Author: Jeff Hendricks

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QMidiRoute, and CPU Scaling In Ubuntu Studio

How many of you are aware of the program “QMidiRoute”? It lets you transform any kind of MIDI input into any other… it doesn’t have the power of something like Mididings, but it’s got a GUI and is very easy to use. What do I use it for?

On my live looping guitar setup, I wanted to be able to control three programs with one MIDI foot controller, an old ART X-15. The pedal isn’t programmable, so for me to split up messages, I use QMidiRoute. It goes something like this:

I’m using Rakarrak for guitar sounds (I also use Guitarix, which sounds better), and I’m pretty much using it in stompbox mode, i.e. just turning single effects on and off. The mapping uses a single CC# and different distinct values to turn individual fx on/off (which is dumb). I can put the pedal in CC mode, but I can’t make it do that… qmidiroute can do that for me. Also, any PC signals automatically change presets in Rakarrak, which I don’t want… so I have qmidiroute discard anything it doesn’t have a specific rule for.

For SooperLooper, I want to be able to use PC messages 1-10 to record, dub, change loops, and so on. It doesn’t need any translations, so I have my MIDI messages going straight to it. It only does what you map it to, so no other changes are needed for it.

For Hydrogen, I want to use my second bank of PC messages (11-20) to control it, but Hydrogen doesn’t recognize PC signals, only notes or CC values. Once again, qmidiroute to the rescue… I can make specific PC changes translate into an actual note, which I can then use to trigger controls or one-shots from Hydrogen.

You can also have multiple configurations, and make a shortcut that loads that particular file on startup, which makes it easy to use in a live performance setting! You just add it to your Jack patch panel, save it, and the next time you fire it up, it’s automatically configured and patched in.

Check it out! It can also route signals to two different output ports, which lets you split notes or note ranges (or PC and CC ranges) to two different outputs.

qmidiroute

This leads me to my next problem to tackle… I hadn’t been able to run guitar effects very well, due to random CPU spikes and latency issues. In my research to build my laptop into a live performance machine, I stumbled across some interesting information about CPU frequency scaling, and how in XFCE it is extremely wonky… I did some research, and discovered how to manually override the wonky settings with a program called “cpufreq-set” (in package “cpufrequtils”).

I also noticed how my laptop would go out of performance mode whenever I started Jack, which caused all kinds of problems with latency. So, I added a couple of scripts in the Jack configuration tab, which forces the CPUs into Performance Mode when Jack starts, and puts them back in economy mode when Jack stops. (I had to add superuser rights to the program cpufreq-set to do this).

Here’s the page with all the info on cpufrequtils, and a screenshot of my Jack startup/shutdown scripts.

http://www.pantz.org/software/cpufreq/usingcpufreqonlinux.html

Screenshot - 06222013PM

You can see the numbers, those are forcing the CPUs to run at a max of 2.2Ghz and a min of 800Mhz, respectively.

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My Linux Rig

I got the idea to post up the computer setup I’m using from MyLinuxRig, which is itself a derivative of The Setup which outlines what successful people use to get things done. So without too much fuss, here’s my Linux Rig questionnaire! This is what I use to get stuff done.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Jeff Hendricks. During the day, I am a technical writer for the Manufacturing Engineering department of a major agricultural equipment manufacturer. By night, I’m a writer and musician. On the weekends, I organize and lead the music in our local church.

2. What Distro do you run on your main desktop/laptop?

I’m currently running Ubuntu Studio 12.04, probably will upgrade to 13.04 for testing/documentation purposes. I started off with Red Hat 7.3 years ago, migrated to SuSE for a few years, and then settled on Ubuntu somewhere around 2008. When I discovered Ubuntu Studio in 2010, I knew I had found what I was looking for.

3. What software do you depend upon with this distro?

Ubuntu Studio is geared towards audio, video, graphic, and creative production in general. For music, I use Ardour, Hydrogen, SooperLooper, and a bunch of other tools… LMMS is nice, Rakarrak, and so on. Ubuntu Studio comes with just about everything you’d need for music production already installed and configured.

