Archive for the ‘Geekosity’ Category

Area 152

April 10, 2015 by John No Comments »

area 152During the past few months, I’ve been working on a film project called Area 152. I happen to live in Burien, Washington, which is about ten miles south of Seattle. Among Burien’s many enjoyable weird characteristics is an annual event called the “Burien UFO Festival”, which always takes place on April 1st (yes, that’s April Fool’s day, but the event is real). The origin of the event is a movie called The Maury Island Incident, based on a UFO encounter that occurred in 1947. For the past few years on April 1st, Burien has closed a few blocks of 152nd and hosted a street party with a beer garden, music, and of course, aliens and “men in black”.

For this year’s festival, the organizers suggested that local amateur filmmakers should produce 7 minute movies featuring local businesses, and having a plot involving “men in black” or aliens. My wife and I, along with another couple who are friends of ours, decided this sounded like fun, so we started brainstorming plot ideas and potential filming locations.

We wound up with about four hours of filmed footage (!) that I eventually edited down to six minutes and fifty six seconds. This was the first time I’ve done chroma-keying for video special effects, and I was pretty pleased with the silly UFO + fiery crash + smoke plume that I composited atop a video of a local restaurant.

Once I had the film edited to its required length / sequence, I spent another few days completing the score. Because our title being Area 152, I decided to use 152 as part of the music:

  • The chord sequence in the main theme is I-V-ii
  • The main theme is stated using a rhythm of 1-5-2 pulses, matching the chord functions
  • I used groups of instruments reflecting the 1-5-2 theme as well

Elsewhere in the score, I created individual musical motives for

  • The “men / women in black”, played by the four of us
  • The “MIB headquarters building”, for which we used the Burien fire station on 146th
  • Our official MIB vehicle
  • The “interview” theme music, played under the four business interviews we conduct in the movie
  • The “UFO” theme, associated with the craft as it attempts to land

When I put together the final movie, I wound up removing most of the original camera audio and replacing necessary sound effects with Foley and post-production voice-over. All in all, pretty satisfying to have worked on this, and definitely an enjoyable project. We’re already scheming to make our next movie for the 2016 festival.

 

Pedalboard Rebuild – May 2013

May 13, 2013 by John No Comments »

Welcome to the 2013 installment of my pedalboard evolution

Pedalboard 2013

Apparently, May is the month each year when I completely tear down and rebuild my guitar pedalboard. I outlined last year’s rebuild in another article and it generated some interesting discussion with other musicians. For this year I decided to make a few strategic changes, with a some pedals sidelined and others called into action. Here’s an overhead shot of the 2013 version of my pedalboard. Note that everything is powered up, which is purely for photographic purposes… the actual sound with everything turned on is akin to the mating call of the Kraken.

Spring cleaning

I started this year’s rebuild with the ritual of removing everything from the board and completely cleaning the surface with alcohol. I keep my equipment fairly clean but there always seems to be “that one gig” when someone spills a beer onto my pedalboard. Fortunately cleaning and prep was a quick job this time. With that step completed I sorted my cables by length to reuse as many as possible. I use George L cable for my pedalboards and am happy with their performance, plus they are very simple to make or modify. Their right-angle connectors stick out about 1/2″ from the pedal housing, and my densely packed boards always have some places where two of those connectors meet. I play “pedalboard tetris” and arrange the pedals to minimize those plug-to-plug spacing requirements, but I usually have at least a few special cables that I have to solder up using “pancake” solder connectors to allow a closer fit.

