tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57941295661556851952024-03-13T03:57:07.095-07:00The Guerrilla Guide to Music TechnologyMike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-43677306253158414552024-01-07T16:48:00.000-08:002024-01-07T16:48:10.429-08:00Useful plugins for mixing<p> I spent a good while doing some messing around with various different plugins with a view to getting my mix to be comparable to typical releases but I was having an issue getting loudness similar to commercial recordings. After some research I found I needed to do two things. Firstly I needed to address some gain staging issues which was easy enough with built in MIDI and audio gain plugins but I also needed to add some compression to the master output as a bit of light mastering. In the past I have acheived this with Jamin and a mixdown channel but my research pointed me to a plugin called <a href="https://loudmax.blogspot.com/">Loudmax</a> which I have tried out and it is very good I am pleased to say. I also wanted a decent spectrogram because the built in one in Ardour is tiny. <a href="https://github.com/wolf-plugins/wolf-spectrum">Wolf-Spectrum</a> came to the rescue in this regard. The Calf plugin suite also provided some cool plugins such as Calf Fluidsynth, a multi-band compressor and a nice reverb unit. This was installed through the Ubuntu Studio app store called Discover. Here is a video that shows how I got on with these plugins.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LLU23fXITJo" width="480" youtube-src-id="LLU23fXITJo"></iframe></div><br />Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-56638480295600850952023-12-29T06:28:00.000-08:002023-12-29T06:28:18.949-08:00Using plugins in more places than you would expect<p> Ubuntu Studio comes pre-installed with loads of free plugins that work in Ardour and other DAWs too but thanks to JACK/Carla you can also use them outside of the DAW. This is really useful in so many scenarios, I can forsee this as being useful for streamers who want to get a unique set of sounds for their stream. With Linux performing better than Windows for gaming nowadays this setup will be an option. You can also still use plugins in the traditional way inside the DAW by assigning them to tracks. In this video I show you how to do both.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="299" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5kdjfdCMHc4" width="464" youtube-src-id="5kdjfdCMHc4"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-91542546216803300492023-12-26T18:20:00.000-08:002023-12-26T18:20:09.734-08:00Correcting the time signiature of all the MIDI tracks at once<p> Having created the new drum track which had needed to be done at 168 BPM because of one thing and another, it was necessary to disconnect of the JACK time master transit . Thing is, it would be really cool to be able to use that. The last thing that needs to be done in order to fully re integrate the timings on this project is to bring the remaining MIDI tracks to 128 BPM. This sounds like it could be daunting but I found a quick and easy way to do it, which is what this video is about. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/62-xZQxmVYc" width="481" youtube-src-id="62-xZQxmVYc"></iframe></div><br /><br /><p></p>Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-37505256970026220172023-12-24T17:12:00.000-08:002023-12-24T17:12:08.381-08:00Re-recording tracks with differing BPM on JACK<p> This video deals with the JACK time master and internal clocks in Ardour and Hydrogen Drum Machine.</p><p> JACK has this really useful feature called time master transport which
will cause all JACK audio software to play simultaneously. This is used
so you can set up all of the audio software in your pipeline to act as
one and cause all the software to act as one big meta project but in
this case it became necessary to de-synchronize the clocks because I wanted to continue working on a track but also use the new beats I had programmed into my MIDI mapped hydrogen project. I had made the drum beat for this track prior to making that and it was played over 4 bars at 84 BPM. To make the other patterns fit with this, the pattern needed to be spread over 8 bars and the project tempo in Hydrogen doubled to 168 BPM. For the JACK time master to transit correctly all the individual software must agree on the BPM so they all take on the BPM value from the time master which would mean in this case the drums would play way too fast.</p><p>This does in fact mean that the project in Ardour should really be set at 168 BPM and not 84 and in a future video I will show how to send the audio and MIDI from one instance of Ardour to another with correct timings but I really want to focus on the basics in the early ones.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kg9p2HwrznU" width="480" youtube-src-id="kg9p2HwrznU"></iframe></div><br /> <p></p><p>I had a clear out of this blog today, I got rid of all the old dead links and the posts that accompanied them. It was a little sad but the better ones of them covered the same ground as I have been showing in these more recent posts except on older software on sub optimal setups. When I wrote them Ubuntu Studio was not a thing, I hadn't heard of AVLinux and I was not as experienced as I am now, also i was less able to produce video. So I am not going to worry about them too much, there are a few I will rewrite.