Adventures in FTP

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I used to think FTP (or file transfer protocol) was an absolute godsend to someone in my position, who was located outside of the central cities of, for example, London or LA, enabling me to work remotely and exchange files with clients all over the world.

Even saving a few hours driving time here and there for me or clients to deliver drafts means more time actually working on the project. And a slightly smaller carbon footprint ;-)

I’d used free services like filesendit.com but they just didn’t float my boat. I much preferred the drag and drop simplicity of ftp interfaces, and the fact you could see all of the files there in the finder window (or whatever the equivalent is on Windows these days, it’s been so long since I used a PC I can’t remember… sign of old age?)

However recently it’s really been ticking me off.

My own ftp space has been causing disconnections and stalling during transfers. Connecting to other ftp sites has been awkward because of syntax variations (having to put ‘ftp.’ in front of the server name instead of ‘ftp://’ lost me an hour or so the other day. I was rather peeved. Though I’m aware this may be an obvious thing to try for some of you more experienced transferrers out there…)

The free software Cyberduck (which was fantastic and served me well for a good few years) and Filezilla both seem to have trouble with my site and don’t auto-resume, a niggly bugbear that ticks me off the morning after the night before I’ve started uploading a big file which should have finished but stalled half way through.

Then there’s the paid ones… I’ve recently been recommended Fetch, which seems to be doing the trick, and Captain FTP, which I tried ages ago so have run out of free trial. I’m sure it’s ok though.

Classic FTP seemed to be working fine for a day then randomly decided it would be awkward and crashed a lot. The autoresume didn’t want to kick in either.

Although it could still just be traffic issues with my ftp host provider, so don’t just take my word for it.

However, as I’m wont to do on occasions like this, I put out a request on twitter for ftp client recommendations and @dovwaterman, a v cool composer based in London (and fellow YouLicense White Label site owner - check out it his music here: Forksound), gave me a heads up to Dropbox.

Dropbox is a desktop-based ftp program that uses Amazon’s S3 technology. Basically it’s free online storage space up to 2GB (more than my paid-for ftp) with faster transfer times, a fantastically simple user interface, automatic sync to all your own computers and idiot-proofed, simple ways of sharing files with other clients computers.

I’ve only just installed it, but think I’m a convert already. It’s still only in beta, but I see a bright future for Dropbox.

V Web 2.0 ;-)

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June 17, 2009 · Filed Under Music Business

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How to Delegate Work and Do More of the Fun Stuff

So, yeah, if anyone can tell me how that’s done, that’d be ace. ;-)

I’m rubbish at delegating. I’m of the school of thought that, if you want something done properly, do it yourself.

To be honest, in my home life this has led to numerous DIY blunders.

But in the case of music composing and sound design I’ve been proved right, time and time again. Delegating sound work has not gone well for me, and on occasion it’s led to actually creating extra work. Not the desired effect, one might say…

However, it’s gotten to the point where I either work long hours on simple but essential tasks like tracklaying and foley… and miss out on valuable ‘fun’ time on the composition and sound design, spending time experimenting and tweaking effects, getting the music to ‘great’ rather than ‘good enough’; or I farm out some of these nuts-and-bolts tasks to people who really enjoy it!

To be honest, being a one-man-band has served me well until now. In my first article for SCOREcast Online, due the week after next, I’ll talk about the benefits of diversifying within your trade.

Being able to offer recording, sound design, sound editing, sound clean-up, mixing, that sort of thing, gives me an edge that not a lot of composers in my neck of the woods cover.

But now it’s gotten me a lot of work. And it’s all work that I really want to do, so I’m sure as hell not turning it down.

A recent flurry of work has also caused me to develop RSI in my right hand, nothing serious, just an annoying twinge in the knuckles at the end of a long working stint. Perhaps I’m already at the computer maybe a few too many hours in the day? Eek.

So, I have a choice. I can actually complete all the work myself. I do have time. I’m not that daft that I’d take on an impossible amount.

But I will have to work really long days consistently for the next 3 months. It’s hard to find the fun when you’re dead on your feet and the end is nowhere in sight.

And where there’s no fun, there’s no creativity, there’s no good music and sound design, you’re more likely to be a bit grumpy and difficult to work with (no, really ;-) ) and that does not a happy customer make.

So I’ve bit the bullet and put out an ad for freelance assistants. This is more than a bit scary for someone like me who likes to keep a tight reign on her side of the works.

But when I started receiving back the applications I have to say I was impressed. There’s more than enough talent out there. I’m stunned at the qualifications that some of the applicants had, that they’d be applying for this, a just-above-entry-level job.

So I have high hopes that my previous attitude to delegation will be proved wrong, that I can wrangle a team of intrepid recorders and post-production soundees and soundettes to take the journey with me on to the next level.

They way I see it, if I can spread the love a little, help someone who’s like me maybe six or seven years ago, just starting out, give them a little leg-up the ladder with a decent credit and a little cash too, for doing something they’re passionate about, that’s way more valuable than the cash in my pocket: the value to me of having more time to really compose.

It’s a win-win scenario. Fingers crossed.

Over to you. How have your experiences of delegating work gone for you? Are you like me: keeping a tight grip on the reigns, have you found it faster for you to do the work rather than explain to someone else how to do it? Or do you work best when delegating?

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June 11, 2009 · Filed Under Composing Music, Creativity, Music Business, Sound Design

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