Let’s meet the 2013 lineup

  • Pedal Train 3 Pedalboard with flight case. I have been using the Pedal Train 3 for a few years now. At 16×24 inches it’s big enough to hold a reasonable assortment of pedals but it still compact. It’s built to last forever.
  • VoodooLab Pedal Power Digital [Added for 2013 rebuild]. This is a high-current DC power supply for my all my pedals. I’ve been using a VoodooLab Pedal Power 2+ for years, but this year’s board rebuild required higher output for pedals like the Strymon Lex. This power supply does not have enough individual outputs for the number of pedals on my board, so I use a few splitters for the low-draw pedals, leaving dedicated feeds where necessary for power-hungry pedals.
  • Empress Buffer + [Added for 2013 rebuild]. This is a nice patch point for input / output. It includes both a selectable boost and an output buffer to moderate signal loss on the return line to the amp.
  • A/B Switch. This is one my pedals I built to give me a simple way to switch between my wired guitar signal and the wireless receiver. Nothing fancy inside this box… it’s just a 3PDT switch with a couple of LEDs and current-limiting resistors.
  • Line6 G50 Receiver. Line6 makes three models of guitar wireless systems. I have been using the G50 for a few years now and it’s without question the best wireless system I’ve ever used. It has great range and a fantastic transparent tone with full dynamics.
  • Mission Engineering VM-1 Volume Pedal. This pedal is in a wah-style housing and is a straight-forward volume pedal. I love the smooth travel and transparency of this volume control.
  • Mission Engineering SP-1 Expression Pedal [Added for 2013 rebuild]. This pedal is also in a wah-style housing. It provides continuous control output for the both the M9 and the Strymon Lex, courtesy of the amazing magic in the Expressionator (see below). I use this as a wah controller as well. In addition to being a sweep-style controller, this pedal also has a switch in the toe position, allowing me to control other effect settings. A very clever and useful pedal all around.
  • Line6 M9. The M9 is the nerve center of my pedalboard and provides a wide range of multi-effect settings. It’s especially handy for setting up the base configurations for my tones, which I can augment with outboard pedals.
  • Mission Engineering Expressionator [Added for 2013 rebuild]. This pedal is pure magic. It allows you to connect a single controller (such as the Mission Control SP-1) as an input, and then simultaneously route the controller information to three separate outputs. This means I can send control information to the Strymon Lex and the Line6 M9 at the same time, and still have another output available for future use. The sweep / taper can be set for each output, and the pedal has internal memory for saving presets.
  • Modulation Controller. I built a simple on / off modulation controller in a tiny housing, to control expression input #1 on the M9. This allows me to have 2 settings for effects and switch between them without changing presets. For example, I have the delay mix and regeneration set fairly low as the default, but stomping the switch sets them to a higher level. The pedal itself is just a 3PDT switch, LED + current limiting resistor, and is wired to short the tip / sleeve (in one switch position) or connect via a 10K resistor (in the other switch position). The M9 perceives those inputs as MIN and MAX settings from a controller.
  • Sonic Research ST-200 Turbo Tuner. There is a tuner in the M9, but I prefer the Sonic Research ST-200. It’s bright, easy to read, and on my pedalboard is always on.
  • Xotic Effect EP Booster. This pedal mimics the tonal characteristics of an Echoplex  EP-3 preamp section. Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page and Eric Johnson all use an EP-3 inline as part of their signal chain. This pedal is always turned on. It also has a boost, which I typically don’t use.
  • Keeley 4 Knob Compressor. Robert Keeley makes beautiful guitar effects. This compressor is clean and transparent. I only use it for big strat tones, to evoke Stevie Ray Vaughan or David Gilmour. My version of this pedal happens to be a rare all-black variant. Not that I’m into black or anything.
  • Wampler Sovereign Distortion [Added for 2013 rebuild]. I always need to have a “Marshall on ten” sound. This pedal has a huge gain range and delivers a full tone for those big rock songs. It’s only available from “a certain nationwide guitar chain” so you’ll need to go in or order it online. This is a damned fine distortion pedal. Wampler makes great gear.
  • TC Electronic Trinity Reverb. TC Electronic makes beautiful equipment. This reverb pedal is a winner. It is a variant on the “Hall of Fame” reverb pedal, and includes a few extra preset models only available in the “Trinity”. You will have purchase this one from Pro Guitar Shop in Portland, Oregon. This is my favorite guitar store and is a joy to visit; they also have a fantastic web site with demo videos.
  • Way Huge Pork Loin. First of all, it’s just really fun to say “Way Huge Pork Loin”. It’s somewhat based on the Tube Screamer tone, but has a much warmer sound with better clarity. I use this pedal to get some of my gritty blues / rock tones, and occasionally stack it with the Wampler Sovereign for solos.
  • Strymon Lex [Added for 2013 rebuild]. Strymon makes stunning pedals. This is their “Leslie in a box” pedal, and I don’t know how they did it so convincingly. This is my favorite modulation effect. If you hear me play live you may notice that I use this effect quite a bit. I control the rotation speed via the Mission SP-1.

Signal chain

The signal chain (order) is :

Guitar->Empress Buffer+ -> Xotic Effects EP Booster -> Keeley Compressor -> Way Huge Pork Loin -> Wampler Sovereign-> Strymon Lex -> Line6 M9 -> TC Electronic Trinity -> Mission Engineering VM-1 -> Empress Buffer+ -> Amp

Pedalboard 2013-Labeled

Here’s another shot of the top of the board with the pedals identified. 

