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	penmachine podcast: free MP3 instrumental songs at podcast.penmachine.com
	About the Penmachine Podcast: Free Podsafe Instrumentals I'm Derek K. Miller from Vancouver, Canada. I’ve been a professional musician since 1989, but only in 2004 did I start posting my own (or my friends') compositions here. Since then, quite a few podcasters and others have played these tunes. I hope you enjoy them too. Just subscribe and you’ll get a new tune whenever I record it, or visit podcast.penmachine.com regularly to see what’s new. Older tracks are still available, and you can find nearly everything at the Podsafe Music Network too. (Some episodes are spoken or video too.) ©
	Podcast Link:

tags: b.c. penmachine podcast vancouver

Life, death, and the blog (spoken word)

It's been a couple of years since I spoke to an Editors' Association of Canada meeting, so when the planned speaker dropped out at the last minute a couple of weeks ago, I filled in, talking about how I've mixed my online and offline lives since developing colon cancer last year.
It's less of a bummer than it sounds, really. This podcast (24 MB MPEG-4 file) is not an MP3, but AAC audio enhanced with images. Most modern music players, like iPods, Zunes, and PlayStation Portables, as well as computers running iTunes and the Apple TV, will play it just fine.

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:05:41 -0700

Tsunami video from VFS

Back in late 2004 and early 2005, following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, I wrote a series of blog posts that turned into an online article about tsunamis.
This past few months, three talented students from Vancouver Film School (Jamie Peterson, Erica Edwards, and Shalinder Matharu), in consultation with me, adapted it into a two-minute instructional video graphic (25 MB MPEG video) using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and After Effects (no, those are not real paper cutouts—I asked). Very cool!
I've posted the video in iPod-compatible format for iTunes or QuickTime.

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 13:53:53 -0800

Striking Silver

At almost twelve and a half minutes, “Striking Silver” (MP3 file, 14 MB) is by far the longest instrumental track I've ever posted here. I originally created it as a background track for the Inside Home Recording podcast, made with (and as part of a review of) Guitar Rig 3 by Native Instruments. It's ambient, spacey, noodley, and recorded in one take with only a single guitar, my G&L Tribute S-500.
“Striking Silver” is available via iTunes and on the Podsafe Music Network. © 2007 by Derek K. Miller (SOCAN), available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. The picture is public domain, and is a copy of the first photograph ever taken, made by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 in France.

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:14:13 -0800

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

We put up and decorated our Christmas tree today. So I made a time-lapse movie of it. The music is my earlier recording of "We Three Kings."

Sat, 1 Dec 2007 19:31:48 -0800

Quick 'n' Dirty Drums

What? Four months without a podcast episode, and more than eight months since my last new tune, and all I have for you is a drum track?! Yup, "Quick 'n' Dirty Drums" (3.5 MB, 2 min 35 sec MP3 file) is it. I played them at 120 beats per minute (bpm) if you want to use them in a song.
Hey, I've had surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, more surgery, a month in hospital, and I'm in the middle of more chemo as I write this.(Read more at my blog.) So take what you can get! As a bonus, "Quick 'n' Dirty Drums" is completely public domain, which means you can take the track and do anything you want with it. Yes, anything. So have fun. I'm working on some more stuff I should have posted here soon.
These drums were originally recorded for an episode of Inside Home Recording, a podcast I co-cost and which you should listen to.

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 05:57:38 -0700

Blogging When It Gets Tough (CBC Interview)

This audio, from June 29, is my third appearance on the Vancouver afternoon radio show “On the Coast,” following others in January, and again in April. This time my wife joined me on air, and we talked about how I have continued blogging despite further bad news about my cancer diagnosis.
We spoke with host Paul Grant for about 10 minutes (6 MB MP3 file) about mortality, the Cancer Foundation’s Underwear Affair, my upcoming birthday and surgery, and the fabulous people at the B.C. Cancer Agency. The photo (which was not taken at the CBC, by the way) is by Megan Cole.

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:28:34 -0700

Happy Birthday to Derek From Podcasters

Mark Blevis just emailed me this audio file (3 min 21 sec), a happy birthday message (I turn 38 tomorrow) from podcasters all over the place. Holy crap. Thanks everybody, I’m stunned.
My wife had to get me some tissues after I started listening to it, so it did its job. The photo from Podcasters Across Borders 2007 is by Jim Milles.
The backing track is my tune “Fakeout.” The message is © 2007 by Mark Blevis, Bill Deys, Sean McGaughey, and Bob Goyetche, as well as everyone else who contributed. It’s available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:26:17 -0700

Talking More About Cancer (CBC Interview)

I first appeared on “On the Coast,” the popular afternoon drivetime show on Vancouver’s CBC Radio One, at the end of January, talking about how I use my blog to discuss my colorectal cancer. This week I was back again with host Priya Ramu for a followup chat.
We spoke for about seven minutes (3 MB MP3 file) about how things are going and what has changed since January, which is fair bit.
Priya and I also talked about peanut butter sandwiches.

Thu, 5 Apr 2007 17:02:06 -0700

Fakeout

What do I do when I get diagnosed with colon cancer? Blog the heck out of it, and record a fiery little instrumental number like “Fakeout” (MP3 file, 3 min 12 sec). The track emerged out of trying to perfect a meaty, Vox AC30-style guitar tone, and while it might sound like a power trio in the studio, I actually recorded it entirely on my MacBook laptop with my Strat and a series of bass, drum, and other sound loops, processed with IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube 2 Live amp emulator. Most it came together in our living room or while I was lying in bed. Les Thorn managed to refine and punch up the mix amazingly well during his mastering job.
“Fakeout” is available via iTunes and on the Podsafe Music Network. © 2007 by Derek K. Miller (SOCAN). Mastered by the always awesome Les Thorn in New York City, and available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Thu, 8 Feb 2007 12:08:31 -0800

Barry Stein Reacts to My Cancer Interview

One day after I appeared on CBC Radio’s “On the Coast” with Priya Ramu, the station patched in Barry D. Stein, president of the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, from Montreal, for his reaction to the blog posts I’ve been writing about my own cancer diagnosis.
His response was resoundingly positive, as you can hear in his eight-minute talk with Priya (5 MB MP3 file, and a bit noisier than yesterday’s because we taped it from the radio instead of getting it directly from CBC). That makes me happy.
The image for this podcast is of the Anzie Lifesaver Bracelet, which benefits Canadian CR cancer research.

Thu, 1 Feb 2007 22:29:40 -0800

Why Blog About My Cancer? (CBC Interview)

Yesterday, host Priya Ramu of “On the Coast,” the popular afternoon drivetime show on Vancouver’s CBC Radio One, was skeptical about why I’d want to blog about something as personal as my diagnosis and treatment for colorectal cancer.
We talked for