Ask Justin Frankel

justin = { main feed , music , code , askjf , pubkey };

Ask Justin Frankel
No reasonable question unanswered since 2009!

Suggested topics: programming, music, sleep, coffee, etc.

Note: please do not ask questions about REAPER features, bugs or scheduling, use the forums instead.

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Question: Have you ever used linux as a daily driver before? If so: what did you most and least liked about the experience?
Asked by Matthew (76.37.54.x) on October 4 2023, 12:14pm
Reply on October 4 2023, 7:00pm:

Yeah I have a ThinkPad X1 Carbon which I used for a while, now it mostly gets used here and there. Pretty good experience, mostly end up using my M1 MBA because it's 2-3x faster... Comment...

Question: hey jf () so 1 of your musical trackings go mega viral on some social medias... NOW you got paparazzi + 100+ screaming fans camping outside 24/7 all wanting a lock of your hair...or,just something,anything from you....question IS.. "what happens next?" !
Asked by 2023 (86.154.42.x) on October 4 2023, 9:59am
Reply on October 4 2023, 11:39am:

haha that would be very odd, considering my tracks 6 Comments...

Question: Which are of computer music you have more curiosity/interest?
Asked by Not Schwa (186.210.31.x) on October 4 2023, 8:46am
Reply on October 4 2023, 11:40am:

Hmm not sure I understand this question sorry explain in the comments Comment...

Question: Are you crazy, are you high, or just an ordinary guy?
Asked by Doctor Wu (165.225.94.x) on October 4 2023, 6:11am
Reply on October 4 2023, 11:40am:

Hah I had to google this, makes sense now. But it didn't ring a bell... 1 Comment...

Question: Like Steely Dan? If so, fav song?
Asked by musicalcode (136.226.74.x) on October 4 2023, 1:42am
Reply on October 4 2023, 11:41am:

Can't say I know any songs of theirs, other than the one I just googled. 1 Comment...

Question: I know that both langauges are great. But with every language: they do have the advantages and disadvantages. What do you like more: Lua or Python as a scripting language?
Asked by Matthew (76.37.54.x) on October 3 2023, 8:14pm
Reply on October 3 2023, 8:41pm:

I prefer Lua for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is that I am more familiar with it, hah. But also for the ease of integration. 2 Comments...

Question: Do you play rubik's cube?
Asked by Abhi (223.235.203.x) on October 3 2023, 3:02pm
Reply on October 3 2023, 8:41pm:

I don't, some of my siblings do though but I leave it to them. Comment...

Question: Hay Justin New to you personally but have enjoyed your work for years. Now I'm minoring in Music Business and I was wondering your thoughts on keeping a program alive that is know industry wide as the "Free" DAW what were your thoughts then about keeping the freeware sprit of the original release to this day and do you have any regrets about choosing to do so. Now as one of your poorer users I think you for not DRMing the program but now Im just curious as to your thoughts on the DRM policy 20 years later
Asked by Virgil_is_king (208.59.144.x) on October 3 2023, 12:14pm
Reply on October 3 2023, 12:37pm:

I'm very happy with our business model. 2 Comments...

Question: Have you seen this? Looks really out of the box thinking, some really interesting things going on there youtu.be/P5fWPBOdrY8
Asked by alex (187.213.28.x) on October 1 2023, 7:46pm
Reply on October 2 2023, 1:46am:

some good things, only watched a little but the UI to adjust a tempo markers as a resize-of-a-measure is pretty nice. Comment...

Question: What kind of coffee brand do you recommend? With my previous question: I have noticed that I am required to learn some maths lol.
Asked by Matthew (98.13.93.x) on October 1 2023, 3:55pm
Reply on October 2 2023, 1:47am:

Lately I've been drinking Counter Culture Hologram, but I like a variety... I generally prefer a light-to-medium roast. Comment...