  1. Empress Buffer +
  2. A/B Switch
  3. Line6 G50 Receiver
  4. Mission Engineering VM-1 Volume Pedal
  5. Mission Engineering SP-1 Expression Pedal
  6. Line6 M9
  7. Mission Engineering Expressionator
  8. Modulation Controller
  9. Sonic Research ST-200 Turbo Tuner
  10. Xotic Effecst EP Booster
  11. Keeley 4 Knob Compressor
  12. Wampler Sovereign
  13. TC Electronic Trinity Reverb
  14. Way Huge Pork Loin
  15. Strymon Lex

Recommendations

For pedals that I build myself, I’ll make a big recommendation to Pedal Parts Plus. They stock a wide variety of pedal enclosures, switches, LEDs, and other parts. They offer drilling, custom painting and screen printing services for a custom professional finish. I’ve been ordering from them for years and have always been delighted with their service and support. Pedalboard configurations for my customers often include enclosures that I’ve purchased from Pedal Parts Plus.

I have a few items on my 2013 board from Mission Engineering. They produce high-quality equipment designed to survive the rigors of touring and are always coming up with new clever gizmos.

When you’re working out the initial layout for a pedalboard, there’s a handy online tool called Pedalboard Planner. It’s designed to help you arrange your pedals on one of the Pedal Train boards. If you are using another brand of pedalboard you can still use this tool as long as you know the dimensions of your board; just choose the next biggest platform and use their ruler tool to define the working space. Also, this tool does not show you the required clearance for plugs so expect to leave at least 1/2″ clearance for jacks.

 

iPad Integration With Line6 M13

July 27, 2011 by John No Comments »

I am interested in using my iPad (and iPhone) as a controller surface for music applications and hardware. Most of my equipment can be controlled via either MIDI or USB. My preference is always USB over MIDI, and for live use I prefer bluetooth. Some equipment manufacturers do not provide USB for music equipment at all, defaulting to MIDI as the standard. I’m especially baffled by the omission of USB from my Line6 M13 and M9 processors; my Line6 XTLive is several years older and has full USB implementation *plus* a great GUI editor. I hope there will be a update to these devices eventually.

I’d like to be able to use the iPad with my M13 in the following ways:

  • Connected via bluetooth (USB would be a good for home, but live, I want fewer cables).
  • As an editor / librarian.
  • As an external secondary display for live use. It should show patch configuration and be usable as a teleprompter for notes, a lead sheet or set list.
  • As a control surface for live use. I frequently wish I could make a quick tweak to my settings without having to get down on my hands and knees, and twiddle dials on the dark stage.
In addition, the M13 should have some way of powering other Line6 gear like my Relay G50, plus regulated 9v outputs for outboard pedals. One more request: make the wireless receiver for the G50 into some kind of snap-in physical gizmo in order to conserve pedalboard space (the M13 is downright huge).

As a company that seems to be most “in the lead” on music / computer interfaces for this kind of gear, I’m surprised Line6 hasn’t already done this.  I had hoped some kind of announcement would be made at summer NAMM, but alas. Hey Line6, you should pay me as a consultant! Make this stuff happen please.

 

Nigel Tufnel Explains Stonehenge

May 21, 2010 by John No Comments »

Stonehenge has always been my favorite thing on this planet. There have been books and videos offering various explanations of the origins and purpose of Stonehenge. National Geographic created a wonderful research site with interactive maps and other information. However, the true purpose and origin of Stonehenge has already been fully explained by Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap in a series of 5 interviews.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMofDWzfA6A&feature=player_embedded

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fczOE7AjtHs&feature=player_embedded

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrx19WonYWI&feature=player_embedded

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G3yKlaX3n8&feature=player_embedded

Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dQ5oDHFvEs&feature=player_embedded

 

Google To Deliver GB Fiber?

February 10, 2010 by john No Comments »

According to the Google blog there is a possibility that some test communities might get Gigabit fiber (!) installed on a test basis. I find this interesting for several reasons, and think Google may be in a position to get a respectable bit of market share on this initiative. On a nationwide basis there we’re seeing a slow implementation of fiber to most communities, and what’s available isn’t all that fast compared with European and Asian markets. I’m in the technology industry and specialize in big-bandwidth projects. It doesn’t matter why the US has lagged behind in building and delivering this service. What’s important is that more and more end users are abandoning their Cable TV in favor of getting entertainment via the cloud. The value in a high-speed broadband connection cannot be over-emphasized; we’re already seeing SaaS and cloud-based storage become commonplace for household consumers – and Google has been in front of this wave (pun intended) for most of it. So, commoditizing the delivery of broadband itself allows us to have reasonably powerful machines at home with cloud scalability available on demand, along with nearly limitless storage. All that magic power and space exists “out there”, can be centrally managed / backed up for security and efficiency, and a fat pipe means it behaves more as if it were right inside your local machine.