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-86834064156384624692023-12-17T07:50:00.000-08:002023-12-17T07:50:09.060-08:00Setting up in Ubuntu Studio for Music Production<p> Setting up to make music in Ububntu Studio and indeed most Linux distros is different than it is in other operating systems by which I mean way easier and more versatile. In this video I show you how to set up in Ardour for audio and MIDI using JACK to route the signals and Hydrogen to drive the drum plugin. There is also a bunch of useful information for streamers because I interface audio streams in OBS fairly extensively. You will notice that the Linux terminal is not used in this tutorial at all.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="320" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Au2BDsaYh8s" width="476" youtube-src-id="Au2BDsaYh8s"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Also, I found out today that Apple are going to end support for Firewire. I bet there are a bunch of people out there with fire wire stuff they would like to keep working. This video might be of use to you as I believe Firewire is supported under Linux. <br /></p>Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-3002175696334202212021-09-21T03:00:00.002-07:002021-09-22T16:08:59.107-07:00Recording using multiple audio Interfaces on ardour with unusual mixer routing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="358" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7QzYJV3pTTk" width="482" youtube-src-id="7QzYJV3pTTk"></iframe> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 80px; text-align: left;">So there is a lot to take in with this video, to make things a bit clearer I have made this diagram. The outputs are colour coded to the controls that route the signal to them. take note of the slider positions for channels 2 and 3 which are using monitors for outputs. The weird box thing is the Cajon as seen in the video.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OZJEd5uvIwc/YUu1G-ZEtYI/AAAAAAAAAig/kVC_JNBw_2I06H_FebnyOaiImyOvo8V5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2000/ggmtdiag.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1300" height="736" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OZJEd5uvIwc/YUu1G-ZEtYI/AAAAAAAAAig/kVC_JNBw_2I06H_FebnyOaiImyOvo8V5wCLcBGAsYHQ/w478-h736/ggmtdiag.png" width="478" /></a></div><div style="margin-left: 80px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-10433058457012822832021-08-28T15:52:00.003-07:002021-08-28T16:03:50.787-07:00News about this blog<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-euxorAcngD0/YSqZQYAy6BI/AAAAAAAAAgg/gQbl-UXoVbYtZ0vgFXkLC32xOI0iwv_pACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/ggmtwhite.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-euxorAcngD0/YSqZQYAy6BI/AAAAAAAAAgg/gQbl-UXoVbYtZ0vgFXkLC32xOI0iwv_pACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ggmtwhite.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>All the written articles are gone, well, they might be in my hard drive somewhere but I would rather look forwards rather than back so I think the format is going to shift to video. I will probably release these videos on youtube and have companion pieces here with additional materials for anyone who is interested. I have also made a new title graphic, hope you like it.</p><p>So anyway the new beginning will probably look into 12V rigs, because that is what I have been playing with recently, we managed to attract the attention of the local council within 5 minutes using the new one i have cobbled together. Ubuntu studio is going to feature heavily because frankly, its great. </p><p>Also I'm going to try to make some video tutorials for the very basics, because everyone involved in music could really benefit with a set of core concepts not least some of the awesome people who have already asked me a bunch of questions at the music bar/cafe where I work as the resident AV tech (yeah, someone employs me to do this now, follow your dreams). A few fine folks have agreed to feature so it wont just be me talking at you, I'll probably be actively helping someone solve a real world problem.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64PloyZoxSY/YSq84O6XHiI/AAAAAAAAAgo/J2nIx4JFZGAOM9BXnrPyLk6SI2C578FWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/roccos.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="355" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-64PloyZoxSY/YSq84O6XHiI/AAAAAAAAAgo/J2nIx4JFZGAOM9BXnrPyLk6SI2C578FWQCLcBGAsYHQ/w473-h355/roccos.jpg" width="473" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p>Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-61657557698184418382013-03-25T08:36:00.001-07:002013-03-25T08:36:21.749-07:00Why I encourage LINUX for audioAnyone coming here might well question why all the tutorials (list on the right) revolve around LINUX use for audio. Well as this is the <b>guerilla</b> guide to music tech it is important (in my opinion) to not be tied up by software agreements and licenses. As a musician I want to be able to use whatever is available to me in whatever way I see fit. I want to be able to make changes and improvements to the software by myself easily, if I have the skill and the desire.
