothing.

I can’t tell you what I’ve been doing, or where I’ve been, but during my absence, I have been busy. In fact, over the past week or so, I’ve actually took the time out and catalogued the majority of my 7″ single collection.

At the time of typing, it’s up to 570 records. You can view a PDF file of them all here…

Record_Main.pdf

Over the coming days, I might completely rewrite the music section, as I think it needs it.

Technorati Tags: database, Music, pdf, records, singles, vinyl

Some of you may remember that I have a love for a particular song called “Downtown”, by long-defunct Swedish songsters One 2 Many.

It has frustrated me for the past seven years, that although I’ve mentioned it quite a few times, I’ve never been able to post an example of what it sounds like. Finally, thanks to the wonderment of YouTube, someone has actually made a video with it in. The video itself is nothing special, as it’s just the cover of the single, but you can hear the record, and of course, that’s the main thing…

Unfortunately, I have a feeling it won’t be up there for long, despite the fact this song went out of print decades ago, so watch it while you can. You’ll probably hate it, but I don’t care. It’s one of the best songs ever as far as I’m concerned.

Technorati Tags: downtown, embedded, europop, hit, media, Music, one 2 many, scandanavian, song, vinyl, youtube

Oh, joy. Today didn’t get much better than yesterday. Work again, so it’s been a case of getting up, going to work, coming home, blogging, then bed. Er, at least the taxi ride home had good music. The driver had Century on. I entered the taxi, just as “London Nights” by the London Boys was finishing, next up was Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough”. another quality song, but the rest of the journey had one of the greatest songs ever… “Though the Barricades” by Spandau Ballet. I love that track.

On the subject of music, I actually bought a copy of an obscure record I’ve been looking for since I was about 13. It’s the Loading Bay Records version of Ankie Bagger’s “Where Were You Last Night”, a song I know nobody on this entire planet will know. (but I’m sure it’ll start picking up search results in the near future).

I first heard this song some time in about 1993. Daddykins was in the washhouse experimenting with packet radio. I was in the front room listening to a temporary radio station somewhere in Middlesbrough, when they began to play “Rofo’s Theme”, a song I will always remember from childhood holidays at the world famous Sandy Bay. I slapped in a cheap cassette tape in order to record this excellent tune. At the end, they mixed it with this song, which was unknown to me at the time. Luckily, the DJ did indeed announce both tracks’ names and artists.

Packet radio is a method of transmitting computer data via radio, and was (occasionally still is) used by ham radio enthusiasts to transmit text through the airwaves at a moderately acceptable baud rate. Unfortunately, Daddykins transmitting these data packets affected my recording, and every 30 seconds or so, there is a loud squeal, totally wiping out both songs for a second or so.

Sadly, the tape has long gone. At some point in the last few years, I recalled this song, and after weeks of searching, tracked down an awful copy of it. Unfortunately, this copy was taken from the 7″ version of the song, and was scratched up in places. Oh well.

Every so often, I went onto ebay, looking for it, and I kept getting sick of seeing “0 items found for
ankie bagger”. There were CD versions appearing occasionally, going for extortionate amounts, and none of those were the Loading Bay version. I was on ebay the other day, and just did a search for a bit of fun… the result?

“Ankie Bagger Where Were You Last Night Loading Bay Rec”… oh my.

Again, it was a few quid more than I’d normally pay for vinyl, but I couldn’t really give up this opportunity. As shown in the picture, I bid for, and bought this vinyl delight… yay, go me. So, I’ve been belting that down my ears ever since. Wahey!

On the subject of music, the Middlesbrough “Music Live” thing is on again, which I attended back in 2004. If it was anything like last time, it’s definitely worth going. I know a load of people from work are going, so I think it’s going to be a good day, as long as the weather holds up. If the weather the last few days is anything to go by, that’ll be a no. We’ll see.

Right, let’s move onto the normal comments on here…

Chad: Good move on not buying the “rubbers,” I doubt you’d have ever used them, ever[1].

The “whos is the bigger idiot debate” for writing this blog or reading it could go on forever and ever. Even though the comments were harsh[2], they are something to think about.

I myself have limited my email/etc time to 40 minutes a day in an effort to get out, see people, exercise and so on[3]. Technology’s great as long as it doesn’t take over.

I mean, how many of us message people who live within walking distance, spend time typing emails, etc but then spend whole days not having a face to face conversation with anyone[4].

Have a nice weekend[5].

1. Regarding the rubbers, you know, you’re actually right. I’m strange in the fact that I insist in writing with a pen as opposed to a pencil. I could have a drawer full of pencils, but I would still dig through it all the way to the bottom to see if there’s a pen in there. I think it went back to my old school days, and the fact we were forced to used pencils, yet the bigger kids were allowed to use biros, etc. That was when the decision was made that the 4th year and the 3rd year were merged into two clas… waaait! Rubbers! I get it now! You meant condoms! Hahaha! That’s so funny! No, truly, my sides are creasing here… bwahaha. God, it’ll take me years to recover from that hilarious use of Americo-English.

