I’ve finally escaped to my own company’s server and out of an overall terrible experience with my previous hosting provider. I’ve had plenty of hosting providers in the past including small companies, private servers owned by friends, and even GoDaddy for a short period of time. However, my most recent ex-provider has to be the hands down worst I’ve ever experienced.

It all started back in February of 2009, when a friend recommended I move away from GoDaddy’s mediocre services and switch to his current [at the time] hosting provider. I agreed for a few reasons like I was missing cPanel, it was an affordable reseller account, and [at the time] they had great customer service. I sat on the decision to switch while working on my next big project at the time. After finding some discounts, I bought the domain for what was then my main focus, the now defunct ThatsMySpin, and signed up for my reseller account with ScarabWeb. I was immediately welcomed, set up, and offered help if I needed it. I didn’t but the thought was appreciated and made me happy to know I have help when I need it. Everything was going great – right? Wrong! About 6 or 7 months into my affair with my new hosting provider, the owner had some medical problems and was on a temporary leave. It was completely understandable, and wasn’t a big problem as he had a reliable staff. That was until he sold the company to another company overseas, this was a sign that the end was near.

A company called “MadeIt Inc” purchased my hosting provider. They immediately announced an the prices were nearly triple (although I was locked into my current agreement) and transferring all the shared resellers and sites to one cluster. Being that I was actually locked into the same price I didn’t this would affect me, I pretty much blew it off. Sometime later, they were actually in the process of transferring sites and as expected my sites were incredibly slow at the time. Unfortunately, they never improved when fully transfered to the new cluster. Although extremely disappointed in speed, I figured it was an attempt to have me upgrade my agreement – which wasn’t happening. A few days later, my sites weren’t working because they forgot to announce the IPs were changing without informing anyone until after this has happened. Alright, so I contacted customer service for the new IPs and got an answer a day later (which under the previous owner would have been 2 hours max). Whatever, sites were working and I just thought switching was too much hassle and costly. I kept quiet with all my problems until sometime last year, when this medium to large sized company stopped renewing their servers SSL. My reseller accounts were no longer connecting to their local cPanels but rather the company’s default one. Eventually this turned into an IP address, which technically there is nothing actually wrong because cPanel has it’s own unverified certificate, but it was extremely unprofessional for a company of their size. Being ticked off about it, I voiced my opinion about how unprofessional it was and stated a single month of my payments to them was enough for an SSL certificate for them. The reply I got back was as if they were trying to downtalk me like I didn’t understand about SSL certificates and basically told me to deal with it and if I would like it to return to going through an SSL certificate I could pay it for them.

After such rudeness, I determined it was the last straw and I decided I was going to get my own server for the many benefits it offered me. Unfortunately, the time to research my choice, buy the server, pay for the collocation, and related tasks took me up until only recently to get it all set up and running. Once the server was setup and ready host my websites it was time to transfer everything. In order to do this I had to log into my old resellers WHM (Web Host Manager), but when I went to do this it seemed my password was changed. I found it kind of odd that when I’m ready to transfer my sites my WHM password was mysteriously changed, but I can’t prove that anyone has done it. The next logical step was to login to my client panel at ScarabWeb. Though, this password seemed to be changed too. Upon trying to reset that password, I got no recovery email. I verified the email address and done it several times after, checking my spam and making sure it wasn’t accidentally blocked. Hours later I still got nothing in my email. I figured I would make a support ticket and I did so requesting a solution to my client account password because I needed to reset my WHM that was mysteriously changed. I provided my PayPal transaction ID with when I last paid to prove my identity so that they can send my email a recovery link. Unfortunately, they send the link to the ticket thread to your email, which again the company is not sending me emails. Luckily, I was able to figure out my thread number from the URLs and get to it. Figuring I spent some time figuring out this URL, I thought they might have responded by then. Instead, they closed my ticket with no reply shortly after posting the problem. This took me to a whole new level of pissed off, that resulted in another ticket stating I made a thread about not getting their emails to my email and that I was extremely pissed off about them closing tickets without replies and that I would just like to login to my account. After that, I received some more down talking that I was used to since their switch. They kind of stupidly asked me to supply my client account login and they would help me with my WHM. I again restated my the problem that they could have easily read above about I don’t have that because that too was changed. I was then told they were going to update my other thread that was closed, but I don’t have the link to that anymore as they closed it and I don’t get their emails. After explaining it and asking for a link to the other thread, the down talking “staff” member posted the title of the thread without pasting the link to it. Presumedly, the same person (since none of these people have names in the ticket and are labeled “staff”)  who talked to me like I was stupid and didn’t understand how to reset my password. I politely informed him that wasn’t a link to be told that he has to forward my ticket to the “concern dept”.

I couldn’t bare this stress and more. I was so fed up at this point, I logged into my PayPal canceled my subscription to them and began backing up all my sites the manual way. Even though it would of took 5 times longer and mean I’d have to start from scratch with making databases and such, it was my last resort. Hours later, some bright “staff” member of the “concern dept” didn’t have a concern about me and decided to post my WHM username and password in the open, where anyone with the URL can get my login. How do I know this? Two reasons: the first is because I wasn’t logged into their client area to make this ticket, meaning anyone could of technically went in and requested this. I also simply tried on multiple computers the URL, which did work. The second reason is proof of how alarming this is; by the time I seen the thread and logged in it appears someone from out of the country was logged into my WHM, according to the IP address logged. Fortunately, it was only a minute before I was logged in and I immediately changed every accounts usernames and passwords before transferring anything.

Don't Let This Ignorance Happen to You!

Surprisingly, it is a week or so after when my next payment would have been due and they have yet to even email me about missing a payment/cancellation of the account. Then again, who knows if I would get those either. The moral of the story is that some hosting providers are unreliably foolish, unprofessional, and suck at customer service. I hope a similar predicament doesn’t happen to any of you because you might be as lucky as I was to catch an intruder before it got worse. Do some research before you decide on a hosting provider, or if you can afford it go out and get your own server. I can attest that being on a safe, reliable, private, and unbelievably fast server is awesome and I have no regrets.

