MIDI Routing for Home Studio

I have had this knowledge in my head for a long time now and thought it would be better to write a diagram to explain the current setup for my MIDI routing. I use MIDI routing one way - MIDI OUT - from my UMC1820 sound interface. I have two keyboard controllers, one next to my computer, and one next to my Eurorack, that are attached via USB to my computer which I route the notes via Ableton to the MIDI out of the UMC1820 interface. ...

June 19, 2022 · 1 min · David Craddock

Home Network Design

Did some network design for my home network. This will ensure that my new Virgin Media 1100mbps/50mps speed is fully utilised without any bottlenecks and will futureproof things up to at least 2.5Gbs/speed connections. I should be able to load balance both internet connections to utilise them both simultaniously in the future, but for now I want to be able to get greater than 1000mbit/s speed on a single device otherwise there is not much point in speed increases past 1000mbits. Also there is a 200-300mbits speed increase possible from my existing VM hardware that is not utilised in the current network. ...

May 14, 2022 · 1 min · David Craddock

DJ Setup 2/5/22

This is my current DJ setup that I use for Twitch streaming mainly. 2x Reloop RL-8000mk2 turntables. 2x Serato ‘Butter Rug’ Slipmats. 2x Concorde Mk2 Digital carts. Numark NDX500 CDJ which I use for playing CDs, and as a Serato Controller as it has Serato Integration. Roland DJ-707m controller. Sennheiser HD-25 headphones. Rode Procaster mic with mic boom, pop shield and cage. t.bone MB 88U mic with table stand that I use as a guest microphone. AKAI LPD8 Midi controller which I use to trigger Serato Sampler samples. Macbook Pro Early 2015 Retina running Serato DJ Pro. Behringer TD-3 acid groovebox for adding acid patterns over the top of the Roland drum machine. The audio signal flow is below: ...

May 2, 2022 · 4 min · David Craddock

Video Tools I use for my Media Collection

I use and recommend the following software for Windows. They’re all quite easy to use. The paid software all have lifetime subscriptions, which are worth it because you need the latest updates in this area. Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player: (for playing Blu-Rays) (paid) https://www.aiseesoft.com/blu-ray-player/ Easyfab Lossless Copy: (for ripping Blu-Rays, also works for DVDs) (paid) https://www.easefab.com/losslesscopy/ VLC: (for playing ripped copies) (free) https://www.videolan.org/ Handbrake: (for converting between different video formats and compressing video) (free) https://handbrake.fr/ ...

March 16, 2022 · 2 min · David Craddock

Using VIM as a Word Processor

It may surprise some people to learn that I don’t use a word processor to write pure text any more, and haven’t for several months. I still have a subscription to Microsoft Office 365, and probably will as long as recruiters and offices around the world still pay the MS tax. I have created my own custom writing environment in my favourite text editor, VIM. This may sound like an absolutely foolish thing to do to anyone who knows VIM. By default, it is not setup at all to be an effective word processor. It is a programmers text editor, and a very complex and difficult to learn one at that. ...

March 8, 2022 · 2 min · David Craddock

DJ Setup 03/03/2022

This is my current DJ setup with the following components: Decks 1 and 2 - 2x Reloop 8000mk2 Vinyl Turntables with Serato intergration Deck 3 - Numark NDX500 CDJ with Serato Integration Deck 4 - Roland 707m Serato Controller and Mixer using its internal drum machine as a deck Behringer TB-303 Clone fed into the Aux input of the Roland 707m Controller Pioneer EFX-1000 DJ FX Unit placed between the master out of the 707m controller and the input of the sound interface on the broadcasting PC Reloop Neon Serato Controller used to control the Serato DJ Pro sampler Rode Procaster Microphone (not shown in diagram) fed to the Mic 1 channel on the 707m Controller as the main microphone for me while DJing t.bone MB 88U Dual Microphone (not shown in diagram) fed to the Mic 2 channel on the 707m Controller as the guest microphone for use when I have guests in the studio I have simplified things massively over the last year over my previous setups with the purchase of the Roland 707m. It it an amazingly clever piece of equipment and does so much. I think it is definitely one of the most advanced and most powerful controllers on the market today. This is what I can do with the new setup: ...

March 3, 2022 · 4 min · David Craddock

Working with Jenkinsfiles in VIM

Using Jenkinsfiles in repositories for declarative pipelines, which is an example as infrastructure as code, is absolutely the right thing to do, in my opinion. However the tooling for debugging and error checking Jenkinsfiles is currently quite difficult. Setup Jenkinsfile linter First of all you need to make sure to be able to access the Jenkinsfile linter. This linter is processed on the Jenkins server itself, unusually. There is a configuration option that requires adminstrator access to the Jenkins server. ...

February 19, 2022 · 2 min · David Craddock

My Story in Tech

I thought I’d write here a bit about how I got into technology and how my career has progressed for those people wanting to get into technology. I was lucky enough to be born in a supportive home to good parents. My father was an early entrant into the world of computing, and my birth certificate records his profession as a ‘Computer Science Lecturer’, which was very rare at the time. In actuality, I’m fairly sure he taught only at local higher education colleges, but technically that still made him a lecturer. At any rate, he definitely worked in computing at a time when few others did (1982). ...

February 13, 2022 · 9 min · David Craddock

Privacy and Security methods I use

Ever since I worked at an internet marketing company on an advertising analytics platform, I have realised that I don’t want my personal internet browsing tracked, monetised, influenced, and sold to the highest bidder. These are the steps that I have taken to reduce (you can never totally eliminate) this process. Pi-Hole DNS This is a DNS server installed on a Raspberry Pi on my local home network. I have all the internet traffic going through my Virgin Media router filtered through this DNS server. It has many privacy-boosting features, but its main claim to fame is that it blocks the vast majority of internet advertising and analytics traffic on the DNS level. It currently blocks 20% of the requests made, which results in approximately 20% faster internet for me, and a lot more privacy/less tracking/less adverts. ...

January 14, 2022 · 3 min · David Craddock

The Persuit of Happiness and the Hill-Climbing Problem

It seems that for a lot of people, perhaps the vast majority, they cannot expect to be 100% happy all the time. Even those incredibly successful celebrities and incredibly rich CEOs and politicians are not happy 100% of the time. So is it a good idea to seek 100% happiness right away? Or should we always try and select the ’least worst’ situation? If we keep making progress and optimse our happiness levels through constantly selecting the ’least worst’ situation whenever we have a descision then it seems to me we will maximise our happiness potential in the long run. ...

January 7, 2022 · 2 min · David Craddock