Hmmm. I need to emphasise sarcasm more.

2. Nah, the comments weren’t harsh, just misguided. You’re basing me on what I write in here and short 6 minute video clips on an external website. This is what I was referring to in the previous posting with the phrase “It’s fair to say that my outlook on blogging has completely changed in the last few months”. I thought you might have picked up on that. I think I’ve also mentioned somehwere that I never “kiss and tell”, probably in another one of your “get a life” comments. As a side note to this, I also have an active social life, which I also refrain about taking about in here. I think I just like the “image” of being a loner when this is not the case.

3. Congratulations for the 40 mins, though nights like this where I finish my shift at midnight, this limits my opportunities to get out, meet people, exercise, and so on. Running around this estate at 2AM will either mean I’d get mugged, or shot into the back of a police van. I tend to wind down on this shift by doing blogs. We’re all different.

4. Yes, this is a bit of a bastard - it does happen occasionally. I do have the excuse of shiftwork, which you never have to deal with, as far as I know. You may be surprised to know that all of my close friends do not have easy access to email, SMS, MSN, etc. so yes, wherever possible, I do speak to them directly. When at work, I try my best to never use internal email, etc. If I have a query or an issue with someone, I say it to their face instead of hiding behind an email. I wish more poeple would do this. It would prevent a lot of animousity.

5. Thanks. I’ll try my best. The Saturday is a write-off, though.

Wow, I didn’t plan to go off on that rant when I started on the comments section, and I don’t think I’ve ever gave any background information into who “Chad” is. He grew up on the last house in our street, and he is wholly responsible for some of the best, and the worst, moments in my childhood. I am genuinely delighted, despite his comments and my ramblings that he still remembers, and even dreams about the past years. About 9 or 10 (correction: 7) years ago, he moved to Japan to become an English Teacher, and we lost touch. During the early years of my blog, when I had an external forum, he posted some stuff on there which I seem to remember taking offense to, at the time.

Since then, he has never gone away.

I just hope and pray that one day we will meet up again, face-to-face, to discuss everything that has happened in our lives.

Right, after that marathon, onto the Outtake vlog… this one’s a bit of a mess… this one’s supposed to be the one everyone hated. It sort of backfired on me.

Noscere: What? your supposed to keep the out takes?… Bugger

Well, I did, and this was the result! when I record a vlog, I do it in one go. It saves fucking about each time I get something wrong, I don’t stop the recording in between, as that just complicates things. Instead, I just edit the crap bits out with Movie Maker, which doesn’t actually affect the original file. This means I end up with the final version, but still have the original source video. Sometimes I do delete them after I upload them… the “washhouse” master is long gone - there were plenty of outtakes in that, it was about 15 minutes overall.

Unfortunately, this was the most popular one I’ve ever done…

Daniel H: Fucking love this.
Aidey: That was fab! More please
c64glen: This is my favorite one so far!
Owen: (3 comments)
I think you should do a Numa Numa video.
These should also never have been cut !!! they are great!!!
Hahaha SHUT UP SQUEEKY CHAIR !! That’s so my new message tone…

The whole reason I posted this blog in the first place was to get negative comments from it, to see whether it was worth filming any more. Not one negative comment. Everyone loved to see me making a prick of myself… how does that work?? Either way: Owen, I’m not making a Numa Numa video. ever. Thanks for emailing those modules, these will be featured in some way in the next vlog, though I’m not sure if they’re suitable as a permanent new theme tune… of course, the question is, has the recent feedback made me rethink the whole vlog business? the answer: of course it fucking hasn’t…

Oh, nad just an explanation on one of the outtakes…

big bad mick: im curious to see what outtakes didnt make the outtake real…

This is where the confusion lies… YOU (the comment poster) aren’t “big bad mick”. Which is why that was an outtake, I got you mixed up with “bigbadmick”, who was the webmaster of Curried Books - a now defunct (as far as I know) blog. It was just the ultimate in brainfarts where I got you two mixed up. I laughed at the time, and my “fuck” reaction. Uh, I hope I’ve explained that well enough. I probably haven’t.

As for your question, there’s lots of material that didn’t make it, mainly due to the fact I didn’t sift through it. I’ve recorded quite a few vlogs which I wasn’t happy with, or had technical issues such as bad sound. I did one on the light of Liverpool’s defeat in the Uefa cup final. I really wasn’t happy with it. Despite the outtakes, I do have some quality control.