Yes, it also means we can watch high-quality video on demand and eventually consume media without being shackled to the inaction of profit-driven cable / satellite providers. My gripes with Comcast digital TV have little to do with the content itself; it’s that their delivery vehicle is so clunky… horrid slow ugly interfaces on the menus / DVR, miserable artifact-laden over-compression and near-daily error messages popping up on clicking “next page”. Comcast’s broadband internet isn’t fast enough to allow my media computer to be the only source of video signal, and proprietary hardware / software decoding is how they optimize their content (and retain an end-to-end monopoly on its management). With legitimate competition for TRUE broadband delivery, those other providers will need to step it up; ultimately that’s good for everyone including them. Google, I await your shiny fiber photons with great anticipation.

 

House Infrastructure Update

August 19, 2009 by john No Comments »

In the past few years I’ve installed a fair amount of cable in our house. The current total is something like this:

  • Cat 5E : Over 1100 feet and counting. This is both for the internal data network (gigabit throughout the house) and the voice lines. Early in this project I completely removed all pre-existing phone lines from the house and pulled all new cable. This has greatly improved stability and allowed us to switch to digital voice. There are a few additional data drops to install, but we’re getting pretty close to having the data lines completed. Then again, I keep discovering places in need of a network port…
  • RG59 : Over 400 feet of new cable is now installed in the house. When Comcast digital cable was installed, the tech simply ran cable along the outside of the house, around the back, and through the wall behind our TV. I never liked having it on the outside and eventually removed it, pulling the line up into the attic and running inside the walls for a cleaner install. In the process of doing so I decided to pull additional feeds for the garage and upstairs.
  • Speaker wire: Over 500 feet of CL2/3 rated 12-gauge speaker wire is already in place. I’ll be installing more as we continue to expand the whole-house audio system. We’re enjoying great audio throughout the upstairs, in the garage, and on the deck.

And of course there will be more…

 

So I'm A Geek. Big Surprise.

July 2, 2009 by john 3 Comments »

090622-N-7780S-014Yesterday two of my co-workers were looking at picture on the internet of a jet (apparently) breaking the sound barrier. It’s an amazing picture and one worth admiring. My contribution to the conversation was “oh, that’s a great example of a Prandtl-Glauert singularity”. Both of my co-workers did a slow head turn in my direction and gave me an accusing look. And so I went to the white board and drew the classic compression-rarefaction-recovery curve, showing how the negative pressure can result in condensation. I pointed out that this phenomenon is not limited to transonic jets, citing the classic bullwhip example, and that this can also occur at speeds below the transonic threshold. They both called me a pathetic paste-eating geek for having that term in my head and for being able to explain the physics behind it. Yum. Paste.

 

Paradoxical Wireless Bill

June 27, 2009 by john No Comments »

The final step in porting my cell number away from my previous cellular carrier was to get a final bill and close my account. Apparently they decided to do this in reverse order. So I received an email from them (which is how they have always notified me) indicating my current bill is now ready for review and payment online, and they include a link to their web site where I log in and complete the payment. Except… I can’t log in any more. I called customer support and they explained “You can’t log in because you closed your account with us”. I countered with “But if I can’t log in, how can I pay you? Can I just pay right now over the phone?” Their answer: “No. We no longer have an active account for you so it’s not possible for us to accept credit card payment over the phone. You need to go to one of our dealers to make payment.”
So today I need to go and find a local dealer. Hopefully they won’t send me back to the web site… You’d think there might be a more efficient way to do this.

 

Number Garage : Awesome

June 25, 2009 by john No Comments »

number_garageToday I completed the process of porting my cell number to Number Garage. Throughout this effort I’ve been receiving excellent communication from Number Garage, and they succeeded in making the transition very smooth for me. My previous cellular carrier was a little slow in releasing my number, and I spent a long time on hold with them waiting to verify my account had been closed. Telecommunications companies seem to have mastered the art of preventing customer satisfaction, and this was a classic example of last-minute customer retention tactics… if they “valued my business as a customer of good standing for over 8 years” perhaps they shouldn’t wait until I close my account before offering any flexibility. Their cellular service is very good but with success comes the peril of becoming too large to manage customers as individuals. The good news is that I’ve successfully freed myself from an unneccessary monthly bill. And I’ve found a valuable service with Number Garage. If you haven’t checked them out, I’d recommend them. My previous cellular carrier could learn a lot from them: excellent value, great communications, solid customer support. SCORECARD : Number Garage = awesome. Previous cellular carrier = buh-bye.

 

Updated WordPress Install

June 15, 2009 by john No Comments »

wordpressThis evening I completed the update for WordPress, moving to the newly released 2.8 version. It was a slow and tedious process, but at this point I believe it’s all working correctly. For some reason my FTP client was only able to get a 2 kb connection to the server, and I had to manually restart the process more than once. The good news is that this update should be the last time I need to do a manual process for file management. As of this build, the update process is now automated. Hooray for progress! Clearly this is a major update for the code base and I’m pleased that the WordPress development community has continued to extend the platform.