Music Audio Sound

Dangit!! this is SOOOO Frustrating.

For those of you who have tried to install Ubuntu on the newest 8.9inch monster from Kohjinsha you would know how much of a headache it is.

The first problem is getting UBUNTU Hardy Heron to recognize and read the hard drives…

When the liveCD is running on your compy then pull up a terminal window and type:

sudo modprobe ide-generic

to load the module that will recognize your hard drives for the installation. After that unfortunately I am stuck. The OS has installed itself properly but when trying to load Linux from the GRUB booter we end up with a blank screen and a blinking console…

After much trawling through the web and exploring possibilities i discovered a promising idea that suggested adding ide-generic to the load of modules at the boot up.

When I tried adding ide-generic to the modprobe list of modules I firstly couldn’t find the correct folder. I created the folder path and filename and entered ide-generic into the list of modules to be loaded. And still when I tried to boot into ubuntu i got the blank screen.

unfortunately this is where I am at right now… and so the journey continues.

Have you had any other luck with getting ubuntu running on Kohjinsha SX?

Over the past week i`ve been taking the time to stretch the legs of this little beast.

This includes finding and testing as much audio software as I can on its insides. Here is how it went.

Reaper -multi track and midi software:

installed easily under vista. It loaded up really slowly but once up the software was quick and responsive.

Protools M-Powered -This is the only version of Protools that I own and also this computer doesn`t come with a firewire port thus making it difficult to use any of the more professional levels of protools.

Installation was a breeze, it is moments like this that I`m sooo thankful I have a DVD drive to install from.

The software itself also loads up as nicely as on my desktop PC. I`ve been able to open and run a new project with no problems but would like to do some more extensive testing on the power available, I must admit I`m not expecting much from it.

Reason -Installing Protools also allowed me to reinstall an older version of Reason,The software installed well, Reason is rather space hungry so I`ve currently only installed the factory settings.

The software runs fine and can load up and play the demo easily. I`ll save the major testing in combination with protools which is how I normally use it.

That`s all for this post, let me know if there is particular software that you tested out. I`m hoping to move this system over to Linux as well and so will be trying some of their popular software as well.

Today`s conclusion? Ultra Mobile PC`s are a lot of fun.

cheers

Matt

My Kohjinsha SX arrived

September 21st, 2008

It has arrived. It really is an international world we live in.

I’ve been following the netbook, UMPC and Lilliputer market for a while. Ever since I first laid eyes on that incredibly moving EEE pc 701 almost a year ago. There were just a few limitations that were confirmed by my contacts on the web. Things such as too short a battery life and an irritating experience while searching the web suggested it would be worth me waiting before purchasing my new miniature machine.

 

Well, I have now found my machine and it is fantastic. Its a Kohjinsha SX from Japan.

Funnily enough, this is how I had to purchase it:

I found the laptop through jkkmobile.com a very cool blogger from I think Germany. the SX has all the features you dream of in a laptop this size…

mainly bluetooth, wireless, small, touchscreen, long battery life, bigger hard drive etc. (the next model is coming with 3G access and GPS too just to make this machine even tougher)

But at a steeper price. Almost double what the new EEE pc 901 is selling for. I finally bit the bullet and purchased it from www.conics.net however due to just how complete it was.

So, an Australian, living in Shanghai, purchased his computer from a Japanese website, also being run by an Australian -purchased in US dollars… boy do we live in an international world!!!

It took about 9 working days to become available to me in China, most of those were spent in the customs office in Shanghai. It has now arrived into my hot little hands and is everything it promised.

I upgraded to 2GB ram which i think is necessary, I’m going to install Linux Ubuntu on this little monster to use the processer more efficiently and will then see how this Kohjinsha will hold up to the audio demands of a professional musician.

I can already see that it has more then enough power for lyrics, website management and score editing,

And I’ve even got it to play Reaper with no problems on it -it was quite slow at loading the software but once up played easily with no audible artifacts. 