Roght, that’s it for now. Consider me wound down. I shall attempt to post at some point tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: ankie bagger, Music, outtake, taxi, vinyl, vlog, work

You know when I said I’d write a full update when I got my turntable? I clearly lied. And, for once, this wasn’t because of my procrastination. Well, OK, maybe it was a little bit, but the main reason is because I really can’t think of anything to write! It’s great, I love it, I’ve played so many records on it, yet, my mind is completely blank.

the turntable is a Numark TTUSB

It arrived, packed securely in the back of a Royal Mail van, at approximately 12:09 on 15th January 2007. Alas, I was in the place of employment, but luckily, Daddykins was around to accept delivery.

I finished work at 8PM. I can’t be arsed to go into detail about the trip to Asda, and the fact that the Blossom Garden chinese on Duke Street is closed on a Monday, and that the chinese in Miers Avenue is closed on Wednesdays.

Considering the 15th was a Monday, we ended up getting a chinese from Miers Avenue. This, again, is not important, so I don’t know why you read the previous bit. It’s supposed to be a review about a turntable, not a Good Food guide.

So, anyway, after the grub, I was ready for bed. I’d not slept properly for 3 days, so all I wanted to do was get it set up, then go to bed.

I’ve never set up anything like a turntable before, so even getting it out of the box was a struggle.. Instead of having a bag with all of the peripherals in (cartridge, etc), they’re stored in recesses in the sides of the polystyrene, held in by yellow sticky tape. Removing the sticky tape causes these fragile parts to go hurtling to the ground, just like the cartridge did. Ooops. Great start. I almost had an argument with my dad about how the drive belt fitted to the turntable. needless today, I’d swotted up on the instructions via a PDF manual I’d downloaded from Numark’s website, so I knew exactly what I was doing. Ahem.

The model we got features an EU plug. Even the box was marked for EU, as opposed to UK, and the voltage is marked as 230 instead of 240. I’m not sure what difference that’s going to make in the future.

Despite a piss-on with the counterweight (i.e. the bit at the end of the tone arm whih balances it) it didn’t take too long before it actually looked like a turntable. Great! So, we plugged it in, I slapped a record on the turntable, namely Chas + Dave’s “Snooker Loopy”, and hit “Record”.

I got absolutely no sound output whatsoever, though it WAS recording, the levels were moving appropriately. Even when I tried to play it back, I got nothing. No sound from nay application. Now, I don’t know whether this was because I’d not quite read the instructions right, or whether there was something else afoot. If you’ve googled this, and found the page, here’s the solution….

Go into the Control Panel, then “Sounds And Audio Devices”… if it looks like the following:

… THAT IS WRONG! At least, in 99.99% of the cases it will be. You need to click the Audio Tab, and select your correct device as the primary sound device….

This happened on both the laptop I initially tried it on, and also my desktop, so it could be a common occurence. Easily fixed, though.

To get sound from the turntable while you’re recording, read the section in the manual about Software Playback. That works, though, there’s about a 0.25/sec delay.

On my desktop, however, I did run into a problem. Every so often, the sound from the turntable would become super-amplified. Far too loud for anything to handle… this is a perfect example of what happened. The only pattern for this happening appeared to be when I was in another application other than Audacity. I must admit to being a bit lazy when setting it up on my main machine. It was simply connected through a cheap USB hub, unti a USB card without its proper drivers installed. Needless to say, moving it to one of my onboard USB2 ports with correct drivers installed, fixed the problem.

So, I now have a decent, working record player. I love it already. One thing which has dismayed me is that the fact it’s clear that some of my favourite records are completely broken. You may remember I picked up “Little Plum”, by Darryl Way, the theme to The North East Night Owls, some 18 months ago. Well, now that I’m playing it on a decent setup, it’s clear that the record is really fucked. Scratchy, distorted near the end. I’m not sure whether that’s because of me playing it on substandard equipment previously, or whether it arrived like that. I doubt I’ll ever find another copy. Either way, despite its imperfections, it’s more listenable than ever.

My Quest Project vinyl’s aslo received a dusting off, I’ve re-ripped both versions of the “Trouser Enthusiasts” mix - by far, the greatest version of the song. Most of the members of The Quest Project actually have MySpace accounts, which I think is quite weird.

Anyway, I’m drifting wildly off topic. Back to the turntable, and it’s time I slapped some images of it in use…

So, here it is, playing Little Plum. Note the webcam has now found a home on the edge of the turntable. Also note just how perfectly it actually fits on my desk. I was expecting to have to remove and rearrange everything, but no. As soon as I got rid of the dusty old hifi, it fitted perfectly. I thought it have been much bigger.

That’ll do for this update, I’m bound to post more later….

Technorati Tags: darryl way, little plum, no playback, numark, record deck, records, sounds and audio devices, ttusb, turntable, vinyl