Previous Music Production Setup

Master Tracks Pro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Tracks_Pro

Kawai K4 synthesizer: http://www.polynominal.com/site/studio/gear/synth/kawai-k4/kawai-k4.html

Apple GarageBand: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GarageBand

Current Music Production Setup

Qtractor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qtractor

JACK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JACK_Audio_Connection_Kit

QJackCtl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qjackctl

Hydrogen Drum Machine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_(software)

Yoshimi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshimi_(synthesizer)

Amsynth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsynth

Fluidsynth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FluidSynth

WhySynth: http://linuxsynths.com/WhySynthBanksDemos/whysynth.html

QMidiArp: http://qmidiarp.sourceforge.net/

Hexter: http://linuxsynths.com/HexterPatchesDemos/hexter.html

Calf Plugins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calf_Studio_Gear

Audacity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacity_(audio_editor)

Notable Mentions

LMMS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMMS

Linux-oriented Links

Debian Ports page: https://www.ports.debian.org

Debian Ports PowerPC64: https://wiki.debian.org/PPC64

Fedora: https://getfedora.org

In this show you will learn how to install a bootloader on an Arduino using another Arduino via In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP)

All credit goes to M-SHORT over at SparkFun for the excellent tutorial.

Arduino IDE > File > Examples > 11.ArduinoISP > ArduinoISP

Tools > Board > {your board}

Tools > Programmer > Arduino as ISP

Tools > Burn Bootloader

Further ancillary Bash tips - 11

This is the eleventh episode in the Bash Tips sub-series. It is the third of a group of shows about making decisions in Bash.

In the last two episodes we saw the types of test Bash provides, and we looked briefly at some of the commands that use these tests. Now we want to start examining the expressions that can be used in these tests, and how to combine them. We will also start looking at string comparisons in extended tests.

Long notes

I have provided detailed notes as usual for this episode, and these can be viewed here.

Links

“GNU BASH Reference Manual”

“Bash Conditional Constructs”

“Bash Conditional Expressions”

“Bourne Shell Builtins”

“The set Builtin”

“Bash Pattern Matching”

“POSIX Shell Command Language” - documentation of all of the POSIX features mentioned in this series.

HPR series: Bash Scripting

Previous episodes under the heading Bash Tips:

HPR episode 1648 “Bash parameter manipulation”

HPR episode 1843 “Some Bash tips”

HPR episode 1884 “Some more Bash tips”

HPR episode 1903 “Some further Bash tips”

HPR episode 1951 “Some additional Bash tips”

HPR episode 2045 “Some other Bash tips”

HPR episode 2278 “Some supplementary Bash tips”

HPR episode 2293 “More supplementary Bash tips”

HPR episode 2639 “Some ancillary Bash tips - 9”

HPR episode 2649 “More ancillary Bash tips - 10”

Resources:

Examples: bash11_ex1.sh, bash11_ex2.sh, bash11_ex3.sh, bash11_ex4.sh, bash11_ex5.sh

HPR Chat with Al

Al asks Dave a number of questions about podcast audio recording and post-production.

Al is thinking of doing National Podcast Post Month in November

National Podcast Post Month (or NaPodPoMo) is a challenge in a similar vein to National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) in which participants are challenged to produce and publish a piece of audio as a podcast, every day for the month of November.

Bad podcast audio

Audio quality is as important as the content that's being presented. Bad audio is going to be what causes new podcasters the most damage in subscriber numbers. An example of good audio is the true crime podcast, One Eye Open, which Dave started listening to a couple of weeks ago. He also picked up a couple of other true crime podcasts as a result of listening to One Eye Open where the audio quality is so bad, that they can't be heard!

Loudness is a measurement of how loud something is perceived to be. Levelling is a process of ensuring that individual tracks in a podcasts are an an equivalent level, but also the podcast overall is at an equivalent level to other podcasts that have been levelled the same way.

Our setups

Al and Dave have a very similar microphone setup.

Samson Q2U - XLR and USB capable microphone

Pop filters and wind screens

Boom arm

Shock mount

What is a compressor

The non-technical definition is that it brings up the quiet bits and brings down the louder bits so that your voice has less of a variance if you shout or whisper.

Different microphone types

Cardioid - focuses on sounds coming from in front of the mic

Omnidirectional - can theoretically pick up sound from all directions

Dynamic - well suited for vocal use

Condenser - overall better quality sound than dynamic, but more susceptible to background noise, so requires a really quiet studio environment

Your level

You can measure your own level in Audacity - make sure you stay in the green! If you stray into yellow or even red, either lower your level or move slightly away from the mic.

Other people's levels

Concentrate on your own, get others to manage theirs. If you're recording multiple tracks, it can be managed in post-production, but once it's been merged into a single track it's virtually impossible.

File formats

FLAC/ALAC - lossless formats

MP3/OGG/M4A - lossy formats

Record in a lossless format, and do your edits and post-production in a lossless format. Only transcode to a lossy format once you're ready to publish your final file.

Monitoring

If you're recording yourself, and you don't want to hear yourself through headphones, take the headphones off.

If you're recording with someone else who is not in the same room, you are better off hearing yourself through your headphones at the same level as the person you're talking to.

Post-production

Use Audacity to:

Now, this is not a doom and gloom lecture.

Actually it is a talk about what is going to happen in the next 30 years.

It is a talk about what is called “postcapitalism”.

It is a talk about how almost all jobs are going to disappear due to automation. But also how we are going to think about this this and come up with solutions.

It talks about the three big challenges we need to face.

And yes, this involves you as well!

Radio Mode and frequency controls on Amateur HF Radio TS940S

UK HF band plan information

http://rsgb.org/main/operating/band-plans/hf/

Morse code (CW), Carrier Wave

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code

Article about Sideband, including Lower Side Band (LSB) and Upper Side Band (USB)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideband

Amplitude Modulation (AM)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplitude_modulation

Frequency Modulation (FM)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation

Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)

Note the CW ident di da dit or dot dash dot is not as I thought the letter “K” in Morse code, silly me, it’s actually the letter “R”. Told you I wasn’t great at Morse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency-shift_keying

The “T-F Set” button is used to set the Transmit frequency when working in split mode. In split mode, you can set the radio to transmits on one frequency and receives on a different frequency.

The last of my personal health issue shows covers two related issues, Sleep Apnea and Atrial Fibrillation. They are related because Sleep Apnea is a cause of Atrial Fibrillation. Fortunately both can be controlled if you follow medical directions.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sleep-apnea/symptoms-causes/syc-20377631

http://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/atrial-fibrillation/what-is-atrial-fibrillation-afib-or-af

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sleep-apnea/symptoms-causes/syc-20377631

https://www.palain.com/?page_id=352

Crepe Recipe:

1 cup of flour

1 cup of milk

1 egg

1 pinch of salt

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture Recipe:

1 part cinnamon (or less)

8 parts sugar

The function looks like =EXACT(A1,D1) and its purpose is to tell you if A1 contains the exact same value as D1 or not.

This is the final interview from this years Makefest in Liverpool. In this interview I interview one of the founder members of Makefest, Caroline Keep, and the Head Teacher of the school where she works, John Carling.

https://lpoolmakefest.org/