The touchscreen on it too is very effective at managing backing tracks and software to be played during gigs -and the fact that it converts into a little 8.9 inch tablet allows the keyboard to unobtrusively sit on the average size synthesizers without even damaging the finish.

All in all, i’m very glad I’ve finally made the plunge into the miniature world and I’m looking forward to using this frequently in my creative arsenal.

 

cheers,

Matthias

So i’ve just recently moved house and was sorting and culling through my studio and sound equipment and came across my little Zoom H4 Recorder and thought I’d recount my experience with using this little portable music machine.
I’ve owned one for over a year… Sooo handy to have. The built-in mics are crisp and clear and the ability to plug your own mics in and run them on phantom power all from a battery have been VERY appealing to me.

I’ve used also as a sound card within windows -it has been recognized by a variety of sound programs -old logic audio, samplitude, regular windows, nuendo, fruity loops, reason, I’m not sure what standard it uses for communication -it isn’t ASIO, possibly MME. There were no files to install, just plug the device in and everything happens.

2 limitations to consider, you can only record from 2 inputs at once -mics x2 or XLR x2… wished it could record from mic and XLR at the same time.

Also, the machine only takes 2GB cards, not bad for 320kbps MP3 (8 hours recording time), and about 3-4 hrs(????) of uncompressed audio but you’ll probably find that you’ll be switching cards a lot.

Runs on 2 x AA batteries for about 3hrs w/o phantom -i’ve not specifically tested this. I use the recorder plugged in as much as possible and leave the batteries in there to help with moving the microphone without interruption.

Since purchasing this little monster i’ve found that there are many other versions of this style of recorder, i’ve not investigated them much though as I’ve been VERY happy with the Zoom H4 recorder.

Its a pretty abrupt review but I hope it gives you some ideas about it. Do ask questions if you have any.

Matthias.

I’ve come across this question a few times over the past few months and thought I’d put something down here. The question normally goes something like this…

“hi, i’m a singer/songwriter but I don’t have a band… how can I play and perform or put together a band?”

Here is one way that I’ve used to solve this problem.

As a singer/songwriter you mostly write and play by yourself, initially you have plenty of opportunities to perform solo at open mic nights or at larger gigs depending on the size of your fan base. At some stage though you reach a point where you want a band to play bigger shows. I’ll let you in on a little secret about musicians… we play music because we LOVE IT, therefore, WE WILL PLAY YOUR MUSIC if we love it too. Now if you’ve done a few gigs and are getting good responses then you should start realising that your music doesn’t suck so start looking for a band.

There are many areas to look for a band, here is a short list:

1. if you play in other bands then ask them, or at least ask their thoughts of your music

2. look for musicians who you think would sound good playing your music -at other gigs, or at TAFEs, University, Tech Schools, even High School isn’t too young.

3. Advertise you are looking for particular musos on music websites or in the local street music mag.

one catch is DON’T THINK that you need to find ALL your band at once. If you have a drummer already that you love, keep them and fill in the gaps.

-One thought you need to start moving away from is the idea that you need the SAME band or you need the PERFECT band. These are both subjective opinions that delay your action.

You may find that some of your members are permanent and other spots in the band keep changing, that isn’t a problem, its just the nature of the industry. Once you start finding musos that you like make sure you don’t over rehearse the material. I’ve played in bands that have had 1 rehearsal together before a gig, but 3-5 rehearsals is not unreasonable. If you play with pro musos then 1 rehearsal with charts should be fine.

If you are going down the path of non permanent band then its a really good idea to make up some chord charts/lead sheets of your current material. You’ll find the musos will pick up the songs quicker and will consider the whole process easier to say ‘yes’ to.

Another thought is money. Most original bands won’t see any money until they break the big time or they generate enough of a fanbase to cover costs. If you are going down the singer/songwriter route consider some form of payment for your band members.