For writing, I use the Linux Beta of Scrivener, from Literature and Latte. I also use WriteOrDie (with Adobe Air) for those stubborn days of writer’s block.

For productivity I use Dropbox, Evernote (running in Wine), Lastpass, XMarks, Thunderbird, and LibreOffice occasionally. I use a lot of Google Chrome plugins too, especially CloudPrint, XMarks and LastPass. I use Evernote Clearly on a daily basis to read news articles without all the garbage ads and sidebars.

4. What kind of hardware do you run it on?

I’ve got an inexpensive HP 625 laptop, I upgraded it to 8GB of RAM. It’s not that fast, and the touchpad on it is very iffy… otherwise, it’s rock solid, haven’t had a problem with it. Does everything I want it to. If I upgrade in the future, I’ll probably go with a higher-end HP with a better chipset. (I’m also HP repair tech certified, so fixing those laptops is a piece of cake)

5. What is your ideal Linux setup?

I think an HP Elitebook 2170p (I’ve used these, they’re very nice!) would be perfect with an SSD and 8+ GB of memory. It’s got ridiculous battery life (around 8 hours with the extended battery) and it’s very portable, yet packs full-size laptop performance. And everything is Linux-compatible. It’d be perfect with a docking station and dual 22″ monitors! The only downside is that is uses Intel graphics… not my first choice. It wouldn’t be for gaming, though, so it’s okay.

6. Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?

Here’s a shot of my desktop running Native Instrument’s Guitar Rig 5 under Wine using ASIO drivers.

GuitarRig 5

 

ADDENDUM:

What is a computer if you can’t have fun with it? Here’s some games I play on my Linux machine when I’m not working! Some I got from the Humble Indie Bundle, some from Steam, some I bought direct. All are native Linux versions.

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The Survivor

Here’s an ’86 Raleigh Capri I rescued from the dumpster. I changed out the wheels, tires, and cranks, but otherwise, it’s all original… including the squeaky chain! Rides fine, though. Just needs some loving. Do you have a favorite old bike that you just can’t get rid of?

2013-05-27 17.44.05

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Corporate Emo Poetry Monday (Five Iron Frenzy Edition)

Today’s “Corporate Emo Poetry” is brought to you by a Five Iron Frenzy song called Giants. 

When no one looks the clouds come rolling in,
And under darkened skies the buildings grow big teeth and eyes.
They breathe and walk through unending doors,
Eating restaurants, and barbershops, and hardware stores.
With catch phrases and jingles stealing,
Steel and concrete lies,
The corridors of Babylon are craning for the skies.

Who’s behind the curtain anyway,
Who pulls the levers and tells the lies?
Giants roam the land today,
Gaining dominance with every stride.

Oh don’t you cry for the mom and pops,
Nothing but dry eyes for integrity’s demise.
Hulking machines grind as whistles blow,
Corporate Darwinism crushes everything below.
Advances in efficiency increasing productivity,
Are narrowing the margin for liberty.

This house is haunted by the ghost of Adam Smith,
The Wealth of Nations and the further death of innocence.
To rule the world, the desire of every man,
The earth is shaking,
There are giants in the land.

See the blood red sun is rising,
On the broken carnage from the darkest days.
Giants locked together arm and arm,
Pushing all the meek out of the way.

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH8SIql08l4″ title=”Giants”]

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Spring Cleaning

image

I haven’t posted a “One-a-Day” in a while, but decluttering is still near and dear to me. This is a huge pile of toys (and a box of computer parts and cables) from our Spring Fling this weekend. This is the result of having kids who never want to get rid of anything! No idea where they get that from…

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How I turned my life around… and lost it again

Life On Hold:

Have you ever been at a point where you know you need to change, but you just don’t know where to start? Four years ago, I was at that point.

I had recently moved back to my home town, had a beautiful family, and was pretty much happy. Except that I wasn’t happy. I was pretty miserable in fact, but I wasn’t letting on. Why? Some of the reasons were related to my job, but a lot of it had to do with me being 40+ pounds overweight. I was weighing in at 5′ 11″ and 215 pounds.