My favorite times of the new year, CES and NAMM, have come to an end with announcing all the great electronics and pro audio gear I have to look forward for! I figured I would recap some of the stuff I was most impressed with and excited for at this years CES and NAMM.

CES 2012

This year’s CES brought a lot of great new concepts and technologies, as well as improving some already made ones. While there was a big, trending “craze” of Ultrabooks and tablets, I was more excited about other things that I’ve seen.

Thunderbolt Products

Back of LaCie's eSATA Thunderbolt Hub

There were several Thunderbolt products from several different manufactures announced at CES that will be debuting this year. Some noteworthy products were Seagate’s GoFlex Thunderbolt adapters, Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express Dock, and OCZ’s Lightfoot. The one I’m especially keeping my eye on would be LaCie’s eSATA Thunderbolt Hub. At the right price, I would be able to use my rather dusty Thunderbolt ports with my existing dusty (since going all Mac) eSATA port on one of my externals. This would provide the ultimate speed and bring eSATA to Mac products thanks to Thunderbolt. If the price isn’t in my projected $100-150, I might just get myself a second-hand GoFlex and buy the GoFlex adapter to add some fast expansion.

OnLive Drops Two Huge Announcements

I personally am not subscribed to OnLive’s online cloud gaming for their lack of catalog. They have a few worthy games, but I don’t play enough computer games anyway to really invest in their product. With that said, I think they dropped a bombshell of an announcement; they will be bringing their service to all GoogleTV products. This is huge for not only OnLive users wishing to bring their cloud gaming to the TV, but it could take some users from Apple’s “hobby” device and bring them over to Google’s current flop. Making this even more of a bombshell announcement would be that Vizio is set to launch a $100 Google TV set-top, the VAP430 Stream.

OnLive Desktop in Action

OnLive also announced a new product called OnLive Desktop. Essentially, OnLive Desktop brings Windows 7 and Microsoft Office to tablets like the iPad. I’ve gone hands on with it and I must say it is pretty flawless. There is no lag, just like OnLive’s gaming service. Right now it is only limited to Microsoft Office and default Windows 7 applications, but I’m sure that paying subscribers will have an option in the future to install programs like Adobe Photoshop and such bringing tablets to a whole new level.

Liquipel

What’s truly funny about this product is that I actually dropped my iPhone in the toilet the day before this product was announced. Liquipel is this revolutionary product that essential makes your device water-resistant. Unfortunately, you would have to send your device away plus pay upwards of $59. If you can last the pain of not having your smartphone for a week or so (or afford an extra $58.84 for overnight shipping) then by all means this could be worth it. Just watch the video below to see how breath-taking this technology is. If your curious how this work, Liquipel has developed this nano technology that is applied to your phone and is sucked inside of it. This nano technology essentially makes it impossible for water to pass through, making the water sit on the surface and not able to touch the circuits so that they cannot burn out. I would love to get my hands on this technology to do a review – maybe I’ll see what I can do.

ZAGG also has developed a similar technology called HZO. Though, they have stated their technology has to be applied during the manufacturing process. Do I smell either ZAGG or Liquipel being bought by Apple? Imagine the edge that can give Apple to really take everything to the absolute next level and eliminating water-damage once and for all. Waterproof Macbook Pro, anyone?

Nokia Lumia 900

I think it’s pretty safe to say that Apple currently has consumed my life [and wallet]. Aside from the original Mac Mini (deathly slow), I’ve been extremely satisfied with every Apple purchase I’ve made. I’ve written many articles from an Apple device as well as crafted this site on an Apple device. Before I had an iPhone, I had an Android phone. I was extremely disappointed with my 1+ year marriage with an Android phone. It was slow, lacked innovation, and was plagued with bad apps and an ugly OS. My phone was quickly replaced by a new Android model and wasn’t ever on an update schedule to a newer version of the OS. Worst part about it was that it was more than the $200 an iPhone costs.

Nokia Lumia 900

Enough about my anti-Android rant, my point was that if there is any competition to the iPhone, it will be from a Windows Phone 7. The last time I came in contact with a Windows Phone 7 was at Best Buy. It wasn’t a horrible experience but wasn’t good enough to sway me into trying a Windows Phone 7 for an extended time period. Though the Lumia 900 shows signs of improvement and the coming of more powerful Window Phone 7 phones. With some work on the OS to bring it more up to speed with iOS and Android it could be a serious competitor. More developers in their app market would also be most beneficial.

NAMM 2012

Let’s be honest, pro audio is half of my business. Though ultimately it’s about my skill set, I still rely on fancy high-tech pro audio gear to perform my job easier. I’ve got to admit, in addition to electronics and Apple products, I have a slight [huge] addiction to sexy pro audio equipment. NAMM featured a lot of new things including a new MPC, an MPC for the iPad, a lot of guitars, and even a fancy new Line 6 live mixer. What I want to focus on though is some stuff I found pretty original and revolutionary. I think there were some things at NAMM this year that could set future audio trends.

Akai MAX49

Akai MAX49

Back in November, I was deciding heavily on a keyboard purchase between Akai’s MPK49 and Novation’s 49 SL MkII. Ultimately, I went for Novation’s offering because of the great price I got on it, the fact it was recently updated, and the Automap software. I’m completely satisfied with it, though a little jealous I didn’t listen to my gut and wait for NAMM. As far as keyboard features go, it is pretty standard. It’s the extra little things that make me jealous. While the 49 SL MkII definitely matches the Apple color scheme, I’m extremely attracted to the MAX49′s deep red [which is my favorite] color. The real wow-factor for me has to be the backlit “touch faders”. What an extremely original twist on keyboard faders that actually have a little meter-bridge style parameter indicators. The extra factor of full-sized backlit MPC pads is a big thing for some folks, but I am perfectly content with my Maschine that I didn’t consider pads when I made my keyboard purchase.

