Quiet Time .. until the next project

It has been a bit of "down time" here after the furore of finishing the CD project, and I believe we had quite a little success with what we all achieved, thank you all so VERY much for your commitment to the cause.  

We suffered a little trauma here at home during the late summer (a burst water main pipe under the house) which resulted in much of the contents of the old house being moved about quite a lot, and much of the music gear (and CDs, DVDs etc) being all boxed up... but they will stay that way until we finally move in 2014 (it will happen next year, we have promised ourselves... so put us in your prayers please to make certain that it does... if you're able).

All that said, the offshoot of all the boxing up of stuff here is that I have made a space inbetween all of the boxes to eventually house the digital recorder, and it WILL come out before too long and work will tentatively start on the next (and final) big project! 

In the meantime I have just compiled a little CD of tracks that I found lingering on some old DCC tapes; they are mostly sequence mixes and ISM synch tracks and other non-final mixes of material that I recorded and sequenced back in 1995 - if anyone wants a copy, just let me know (some of it is interesting, if only to see where I was heading when I finished some earlier pieces!).

Anyway, that's enough for now. Hope this late November day sees you all keeping well. Keep the faith all.

Steve
28 November 2013

Final figure now in...

The final cheques and cash have now landed, so the definitive figure can now be published.

Taking into account all outlays, we managed between us to raise an incredible £317 clear, to go towards the two charities (DEC and Cancer Research UK). I intend to put £155 to each, and the extra £7 to another similar charity when I find a good collection box when I next visit town.

Thank you SO very much everyone, you are all heroes in my book.

Here's to the next project (in a couple of years time).

Steve, 4 Oct 2013

Job done!

Thank you to everyone who donated to the charity CD EP project.  The final batch has been despatched so I hope you've all got your copy by now and like it. It is a true rarity as it will not be made available in physical form again. That said, I am contemplating auctioning a final copy that will have a few bonus tracks and will be signed and dedicated, but that is maybe something for a couple of weeks ahead.

The amounts raised will be posted here when I have gathered in the monies from various locations. Thank you SO very much for your kind donations. 

Steve, 4 Sept

Final few days of CD burning

Into the last four days of burning of the charity CDs. All orders received since Friday will go in post today. PLEASE get your orders in and money sent by Saturday as no orders will be accepted past the end of the month. All profits are going to DEC and Cancer Research UK in September.

Thanks as always to everyone who has responded, it's been an incredible response, and I've made lots of new friends through this project.

The amounts raised for the two charities will be posted here in due course.

Thank you ALL so very much for your donations and kind support along the way.

Steve, 27 August

http://www.mixcloud.com/stevegood121/

Final push to end of burning date

There are just over two weeks left before we reach the end of CD burning for the charity project, so please get your copy ordered as soon as possible if you haven't already.

I intend to wrap up the monies for the two charities as early as possible in September, and will publish here what we have managed to raise between us.

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone kind enough to donate. There are a few people who have requested a copy but not followed through by paying, so please do so asap, as I don't want the charities to suffer or lose out.

Thanks so much again for everyone's efforts. 

Steve, 13 August

Progress update and a new CD

As we've now reached August, it is time to take stock of where we are with the project.

Sales of the charity CD EP have been steady and a nice little amount has been raised for both of the two charities. As highlighted before, it has not been a cheap project to get "out there", there are a number of necessities for projects like this, not least the expense of the license to be able to use the songs in the first place. As a guy on a pension, it is monetarily hard to take these projects on, but it's been my baby for a few years so I'm glad it's finally reached fruition and I'm very pleased with the response so far. Thank you everyone. 

I have been spreading the cost of the license over the first batch of CDs, and we are still a little short of that being paid...in other words we can make so much more profit when it reaches that trigger point, so please keep the word about the project out there. Every single penny of profit goes towards DEC and Cancer  Research UK. Burning will finally end on 31st August.

I have been adding a few songs and musicscapes onto my Mixcloud page and have received a few nice comments about them. I am contemplating producing a CD with some of these and more, just to help raise a bit more money for the charities. Details will be posted here if we get that far. You can hear some of these songs over at http://www.mixcloud.com/stevegood121/

Steve, 3 August

Final burn date moved!

Having just found an old email circulation list, I have decided to move the final burn date back a few weeks to give the people on this list a chance to respond... and as there are also other fingers in other pies too, it makes a lot of sense to put the date back!

