Tom Baker regeneration - my piano version

This is something I've been gradually working out on the piano and managed to get it in good enough shape to post it on YouTube. This is my own version of the Tom Baker regeneration music from the 1981 Doctor Who story Logopolis (originally composed by Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop).

I'm a huge fan of early '80s Who, particularly the style of the production of which the music in an integral part. For me this is probably the most memorable scene and musical score of the entire series which is why I wanted to have a go at my own version.

Gaz on the keys: More tunes for Grade 1

Here are two more tunes I'm working on for my Grade 1 piano exam in July. They are "Allegro in F" by 5-year old Mozart and The Old Cuckoo-Clock by N. Bachinskaya. They still need a bit of work as far as I'm concerned, especially the Mozart one which I only just learned over the last few days. I keep buggering it up half way through as you will see if you watch the video. I'm all fingers and thumbs. AAAArrrrgh!

DrGaz's Music: The Tripods

Contrary to the slagging off most Doctor Who fans give The Tripods, I have to say that I bloody loved the series! I recently re-watched some episodes on YouTube and was amazed to find that even after 20 years it is still gripping and the effects hold up surprisingly well.

I recently had a bash at trying to emulate Ken Freeman's magnificent theme tune using Garageband, and you can listen to it here. You can either use the above player or hear it on the video below where I've dubbed it over the title sequence:

Above: my version of the theme opening title sequence.

Aaargh it's all out of sync! The bassline's all wrong! Where did those drums come from at the end? It's ALL wrong! (But I sorta quite like it).

Well I'm not saying it's perfect and I have to admit that I did this when I didn't have an internet connection so it's completely from memory. Listening to it against the actual theme music, I know now that my instruments, tempo, key, phrasing and baseline are all wrong (well everything's wrong then).

I'm been slowly working on a more accurate version, but sadly I'm limited with the voices available on Garageband - I just CAN'T seem get the strings to sound right on my new version - they don't have enough attack and sound too relaxed. Maybe I can find a way around that somehow...

DrGaz's Music: The Judoon Song

I used some samples of the Judoon speaking to compose a tune on Garageband. Here's a video I edited to go with it.

If you want to hear the music on its own, use the player below. It should be better quality than in the video. Use the link below to download the MP3 version (instructions at the bottom of the post).

It was great fun doing the music for this because the "Do Kro Blo Co" sample worked really well as a backing track. It also sounds pretty silly, which is what I wanted to achieve. The rest of the song is comprised of some drum-loops and I came up with some melodies derived from the Doctor Who theme.

Download MP3

INSTRUCTIONS TO DOWNLOAD MP3 FILE: Right-click on the "Download MP3" link above and click on "save link as". Any problems? Please email me (contact details on my profile)

"The Judoon on the Moon in Wetherspoons" (Doctor Who Series 3 Launch Night Party).

Last night the new series of Doctor Who began, and I had the pleasure of attending the Launch Night Party in London!

Here's a few pictures I took (not particularly good ones, I'm afraid). You can also find some video footage that I edited together for this post (see below).




























The event took place in "The Printworks" which is a JD Wetherspoon pub in Farringdon, London. It was a free event, kindly organised by Doctor Who guru and "official historian" Mr Jeremy Bentham. Basically, the event consisted of 400+ Doctor Who fans getting together in a big pub to watch the new episode on a big screen. It wasn't a convention, but there were a few "celebrities" in attendance: Nicholas Courtney, Waris Hussein (director of "An Unearthly Child"), Paul Cornell, and a bloke who plays monsters in the new series. Oh, and Stephen Moffatt was also there apparently, but I wouldn't have known if I saw him or Paul Cornell because I've no idea what they look like!

Anyway, here's the video...

The Hot Babes of Destiny

This is my latest YouTube effort, and it seems to be doing OK at the moment with quite a few hits. You can view the video above, or by clicking here to go to it on YouTube.

"The Hot Babes of Destiny" is a semi-finished techno tune that I knocked up on Garageband on the Mac. I quite like it, actually. The video is a bit of an afterthought though; just some cobbled together TV footage of some asian girls prancing around.

It's just about to crash the 800 hits barrier after being online for about a month. This is incredibly crap by most YouTubers' standards, but spectacularly amazing for me, given my poor track record in getting anyone to look at my videos.

I suspect that the viewing figures are more to do with me including tags such as "sexy", "hot" and "girls" in the description, rather than people flocking to witness my musical talent. The fact that in 800 hits, no bugger has left a single comment or rated it indicates that this is proably true.

Well I like it, anyhow.