You are allowed to enjoy this...

Rush Sectors Replacement Discs – IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Darren — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:22:08 +0000

There was a mastering problem on two of the discs in the Rush Sectors One & Two box sets (the CD of “Fly By Night” and the DVD of “A Farewell to Kings”) resulting in drop-outs in sound.

Today, I received information that replacements could be ordered by contacting the following email address with your order information and relevant postal details:

mk.customerservices@umusic.com

This information has come from Amazon EU so I am not sure if this is relevant to US or other territories but it doesn’t hurt dropping them a line, I guess.

Prog Review 41: Portico Quartet – Portico Quartet

Darren — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:44:22 +0000

This time around I review the third self-titled album from the Portico Quartet. Is it jazz or is it prog? You’ll have to watch the video to find out what I think.

Click here for 720p HD quality

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“The Mist Suite”

All music has been written and recorded by Darren Lock and is used by permission because I am that Darren Lock who wrote and recorded this music. If I could figure out how to give myself permission and prove conclusively to YouTube that I am the artiste in question I would do it. What do they want….blood?

To buy an EP containing this music:
http://music.darrenlock.com/album/the-stinkhorn-ep

Or visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Snow Day!

Darren — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:59:48 +0000

Shine On – Pink Floyd: The UNBOXING

Darren — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:05:41 +0000

It seems such a long time ago when I sold all my computer games in order to fund the purchase of this particular box set. I was impressed when I got it and I am still impressed to day. It oozes class and quality and is exquisitely designed.

Click here for full 1080p video quality

PNO GTR VOX BOX – Peter Hammill Unboxing Video

Darren — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:10:39 +0000

This is an unboxing of the Peter Hammill live boxset “PNO GTR VOX BOX” which contains seven CDs of live performances taken from his tour in 2010.

Click here for full 1080p HD quality

Prog Review 40: In the Court of the Crimson King – King Crimson + 40th Anniversary Edition

Darren — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:02:29 +0000

This is a classic prog album and this was requested by eddiemurphyfan100 among others. As well as talking about the album, I also look at the 40th Anniversary Boxset and do an unboxing of that. It’s a big feast to get through but well worth it. Yum!

Click here for 1080p Full HD quality

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“A Nest of Vipers”
“Wordless Through Starry Trees”
“Steady State of Flux”
“Fantasia One”
“Snapdragon”
“Amongst the Stars”
“One Brain”
“The Mist Suite”

To buy an EP containing this music:
http://music.darrenlock.com/album/the-stinkhorn-ep

Or visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Prog Review 39: Atom Heart Mother – Pink Floyd

Darren — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:59:05 +0000

Loyal viewers PinkFloydFan95 and CalentureAU and PsyPhiRevolution all suggested this album for review. So is this ia steaming cow pat or a pint of gold top? You’ll have to watch the video to find out!

Click here for 720p HD video

Here’s a link to my webpage which features a video of “Atom Heart Mother” as background music to a nature programme: http://www.darrenlock.com/?p=460

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“The Mist Suite” by Darren Lock (that’s me)

To buy an EP containing this music:
http://music.darrenlock.com/album/the-stinkhorn-ep

Or visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Prog Review 38: Clutching at Straws – Marillion

Darren — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:56:03 +0000

Loyal viewer FelinePhysics was the first to nominate the final album from the Fish-era Marillion for my review. Now the question is whether the album is a vodka martini or a cup of cold sick. Watch on to find out, dear viewer…

Click here for 720p HD video

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“Cloistered Space” by Darren Lock (that’s me)
“Digital Sunset” by Darren Lock (that’s also me)

To buy an EP containing this music:
http://music.darrenlock.com/album/the-stinkhorn-ep

Or visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Advice on Recording Audio

Darren — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:01:18 +0000

Some viewers have asked me to talk about recording music – so here I am blathering on about recording music. Hopefully this will be useful for someone as I feel I am probably just gibbering on.

Click here to watch in 720p HD quality

Darren Talks About… EchoNET [2009]

Darren — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:56:14 +0000

This time around I thought I’d talk about my album “EchoNET” which was released in 2009.

Click here to watch 720p HD quality

You can listen to the album in its entirety and purchase the digital edition at:

http://music.darrenlock.com/album/echonet

Or you can purchase the CD edition from CDBABY which also features the entire album remixed in 5.1 surround sound on DVD:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/darrenlock7

And to see the full “Seville” improvisation in lovely HD quality video go to: http://youtu.be/Y9YGWw9tI44?hd=1

Or visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Prog Review 37: Scary Monsters (…and Super Creeps) – David Bowie

Darren — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:31:06 +0000

This was suggested by viewer Hippomancy and if you want to know if this album is a Scary Monster or a Super Creep, you’d better watch on, my friend.

Click here for 720p HD version

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“The Mist Suite” by Darren Lock (that’s me)

To buy an EP containing this music:
http://music.darrenlock.com/album/the-stinkhorn-ep

Or visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Return of the Snapdragon

Darren — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:08:33 +0000

YouTube viewer RyanYardComposer, did a review of my music and remarked how he enjoyed the track “Snapdragon”. He mentioned a few of the technical limitations of the piece so I thought it would be a good idea to return to that stamping ground and improvise a piece where I layer acoustic notes on top of each other. It’s kind of a nod to Terry Riley and the ilk, I guess.

