Welcome to my digital home! There are lots of articles you might find helpful buried in this site on topics such as modifying an Alfa Romeo 159, rebuilding a Lotus 7 (Robin Hood 2B), not to mention a ton of stuff on technology in general. It’s all here somewhere, so use the search function or navigate using the menu structure. if you want to talk, reach out via the contact function, I usually do answer!
Random Post Selection
RH2B Build DiaryBy far the biggest fix that needed to be handled was the suspension. The ride was crashy, wooden and showing its age. I knew this when I bought it, and it was always on the cards to be sorted before summer, so I got stuck straight into it in the spring. After ordering a ton of parts (bushes, ball joints, bolts and not least a shiny new set of GAZ adjustable Coilovers) it was time to get dirty!
The old suspension
This was no small task. Starting at the back of the car, the original sierra setup was in use. separate shock and spring, with a few spring spacers in to stop it hitting the frame! That needed to go and be converted to coilovers so I spoke to KitSpares, the company that originally made the RH2b (Great British Sports Cars) and got some advice. Fortunately they made a conversion kit for this which was essentially a couple of metal brackets so i bought the parts and set to work.
Parts required to convert the rear end.
It was remarkably easy to do and took no time once I had everything stripped down and prepped. For the most part, the longest time was spent prepping materials with paint and rust proofing everything that was looking worse for wear. All exposed metal was either painted, or treated with BitHamber Hydrate 80, my favorite rust proofing agent!
BitHamber Hydrate 80 doing its thing!
Once everything was prepped, cleaned, hydrated, painted and ready, it was a simple assembly to get it looking like new!
Fresh and sporty!
Once the rear end was all sorted out it was onto the front end. This was the real mess. Old Spax coilovers with paint chipping off while everything else was hand painted in what looked like textured hammerite! and I do mean everything, bolts, bushes, the lot!
Not a pretty sight!
Along with some interesting choices in paint came an interesting choice in bush modification. The suspension used circa 1990 Vauxhall Astra bushes, but the builder had litterally hack-sawed them shorter to get some caster adjustment. The result was a messy mix of jagged bush, spacers, washers and well…. shit.
This was not going to do at all so it all came off and was stripped back to bare metal before being sprayed in Auto-K Black Calliper paint. I love this paint because it self levels, requires no primer or top coat, is resin based and hardens. Its ideal for metal bits like suspension IMO!
Complete OSF suspension setup stripped back to bare metal (this was not fun to do!)
Painted and ready for assembly!
Once painted I installed new bushes, new track rod ends as well as new upper and lower ball joints. This was what was needed to get the feeling back in the ride and sort the old girl for many years to come!
Painted, refreshed and looking like new!
Along the way, I replaced far too many bolts that were not the right size or spec which was slightly concerning. Why you would use a mild steel M8 bolt when it should be a stainless 8.8 M10 I have no idea, but when I found it wrong, it got put right!
Of course the 3D printer came in handy along the way. Firstly to print some custom designed flexible mounts for the cycle wings to stop them rattling, and then to print some custom bolt caps with a Lotus 7 logo in. I mean, if you can, you should right?
Flexible Cycle wing mounts printed in TPU
Some of the many Bolt Caps I printed in ABS
All in this particular modification / improvement has taken me just short of 3 months, but that’s mainly because I took my time and made it right!
Related Images: [...]
InfoSecThe concept is simple, the more obstacles in the way the better. Let me abstract the concept for you…..
…..you put your file in a safe, I crack into the safe.
………you put your file in a safe, and lock the safe in a strong/secure room, I crack the room then the safe.
………..You put the file in the safe, in the room, at the bottom of the ocean, I go elsehere to get a different file!
People often talk to me about controls, and want to know which one is best. The answer typically is either all, none, or both. The more layers you have, the more security you have. But lest we foget the basics, understand the cost of the control vs the cost of the asset through a formal Risk Assessment Process.
Related Images: [...]
General…..after a day clearing out the garage (trust me, it needed doing), I came across the original install CD for my Stanton Final Scratch V1, which I thought was long gone. After further search through a lot of vinyl, I found the control records, which meant all that was left was to dig out the interface and hook it all up. After about 4 hours of kicking an old Compaq Laptop into shape, I had a working version of FinalScratch V1.1 up and running with a bunch of MP3’s ready to go……..