The end (and FINAL final) date is now set for the end of August, ie Saturday 31st August.

It seems silly to stop progress when it seems to be in full flow and with a few unresearched areas that could still result in sales (and thus money for the charities).

If you're new here, and would like a copy of the CD EP, please look at the following page on this blogsite for details of how to get one: http://gesturesongs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/how-to-buy-reminder.html

SO.... PLEASE keep pushing the word for the project around as much as you can.

Steve, 24 July

Ten more burning days

The title says it all. Just ten days to go until my planned end of burning day for the "Lest We Forget" charity CD EP, so please get your orders in as soon as you can please.

And once again, thank you all for your incredible kindness so far.

Steve, 23 July

16 Days To Go

Sorry for "radio silence" here, I've been involved in getting the CDs all produced for everyone who's asked for a copy. 

I am still aiming at FRIDAY 2nd AUGUST as the last day for burning these CDs,  so please get your order in for a copy soon if you've yet to do so.

I am looking at a couple of other outlets for pushing the CD; if these are successful then I could delay the end date, but in reality I need to have a line in the sand to aim at for the two charities. 

As always, a big thank you to everyone who has donated already, I'm very appreciative. 

Let's up the effort for the last big push, y'all!

Steve,  18 July

Deadline set for orders

I have now decided to set a date for an "end of CD burning", after which I will archive the job. DON'T DESPAIR...you have a few weeks yet, and I only need to know that you intend to buy a copy by then - but to ensure that I get the monies off to the two charities in timely fashion, please try and get the money to me, or whoever is collecting on my behalf, as soon as you can.

The date? It will be FRIDAY 2nd AUGUST.

Each CD is meticulously prepared by hand, and each one takes almost an hour from start to finish, so I don't want to be doing it into my dotage, fun as it is!

So, to reiterate, you still have FOUR WEEKS to decide to buy a copy... and I sincerely hope you will, if you have yet to do so. An mp3 version is also available too, please email me for details (to tokengestures@yahoo.co.uk).

Some people have asked about the discs that are used in this project; they are the highest quality professional use Taiyo-Yuden "Watershield" writeables, more expensive than others but guaranteed to play on most players. I've not experienced anyone with issues with any in my research, so these are the ones I use for any serious project.

Elsewhere on this site, I've listed some other titles that I've also made available for this charitable project; if you're interested in any copies, please email me (again, to tokengestures@yahoo.co.uk).

Thanks as always to everyone who has kindly donated so far. Can we try and double the efforts in the next four weeks... that would be so brilliant if we could!!

Many thanks everyone,

Steve, 6 July

How to buy - a reminder

In case any of you want to buy the charity CD but can't be bothered to dig down through the postings to find out how, here's a little reminder.

PAYPAL
This is the easiest to me. Just use PayPal and send money (preferable £5 GBP as a minimum donation) to me using the following account email address:

stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk

making sure that you include details of where you would like the CD sent to.

CASH / CHEQUE
Off course, this is also acceptable, but please write to me at the same email address asking where to send payment.

That's it for now, I'll keep it brief. Any questions do please write and ask. PLEASE keep the CD requests coming in.

Thanks as always. 

Steve, 2 July

Some added ingredients

In case you've not noticed, a few small elements have been added to the blog page here:

TRANSLATE
For those of you requiring translation of the postings, there's a button near the top [I hope you can read this before translating it though:-)]

FOLLOW BY EMAIL
If you want to be notified of blog updates, you can add your email address (found at the right hand side)

MIXCLOUD LINK
A permanent link to my Mixcloud page is also provided (also found at the right hand side).

That's all for tonight... and thanks again for all your support of the charity project. PLEASE keep up the requests for the CDs though, as the charities are grateful for every penny and cent.

Thanks very much to you all, as always.

Steve, 1 July

Mixcloud tracks

I've started to post a few old tracks up on my Mixcloud page if you are interested in hearing any of them. I will try and post a few odd things too that I have recorded in recent years (although there are a few that even I don't want to hear again). 
My Mixcloud page can be found at http://www.mixcloud.com/stevegood121/

I hope that you enjoy hearing some of these pieces. I maintain that I only ever produce this music to try and raise money for worthwhile charities, so PLEASE try and donate towards any of the available CDs if you can (please see the posting from earlier this month entitled "LEST WE FORGET - Ready for release tomorrow" for details on how to get hold of a copy).

