Dispelled.ca

Last night I did some testing and got the Roland-MC303 working as a sound module. As a sequencer, it is less than average, but as a sound module, it is great.

So after getting the piano set up upstairs, there was one big problem. The studio is on the opposite side of the house, in the basement, a good 70 feet away. I realized I could run a midi cable there, and then run a 1/4 inch instrument cable back to bring the piano’s sweet sounds into the studio. The maximum ‘recommended’ distance of a midi cable is 50 feet, but after some searching, I saw that Cat5e cable can be run a bit further. If you are looking to buy premade midi extenders, there is many people out there selling.

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Computers, Electronics, Music, Recording 2 comments

Well it is going to take a month before I can set up all the gear in our new house, so I have been doing a bit of research on how everything is going to be set up. My first worries are:

How to record the V-drums
At first I was worried that I might be restricted to using the stereo outs (L, R) from the TD-9 brain, and would have no control over the final mix. After reading some forums, I found this is not an issue.

You attach a midi cable from the TD-9 to the computer, and that records only the midi signals of your playing to a sequencer software on the computer. You attach another midi cable from the computer to the TD-9, and then an audio cable from the stereo outs to the computer. Now you can playback the midi signals you recorded onto the computer, back to the TD-9, and record them through the audio outs.

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Computers, Drums, Music, Recording No comments

Hooking up the mixer and guitars worked great. The programs I have been starting with are Jack Control (QjackCTL) to start/stop the Jack server, and Ardour for multi track recording.

For levels, I have been using QAmix for quick level changes, and alsamixer for bigger changes. For the laptop, the default levels were way too hot and there was a hiss in the background. I looked into QAmix and all the levels were set to 100%, so setting them down to 75% took care of the hiss and brought the levels down just right.

To record, you need QjackCTL open with the server started, Ardour open with a project started, and then the only thing to do is make the connections from one program to the other. JACK is really just virtual patch cords for programs. You have an input and an output and you plug em together.

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Computers, Music, Recording, Ubuntu No comments

Wish me luck. I’m installing the Ubuntu Studio packages on the laptop, in hopes that it will become my recording device. I was considering using a desktop with a PCI audio interface to record with, but the laptop has usb2 and firewire.

I figure I can start out by using an old 4-track as a mixer, and then into the line-in on the laptop. Although this is far from ideal, it gets me started for 0 dollars total. If it works, I’ll add an audio interface, and then upgrade the mixer.

It makes sense to start a post now and add to it, since I’ll probably be doing a lot of tweaking along the way. First off I installed the meta packages.

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Computers, Music, Recording, Ubuntu No comments

We found a nice looking 1970′s R-125 (Mediterranean) Hammond Organ for the house looking through Kijiji. It was up for 30 bucks but the lady was nice and said we could have it for free! The only problems were getting it home, repairing a key that was broken, and fixing a short in the bass pedals.

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Electronics, Music 1 comment

Picked up the Roland TD-9 Drums today and got to play a bit after Anna and Mommy. It is a TD-9k kit (mesh snare, rubber toms) which was a great decision (mesh toms were a thousand more dollars = really, buy the TD-9 brain, and upgrade the toms after. People on the V-Drums forums say this, and they are right.)

Other than that, a DW 5000 Accelerator (DW5000ad3) Single Bass drum pedal which is the most amazing pedal I have ever played, and two pairs of nice sticks. Vic firth 7a’s (for Anna) and 5a’s (for me). She loves drumming with the sticks and her meter is great (even on the Nar). Drum Drum Drum! now if Dad can catch up!

Drums, Electronics, Music No comments

Using Exact Audio Copy on the laptop to convert our old CD’s to mp3. Downloaded a binary of the LAME Mp3 encoder, and found a way to create directories for Artist/Album/Title. Working great! Just in case that last link ever stops working, it was

%D (%C)\%N %T

Rubyripper on Ubuntu looks like fun, but the DVD drives are downstairs. So for this task, Windows and the laptop it is!

Computers, Music No comments

My first electric was a SG copy, and I have always loved Gibson’s SG’s. Now, they have Robot SG’s, and I am having trouble finding a reason to not buy one! The video shows a Les Paul, but the electronics are the same. I know that it is a silly thing to buy a self tuning guitar after years of tuning them yourself by ear, but just look at em! That is so damn cool! Want.

Music No comments

These are my old records that sat in my parents record collection next to the golden oldies. These records shared space with Saturday Night Fever, Willie Nelson, and Simon and Garfunkel. School dances, rockin with the headphones on, playin guitar into the aux jack along with the record, man, this is the mix.

1. AC DC – For Those About to Rock

2. Def Leppard – Pyromania

3. Van Halen – 1984

4. Motorhead – No Remorse

5. Metallica – Ride the Lightning

6. ZZ Top – Eliminator

7. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II

8. Steve Miller

9. Billy Idol – Rebel Yell

10. The Clash – London Calling

11. Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks

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Well, after getting invited to the CSO and 3 months of rehearsals, we finally performed our Spring Concert! It went amazingly well, even though I screwed up in the first piece (glad no one noticed:P) Even pulled off my solo in the piano concerto flawlessly =)

The theme of the concert was Roses and Romance, featuring 2 awesome young artists, winners of the Young Artist Solo Competition, Tenor Andrew Byerlay and Pianist Clinton Denoni.

Romeo and Juliet , Overture and Act 1 No. 1 ” The Capulet’s Ball” – Gounod

The Elixir of Love , Bel comforto and Una furtiva lagrima – Donizetti

Piano Concerto , Allegro Moderato Molto e Marcato – Grieg

Nessun Dorma from Turandot – Puccini

~Intermission~

Roses from the South Waltz , Op. 388 – Straus, Jr.

The Way You Look Tonight from Swing Time – Kern/Fields

A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square (chorus) – Sherwin/Maschwitz

You Made Me Love You – Monaco

The Rose – McBroom

Everything’s Coming Up Roses from Gypsy – Styne/Cerulli

Next performance – Saturday November 24, 2007

Music No comments