Enjoy!

Watch in glorious 720p HD quality

Look at the pretty colours...

The “Return of the Snapdragon EP” includes this track as well as two other improvised pieces in this style and also includes a free digital HD download of the “Return of the Snapdragon” video.

You can buy the high quality FLAC/MP3 version of this at: http://music.darrenlock.com/album/return-of-the-snapdragon-ep

To buy my music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Prog Review 36: OK Computer – Radiohead

Darren — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:38:24 +0000

This was suggested by viewer RadonX9 (amongst others) and so I am looking at the seminal album from Radiohead, “OK Computer”. The question is whether or not this is a ZX Spectrum or an Oric One? You’ll have to watch the video to find out…

Click here to watch in glorious 720p HD quality

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“Amongst the Stars” by Darren Lock (that’s me)
“One Brain” by Darren Lock (that’s also me)

To buy this music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Angel’s Tears [1994]

Darren — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:52:19 +0000

As I have a terrible cold, I can’t really make any YouTube videos at the moment (unless you want to watch me sniffle and snort my way through them, of course). So I decided to grab my camera and make this little abstract number to accompany the very first piece of ambient music I ever recorded.

The track is called “Angel’s Tears” and it was recorded in 1994/1995 – I am not sure exactly when – and it features the Roland GR-1 guitar synthesiser. This was before looping or delay pedals were added to my sonic arsenal and so it is just me using long sustained pad sounds and lead lines. There might be one layer of overdubbing. I can’t remember. I doubt it because it was recorded using my Yamaha MT4X four-track cassette recorder – so I would imagine I recorded it as live as possible.

Click here for 720p HD Quality

You can buy this track here: http://music.darrenlock.com/track/angels-tears

To buy my music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Steepless – Portico Quartet [REMIX]

Darren — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:19:42 +0000

One of my favourite bands have a competition at the moment where you can remix one of their songs from their new album and you can win some goodies. The last time I entered a remix competition like this (about 10 years ago – Paul Oakenfold “Ready Steady Go”) I won a runners-up prize, so fingers crossed!

Steepless – Portico Quartet [Remix] by Darren Lock

Canon Macro Lens Hack (using 35-80mm EF Lens)

Darren — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:58:49 +0000

I read on this photography forum how to create a simple and cheap macro lens using an old Canon EF lens. So I went looking for one on eBay and luckily I found a suitable lens for sale that was faulty. So I bought it for the amazingly cheap price of £8 (+£4 P&P) and waited for the postman to arrive. I was very pleased to discover that the lens was in fact in perfectly good working order and it was also an older style lens which meant I could simply unscrew it apart to get the desired effect and then put it all back together when I was finished.

So In this video I show how you can turn a Canon EF 35-80mm lens into a macro lens. This is the older style lens and the process is really easy and completely reversible. On the Mark II & Mark III lenses, the outer element is secured by screws and it is a bit more complicated to remove.

All macro pictures featured in this video were taken on a Canon EOS 600D with the adapted 35-80mm macro lens with no post processing. They are the native shots straight from the camera.

Watch in glorious 1080p HD quality

Background Music:
“Textures 11-15″ by Darren Lock (that’s me) released on my record lablel “Little Lemon Records” in 2003 and available on iTunes and other reputable online establishments.

To buy this music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Prog Review 35: Moving Waves – Focus

Darren — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:47:09 +0000

This review was suggested by user BenMolen on my channel page. And so it came to pass that I listened once again to “Moving Waves” by Focus. Was I dancing through the tulips or drowning myself in the canal? Watch the video to find out!

Click here for 720p HD quality

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“A Pocketful of Stars” by Darren Lock (that’s me)

To buy this music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Prog Review 34: Aqualung 40th Anniversary Collector’s Box Set – Jethro Tull

Darren — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:22:35 +0000

This is Jethro Tull’s seminal album “Aqualung” given the deluxe treatment featuring a fancy booklet, 180g vinyl LP and DVD/Blu-ray 5.1 surround sound discs. So is this a case of Jethro Wow or Jethro Dull – you’ll have to watch the video to find out.

Click here for HD quality goodness

For the unboxing of this set, go to: http://youtu.be/W7jlxTQoGys

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“Amongst The Stars” by Darren Lock (that’s me)
“One Brain” by Darren Lock (that’s also me)

To buy this music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Aqualung 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Box Set – Jethro Tull

Darren — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:13:11 +0000

Another day, another box set, and here I am unwrapping the latest anniversary release to grace the world of prog. This is Jethro Tull’s seminal album “Aqualung” given the deluxe treatment featuring a fancy booklet, 180g vinyl LP and DVD/Blu-ray 5.1 surround sound discs.

For glorious 1080p HD quality

Click here for the full review.

