[PlanetCCRMA] Recently updated my RH9 Planet CCRMA machine

[Marv Smoak]

Hi folks, this is mainly to say "thanks" again to Nando
and the community and present a few experiences and thoughts.

First, the update went smooth as silk; no dramas.  Some of 
you might remember that I still need assistance with installs and
updates.  Dave Phillips has me on his client list since I got
this machine and took the plunge into Linux audio;  it was shipped
to him and he setup my RH8 PCCRMA install in March, 03.  He has
kept me moving ahead since then. It's a good deal, he helps and 
I gladly pay him for his help.  

The RH8 system has been great for learning Linux and for my audio
needs.  I wanted Linux as a general workstation and my main
interest in audio is as a musician.  When I got the system working
for midi-soundfonts, players, mixer, and a few others things, I
just used it and didn't do any upgrading.  In the process of using
it at our group's weekly practice sessions, Phil our keyboard 
player got interested.  By this spring he was ready to install 
RH9 on one of his machines.

We started my update and his install at the same time; we've both
learned the install/update process and able to compare notes as
we work and talk on the phone.  Dave's real busy writing these days
but still able to keep us going.

One of the things I can now do easily (ie I now know how and
the programs work) is record what I'm listening to on internet
radio.  Listening, and studying what's being played, has helped
me improve my playing.  Now I can use rezound, with realplayer
and qamixer to capture tunes as I'm listening to them. Caught
snippets of two very different versions of Naima last week, a
tune our group is working on. 

Still a lot to do.  Rosegarden, Jack, ... but it looks doable.
I do see some problems ahead.  But I won't mention them right
now.  

If you're interested in how a practice group is using linux
audio,  I've started a website and will be putting some info
there.  Here's a link to an text file describing our "Mono
Players Studio".  It's very functional for us and usually 
ready to use anytime.  And it sounds good; the mic levels were
set long ago to avoid feedback and complaining neighbors. 

http://users.mikrotec.com/smoak/MonoPlayersStudio.txt

Marv