Numark’s Two New Controllers

While I do many things in the music production industry, DJing isn’t my specialty. If it were, I would be eyeing up two controllers for my next DJ purchase. First is Numark’s iDJ Pro DJ, a DJ MIDI controller aimed at DJs who want to take it to the next generation with full integration of an iPad. The iDJ Pro DJ brings looping functions, touch-sensitive platters, line-in, XLR outs, a crossfader, and volume control to the iPad. Numark is working with Algoriddim to put out a special edition of Algoriddim’s Djay that will be included with the iDJ Pro DJ when it is released. What makes this product even more interesting is that it will be Airplay compatible. This is one product that can revolutionize DJing by bringing in a tablet that can hold all my records in the cloud AND play them to speakers while cutting the cords. The only way I can see this being better is if they add a mobilized version of Serato and motorized platters like the NS6 or NS7. Either way this is a monster to be on the look out for.

Numark MPC DJ

The other new offering from Numark happens to be the MPC DJ. Numark go together with it’s sister company, Akai, and co-created what looks like a NS7 and MPC had a baby. Unfortunately, Numark didn’t bring a working demo to NAMM but rather a chasis of the prototype. This is still a thing to keep an eye out for because this could really benefit the DJ slash producer or even just sample-based DJs. I hope this prototype sees the day of light as a real product being that it is a dope idea.

Behringer Actually Draws My Interest

Behringer iX3242USB with iPad

If you ask any engineer about Behringer, nine out of ten times you will hear they make cheap Chinese products that don’t have the best of audio quality. I must say they have sparked my interest with a new concept of mixers, the XENYX iX series. Like Numark’s iDJ Pro DJ, the XENYX iX series will integrate an iPad fully into the product, in this case being a mixer. The actual mixer specs on the models in the XENYX iX series isn’t spectacular by any means and I wouldn’t expect them to be more than the typical Behringer product. What makes this product extremely versatile to me, is the ability to transfer audio both to and from the iPad as well as to a computer. The XENYX iX mixers will also allow you to tap into countless of music apps available for the iPad. This means you could actually track out that beat you made on iMaschine or FL Studio Mobile or even tediously import some sound kits to use. Like I said, the product itself won’t be the best of quality but it opens the door up the idea to other manufactures. What if PreSonus made a StudioLive that integrated the iPad as the meter-bridge as well as a source of input and output?

Universal Audio Apollo

Universal Audio Apollo

This is absolutely the piece I’m most excited about for a few reasons. One being that I’ve been eyeing up the UAD-2 Satellite (DSP processor) for a while now. Two being it is going to be able to be expandable with options. Finally, the last thing that excites me is it’s versatility. At a $2000 price point this interface is actually pretty affordable. It has a 4 channel preamp, 18 inputs, an audio interface via FireWire 800, and (duo for $2000) DSP processing – that’s a bargain! Probably one of the most interesting things about it is the ability to add on Thunderbolt in the future, making the Apollo the trendsetter for Thunderbolt in pro audio interfaces. Since it hasn’t been done before, I’m extremely interested to see what recording at those speeds would be like to the disk. The bummer is that is will be an extra cost to expand the unit to Thunderbolt, which could get very expensive. My guess is around $300-$500 for Thunderbolt expansion. If Thunderbolt expandability is really worth while, I would definitely pay that price for the ability to record like that. The DSP processing also blows my mind that it is integrated into the interface at the same time. The only problem I can see with that is how will both audio transferring through converters and using the DSP processing at the same time hold up? Maybe Thunderbolt will be near necessary to do that for a full mixing session?

Another neat feature would be the built in meters. I don’t recall ever seeing that built into a rack interface, which is very useful when recording digitally through an interface. The other interesting thing is the virtual mixer that comes included with the Apollo. It is actually similar to PreSonus’ VLC. The only major difference is that VLC isn’t necessary for controlling mixer elements as the PreSonus StudioLive has an actual mixer controller. With Universal Audio’s track record with interfaces and preamps I have no doubt the audio quality will be excellent. This could be one of those major products in pro audio equipment if everything works out like it sounds. Though, it could be too good to be true.

I already have a PreSonus StudioLive which does everything I need. The Apollo has things that I want like DSP and expandability to Thunderbolt but is missing the control surface I’ve grown to need. If I can find a way to integrate both of them enough that it is worth while for me than without a doubt I will pull the trigger on one of these bad boys sometime later in the year.

Both CES and NAMM 2012 had some pretty interesting and innovative things this year. I am excited to see what is to come at Summer NAMM and things that weren’t announced at CES as well as seeing these products make there debut. A lot of things could change from now to when they debut and products when launched can be better than what they originally were. All in all, I was impressed and look forward to 2012 and what’s in store technology wise. What were your favorite products!?

So what is it about the site being down, you say? Simple, Desoulbel is growing and getting it’s very own web server! This beast is lightening fast and brand-spanking new. The best part is that I own the server outright and is dedicated to Desoulbel and it’s clients. What does that have to do with HidinginSanity? Obviously I’m not going to pay for hosting in addition to owning my own server. More importantly, I’m not going to leave my baby with a slow, horrid, neglectful hosting company (more on that in my next post). HidinginSanity is moving on to the new fast server with plenty more room to grow! I’ll probably be starting the transfer tomorrow night and it may not be completed until the end of the weekend.

Upon return, I will be more active and helpful to all those who read my site. I appreciate all the love and support I get from my readers because it feels really good to know I help you people. Also, you will see some small changes upon return as I want to upgrade the site a little bit. Not a major version, but some small template changes as I see fit to liven up the site some more.

In the meantime, you should be checking out all the goodies being announced at CES over the next few days. That should tie you over until I return next week!

I shall see you all soon! Thanks for being apart of HidinginSanity!

Interview

Gil, for years, even before I had met you, you were a serious member of various movie sites and considered one of the elite amongst it’s members. It seems to have caught up with you; in December 2009 you were arrested for leaking the work-print of X-Men Wolverine Origins to the world. What have been the repercussions of that?
Well G, since 2009 I have been going back and forth to L.A’s Federal Court. It’s exhausting, humiliating, and over all just plain bad. It’s all coming to an end on December 19th. Damn, that’s karma for you. If I’m correct, that’s exactly the day I got arrested in 2009.

Must be really hard for you bro. What are you looking at in terms of jail-time?
If you look at any DVD that you rent or buy, I think it states “5 years and/or $500,000 fine”. Although the Federal courts sentence by their own guidelines and they take prior criminal record, simular offenses, and if you gave the courts any problems in them trying the case into consideration.