For those of you who know what I've done in the past, and want copies of other CDs not on the "other titles available" list, please contact me and I will see what I can do (by email to tokengestures@yahoo.co.uk).

Bless you guys.

Steve, 28 June

Reminder - and a little thank you!!

Just a little reminder to all of the little charity CD that I and others have put together. Please try and get hold of a copy if you are able - two fantastic charities (Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and Cancer Research UK) will benefit from ALL of the profits raised.

BURNING DAYS
I have decided to limit the number of "burning days" to ensure that the project has a finite time to raise money, so please try and get a copy as soon as you can! An end date will be published on here in due course. This will also ensure the CD's status as a limited edition :-) 

A LITTLE THANK YOU!!
To all who donate more than £10 per CD, I am offering links to a free mp3 download of a previous release ("One More Gesture" (2010)); it is in 320kpbs mp3 format and I'm hoping it will be interesting to those of you who haven't yet heard it. Everyone who has already donated thus - and I have an email address for you - will be sent the links too. 

Please let me know if you have previously donated over £10 and don't get the links by the end of tomorrow, as it'll mean that your paypal email will not accept emails (or I don't have an email address for you!!). I will re-send to whatever address I'm given.

Thank you all so very much for your support in this project, I am touched by everyone's generosity.

Steve, 27 June

Other titles available

In case anyone else is interested, I have a made a handful of other titles available, with all profits going to the same two charities as "Lest We Forget". 

Each of these items will be the same cost too (ie a minimum of £5 donation). Simply, I do not want to make any money from anything I've produced; the joy of helping a couple of charities along the way is good enough for me.

The four titles are:

1 - ONE MORE GESTURE

The album that got quite a bit of exposure back in 2010 and thankfully some high praise. A handful of copies of this still remain.

2 - DISMANTLED TOKENS - ONE LESS GESTURE

 A little brother album to the previous years' "One More Gesture". What you get this time is an album that follows the same track order as its bigger forebear, but in premix/instrumental form. Call it "Singalong-a-Gesture" if you like... but with a couple of instrumentals too ;-)

3 - FO(U)RMIDABLE RETRAC(K)TIONS

A revisit to several old recordings that were original produced over the previous 20 years or so on a four track recorder, the tracks re-synched onto a digital recorder and then remixed. A little project that was quite rewarding, seeing as how they were originally recorded (ie in four track "spikes" which meant that several tracks above the usual four were readily available... so to remix these beyond four tracks was always an option). If Mark Linett could do it so successfully for the Beach Boys' immense "Pet Sounds", I felt that it could be done at home too. It turned out to be reasonably easy to achieve, if time consuming to get there.The results speak for themselves (I hope).

4 - A WHALE OF OUR TIME

In 1977-78 I was involved in a project of creating a melange of sounds for a project to help aid "Friends of The Earth", with a video also planned (which never happened). The project faltered to a close when my old recorder gave up the ghost... but not until it reached about an hour or so in length. 

A few years ago, I revisited the project, added a few instruments and lots more vocals, and even finished it all off by adding a piece to the last movement, and this CD is what came out of the whole thing. As with many of my musical utterings, the artwork for the original, and repeated on here, was created by my old friend Christopher Chatfield.

Bear in mind that this project was started on a two track Tandberg tape machine, so some issues are always going to be present, but on the whole it sounds pretty neat now. At the very least... it's finished.

---oOo---

If anyone is interested in any (or all) of the above, please email me (as always to stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk) and I will get right back to you.

Thanks as always.

Steve, 23 June

First week - THANK YOU!

The seventh day after issue, and a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated and bought a copy of the CD. All orders have either been sent, else will be on their way in the morning. Thank you SO much for all your support thus far... but we have a long way to go, so please help by buying a copy if you haven't yet done so, and by getting the message out to others who you think might like a copy.

Just £5 donated will mean that the two charities (DEC and Cancer Research UK) will receive ALL of the profits from this little project, but if you wish to donate more than £5, that would also be lovely. Up to you, I'm happy at any level!!

Payments accepted by Paypal (see earlier posts on here), or by snailmail and cheque/cash (write with your details to me at stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk first and I will forward details of where and how to pay).