Background Music:
“Digital Sunset” by Darren Lock (that’s me)

To buy this music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Connect via social media:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Darren-Lock/114192915281467
http://www.twitter.com/darren_lock

Oh By The Way – Pink Floyd Unboxing & Review

Darren — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:59:37 +0000

Many have you have asked the question: “Which is better: The Discovery Box Set or the Oh By The Way Box Set”? Well this is my attempt to provide some balance for you.

Watch on as I open the box and take you through each miniature replica album and you will see why this is, in every way, the superior product to the new box set released by Pink Floyd.

Watch in glorious 1080p HD quality

Background Music:
“A Pocketful of Stars” by Darren Lock (that’s me)
“Textures 11-15″ by Darren Lock (that’s also me)

To buy this music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

27-12-11 Improvisation using Boss RC-300 & Roland VG-99

Darren — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:55:24 +0000

Here I am making it up as I go along using the Boss RC-300 Loopstation pedal.

Click here for glorious 720p HD quality

To buy my music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Silent Night

Darren — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:37:23 +0000

This is a track I recorded a decade ago and I have made a little video to accompany it. Season’s greeting to all those who come here and follow me and I hope you have a prosperous New Year.

Watch in glorious 1080p HD video

Festive ambient drones from yours truly...

I have released this track as part of an EP, which includes two versions of the song and a digital download of the video in HD resolution. You can purchase said EP from the link below:

BUY THE SILENT EP HERE

Boss RC-300 Loopstation Review

Darren — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:40:11 +0000

The Boss RC-300 is the latest addition to the Loopstation range and supersedes the RC-50. The main differences between this and its predecessor is the inclusion of in-built audio FX, a large footpedal and a whopping 3 hours of stereo looping time. While the unit is fundamentally a beefed-up RC-50, the improvements implemented by Boss are minimal and some may find them not very useful at all. The in-built FX are hardly inspiring and it is a real pain to edit them. I cannot see how I would use them in my performances.

The way the three stereo loop tracks have been laid out on the front panel is an improvement, though the inclusion of three mini-slider to control the volume of each track is a nice addition, it is almost impossible to pull off smooth volume changes with them thanks to a latch at the centre position.

Other than that, the RC-300 is the “Rolls Royce” of Loopstations and looping pedals and the looper is spoilt with the depth of features. However, if you have an RC-50, there’s not that much here to warrant an upgrade – unless you can get a good price for your RC-50 on eBay first!

Now watch my video review of this unit.

Watch in glorious 1080p HD quality

Rush Sectors 1 2 & 3 Box Sets Unboxing

Darren — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:16:09 +0000

So here I am up to my nuts in Rush as I plough my way through three neat little boxsets containing many of the Canadian proggers most popular albums.

Watch in amazing 1080p quality

07-12-11 Improvisation using RC-300

Darren — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:36:55 +0000

I took delivery of my latest looping pedal (don’t worry, I sold my old one) and this was the first ambient noodle to burst forth from the audio slurry. Generally been well received on the YouTube, so at least I know I am pointing in the right direction.

Click here for 1080p HD goodness

Boss RC-300 Loopstation – Unboxing and Preview

Darren — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:16:49 +0000

I took delivery of the new Boss RC-300 today and this is me opening the box and having the first shufty at the new Loopstation pedal. Check back to see some demos of this unit in the next few days or so.

Click here for glorious 1080p HD video

Prog Review 32: Who is This Who is Coming – The Future Kings of England

Darren — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:57:03 +0000

This is my review of the new Future Kings of England album. I have been following the band via eMusic for a couple of years now and was lucky to win this via a Twitter competition.

The band have created a concept album or soundtrack to M R James’ classic ghost story “Whistle and I Will Come to You, My Lad”. But is the album a spine chiller or just a load of old ghoulies?

Click here for 720p HD quality

Title Music:
“Stinkhorn” by Darren Lock

Background Music:
“A Nest of Vipers” by Darren Lock

To buy this music, visit my iTunes page:
http://bit.ly/m53fg8

Or my own music page:
http://music.darrenlock.com

Or perhaps I can interest you in a T-shirt:
http://lock.spreadshirt.co.uk

Connect via social media:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Darren-Lock/114192915281467
http://www.twitter.com/darren_lock

Hits for Tits…

Darren — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:52:53 +0000

Now for something completely different. This YouTube video is meant to be my attempt at comedy – though you’ll have to wait until the credits for the punchline, of sorts. Enjoy!

Click here for glorious 720p HD video

The Progressive Rock Advent Calendar

Darren — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:35:32 +0000

Christmas has been cancelled this year and instead has been replaced by “Progmas”. Father Progmas (or Santa Chords) is introducing the new advent calendar now. You just visit the video on YouTube and click the respective window for each day of advent, each window opening to reveal a tasty prog-rock related festive video clip.

Click here for Progmas Advent Fun!

Darren Lock “e-mail”

Darren — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:59:21 +0000

Hi! This is a personal message to the individual that is constantly searching for my person email address via Google (yes, your every search is registered and reported to me via my webstats). Obviously, I don’t give my personal email address out to anyone – that would be just plain daft. However, if you have a genuine message for me then you can leave it via the comment box on this website (you can find those under every topic and entry on this blog) or you can contact me via the many social media services (YouTube, Facebook & Twitter).

Hope this helps.