“That’s not so bad,” you’re probably thinking. Well, no, relatively speaking, there are a lot of people that are a lot heavier than I was. But the reality was that I knew my life, and my weight, were spiraling out of control. I was always tired, having digestion issues, sinus problems, sleep apnea, and I plowed through it, being miserable and pretty much always exhausted.

But I knew there was a better way. Thanks to my friend Mike, I got interested in whole foods (which I knew practically nothing about) and realized how much garbage I was putting into my body. Somewhere in that time, my job started getting very frustrating. I was hating going to work, and I’m ashamed to say it carried over into my home life. I knew I needed a change, but I didn’t know where to start.

So, I bought a bike. Continue reading “How I turned my life around… and lost it again”

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Corporate Emo Poetry Monday

from the cubicle wasteland, the day is filled
with countless TPS reports to be killed
vicariously living from break to break
deriving my value from slideshows I make

a foregone conclusion is all that I need
to fatten the unspoken goddess of greed
whatever it takes to surpass the line
there’s no inefficiency I cannot find

I press on until at last I am done
convincing myself that big business is fun
and yet there’s one thing that fills me with sorrow;
I have to get up and start over tomorrow

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Life’s Too Short (To Be a Muggle)

Since we started homeschooling our kids (it’s a long story, but at the time we were living in Orleans Parish) we’ve struggled to motivate our kids to learn, and to develop personal skills.

If you’ve never seen or read the Harry Potter series, a “muggle” is a non-magical person in a world of magicians. In the stories, wizards who are born of one magical and one non-magical parent are “mugbloods”, or half breeds. They are viewed with contempt by the pure-blooded wizards, but the fact is they are just as powerful. Their lineage has nothing to do with whether or not they’re good wizards.

So often in our life, we look at non-churched people with contempt, because, well, they just couldn’t be as holy as us. Cause you know, we go to church. The same goes for anything…. homeschooling, bike commuting, cars we drive, clothes we wear… other people are different. And we’re not.

Yeah, right.

As far as allowing my kids to read and watch Harry Potter, I did consider it carefully beforehand, and no, it’s not perfect. There’s a lot there that needs to be addressed, but that discussion is for another day.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Homeschooling.

So we’ve always had normal behavior problems with our kids, for a variety of reasons. I decided to take advantage of my kids’ interest in Harry Potter by setting up a points system like they use at wizard school. Students can earn points for bravery, doing good deeds, following instructions, and being helpful. They gets points deducted for breaking rules, arguing, and being dishonest (we have to specify dishonest instead of lying because sometimes they will try to trick each other without words!)

We split our kids into two houses which happened to be the same as their houses on the website Pottermore.com and at the end of a predetermined time, whichever house has more points wins a prize, and the house cup. The other house will also get a smaller prize, because they earned points as well. For every point they earn, they add a bean to their house jar (white beans and red beans, because that’s what we had… the kids rolled them in glitter to make them “magical”) and after a couple of weeks, we add them up.

So far, it’s been fairly okay, but we’ve had a few meltdowns over points that we’ve had to deal with. Last night I had to take away points for the first time, and there was a major meltdown.

I guess the main thing about it is that for us to be able to assign house points, we have to be actively watching our kids. If they do something right and we don’t see it, but their siblings do the same and we catch it, then they get mad (and rightly so). It makes it very hard to be fair, so I’m required to equally spend time with all of the kids. Imagine that!

The truth I have to take away from this is that you have to meet kids where they are. You can say they need to learn something till you’re blue in the face, but when you speak their language, they listen.

And a little bit of magic doesn’t hurt!

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Corporate Emo Poetry Monday

flourescent flickering in the boardroom
forever humming, never going
the uneasiness hangs in the air
like so much moss on a tree
I think I may grow roots here

beneath the flaking veneer is rot
that cannot be stopped by conventional wisdom
centuries of knowledge washed away
by simple charts and graphs
and a bottom line that never goes away