$50 for an original gig is okay, in fact even if its as low as ‘petrol money’ it will help your musicians feel valued and give them more reasons to play. As the events get bigger you can even offer a bit from the door or other sales avenues too.

anyone have some other ideas about how to be a success as a singer/songwriter?

to your success,

Matthias.

I’ll admit this right up front. this is a shameless plug.

why am i being so upfront? I’ve read too many sales pitches that pretend to not be a sales letter. The program is Omega Flash Buttons Pro don’t worry, there is an opportunity to download a trial version so you’re not going to be just buying dreams -You’ll actually get to see how it works. But, now I’m getting away from the real point.

Put your hand up if you know what flash is? and I’m not talking about the superhero.

Keep your hand up if you know how to use flash? As you might have guessed my hand is firmly down. I’ve tried on a few occasions to figure out how flash works with limited success. Being a musician and audio specialist I’ve realised how helpful flash is for protecting content -particularly media such as audio or video. I was looking for a program that would just let me create audio flash buttons quickly and easily. I wasn’t interested in the major processes involved with all the features of flash but couldn’t find a flexible program to let me do this. Enter… Omega Flash Buttons. This program simplified the creation of flash buttons for audio and sound for use on your websites. PERFECT!

I hope you find this program as useful as I did.

Omega Flash Buttons

regards,

Matthias Peitsch

OmegaMusic.com.au
MusicAudioSound.com.au
NCH software seller


When we use our ears, what you hear is what you get, right? Correct! In the world of music and digital devices this is most certainly not true. Programmers have discovered many ways to turn 1’s and 0’s into sound. There is mp3, wav, aif, ogg, wmv, ra, mp4, m4u, asf, aac, flac and mpg to name some of them. (Email me if you know all of them and I’ll send you a prize)


These are the most common types, however there are many more formats specific to particular sound programs.
What I want to share with you today is the category to separate ALL these formats.


The two things you need to remember are:
Lossless or Lossy.Some of you may be a step ahead of me already on this now.
Audio on a CD is recorded at a standard rate all over the world. That is 16bit(the length of the line of numbers) recorded 44100 times per second (44.1kHz). This is called “Lossless” recording. There is as much information gathered about the sound as possible.
This gives us great sound, however the downside is that it records approximately 1MB per 1sec of recorded audio. This just isn’t an option when using audio on the internet or emails or on small hard drives.

Because of this, many compression formats were developed specifically for sound. Thus “Lossy” formats were introduced to audio.
”Lossy” formats work on the idea that some parts of the sound are more important then others. Some work by changing the amount of times that information is recorded… e.g. 8000Hz instead of 44100Hz. Or they also shorten the length of information that is needed every second. E.g. 4bit instead of 16bit.

This can also be changed into a rating for every second.
So it records 128k-bits Per second instead of 7065k-bits per second(16bit x 44100Hz). This does create okay sounding recordings but you can hear residue from the process such as hiss and distortion.

It is important to test the sound if you have compressed it to make sure it doesn’t sound terrible.

Examples of formats that fall into the two categories are”
To use these formats you can get programs to convert audio between different formats.

The best and most versatile audio format converter I’ve found is called SWITCH. The cool thing about this program is it converts 90% of the audio formats I’ve ever needed and is cheap (cheaper when you purchase from me)

Click here to download a full version trial of SWITCH

Other audio converters are Windows media player -which converts to some formats, as does itunes. Otherwise look up “audio converter” in google for other options.Lossy formats are great for making things small but once you have compressed sound or audio you can never get it back –what you hear is exactly what you get.

Happy Listening,

Matthias Peitsch

OmegaMusic.com.au
MusicAudioSound.com.au
NCH software seller

Hi all,

Welcome to my blog. I am going to reveal tips and tricks for working with audio in the digital world. Please post your comments or questions that you have about this topic.

Good luck in your Audio Exploration.

Matthias Peitsch

OmegaMusic.com.au
MusicAudioSound.com.au
NCH software seller

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