Author: Jeff Hendricks

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Linux For Guitarists – Getting Started

I’ve been messing around with Linux since about 2001, been playing guitar since about 1992. I’ve done lots of projects with Linux over the years, but the last couple of years I wanted to use Linux as a platform to make music with. I’m not a professional blogger, nor a video expert, but I know a lot about being a geek and being a musician, which is why you’re here. I originally wanted to do Youtube videos, but I’m really better at writing. It would be a lot more informal, like hanging with your Geeky tech buddy. But in the end, I just didn’t have time to make videos of the quality I’d like. So for now, I’m your Geeky tech pal who’s a Linux Guru and just so happens to love playing guitar. Welcome to Linux for Guitarists, Episode 1.

There’s been plenty of stuff written about Ardour, and a bunch of other open-source music tools, which is fantastic. But when I started to try to learn more about guitar-specific stuff, specifically performance-oriented software, I discovered there’s actually very little out there.

Now, a lot of people are intimidated by Linux, and I understand, but it’s not that bad. It gets a bad rap from people that haven’t really used it that much. But I’m very comfortable with it, so I feel pretty good about helping you with it. I’m not gonna go into the reasoning behind it*, but let’s just say, if you want to use something besides Windows or OSX, for whatever reason, you’re in the right place. Continue reading “Linux For Guitarists – Getting Started”

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Corporate Emo Poetry Monday (Potted Plant Edition)

Into the deep belly of the Beast I ride
I furtively gird myself on the inside
Foreknowledge that at least I tried
As silently ever onward I glide

Between what seems one world and the next
I struggle and fight, but am only vexed
Indiscriminately from me they wrest
Until I emptily concede defeat in my chest

Why must everything be dreary
Performing mundane tasks makes weary
The strongest soul’s desire to yearn
Or even care about the will to learn
And then you sit, and talk to a fern
And next thing ya know, it’s all like
“Yo, izzit Friday yet? Uh. This sucks.”

Don’t be a sheeple.

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Cateye Commuter CC-COM10W Review

 

If you’re like me, and you like to ride your bike to places, then you probably have some sort of device on your bike that lets you track miles, speed, time, and so forth. A lot of these bike computers are focused on tracking data for training rides- heart rate, cadence, power, etc.- so when my old Cateye Velo 2 died after 20 years of service, I was very eager to replace it. Plus, Cateye is very much supportive of Bike Commuters… they even run the website www.worldcommute.com which tracks commuting miles.

Commuter

Continue reading “Cateye Commuter CC-COM10W Review”

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Corporate Emo Poetry Monday (Salvation Edition)

Stumbling, grumbling, the groggy-eyed rush
Try not to significantly fill your mind with mush
Rushing to accomplish something you can’t understand
Knowing that whatever thoughts you have will just be banned

Working at the mercy of someone who’s underhanded
Deciphering the drivel coming forth not understanded
When trying to explain to them the error of their ways
It only leaves your spirit crushed and lamenting for days

Forgetting what’s behind, I press on towards the goal
Remembering I’m working for what’s bigger than the whole
Releasing every thought that threatens to be desperation
I close my eyes and visualize the one who’s my salvation

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MIDI Effect Sequencing Software For Guitarists

As many of you know, I’m working on a complete open-source solution to doing guitar amp and effects emulation in Linux. Because, you know, I’m a geek like that. So far, I’ve had great success with Guitarix and SooperLooper, and added a few other tools and utilities to make everything work smoothly. I have to say, considering what the equivalent software would cost, I’ve been pretty impressed with Guitarix. (Rakkarak might someday be a viable performance alternative… it just needs a complete UI redesign. Yes, it’s really that bad.)

One of the guitar effects that I’ve been curious about is an effect sequencer. Some hardware equivalents would be something like the Electro Harmonix 8 Step Program, which lets you sequence a signal that goes to the external control pedal jack of another effect. (Demo video and good explanation of step sequencers (not mine) is here) Continue reading “MIDI Effect Sequencing Software For Guitarists”

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Corporate Emo Poetry Monday

Sputtering, stuttering, making excuses
Acting as if there were more than two uses
For the asphyxiated grey matter within
To think outside the box would be considered a sin

Assimilating ammunition knowledge at large
To undercut and stupefy the people in charge
Of the mass-generated complicational trope
That underestimates resistance in both focus and scope

To articulate futility of endless frustration
Simply pound your head against the desk in your isolation
Or pretend you’re writing emails to the biggest of cheeses
Instead of doing nothing like we’re full of diseases

And yet there’s still a glimmering, a flicker of light
That maybe someday we’ll be freed to do whatever we might
Oh yes, and heaven forbid it might be something productive
Instead of simply making money and ending up self-destructive

 

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Getting Back Into Evernote

I’m actually a big fan of Evernote, if you hadn’t heard. However, I haven’t been using it much lately. Partly, that’s because I made the mistake of using it (on my tablet) at work, and for some inexplicable reason, Evernote massively multiplied the photos I had uploaded, which maxed out my free account monthly bandwidth in about 10 minutes. I thought I had fixed it and deleted the offending notes, but alas, as soon as my limit reset, it promptly locked me out again for another month.

After a few tries, I managed to delete (really delete) the posts causing it, and everything returned to normal. By then, however, I had gotten out of the habit of using it!

Now I’ve decided to get back into it. Especially with it being Tax Season in the States, there will be plenty of paperwork and things to keep track of. So how do I get back in the swing? I guess I have to start with some things I have lying around, ready to be filed. The program is free, so the only thing it requires is some planning and a little time.

There are currently only four viable options if you want to use Evernote on your Linux computer (that I know of).

  1. Evernote for Windows client in an emulator
  2. Evernote web client in a browser
  3. NixNote/Nevernote
  4. Everpad

Continue reading “Getting Back Into Evernote”

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Corporate Emo Poetry Monday (Personal Restraint Edition)

in a moment of weakness I feel myself slipping

the vultures surrounding me eager for ripping

pushing my patience to the point of it tipping

over the edge, but to hang on I’m gripping

tight to the precipice rife with complaint

but falling on deaf ears my voice going faint

I’m losing the urge to fight with restraint

I’m hoping that things will improve- but they ain’t.

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Take The Red Pill..

Not sure what to call this… it started as a funky NES chiptune, and kind of morphed into a techneaux/dubstep/art piece. Throw in some clips from one of my favorite movies, a little 808 beat, and there you go. Most everything is done with pretty simplistic square wave synths, nothing really fancy going on there. I used a lot of “slightly” modified waveforms… took a square, and added a bit of noise. It gives it more of a genuine chiptune feel, more lo-fi. There’s a few other tricks in there, specifically using square/noise waves and filters to do percussion. I’m still learning, but it came out okay. Hope you like it!

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Just One Of Those Days

You ever have a day when you just wanted to get on a bike and ride until you were far enough away from your problems that it didn’t matter? Yeah… today was one of those days. I can’t wait until I can retire and get on my bike, and ride across the country as fast or as slow as I want.

So, go to http://www.adventurecycling.org/ and check it out. I’m thinking one day I’ll try to do the Southern Tier– that’s cross country, coast to coast, along the southern border. I live on that route! So if you’re passing through southern Louisiana, get in touch and we can get some bengiets and coffee!

Just because you don’t have enemies, doesn’t mean everyone is your friend. I’m glad I have real friends in my life. I hope you can say the same, too.