All of this equates to one simple thing, new mixes are on the way!
I had been waiting for a suitable opportunity to purchase the new Traktorscratch V3 setup, but to be honest, this works just as well. Sure, its a little clunky, very basic and quite slow, but once you get to grips with its idiosyncratic nature, it is actually quite usable.
Of course, now I have the basics back up and running, and can start to churn out some fresh mixes, which is what its all about.
Stay tuned
Pure Retro Sheek, Traktor FS V1.1 on an N800C!!!
Related Images: [...]
InfoSecOpen post to see coverage:
Sheffield Star Business Monthly – July 2009 – Hacking
Related Images: [...]
LiveMixesA multi-part Electro Pop Mix for the masses 🙂
01. David Guetta – Memories (Bingo Players Remix)
02. Klubbheads – Kickin hard (DJ Solovey Remix)
03. Desto – Crazy (Lindberg And William Remix)
04. Snap – The Power (DJ Pomeha Remix 2010)
05. Gubellini vs Pain feat Darook Mc – Shake It Up (Javi Mula Remix)
06. Sabien And Alim – Naughty Feat Jerique (Shahin Remix)
07. Loleatta Holloway – Ride On Time 2010 (Bruno Ramos & HytraxX Mix)
08. DJ Eako & Morelly feat. Omega Brown – I Can’t Stop (Steel Mix)
09. Queen – You Don’t Fool Me (Dj Denis Rublev & Dj Natasha Baccardi Remix 2010)
10. Andrea Paci feat. Michelle Weeks – Big Mama (Elektro Mix)
11. Crookers Feat. Miike Snow – Remedy (Magik Johnson Vocal Remix)
12. Axwell – I Found You (DJ MikeY 2010 Remix)
13. Robbie Rivera feat. Fast Eddie – Let Me Sip My Drink (Chuckie Remix)
14. Topmodelz – Have U Ever Been Mellow (Rekoilz Electro Remix)
15. Niels Van Gogh And Emilio Verdez – Black Is Black (Club Mix)
16. Soul Puncherz – Speakerz Bumpin Loud (Filthy Rehab Remix)
17. Shadow Stars – Desintegration feat. Sergei Khovanksy (Mario Ochoa Remix)
https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabawoki_Electro_Pop_Part_1_10082010.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Related Images: [...]
LiveMixeshttps://dev.jabawoki.com/mp3/Jabawok_Tranceitions.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Related Images: [...]
LiveMixesAnoter day another mix…… back in the style of electro madness!
David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland – When Love Takes Over (Electro Extended Mix)
Melleefresh, Deadmau5 – Sex Slave (Original Mix)
Costello – Girls Speak Louder (Donique Mix)
Alexis, Darmon, Eran Hersh, George F – Girls Who Like Girls (Original Living Room Club Mix)
Larry Tee Feat. Roxy Cottontail – Lets Make Nasty (Afrojack Remix)
Jewlez – Get Down (Original Mix)
Pain, Gubellini – Shake It Up feat. Darook Mc (Maurizio Gubellini & Stefano Pain Main Mix)
Martin Solveig – Poptimistic (Bingo PLayers Vox)
Mowgli – London To Paris (Original Mix)
Laidback Luke, Lee Mortimer – Blau! (Original Mix)
Funkagenda – H3lix (Original Club Mix)
Wolfgang Gartner – Latin Fever (Original Mix)
Starkillers – Bitch Ass Trick (Original Version)
Incidentally, this is my first recorded mix on the APC40 with Ableton 🙂
https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabawoki_DirtyFriday_05032010.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Related Images: [...]