Copyright infringement is no joke. Though, being put away for 5 years seems a bit much when I looked into a few cases similar to yours. In fact, the ones who uploaded Love Guru and the The Incredible Hulk got house arrest, an ankle bracelet, and a small fine – no jail-time.
Yeah I read up on that. But every case is tried differently. The prosecution is asking for 3 years I think. But my defence team, out of LA, are doing they’re thing in trying to convince the court otherwise. The courts are taking into consideration several factors that may or may not help me.”

Why so much time spent on one person? Why has this process taken so long?
The prosecution needed time to try and calculate the losses of Fox Studios. Then the judge needed time to evaluate my case more in depth. The prosecution was saying I was responsible for 160,000 downloads”

That seems like a lot of downloads. How is it working out with that many downloads?
It benefited me. Megaupload released papers stating my file was downloaded 158 times. Times that by a ticket price, take into consideration that not all theaters cost the same and I have less losses to be responsible for, not 160,000. I’m glad that came up the way it did.

When famous artists get arrested they create a buzz for sales. Due to this arrest what has happen to you personally since then?
G, I kid you not. If I can go back into time. To that very April Fools Day in 2009

April Fools Day? *laughs* Seems like you’re the only one to get punk’d!
Yeah, no one thought it was real. But my number and stats at the sites read other wise. But if I can go back to that date, I would have never uploaded it. I had a good job as a window installer. Had open doors at 3 studios in the Bronx and all that got shut down to me. All because News 12 and some Post reporters were always calling up my superiors badgering them with questions and asking for some kind of statement. They got fed up, I don’t blame them.

How’s your parents doing? I know they have been sick recently.
Mom has been in the hospital for 3 weeks now. Hopefully she’ll return on Monday.

Monday? That’s when you go to court right?
Yeah. Hopefully I’ll return also to spend this Christmas and New Years with them. But you could never tell what’s going to happen in a court. Unfortunately, I’ve been in them before. It’s not always a pretty picture. It’s life altering and this is what this case has done to me. I’m at risk of losing my apartment and having to stop my studies. They’ll be put out. Where will they go? I don’t know. It breaks my heart whenever I think of it. But I put myself into this mess. I don’t blame anyone but myself. It’ll be a long lasting ripple effect.

You’re studying to be a counselor, right? What made you want to do that.
That’s right, an HIV and a Substance Abuse Counselor. I’m trying to give back to all who are going through what I did. I was raised in the time of AIDS and Heroin. I’ve seen too many people go out the way they shouldn’t have. My two sisters, one of my sister’s daughters, three cousins, one uncle, and about 50 close friends have died due to complications from the virus. Then they’re are all those friends and relatives that have either died or messed up their lives due to drugs. Hospital & institutions is where that leads.

That’s inspirational. Have you cleaned up and been doing well for a while then?
Yessir! But I don’t pat myself on the back for that because I still need like 10 more years of sobriety to balance it out. But I’ve never felt better and been more responsible in my life as I am today. I love what I’m doing now. Many people look up to me and respect me. If I can change? Anyone can.

It’s actually ironic because you’re an Artist. Did you ever think about Copyright infringement? Did you know that it was illegal to upload a movie?
Honestly G, when I first started doing movies, I came across it by accident. I was surfing the net and came across a site that had an embedded player where you were able to watch a movie. I liked that, so I frequented it. Then I googled to see if there were similar sites and there were 100′s, if not thousands. I didn’t think anything was illegal about it. There were just too many sites dedicated to it on the net. It was after I was already neck deep into it that I was seeing and reading about the taking down of sites and arrests. About me being an Artist and copyright infringement, too many mixtapes coming out with other peoples music on it featuring no name artists. I always thought there was nothing wrong with it. I mean if it was illegal, why weren’t the people who were being infringed upon not making waves? But there was this day I ran across one of my productions being by a singer. In a way, I felt complimented but then I thought, he didn’t even give me credit. So it was a catch 22 thing for me.

You’ve learned your lesson now though, right?
No doubt. Who didn’t go see the movie because they saw the work-print? I don’t know. No one knows; not the prosecution, not the courts, not my lawyer, not Fox Studios. But I do know one thing. It may have caused people grief the average worker on the set. The ones you see their names scrolling at the end credits. The caterers, set designers, make up, and you know, the average person who clocks in.

If the courts, the prosecution, the movie executives, or the average person were reading this right now, what would you tell them?
I wholeheartedly apologize for my actions. I’m full of remorse. I wasn’t really thinking at the time. If I have caused anyone monetary and/or emotional loss, I can assure you that I would do my best and try to deter others from doing what I did. It’s just not worth it.

Seriously, I’m not joking. What ever happen to that Korean you purchased the movie from? In my opinion he should be more at fault because he sold the movie and continues to sell movies for a profit.
*Laughs* You know, I’ve seen him a few times. But he somehow got wind of what was going on with me and now he sees me and heads the opposite way. Not his fault either. He didn’t upload it, I did.

Thank you Gil. As always, this was an interesting interview. We’re still waiting for your CD to drop. When can we expect it?
As soon as I find out what’s going to happen to me. Lots of people have been asking. Hopefully, If everything works out in my behalf, you’ll be hearing it in 2012. Speaking about 2012, the world’s not going to end, and get out and VOTE! Also, please check out my PSA video below.

Anything else you want to say?
Yeah G. Thank you for having me back. It’s always a pleasure to be interviewed by someone who takes his goals and aspirations seriously.

Gil’s PSA

Ay B

Interview

What’s up!? First off I want to congratulate you on winning the Remix Contest. What was your secret to beating some of the best DJ’s I know (DJ Shawn and DJ FunkDoc)?
DJ who? Just kidding, all the guys in the contest were great, especially those in the last couple rounds. My secret to success is that I know what sounds good, and I try as best I can to recreate that for everyone else to hear. I’m a real stickler for beat-matching; I never let a mix leave my computer until it sounds exactly how I want it to.

Where does your stage name come from? Did someone give it to you?
My stage name comes from my initials (A.B.) -a few people called me that back in high school.

As a producer where did you get your start into making beats? Was there anyone that helped you learn?
I started when I got my MacBook a few years ago, making beats on GarageBand, and it just took off from there.