Aside from all that idealistic crap there is another solid reason for getting to grips with LINUX that is rather compelling. The fact of the matter is that as everything becomes "smart" it is creeping onto almost every electronic device in that category. Android devices use LINUX, and open source developers are taking advantage of this so now you can for instance, control Ardour (an open source DAW) with an android tablet using an app.
Well that's enough from me, this video will hopfully enlighten you a bit. I also hope it is encouraging enough for you to take the plunge.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yVpbFMhOAwE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-57595582534577454862013-03-24T17:42:00.001-07:002013-03-24T17:42:37.322-07:00Here is something that might become useful someday. Computer Music Magazine has started a new <a href="http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/the-a-to-z-of-computer-music-a-572402">A to Z of computer music</a>, I suppose they aim to build a definitive index of jargon. So far they have done the letter A, But there is no harm in giving it a bookmark because there is a lot of good useful stuff in here. As this project carries on I am sure that it will become an invaluable resource to anyone who wants to sound like they know what they're talking about. In all seriousness I think this might be worth keeping an eye on.
Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-36666721701913926582013-03-23T02:13:00.002-07:002013-03-23T02:13:37.742-07:00JACK for iOSI talk about JACK increasingly it seems in the LINUX recording tutorials (available from the list on the right), and now users of Apple's iOS get to use it on a mobile device. Users of the iPhone or iPad can download JACK Audio Connection Kit which, is a free app from the Apple App Store released by <a href="http://www.crudebyte.com/">Christian Schoenebeck</a>. There are currently only two apps that are compatible with JACK on iOS at this time, but I expect that <a href="http://www.crudebyte.com/jack-ios/apps/"> this list</a> will grow relatively quickly.
<a href="http://audiob.us/">Audiobus</a> is a more established app that performs the same role on iOS that jack promises, and has a larger number of apps that work with it. JACK will have to work hard to achieve similar compatibility on iOS.
With JACK already solidly in use in MY studio at least, I hope this app evolves to be usable over networks similar to <a href="https://ccrma.stanford.edu/groups/soundwire/software/jacktrip/">how it is already</a> on more traditional desktop environments. I can see definite advantages to using an iPhone as a microphone and speaker/headphone source for a talkback or monitoring channel in a studio using JACK. Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794129566155685195.post-77532031483679654862013-03-20T16:22:00.000-07:002013-03-20T16:22:18.510-07:00Shure Microphone Testing LabI had not been to Shure's site in a long while but I went there recently and they have the niftiest tool on their site that allows you to test their microphones. What happens is that you choose a microphone you are interested in and you are able to play a recording that has been made with it so that you can hear the quality of mic that you will get if you buy a microphone from them. <a href="http://www.shure.com/americas/support/tools/mic-listening-lab"> click here to check it out</a>. I used it to compare my PG48 with the SM58. The PG48 stood up quite well to the scrutiny, lacking a little in the higher frequencies but as a bass player and male singer I can live with that. Mike Keenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933680937687806048noreply@blogger.com0