Month: May 2014

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Reflections On Wisdom

I was recently shocked to discover that someone had been reading my blog, and actually used it as motivation to accomplish something great. I immediately panicked. Why? Because I don’t view myself as a particularly wise person. Intelligent? Yes, under certain circumstances I’d call myself “smart” but that doesn’t have anything to do with Wisdom. I know lots of devastatingly intelligent people who don’t have the wisdom to keep from wrecking their lives. One of my favorite writers, in fact, continually flaunts his MENSA qualifications and IQ score, and yet he’s lambasted as a bigot (and several other nasty monikers) because he’s hot-headed, stubborn, and generally unwise. His skill in writing is second to none (in my opinion) but as a person, I wouldn’t really like him.

So what’s the difference, really? You might think Wisdom is just the application of being Smart, but that’s not the case. But if Wisdom isn’t the same as intelligence, what is it?

Wisdom – the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience

I especially like the phrase “application of experience.” So, by definition, can you be wise without experience? No, you can’t. But so often we try to bypass the whole time requirement of wisdom, and substitute Brains instead. Because, if we’re smart, gosh darn it, we should be able to make the right decision every time, right? If I think about it enough, the answer will come to me.

Oh, how I wish that were the case.

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Linux For Guitarists Episode 2

If you managed to make it through the first step of getting Linux installed on a computer, then we’re ready to go to the next step, which is finding a decent audio interface to use for live guitar performance. This is Linux for Guitarists, Episode 2.

If you want to play guitar through your computer, you’re going to need some way to plug it in. The best way to do it is with an audio interface. Specifically, you want to look for one that has a “Hi-Z” input. This makes the input jack have the correct impedance for your guitar to sound right. If you want a better explanation of why this is, check out this video on Impedance by Nick Jaffe.

I’ll give you fair warning: most manufacturers are going to cheaper platforms, and putting most of their interface’s features in software. I mean, they only have to write the driver software once, and it costs them nothing to duplicate it. Hardware costs money! So what that means for us is that a lot of these will only work in the most basic ways in Linux. If you know this going into it, you won’t get as frustrated, but I’ll tell you now, there’s only a handful of interfaces that work 100%. One of them is what I have, a Roland UA-25EX. It has hardware switches for settings and a hardware compressor, hardware everything, and it’s USB class-compliant, so it just works.

You may not be able to find one of these, so what you want to look for is something that specifically says “USB Class-Compliant.” That means if you plug it into anything, it will at least work to get audio in and out. The advanced features probably won’t work, but that’s generally not a problem. If you want to see what interfaces are known to work, you can go to the Alsa home page and look through the list. Also, most Firewire interfaces will work, but again, you’re gonna want to check and make sure. I have heard reports that the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 works perfectly in Linux, but I don’t have one to test yet. It’s still in production, so if you can’t find a Roland UA-25EX give the Focusrite a try.

To install an interface in Linux, you just plug it in. The audio drivers are already built into the kernel, so if it works at all, it should just work. You can plug your guitar into the Hi-Z port, and see if you can get it to record something. If you can get it to work at all, you’re set! It’s all playing with software from here.

I’ll also add, you’ll probably want to find an interface that has MIDI in and out too, but if you can’t, you can always get a simple USB to MIDI cable. They sell them on Amazon for like $19, and they’ll work fine for what we’re going to be doing with it.

Okay, that’s about it! Next episode, we’re going to talk about the two main software packages, Guitarix and Rakarrak. We’ll be talking about how to get a decent guitar tone to start with, and then we’ll get into effects later on.

Again, thanks for reading, and keep on rocking!

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Ain’t What I Used To Be

So finally, after years of fighting it, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that… oh geez, I don’t even know if I can say it…

I can’t physically do the things I used to do. My body is breaking down. What used to be a simple job now takes me twice as long, and I have to recover for a few days afterwards. My back muscles are shot, my joints are failing, my neck crunches like Rice Krispies when I move it in any direction, my hair is falling out, and I could go on. I’ll be 40 in a couple of weeks. I’m starting to get old, and I can feel it.

However, I’m holding on to the one last thing I still can keep from failing: my overall health. I’m eating better now than I ever have before. I’m exercising again (after a terrible accident which kept me off the bike for almost 3 years). I’m sleeping more, I’m listening to my body, and you know what? It’s making a difference.

There are some things I know I just won’t be able to do any more. But I’m going to fight to keep what I have left. And when it’s all said and done, I’ll still be able to do more than if I’d had just let myself go.

I refuse to go down quietly and without a fight.

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Don’t Give Up

Don’t give up.

How many times have you heard those words? I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard or said them, but I know it’s plenty. Usually people won’t say when you’re just trying to tie your shoes “Hey, don’t give up!” unless you really struggle with tying your shoes. So most of the time when you hear it, it’s because you’re trying to do something you don’t think you can do. If it were easy, there’d be no need to say it.

In contrast, the times we say “Don’t give up” are when we see someone going through something we’re pretty sure they can do, it’s just they don’t see it. Or believe it. Sometimes they’re not even trying to succeed, they’re just going through the motions in hopes that some day they will be able to just stop.

It really hurts me when I see people struggling, and I know what they’re going through. It hurts even more if they’re struggling with something I’ve already been through and conquered. Why must they struggle when really, the path they need to go is plain and simple, and will get them where they need to go if they stick with it long enough. Sometimes all it takes is someone telling them “Don’t give up, you’ll get there, you’re heading in the right direction.”

If you’ve heard me say this recently, please don’t see it as patronizing. You couldn’t imagine the pain and hardships I’ve gone through, and yet I’m not dismissing what you’re going through. I know it’s hard. I know it’s not the end of the world, and I know there are much harder things we could be dealing with.

It’s hard, yes. But it is finite. There is an end to it, if only you’ll look up and place one foot in front of the other. Don’t look back; keep moving forward.

And above all, don’t give up.