Thanks as always. Here's hoping for another good week of CD orders!!

Steve, 23 June

ps - following soon will be a post showing other CDs that are available, and profits from these too will be going to the same charities!

FIRST BATCH SENT TODAY

The first batch of CDs has just been sent... so if you ordered a copy yesterday or today, it's now on its way... expect it to land in the next couple of days.

If you could let me know what you think when you've heard it that would be really great... and if you could forward info about it onto others, that would be even greater!!

Thanks everyone... hope to hear of many more orders very soon too.

Thanks and bless you guys.

Steve, 18 June

OUT TODAY!

Many thanks to those who have pledged to buy a copy thus far. All those who ordered today will have their CDs posted tomorrow (Tuesday).

PLEASE keep up the work in trying to publicise this charity CD, all profits are going to DEC and Cancer Research UK, absolutely NO profits are retained from the sale. The only gain to me is the fun I've had in putting this together with everyone who took part on the project.

Please give generously (see thread below on how to buy a copy on CD or 320kbps mp3s).

Steve, 17 June

RELEASED TODAY!!!

                              At long last... THE DAY IS HERE!!!!

Please see yesterday's blog entry about how to get hold of a copy of the CD.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this project the success it deserves to be by getting a copy and letting everyone else know about how to get a copy too... and make DEC and Cancer Research UK really benefit by doing so.

Steve, 17 June

LEST WE FORGET - Ready for release tomorrow!!

At long last - and after a period of some three years - the charity CD is now ready for issue, and will begin to be despatched tomorrow (Monday 17th June).


HOW TO GET HOLD OF A COPY / AVAILABLE MEDIUMS
 
Payment is by donation, with a recommended minimum donation of £5 GBP.

UK Buyers
A CD or 320kbps coded mp3 of the CD is on offer to all; please stipulate which you prefer.

Non-UK Buyers
Only the mp3 is available (sorry, but as the cost includes postage, this is necessary to ensure that outlay is kept to a minimum and profit for charity is as high as possible).

All profits will be going to two charities, ie DEC and Cancer Research UK.


PAYMENT

PayPal 
Please send money using this method to the following email address: stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk

Cash / Cheque
I will accept payment by this method; however, please email me for payee and address details (again to stevestringbender@yahoo.co.uk).

If requesting a CD, please state your delivery address with the payment (or by email to the same email as quoted here). Download links to the mp3s will be sent as soon as I'm aware of payment.

I'm hoping that we can raise as much money as possible to ensure that the project has been worthwhile - and also to get as much money for the two charities. As ever, PLEASE tell as many people as possible of this project.

Hope to hear from you all very soon - and thanks again for your continued support!!

Steve, 16 June

Ready to roll!

With just six days to release, the CD is getting ready to roll! I hope you can all become involved in getting hold of a copy, and hopefully ask friends and family to get one too. It will available primarily as a CD but also as a hi end mp3 download from Monday.

The cost of the EP is going to be "donation rated" with a recommended donation of £5, although higher donations would mean more profits to the two charities (DEC and Cancer Research UK).

To ensure that profits are kept as high as possible for the charities, any requests for non UK purchases will necessitate being mp3 only; having investigated overseas postage rates, it would mean almost running at a loss. However, mp3 files would mean you'd get the music sooner!!

PAYMENT

My favoured method of payment would be by PayPal,  as this would mean the money arrives swiftly, and the items can be despatched as soon as I'm aware of the payment.  Of course this doesn't preclude payment by cash and cheque via snailmail post of course. If you want to pay this way, please drop me an email (to tokengestures@yahoo.co.uk) and I'll send you the address to send the donation to.

Please try and push this little project to as many people as possible. It has been a long time in getting finished and I want to ensure that everyones efforts have been worthwhile. 

Links to PayPal payment will be posted here in the next few days. 

Many thanks once again.

Steve, 11 June

Taster on Mixcloud

A taster of the music featured on the CD can now be found on my Mixcloud page.

Please see:
http://www.mixcloud.com/stevegood121/taster-for-the-charity-cd-ep-project-please-visit-httpgesturesongsblogspotcouk-for-info/ 

Steve, 6 June

Ready for release day!

