If you’re at all interested in how music, film, books and art are created and consumed (and have an hour and a half to spare) I really recommend watching this excellent documentary PressPausePlay from House Of Radon (it’s nothing to do with me but I found it a fascinating watch!). Some great interviews with Seth Godin, Bill Drummond, Hank Shocklee, Moby and many more.

You can actually download the film for free directly from the filmmakers’ website www.presspauseplay.com and then donate whatever amount  you feel you should (and if you enjoy it, I urge you do).

A great new video from Christopher King at www.endless-echo.com that features some of the music from my royalty free collections. The short film is an inspirational story about former pro boxer “terrifying” Tony Pollard and the help he received from the YMCA:

“Tony Pollard may have abandoned some of his healthy habits after quitting his pro boxing career 25 years ago, but he never forgot how to get back on his feet. He just needed the right place and the right support. The YMCA was all that.”

The music tracks featured are Spring Harvest, April Showers and  The Falling Snow from volumes 3 and 5 of my royalty free music collections:

Royalty Free Collection Vol. 3

Royalty Free Collection Vol.5

Some of my music will be featuring in an upcoming documentary on the Crime & Investigation Network. The show is called Married, Single, Dead and focuses on the darker side of social networking.

The show will be broadcast at 9pm on Thursday 15th December 2011 and the Crime & Investigation Network is available on the following satellite and cable TV channels:

Sky Digital:
Crime & Investigation Network – Channel 553
Crime & Investigation Network HD – Channel 555

Virgin Media:
Crime & Investigation Network – Channel 237
Crime & Investigation Network features in the XL Package

You can see some preview video clips at the following link:

http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/shows/de-th-on-the-web/videos/married-single-dead-control.html

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 on the right which features short extracts from each of the 17 tracks to give you an idea of the style of music. Or head to the store to hear full length previews of all the tracks where you can buy the collection in mp3 or wav format for £39.99:

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

All my royalty free music collections include a license which means you can use the music in as many of your films, documentaries and videos as you like. The license covers use on Youtube, Vimeo or Facebook videos, websites, trailers, DVDs etc. (full details of the licensing info is in the store here). And if you buy all 6 volumes of royalty free music, you’ll automatically receive a 30% discount on the total price, saving you £72.

Here’s a short clip from episode 2 of Evolution: The Grand Experiment that I finished scoring earlier this year.

The show features some stunning nature footage and underwater photography (seen in the video here) and the soundtrack includes more orchestral arrangements as well as acoustic guitar, piano and atmospheric ambient music.

You can see more video clips and hear some music from the previous episode here.

Here’s a trailer for a documentary called Urbanbugs from filmmaker Aykut Alp Ersoy, featuring my music track Algiers.

Urbanbugs is a documentary from Turkey which focuses on street art concepts such as graffiti, stencilling and wheatpasting, and looks into the history and contribution they’ve made to hip hop and urban culture, as well as the sociological, political and economical messages:

www.urbanbugs.com

www.facebook.com/urbanbugs

The music track Algiers is a pulsing, driving and exciting contemporary electronica instrumental with synths, drum breaks, dramatic violin string stabs, piano riffs, sitar lines and a dusty yet modern electronic feel.

You can get the mp3 download of Algiers from my own online music shop for just 99p, as well as license this and lots more atmospheric instrumental music at low cost for your own films, Youtube videos, trailers or documentaries at the following link:

www.thebluemask.com/shop/algiers

My music score for the documentary Evolution: The Grand Experiment (episode 1) has just won a Gold Medal for Excellence in Music for a Documentary Film at the 8th annual Park City Film Music Festival! I finished scoring episode 2 earlier this year which should be available soon.

The music for Evolution: The Grand Experiment features a wide range of styles and instrumentation from quirky orchestral plucked strings, woodwinds, percussion and other orchestral instruments to a more atmospheric ambient sound design approach.

The video clips on the right show some short examples featuring some of the music written for episode 1 of the documentary.

The show has now aired on four television networks in Europe, four networks in North America and has been broadcast in 70 countries.

The DVD of episode 1 of Evolution: The Grand Experiment is available to buy from Amazon by clicking the following link:

Evolution: The Grand Experiment Episode 1

More of my orchestral music is available to license for your own documentaries from my music shop, or I can be hired to write the score for your documentary:

www.thebluemask.com/shop

Here’s the promo video for my latest royalty-free music collection: Royalty-Free Film & Documentary Music Vol. 5: Cinematic Piano. The music collection contains 13 tracks (48 minutes) of dark cinematic and atmospheric royalty free piano music ideal for film and documentary makers.

The music styles range from gentle and melancholy to dark, eerie and dramatic along with some moments of light and reflection. You can buy the music collection as an instant wav or mp3 download from the shop here:

Royalty-Free Film & Documentary Music Vol. 5: Cinematic Piano

The 5th volume of my low cost royalty-free music collections for film & documentary makers is now available from my online shop.

Royalty-Free Film & Documentary Music Vol.5: Cinematic Piano contains 13 tracks (48 minutes) of atmospheric, melancholy, tense, dark (and some lighter!) piano tracks aimed at film and documentary makers looking for suitable music to use in their films at one low price, and with no additional licensing worries.

You can find out more, as well as hear full previews of all tracks and instantly buy and download the music as either an mp3 or wav download in the shop:

http://www.thebluemask.com/shop/royalty-free-film-documentary-music-vol-5-cinematic-piano/

ITV1′s Real Crime television documentary series will be featuring my music throughout the episode “Bringing Down the Gooch -- Real Crime with Mark Austin” to be broadcast nationally this Monday 27th September on ITV1.

This episode focuses on the story of the specialist police team who took down the leaders of feared criminals, Manchester’s Gooch Gang. The show airs on Monday 27th September at 22:35 on ITV1 and you’ll hear my music throughout!

Update: here’s the first of three parts of the show “Bringing Down the Gooch -- Real Crime with Mark Austin” on Youtube (you should be able to find the other 2 parts of the show at the end of this clip, or just search for them on Youtube).

My music features throughout the documentary, alongside tracks from DJ Shadow and a few other pieces of music.

If you’re interested in licensing any of my music for your own film or documentary, please get in touch here.