You’re a producer by trade, so how did you get into DJing and making remixes?
I started “DJ-ing” as a way to show off the beats that I’d made. I basically just added acapellas to my instrumentals to show what could be done with them, and people really liked the result so I kept doing it.

What type of setup are you working with to make you’re remixes and beats, both hardware and software?
I’ve never owed or used any DJ equipment. When I do remixes, I use Djay 3 for Mac. For beats, however, I use Logic Pro 9 with a full size keyboard, bass guitar and electric guitar.

Sweet! Recording live music into beats is fun. Which brings me to the next point, are you primarily a sampler or composer? Which do you prefer to do?
I make about half my beats using samples, and half using only instruments. To me, starting a beat is the hardest part, and when I sample, it gives me a head start, and I can still be creative when deciding what needs to be added. I’ve found that both types are equally popular with rappers. I also use vocal samples on some of my hooks, these usually come from freestyles off DJ Screw mixtapes.

A lot of artists with different genres are looking for production, so what are your favorite and least favorite genres to work with?
My favorite genre is Texas rap. Most of the beats that I produce sound like they came from the south, because that’s the type of music that I’ve been influenced by. I also like Jazz, Funk and some Classic Rock. I won’t say that any genre of music is worse than others, but personally I don’t care for Country or Pop music.

You have to keep relevant and improving constantly to keep up in the music industry, but do you have any tricks to the trade?
I don’t really have any tricks, but I do try to make a variety of beats, both sampled and composed with instruments. I believe that a producer can still have a recognizable style without all of his beats sounding the same.

That’s a great point! Moving on, what is your biggest inspiration and influence? What truly drives you?
I’m driven by music. I hear a lot of songs that I love, and one day I want one of those songs to be my own. I just try to make songs that I would listen to, and hopefully other people want to listen to them as well. Getting good rappers on my beats is also another important part of making a great song, and I try to do that too.

As many artists feel they are their own biggest critic what do you like/dislike most about your own music?
I’m happy that I’ve gotten to the level where my beats sound like real music, they could be thrown in with a playlist of other professional songs and they wouldn’t stand out. Like anything, there’s always room for improvement. I hope one day to have the budget to hire session musicians to play some of my instrument parts, because I know that would take me to the next level.

Is music a hobby or a career path your pursuing? What are you trying to accomplish with music, is there a goal or a motive to do it?
Right now, I see producing as a hobby. When I make a beat, I’m not looking for a quick buck. I’m looking to be the instrumental half of a really jamming song. That usually means finding a good rapper that fits the beat. If money happens to come from it, then all the better.

Who have you worked with and who do you dream about working with on a musical level, famous or not?
Artists who have recorded or are in the process of recording on my beats include Mr. 3-2, ESG and Macc Grace of the Screwed Up Click, Kiotti, Lucky Luciano, Trails, Stunta, Sen, Underground Gangsta, Young Sensation, Yung Truth, Streets Gov, D. Tooson, and possibly Lil Flip and Big Pokey.

I’ve always wanted to produce a beat for Bun B. I really respect what he and Pimp C did musically, and it would be an honor to have him work with me.

Are you running with a camp or a team? Are you more of a solo DJ?
I’m currently an independent producer.

Do you have any upcoming projects you’re working on? If so, is it a solo or joint effort?
Right now, I’m working on a mixtape with Young Sensation called C.H.I.L.L. (Cool High Intellectual Loving Life) which will be released very soon. Follow him on twitter @youngsensation. He’s also doing an album with Yung Truth (@bigfacefiend) produced entirely by me. I will be releasing an all Ay B mixtape, and it will include songs by artists I mentioned earlier in the interview.

Aside from DJing do you have any other talents that most people wouldn’t expect?
Aside from producing/DJing, I am a decathlete for the University of Manitoba Bisons.

Closing this one out I want to thank you for taking the time so I can shine the spotlight on you. Do you have any shoutouts or final words?
I want to give a shoutout to TexasTakeover.com -”We Stay Screwed Up”, and SupaTight Graphix (@supaisthrowed) he passed my beats along to some dope artists and got me started in the game.

Plugs

Twitter
Email

Facts

Despite living in Winnipeg all his life, all the rappers Ay B has produced for have been from Texas.
Ay B’s producer tag is a recording of my brother blowing his nose, with added flanger effects.
The first rap song that got Ay B into rap was “Mind Playin Tricks On Me” by Geto Boys.  He heard it while watching David Blaine’s Street Magic.
Ay B’s favorite TV show is Seinfeld; he has seen every episode many, many times.
Ay B can hold his breath for 2 minutes and 45 seconds

Check out Ay B’s beat;
Download audio file (Get%20Your%20Hustle%20On%20%28Prod.%20Ay%20B%29.mp3)

Tools Required
Two hard drives that you want to put in the RAID 1, either external or internal.
An external hard drive.
A registered copy of SuperDuper!
A few hours and/or something to do to pass the long down time.

Before You Begin

You have to realize two things in this process before you can begin. The first problem you might have is backing up your extra data. Let me explain what I mean before this gets confusing. If you are doing this straight out of the box like me there is no need to worry about anything. This will work without having to reinstall a thing and with no hiccups (I just did this last night). Though, say you are doing this with a spare hard drive that you had lying around that you want to put in your regular Mac Mini or in your MacBook Pro by replacing the optical drive. If there is any data on that spare drive you need to back it up prior to following my guide with an additional external drive not including the one you will need for this process. This data will not be able to stay on that hard drive while doing this procedure.

Secondly, you need to understand this RAID 1 works in a pair. Whatever is on one drive will be exactly on the other. So say we create our RAID 1 with a 300GB drive and a 500GB drive. Your RAID 1 setup will be the total size of 300GB – meaning the leftover 200GB [on the 500GB drive] is wasted and you cannot store anything in the extra space, no exceptions. Again, doing this out of the box like I am this is definitely not a problem and you can move right on to the first step being Apple gives you two identical drives.

