“Sackpad”
Mar 4th
So as well as making music I also do a bit of programming and some other creative stuff. My latest and biggest project has been an application called Sackpad. There is a game for the PS3 called LittleBigPlanet (click the link to learn more about the game) but you basically play as a character called Sackboy and you can create your own levels and share them with the community.
Recently, Media Molecule (or Mm as they are usually referred to by, the creators of LittleBigPlanet) released a new mode for the game called “Online Create.” This mode actually allows you to create levels with people from all over the world. A friend and I run a podcast called Sackcast, which consists of about 10 members at the moment. I am the co-leader and Shermzor is the leader. Sackpad is part of Sackcast, and us guys over at Sackcast realised that there would be a few issues when trying to create with people on the other side of the world. A few of them were:
- Communication issues (lag, microphone etc..)
- Planning problems
- Coming up with ideas mid-way through creating
So we decided to create a system which would allow you to plan your level out on your PC, then send it over to your friend so that they can make some changes on the level, and then they could send it back to you to review the changes. Then both people could print out the plan of the level and then take it to their PS3’s so they both knew what they were working on. Each person could work on a different section, as 4 people are allowed into online create mode at once on LBP. This is the main idea of Sackpad. It seemed like a good idea and would help the community a lot when it came to creating online, so we went through with it. Sackpad is currently in beta testing. Here is how it all began:
To read more, click below or CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!
Click-O-Meter
Feb 13th
I made another game. The idea of this one is to get as many clicks with the mouse within 10 seconds. I’ve also done a bit of network coding and got a leaderboard system up and running. Check it out and let me know what you think:
Absolute Radio Fonz-Off
Feb 2nd
Recently I made a terrible Happy Days Mini Mix for Iain Lee’s “Happy Days Fonz-Off” competition on Absolute Radio. It got played and I won 5-0. Here is a snippet of the clip from Iain Lee’s show here:
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I didn’t put any effort into that remix because I knew much wasn’t needed for it to win – I made it as cheesy and as stupid-sounding as possible as Iain doesn’t care at all about that competiton, it’s just a bit of fun really. You can listen to the full podcast here. Iain is usually on Absolute Radio during the week at 11:00pm.
UPDATE: The competition has finished – I didn’t win, The Alpha did, but here is a clip of the final from the podcast:
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Also, I was very bored.. I present to you, “Iain Lee – Never Gonna Get It (DCDJ Remix)”
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i’ll check
“Lonely”
Jan 26th
Just finished another tune. This is an old one – was made in 2007 but I never got round to finishing it. The vocals were all over the place and it hadn’t been mastered yet. Found it a few weeks ago in a pile of unfinished tunes, so I decided to re-do it and master it.
The song is based on a Stevie Wonder sample (from 1970’s I think?) and I just built the rest around that sample. Anyways, enough from me, take a listen and let me know what you think in the comments section:
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Game
Jan 15th
I made a quick game in flash. Instructions: You are the black square. Drag the black square to stay as far away from the red square as possible. Don’t hit the sides or the barriers! It will speed up as you progress.
Have fun. 
Make My Day
Jan 8th
Well I’ve just finished recording a new track with my sister, Nadine, who has kindly provided vocals for me. The song is called “Make My Day” I have just finished mastering it.
Remember to click “420P” if it isn’t already clicked to get the best sound quality.
The song originally started off as a motown track. I recently finished a cover of a Space Raiders tune and wanted to do something similar but original. 
So I used a similar beat from the cover and re-constructed it to get a nice motown beat (which you’ll hear in the song.) From there I experimented with some brass samples and some old school stuff. I didn’t intend for the song have vocals, but once I had finished with the basic track, I knew it was missing something. It was either a sax over the top or a vocal track, so I went for the vocals. My sister is known for having a Lily Allen/Kate Nash type voice, so she decided to write some lyrics and I recorded them and stuck them in the song.
If youtube doesn’t work for some reason, or you want to listen in higher quality (more recent version that the one on youtube), use this player:
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Take a listen and let me know what you think in the comments.