While in the Apple Store buying my iPhone 4, I was treated like royalty by Apple. It was like I was their only customer. They asked for my name and constantly referred to me by it. They asked if I had questions or concerns and walked me through the whole process. The guy even made casual conversation about bumpers and some other design-related things about iPhone 4 while we were waiting for my iPhone to activate. But since I was using my brother’s upgrade eligibility, we needed to switch the numbers on the phones, which required AT&T.

AT&T had a small table of their own inside the Apple Store. It was, to say the least, a stark contrast to my experience with Apple. The Apple employee introduced me by name to the AT&T workers, who ignored him. They were sitting at the table with ugly Dell laptops running Windows XP, Internet Explorer, and some incredibly ugly proprietary software that still had the Cingular logo on it. The AT&T employee I dealt with was coughing and sneezing into his hands, then handling my phone. Another AT&T employee jokingly chided him for not using gloves to handle a customer’s phone, which they both then laughed about right in front of me.

It took AT&T several failed attempts, repeatedly entering the same information, to get the numbers switched on my phones. It seemed to me to be a combination of carelessness and not being entirely sure what they were doing. Dealing with AT&T took roughly three times as long as dealing with Apple.

While I found some of the experience amusing, I found a lot of it disturbing. How is coughing on a customer’s newly purchased and just unboxed property and then joking about it with your fellow employees in any way professional or acceptable behavior?

I was frankly astounded at how great of a job Apple did with their service. I would have probably broken down after a couple of hours of iPhone launch sales. But they were the image of politeness and professionalism. AT&T was embarrassing.

Just thought I should share that.

(Regarding iPhone 4 itself, my experience echoes that of most other people. The device’s design, display, and speed are a joy to experience while making the iPad feel outdated just months after its release. There is little else I feel the need to add. It’s an amazing update and well worth it for anyone considering it.)

Here’s what I’m making available (six elements total):

• Bassline (first and second layers, separated)
• Melody (sine and backing)
• Synth Pad
• Orchestral Strings

The elements can be downloaded in zip format either as individual AAC files or as a preassembled GarageBand project for the cool Mac users out there. If I get multiple requests for MP3 or AIFF versions, I will consider providing them.

While these are mainly provided for educational value, you are welcome to use them in your own work provided that you give me full credit.

You can listen to each element on its own below:

(Trying to get them all to play in sync is kind of like a game you have no chance of winning.)

Can’t see the embedded player above? Click here.

Upon arriving there Friday evening, I called Dom and we went out for drinks. We had a lovely time catching up. As we were discussing the convention schedule, I mentioned the Doctor Who music panel on Sunday. The program billed it as “Dominic Glynn and a panel of enthusiasts,” and I joked to Dom about it. “Enthusiasts? Why am I not on it?” Dom, ever gracious, thought that was a perfectly legitimate suggestion, and said that he would pull some strings with the hosts at the convention to get me on it.

On Saturday, I attended the Eighties Doctor Who panel (which Dom was on), and then Dom introduced me to some of the people running the convention. They very kindly agreed to allow me to sit on the Doctor Who music panel on Sunday. After the Eighties panel, we went out for lunch and then regrouped with Dom a short time later. I had started downloading Saturday’s Doctor Who episode, “Cold Blood,” back in my hotel room, and it had finished by the time we returned from lunch. I asked Dom if he wanted to join us for the episode, and he accepted. A good time was had by all.

After the episode we made our way back to the convention for the cabaret performance. Dom did a lovely improv piece on the piano, which heavily incorporated the Doctor Who theme and some of his incidental music. I recorded it, but Dom in his modesty has requested that I not post it. Later that night we attended a screening of “Bad Day,” the film Dom scored last year. It was a low-budget British crime thriller. The film was dark and gritty (I liked it) and Dom’s score was excellent. The score is available on iTunes now as well.

On Sunday, we headed down to the convention in the morning, where I had the privilege of sitting on both the Doctor Who music panel and the Q&A session with Dom. We talked about Doctor Who’s rich musical history, I demoed some of my isolated elements of Delia Derbyshire’s original theme, and we discussed some of the subsequent versions of the theme. Dom also deconstructed his 2008 remix of the theme for the audience. We also took a look at Dom’s score for “Survival,” and he demonstrated what it was like with and without music. It was a wonderful, informative set of panels, and I really wish we had more time to really dive into it. Perhaps next year?

After the panels on Sunday, we went out to lunch with Dom one last time and then made our exit. I almost wish I could have stayed longer, because I had a truly exceptional time there. Hopefully I can coordinate a return next year, and maybe I can even work with the convention hosts on expanding their music panel offering. That would be something truly special.

UPDATE: As an added treat, here is the “TimeGate Mix” that Dom did for the convention. It is a remixed version of his 2008 DVD theme. Click here for the track page.

(Please ignore the “Danny Stewart” attribution. I am hosting the mix on my Bandcamp site, but it is solely the work of Dominic Glynn. I have attributed it correctly on the track itself.)

The score mostly consists of ambient, atmospheric pieces with a dark electronic soundset. I’ve also included some earlier, more melodic demos to give those interested a sense of the progression the score took as it developed.

Please feel free to visit my music page to check it out, and keep an eye out for my latest score in the coming weeks. (The album cover image comes from here.)