Additionally, I need to add this little disclaimer. This is my personal experience with my method. It worked 100% with no hiccups, problems, or dilemma for me, but because of the so many variables in hardware and technology these days I cannot guarantee my experience will 100% be yours. Though, I am very confident this will work for you as it did for me, there is always that slight chance it will not. I am not to be held responsible for anything that happens or breaks.

Backing up the OS Drive

When the RAID 1 is created, it will need to rebuild (sync) the drives. When the RAID 1 rebuilds it will wipe both of the drives in their entirety for a clean start. Since the OS and applications (including the Server app) are on one of the hard drives we will need to back up the main hard drive so that everything doesn’t have to be reinstalled. In my case, the hard drive with the OS installed was “Server HD” and I will be referring to it as that, though yours can differ. In order to back up Server HD, you will need to open up SuperDuper! and plug in your external hard drive. Do note: that the external hard drive does not need to be the same size as your Server HD though it just needs to have enough space to store the amount you have it filled on the Server HD (in my case, out of the box there was only around 9GB taken). In SuperDuper!’s first dropdown at the top after the word “Copy” you’re going to select Server HD, while after “to” your going to want to select your external hard drive in the second dropdown. Leave the dropdown next to “using” as “Backup – all files”. Below in the white box, hit the “Options…” and follow these settings; leave the setting under “Before copy” unchecked. The default setting under “During copy” should be “Erase , then copy files from Server HD “. Finally, on under “On successful completion” choose from the dropdown “Set as Startup Disk”. The last setting will make the OS boot from the external drive without having to hold buttons when it starts up. All you have to do from here is hit the “OK” button to get out of the options and then “Copy Now” button and confirm you want to copy. It took about 20 minutes for mine to complete the process, though this will depend on the amount of data on your drive.

Settings to transfer Server HD to External Drive.

Zeroing out the Disks

After Server HD is backed up into a bootable drive [on our external hard drive] we will need to erase both of the hard drives we would like in our RAID configuration. This is an extra step that will make sure there is no spare data on your hard drives to mess up your RAID 1 configuration. We are going to need to open up the Disk Utility and select our Server HD drive from the left panel. To the right you are going to need the tab that says “Erase”. We are going to leave the format as the default “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and name the hard drive whatever you’d like (I left mine Server HD). Next we are going hit the button that says “Security Options” and move the slider right by one and hit “OK”. After that above the same button for the security options it should say “Erase option: Zero Out Data selected”. From here we just hit the button that says “Erase…”. After that it will take about an hour or so, so you might want to play some Call of Duty or watch a movie to kill the time and check back later.

This is what your settings screen should look like prior to hitting erase.

After the Server HD is zeroed out we are going to need to zero out our second drive we want in the RAID 1 configuration. Even though I didn’t put anything on the second internal drive I zeroed out this drive as well just to be sure. All you have to do is repeat the steps above after clicking on the second hard drive in the left side panel. In my case, the second hard drive I was using without the OS was “Macintosh HD2″ and I will be referring to it as that, though yours can differ. Be sure that you select the right drive and not your external – else you will be screwed! Again after following the steps above you are going to need to wait another hour our so.

Configuring a RAID 1

Now that we are all zeroed out we are ready to begin configuring our RAID 1! Select the Server HD drive on the left panel in the Disk Utility. To the right you will need to hit the “RAID” tab this time. Underneath the tabs, next to “RAID Set Name:” enter in the name you desire this setup to be called. Since I liked the idea of the drives being called server; I named my setup “Server RAID”. Next, we are going to leave the volume format at “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”. Since we are setting up RAID 1 we are going to put the “RAID Type:” to “Mirrored RAID Set”. Next we need to setup some more options and to do so we need to click the button that says “Options…”. Your first option should ask the “RAID Block Size:”. From what I understand, this is going to be the amount we are going to be writing the most frequent to the drive in order to preserve the most speed we can. Since my server is going to be used as a full blown web server with databases I left it at 32K. Though, if you will frequently be using your server for video or bigger files then you should set your block size higher accordingly. The second option is a check box that asks if you want to “automatically rebuild RAID mirror set”. Basically, if the drive goes out of sync due to failure/replacement of one drive, being shutdown improperly, a power surge, etc. it will rebuild and sync the drives so that there is no problems. They say checking this could slow down your drives when they need to rebuilt but so will running any type of back up so it’s not a big deal. After these options are done you can click the “OK” button and hit the + button. You should now see the name of your RAID in the box above.

From here it gets even easier. Drag both of the drives we want to be configured on top of the name of our RAID in the white box. You should see a little arrow on top of the RAID when you mouseover while dragging. After dragging each one, you should see them below the name of our RAID similar to the picture below.

This is what you should see after dragging both drives to the Server RAID.

After this we are ready to create our RAID 1 configuration. Just click the “Create” button and let the drives setup and rebuild. This took only a few minutes for me which is probably thanks to the step we took to zero out the drives earlier.

Restoring Our OS

We certainly don’t want to have to boot off of our external drive forever right? I mean that would defeat a lot of the purpose of setting up the RAID 1 in the first place. So we need to restore the OS without overwriting all our RAID settings. Luckily, SuperDuper! contains a special function over its competitors called “Smart Update”. Please note: the Smart Update feature is only available to those that have the purchased/registered edition of SuperDuper! and you can not do without. It is only $28 if you can afford it, but if not it is available through other resources like torrenting/pirating. Though if you do the torrenting method you should purchase the legit version when you get the money and support the developer. Similar to our first steps of backing up our OS drive, in the first dropdown next to “Copy” we are going to select our external drive. The second dropdown next to “to” should have our new RAID setup selected, which is in my case Server RAID. We are going to want to go back to our options in SuperDuper! and this time follow these settings; Again, leave the box unchecked under “Before copy”. Under “During copy”, we will want to select “Smart Update Server RAID from “. Lastly, under “On successful completion” we are going to want to set our RAID back as the startup disk by choosing “Set Server RAID as Startup Disk”. After choosing the appropriate settings hit “OK”, “Copy Now” and confirm you want to copy. This should take a shorter amount of time then the first copy in the first step as mine was around 12 minutes this time, though it will also vary upon the amount of data you are coping.