Just twelve days to go until release day, all CDs should be ready to ship on the day. Info on purchasing will be posted here over the coming weekend, so I hope that you will all be able to order as soon as possible to enable the right license from the project to be bought.

Exciting days ahead .. I hope!

Steve, 5 June

Acquiring license for CD - numbers required ... action please!

As this project featuring cover versions has totally charitable interests at its core, it is necessary to gauge roughly how many copies will be needed at release day on 17 June (two weeks today).

As mentioned previously, each CD will be as a donation, with a recommended fee of £5 for UK purchases (maybe a couple of £s more for international copies as postage fees are so high, else the profits for the charities will be negligible). Of course, this is just a recommended cost, I would happily accept more!

To get an idea on numbers, I would be grateful if all interested could send me a quick email with requirements; this is not casting orders in stone, it is merely to give me an idea for the license. As the licenses are so expensive, it is necessary to ensure that the profits, every penny of which is going to the two charities, are kept as high as possible.

The email address to write to is tokengestures@yahoo.co.uk, and please entitle email "LWF CD". 

Many thanks to all for your help. Hope to hear from you all very soon.

Steve, 3 June
YouTube video about the project

Price of CD, payment and donations

Price is likely to be set at £5 GBP (for UK and European purchases, maybe a couple of extra £ for US purchases, due to high postage costs, but I am looking into this) but am open to comments. In all honesty, the cost is irrelevant as any profit will be going to the charities, so the more that is donated for each unit the more that DEC and Cancer Research UK will benefit.

I am thinking of suggesting PayPal as a means of sending money, as this means I get the donations quicker, and it saves on postage costs and the necessary banking of cheques and cash (although there is the fact that PayPal trim off a little for their charges, but this can be paid for at source, or the charitable amount becomes less for the sale). Of course, 'snail mail' is always an option though, I'm not against it at all, it just saves a little footwork by all!

I am also contemplating throwing in a sample CD of some other recent material to anyone who donates £8 or more, but will investigate how worthwhile this will be and report back here.

Again, all just ideas, am open to any comments here or to me on Facebook, or by email to tokengestures@yahoo.co.uk (please note that this email is for details and requests for CDs only, NOT for paying by PayPal, the email for that will be announced at a later date).

It has been a very long time in getting this little project together, but I am hopeful that it will be extremely worthwhile. PLEASE try and donate if you can as the two charities are extremely worthwhile ... and are dear to my heart.

Many thanks,  

Steve, 30 May

LEST WE FORGET - release date approaches

Artwork for the CD. Release date currently 17th June.

Details on how to get a copy will be published here very soon.

PLEASE convince as many people as possible to get hold

of a copy to maximise monies for the two charities!!

YOUTUBE LINK to advert for the project

L E S T   W E   F O R G E T

Artwork to follow in a few days, but here is the track listing:

Nobody Told Me
Bugler
Percy The Penguin
Pineapple Head
Homburg
Ballad Of Easy Rider
Let It Down

Thanks to everyone who lent a hand in getting this thing together, it'll reach fruition in a very short while (I still need to organise the production license before it can escape, and it all costs money; that is sadly money that I don't readily have spare). 

PLEASE forward links to this blog to enable people to read about it, and to ensure that we can get as many sales as possible, and thus maximise monies for the two charities benefitting (all profits are going directly to DEC and Cancer Research UK).

Many thanks as always for reading. Details on how to get a copy will be here soon.

Steve, 9 May

"Lest We Forget" charity EP <LINK>

At long last, the charity CD EP is nearing completion, after being several years in the making. Featuring contributions from Paul Kindred, Tom Edwards, Mike Tuffery, Jen Goff, Neil Dubé and Trev Whitney, this seven song project nods to the likes of John Lennon and George Harrison as well as harkening back to songs by Procol Harum and The Byrds.

By clicking on the link above you will be taken to a YouTube video explaining more about the project and the charities that will benefit (all profits will be going to these charities).

I hope you will be able to donate and receive a copy of the CD. More information will be made available nearer the time of its eventual release.

Steve, 4 May 2013

This is a new blogspot to try and highlight what is happening in the world of Gesture Songs At Twilight music. 

Most of my projects are charity based, I take no profit from ANYTHING I produce, the fun I get out of making it is all that I want; if charities can benefit, that is what makes me happy.

More on what is new and current very soon.

Steve, May 2013