BASH scripting ffprobe duration

Somewhat overjoyed today.

I don't get to program much at work anymore, well SQL scripts mainly on Oracle, but I got the chance just to write a really simple bash script that output to a CSV file today on Linux (RHEL 6 if you care).  Bash doesn't really pass as programming but it can be a really nice shortcut.

This was to just get the duration times of audio files, which don't have the same name as the IDs I was given so you have to use find and then move stuff to vars and pipe them quite a bit through (what you would think would be sed and awk) but just turned out to be through cut.

I can't print the whole script but something similar helped me online to get just the duration of an audio track - this is to clip off the hours - this will give you MM:SS.mmmm

DURATION=$(ffprobe  "$INPUT_FILE" 2>&1 | grep Duration: |  \

        cut -f3,4 -d: | cut -f1 -d,); 

[rant] Does no one care that OS X is unix?

And, don't get pedantic. 

UNIX or unix, BSD, Linux or OS X, Solaris - we're probably all using a lot of GNU software (because it is free and we can use it for production without fees and it works incredibly well). I for one used the GNU compiler on Solaris (8 and 9 if you care) for what I had to do in a production environment - mainly for compiling Perl modules but also bespoke C and C++ imaging applications. Nothing clever, mind,  but why does no one ever document anything about OS X properly online?

I had to look up some vaguely (although not very) esoteric options for the unix find command tonight - why can I only find the answers on a Linux site? Does anyone actually use the *nix side of OS X apart from developers? 

Does anyone know that OS X is basically a BSD unix?

OK, I am not an ObjC programmer and I find C / C++ difficult but... OS X runs pretty fast. I do a lot of music on it and I can have 20+ tracks of audio, with realtime effects (a lot) processing on them running on a dual core 2GHz machine with 2GB RAM - this is pretty impressive (and very important) to me - this is a flaky old Mac... why is it working better for this than a Windows box with 2 or 3 times the power?

Not being an Apple fanboi I do like the OS... try and look up bash scripting on OS X and how limp the advice is. I friggin hate Apple's silly little gadgets but I think the computers are pretty good - ok their servers do have a tendency to fall over (generally when you're asleep) but hell, they're cheap.

If I had to work, professionally on an OS of choice it would be Solaris but OS X is not the end of the world. Linux really before Apple though.

And, no, I don't really like Java. And, no, it does not work properly on OS X.

PS vaguely esoteric was simply this:

find -E ~/ -regex “\.*c|.*\.o” -exec rm -f {} \; 2>/dev/null

Not the end of the world is it?

Nothing on an Apple forum though.

</rant>

PS - Duncan and Kathryn - great news - so pleased for you!

[Live] tFE and Cabaret...

On Friday (6th July) I am playing with The French Electric at this place - on Inverness St in Camden, just down from The Good Mixer. We'll be playing this for the first time live, which should bring a smile to a dead man's face.

On Sunday (10th July) I am doing live sound for The Rude Mechanicals who are ace, at Bar & Co - map etc is here. The Cesarians are also playing. This is worth coming to if you suffer from Pre Monday Stress... I know I do. It'll work wonders for your serotonin levels...

[Live] The Miller Test

Two Miller Test gigs coming up - one tomorrow at the Bully in Oxford and one on Saturday at the 229 Club in London on Saturday the 2nd of June. Jubilee celebrations indeed...

[Gear] No Input Mixing

I hadn't used this mixer for years, mainly because it sounds absolutely horrible and clips the minute you look at it in a very nasty way. It's a Behringer... I won't say any more than that.

Finally, however, I have found a use for it - no input mixing. This seems to be something it is vaguely good at. I created feedback loops all over the place with it as you can see, so every control actually affects the sound and unlike the other TEAC mixer I use for no input mixing, this one works in stereo. Some definitely good fun to be had by plugging and unplugging the connections to create some fairly intense bursts of noise. Interesting that both mixers sound different when you create feedback loops on them and work in different ways. I think I prefer the sound from the TEAC but that is currently being used as a prop in a play. Also, the Behringer is tiny so it's easy to carry around to gigs and stuff.

One really cool thing is that by using the headphone socket for the output the level of the output signal can be attenuated which doesn't happen on the TEAC. This is good because it means you're not just sending peak output to a PA or soundcard.

I used it on Resonance FM - more pics here where I played a couple of sets with Vultures Quartet and Anton Mobin who was over from Paris recording with us and playing live in London.

Anyway, nice to find a use for crappy old equipment that never really worked in any satisfactory way.

I am now wondering what would happen if I start trying this stuff with a 32 channel, 8 buss Mackie desk ;-)

[Update] All sorts of stuff

I just created one of those Facebook page thingies for my music. It's here: http://facebook.com/Astrometria 

I am adding all kinds of videos and stuff to it and it has a gig listing page - although that doesn't mean I won't be posting stuff on this blog or updating my website.

Also, I realise I haven't really been posting much on this blog for the last month or so apart from gig dates. Well, this is because I have been really busy, recording, rehearsing and gigging.

The recording stuff is going well - in fact I will be mixing a new version of Lacrosse by John Zorn this afternoon by Vultures Quartet which will hopefully be released on Zorn's label, Tzadik, along with some of his other "Game Pieces". These pieces are a lot of fun to play will feature guest musicians as well as the normal VQ line up.

The next Vultures Quartet release is currently being mastered - this will be called What's Wrong With Me and will initially be released as a vinyl picture disc (remember those?). It will be coming out on Zos Kia Sounds later this year, followed by a CD release which may or may not have different material on it - undecided at the moment.

So, lots going on and more to be done...

[Live] The Miller Test 10th May

I am playing with the Miller Test tomorrow... here are the details:

THE MILLER TEST IS LIVE AT THE WORKSHOP, OLD STREET, THURSDAY 10TH MAY, 8PM 

(Actually, the website is questionable - here and here might be more useful.)

£6 on the door, no messing about.