SuperDuper! settings from External to Server RAID | SuperDuper! in progress

Wrapping Up

After all this is said and done, all we need to do is restart Lion and after you are safe to eject your external hard drive and enjoy the comforting benefit of knowing your data is redundant. The process isn’t as complicated as it sounds from first glance. This was all done on my first attempt from a hunch I figured would work and it did thankfully. The process is a little time consuming, but I would imagine reinstalling the Lion all over again from the Internet might take longer then two transfers back and forth over an external hard drive.

Please, if anyone has any problems or needs me to make things more concise do not hesitate to drop a comment below.

Apple Mac OS X Lion (10.7).

The Obvious Reason

Let’s start off with the absolute most obvious reason why I am not upgrading to Mac OS X Lion for a while. Like anything newly released, you pay to become a glorified beta tester. Sure, some products are certainly worth your money to be an early adopter. However, in my experience operating systems aren’t one of these worthy products -can you say Vista or even Android on the G1? When it comes to early versions of new operating systems there is usually a bunch of foolish mistakes, little quirks, jumpy stability, and a security flaw or two.

The Less Obvious Reasons

Those that have only the default applications or just a few basic things like Angry Birds or iWork probably wouldn’t have any hesitation updating because there really isn’t much chance of incompatibility. Though, those of us creative and/or business professionals that live by programs and applications to help us through our daily tasks and financial stability should be very hesitant. Also, you should be aware that Apple has killed Rosetta which supports PowerPC applications on Intel processors; thus killing the likes of Quicken and older versions of Adobe products amongst other older programs. Imagine being all happy upgrading just to find out your favorite client management software isn’t compatible with Lion and all your contacts, project updates, and important information is lost. The only resolutions would be to wait until it is made compatible or reformat back to Snow Leopard with a fresh install losing all your contacts if you haven’t backed up the data base (which you should be doing). Sure, if you backed up it won’t be as tragic, but it will still cost you valuable downtime when instead you could be making money.

This reasoning especially holds true to me being most of my income is through Desoulbel. While last I’ve heard all Adobe CS5 products are working for the most part, I know of one major program I use that isn’t working in Lion. In fact, Pro Tools 9 has been confirmed to have issues while on Lion. Not to mention, only God knows when the abundance of different plugin manufactures will actually update their software to work in Pro Tools 9 while using Lion. I haven’t bothered checking if some of my less important applications were Lion-ready because without my main DAW half of my business would be obsolete.

Pro Tools 9 trying to be opend on Apple Mac OS X Lion (10.7).

However, software isn’t the only issue audio professionals will have to deal with when upgrading to Lion. Anybody who owns a single piece of gear that connects with a computer whether a relatively inexpensive Apogee Duet or major gear like Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2, knows drivers rule everything when it comes to using our gear. The original Apogee Duet has known issues with Lion and though that doesn’t affect me, I know of a lot of songwriters and home studio users that own one. The same will hold true with owners of other interfaces, A/D + D/A converters, USB microphones, MIDI controllers, and even DSP chips, so be careful to make sure you gear and it’s drivers/firmware is also compatible.

The Minor Reasons

If you know me I’m not a big fan of Flash-based websites, but of course there are some occasions when it is appropriate. And yes, in due time HTML5 will completely narrow down the necessity of Flash in the future. However, it seems Adobe is hot and cold whether Flash hardware acceleration is working within Lion. Some users seem to be experiencing problems with Flash while others aren’t. The fact Apple has chosen not to include Flash probably gives some type of indication of trouble, unless it is just another blow in their war.
Whether it is working or not I don’t know since the issue seems to be apparent to some and not others. For the point is that I need a proper functioning Flash plugin in order to do my job. No, I don’t use Flash frequently but some sites still rely on it for access. Additionally, if I’m hired to do a Flash banner for a SoundClick how will I ever be able to properly check my work in the web browser? It’s not the end of the world being I have a Windows desktop if needed but it is still something I think I’d want somewhat fixed before I upgrade. Switching back and forth between computers and operating systems is a hassle when working on a job.

Though I’m looking forward to certain new functions it seems as if there are some bugs and quirks with some of them. For example, Apple’s new fullscreen mode seems to open the application in their own Space (virtual desktop) accessible with Mission Control. This will be a problem if you are like me and multitask a lot but like to go fullscreen to check something because you would have to open Mission Control and go back to another Space taking up some unnecessary time with an extra burden. Though this isn’t a big problem yet as only some of Apple’s built-in applications are capable of fullscreen mode. The other concern over this is that opening multiple Spaces of intensive programs at fullscreen will start to bog the system down. I don’t get why fullscreen mode apps get their own Spaces if iMovie and GarageBand 2011 updates which introduced fullscreen mode on Snow Leopard didn’t have this problem? In addition to other quirks people are having with saving multiple copies with Versions and Resume always annoyingly asking if you’d like to save your open apps.

Lion's Mission Control with Spaces and Expose-like features.

After some testing, it seems as there is no speed differences between Snow Leopard and Lion. This is a neutral reason. While it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t upgrade, it proves there is no rush for upgrading because it won’t make my speedy machine even faster. It would be different if Snow Leopard was Vista-like and Lion was more like Windows 7, but it’s not. Lion and Snow Leopard are the same wild cat-like species with some slightly different genes and appearance.

Conclusion

Not all the reasons I have for not wanting to upgrade are necessarily deal-breakers, but with a combined amount of quirks, problems, and issues I have and see; I think it is best that I wait before updating my MacBook Pro. If I had a second Mac capable of running Lion I would certainly give it a try. However, until Lion launches it’s first subversion (10.7.1) and all my necessary applications are compatible my MacBook will be a Snow Leopard hoping to one day become a Lion.

On another note, in the next few days I plan to pick up Desoulbel‘s future server which will have Lion Server already installed on it. Which means I should be able to give a detailed review of Lion sometime next week or so.

The bac of the iHub's iPod Nano-like packaging.

Packaging and Design

When I first opened the vanilla colored envelope, that came all the way from China, I was shocked! I knew the hub would be an Apple-like looking product, but I had no idea that it would be presented in a plastic box identical to an iPod Nano. It truly put the frosting on the cake as far as box-opening goes.