Generalok, I have had an X25 deck stand for years now, and it is actually quite good. Its stable and well put together, and of course, holds enough of the basic equipment to keep you up and running. Of course, as I expand my setup, I have come to basic realisation that what I need, is actually a simple flat surface. So me, being me, I opened up visio and knocked this up:
….essentially it is 2 sheets of 8ft x 4ft, 3/4″ mdf cut into a number of shapes and sizes, screwed togetehr resulting in two vertical podiums, each wide enough to take a 19″ rack mount perfectley, and a worksurface 2meters by 750mm, big enough for plenty of equipment. the whole thing stands 600mm high, which is the same height as your kitchen sink! so its ideal to stan infront of for long periods of time. If anyone is interested I’ll post up the 2 x cutting guides for the mdf sheets so that you can make your own. To put it into perspective. you can buy somthing similar, but inferior at www.htfr.com for well in excess of £130. The total cost for my version, which is bigger and better, is £30, yes 2 x sheets of mdf from B&Q at £15 per sheet. for the sake of an afternoons work, i know which one i would do!
Related Images: [...]
LiveMixeshttps://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabs_20102001_Progressive_House.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Related Images: [...]
GeneralThe Problem:
Ok, so anyone who has worked with sound equipment before would have been greatly disappointed shortly after taking the M-Audio Xponent out of the box. Essentially, it’s a bit crap. The main bug-bears are the faders, often referred to as being made by “Fisher Price”.They are loose, and generally feel nothing like a proper mixer, so anyone used to using pro audio equipment is going to feel short changed (I know I did!). That said, once you get over them, and there are some tricks you can apply to make them feel less annoying, the other primary bug-bear is Torq. This software can only be described as an epic fail! I gave it a shot, I persevered with it for a long time, and have come to the conclusion that its beat detection engine was programmed using chaos theory.
I have mixed on many different platforms, decks (belt and DD), CDJ’s (from first gen to modern) and midi software from TraktorScratch V1.0 through to the usual suspects of today. What all of these platforms allow you to do is beat match with little effort if you’ve got a good ear. Torq on the other hand, seems to want to fight this process and in my own experience, creates a clinical/harsh environment to align beats without getting nasty overlay (beat on beat cancelation). If you persevere I am sure you can personally compensate for this and actually become good at “mixing with Torq” but IMO I don’t think it appropriate to change my mixing style after 20 years just to accommodate crap software.
This problem brings us to the solution I have discovered. I don’t take credit for pulling this together, many people better than me have toiled long and hard to make this work and have done some excellent work on the subject. All I wanted to do was have a rant, show you how easy it is to make the Xponent better and then credit those who did the work.
The Solution:
Native Instruments have invested a lot of time and energy into refining the Traktor product to what it is today. I have used different iterations of it since Scratch v1.0 (the first ever version) and it just keeps improving! The most recent version is Traktor Pro V1.x, I am using 1.2.4 and it is truly phenomenal. I won’t go into it in too much detail, but will say this much, its intuitive, just like it should be, has some amazing effects available out of the box and “just works perfectly” What more could you ask for?
Of course, Despite the Xponent being a Midi Control Surface and a Sound Card, it’s been locked into Torq to proliferate the spread of the evil program, but, there is a way you can break out of this and turn your midi control surface back into a programmable 2-way midi surface like any other. It’s actually quite simple:
While you switch the device on, press and hold the number 2 Queue button + the Lock Button on the left deck. It’s that simple, hold them till it’s all booted up, and to check its worked, press any button, if it lights up then fades away, it’s not worked and you need to power off and try again. If it does not light up, you’re in business and you have a midi control surface ready to use with any Digital DJ software you want!
At this stage you have a couple of options, start mapping the buttons yourself or grab a map that has already been put together. Personally, I like to short-cut things, so I would grab a predesigned map. After a good look around and a few failed starts, I found a mapping from HolyCT based on the work of DJ Kad listed in the NI Forums. It is amazing! It has all the mappings you would want, full documentation and even a browser mode so you can use the jog wheels to browse your track lists without the keyboard and mouse! It makes use of the X/Y Pad and is IMO a very well put together map for the Xponent.
Bringing the good features from the Xponent to a well written and user friendly piece of software like Traktor Pro, is a marriage made in heaven! I am truly blown away with the usability and playability of the combination, and it has convinced me to stick with my Xponent for the time being. It may not be the best controller in its class, but it has some cool features and once you get used to the faders, it’s not all bad!
Related Images: [...]