As for the hub, due to the cease-&-desist I was stuck with no options but to get the black iHub (2). However, I don’t regret it, as it truly is stunning. The black is like the color of the now rare black MacBook, but it is a shiny coat of black like some microphones have. The Apple does actually glow when it is plugged in just like the Apple of every MacBook and MacBook Pro.

The iHub's Apple logo lights up like most Apple products do!

Also included, behind the little paper, behind the iHub, when you take it out it’s packaging [also just like the iPod Nano] is a mini-USB to USB cable to power the hub. It’s a nice Apple-like touch. Oddly, it isn’t an Apple white color. It’s more of an off-white ugly color that brides try to get away with.

The iHub's included short, off-white cord.

Functionality

The hub has four ports plus a mini-USB port for the cable that goes to the computer. All four ports work great and really expand the two I’m limited with, with my MacBook Pro. I can now plug in a flash drive along with my iLok for Pro Tools and wireless mouse.

The iHub in-use during a studio session with an iLok and mouse receiver.

Unfortunately, there is one short coming of the iHub (2) .. it’s cable. Although the cable works flawlessly, aside from its awkward off-white color, it’s too short. If my MacBook is on my desk or another service this isn’t a problem. But when I put my MacBook on my Griffen Elevator stand it hangs and dangles (as you can see above).

Final thoughts

Aside from it’s short-comings (the cable .. yes, pun-intended), the iHub is the perfect hub for any Mac user that wants an Apple look-a-like hub to expand the number of ports they can use. Yes, it does work on Windows too as it’s just a USB hub. However, I would think people are going to look at you funny if you were rocking an Apple branded hub as a Windows user. I think the only improvements they could go for in a daring iHub 3 are; add an aluminum option to match the MacBook Pros as well as making them completely unibody as Apple would most likely make them.

The iHub 2 in all of it's beauty.

The iHub truly does change everything for Apple-like products, again! I got mine from eBay for $14 shipped before they got shut down and prices skyrocketed to $30+. If you are lucky, you might catch a similar deal.

zZound's Logo

zZounds (pronounced zaʊndz) is one of the leading professional audio dealers on the web. They have a reputation that precedes them, according to both BizRate and Amazon. One of the things they take pride in is that all of their customer service representatives are real musicians. In fact, these musicians don’t get paid commission from what they sell you – because they aren’t salesmen. This is an extremely positive aspect to the way their customer service is structured, that means the customer will never be pressured into buying something that they don’t need or be swayed into something when there are cheaper alternatives. To top it all off, since they are musicians they will [mostly] know what they are talking about (they have every time in my experience), unlike some other “centers” – if you catch my drift. Why all this talk about an online professional audio retailer? Because I had a real positive experience with them in which I received great customer service and satisfaction. In order to show my appreciation I thought I would spread the word.

It all started two weeks ago, when I was pricing out some mixers for Desoulbel. I was almost positive on a Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2. Knowing about zZound’s “Play as you Pay” program I figured that would be the first place that I’d look, especially since I could split the cost up in four monthly payments and better budget other life expenses that are boring. Being lazy, I just typed StudioLive into the search box at zZounds. There were multiple results for accessories and such, but oddly, there were two results for a Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2. The difference in the two were price as the descriptions and pictures were all the same. So I emailed zZounds about the error as I was confused. They emailed me back within a few hours, which is almost impossible for online retailers. They started to tell me that these are in fact two different mixers. Being the bright person I am I figured out that the urls are different and indeed this was for Presonus’ new upcoming StudioLive 16.0.2 and they probably just duplicated the 16.4.2 page to save some time, though someone must of accidentally hit the publish button. I thought they should know about this error before other people confuse them and demand the price which is significantly much lower. They recognized the error and not only corrected it but offered me a much nicer break on a Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 after explaining the benefits and disadvantages to both of the StudioLives. So I proceeded my order with zZounds. There was free UPS ground shipping since my order was obviously over $49, which is pretty standard for big orders at most places. Admittedly, other retailers that do the free shipping have a cap of $99 rather then $49 and also ship it via SmartPost, which sucks. Being they are like the only professional audio online retailer on the east coast (New Jersey) I received my order overnight. In addition to that great service, I’ve seen something on their site about a free Presonus Faderport if I bought a StudioLive within the month of April. So I called up zZounds and got a real person instantly, something else that is impossible with other retailers. I asked the guy about the details and he sent me everything I needed and even told me how I should fill it out. I mailed that form to Presonus and should be getting my Faderport in 6-8 weeks provided everything checks out fine.

StudioLive 16.2.4

Needless to say I’ve been using the shit out of this beautiful StudioLive and indeed been having a wonderful time mixing on here, all thanks to zZounds! Lesson learned! If possible, all my professional audio needs will be ordered from zZounds! There will be a joint review of the StudioLive and Pro Tools 9 to come in the next few weeks.

I didn’t travel too much outside my hotel room with my DSLR for the obvious reasons – it’s Mexico and I don’t want to get jacked. However, thanks to a nifty zoom lens I managed to get a lot of nice pictures.

View From My Hotel Balcony at the Royal Islander.

The view was absolutely stunning as you can see from the balcony of my room on the 5th floor. In this picture you can see there is two pools, a pool bar, ocean front beach, and a place to lounge out pool side. It was pretty peaceful out there, also pretty relaxing.

The Ocean Right Infront of my Hotel.

Being ocean front was really a nice touch to a beautiful resort. You had the smell of a beach right from your hotel and if I sat out on the balcony late at night I could hear the ocean waves crashing, definitely inspiring.

The Hotel Restaurants.

These are the two restaurants in the hotel, Paco’s Tacos and some other place. I mostly ate here and honestly I was really happy with the customer service and food was excellent.

Someone Para-sailing.

One morning I went to sit out on the balcony to eat breakfast and happened to see someone para-sailing and figured it would make a gorgeous picture – I guess I was right.

The Mexico Skyline.

Overall, it was a really nice trip and surprisingly a lot better than I expected. Honestly, I didn’t think the people would be as nice and courteous as they were. Definitely recommended for anyone who wants to enjoy themselves and be inspired creatively.

All images are copyrighted to Garett Southerton. Please ask if you’d like to use one of these pictures.