Question: How are waveforms displayed within a DAW? In general: how does a DAW converts a wayform into an image?
Asked by Matthew (98.13.93.x) on October 1 2023, 11:02am
Reply on October 1 2023, 11:33am:

It depends a lot on zoom level and view options. If zoomed in where each pixel is less than or close to a sample's worth of audio, then you'd draw the sample as one or more pixels, either as rectangular sample if you want to show the encoded sample, or using sinc interpolation if you want to show the analog representation of that signal. If zoomed out so that each pixel represents multiple samples, then you'd likely want to look at all samples in that represented interval and find the minimum/maximum, then draw that as a range (unless you had a rectified view enabled, etc). For efficiency you likely will want to cache lower resolution views of the underlying audio, too (e.g. .reapeaks) so that you don't have to look at millions of samples to draw the view. And you might also want to do some spectral analysis for things like spectral peaks.... 1 Comment...

Question: hey jf- is the ufo / uap topic on your radar? why are people NOT talking about this!?! is it not THE most profound,game changing or important conversation we as a species could have right now??
Asked by 2023 (86.154.42.x) on October 1 2023, 10:26am
Reply on October 1 2023, 11:37am:

tbh I'm not sure there's a there there. So the story goes, back when they first started testing jet aircraft they'd have the pilots wear gorilla suits so that if prop-powered aircraft pilots saw the jets, the pilots would sound insane ("there was a gorilla flying a plane with no propeller!). With so many secret aircraft developments/testing, it's really not unreasonable to think that these are entirely various programs. The government stringing people along about it is really their goal, keeps people from looking too hard at their secret programs. While it is fun to imagine these scenarios, if there were another intelligent species involved, I think it would be incredibly unlikely that it would be able to be kept so secret. 3 Comments...

Question: Hey Justin, hope youre well. What's your solution for repository hosting for multiple remotes? Are you into the cloud hosting stuff or on-premises server/ssh kinda setup?
Asked by Jack (91.90.123.x) on October 1 2023, 10:05am
Reply on October 1 2023, 11:38am:

we put some stuff in github, and the important bits are self-hosted on a linux box via ssh/git/etc. Comment...

Question: Workflow and aesthetics question: tiled windows or stacking floats?
Asked by SpoiledHobo (77.181.175.x) on September 30 2023, 6:55pm
Reply on October 1 2023, 2:03am (edited at October 1 2023, 2:04am):

whatever works, don't spend much time thinking about such things Comment...

Question: What's the work schedule like for you and Schwa? I notice a lot of weekend and/or evening builds. Defiinitely doesn't seem like a 9 to 5 M-F operation.
Asked by Chris (173.70.123.x) on September 30 2023, 6:36pm
Reply on October 1 2023, 2:04am:

not much of a schedule, yeah, we do stuff when it makes sense heh. Comment...

Question: hey jf- just happened to come across this stream (youtu.be/MJ8YMTF8Ics?feature=shared & the point is basically about some ill effects from wheat+grains+rice+sugars intakes... as part your health do you consider selective choices of diet/nuttrition to be 1 of your main focuses?
Asked by 2023 (165.120.114.x) on September 29 2023, 10:49am
Reply on October 1 2023, 2:05am:

that matters but also enjoying things is too so everything in moderation yeah? Comment...

Question: Since mentioning your X60, what do you think about the old full height keyboard keys it has vs. the modern chiclet keys? I have a T420 which also has the full height keys and much prefer them to modern laptop keyboards.
Asked by wasereb4 (83.135.15.x) on September 28 2023, 11:31pm
Reply on September 29 2023, 1:10am:

I like them, but I also am fine with my M1 MBA's keyboard. I do still love the trackpoint though. 1 Comment...

Question: Any DOS game recommendations ?
Asked by JustPlay (84.252.114.x) on September 28 2023, 6:15pm
Reply on September 29 2023, 1:10am:

Prince of Persia, perhaps? 6 Comments...

Question: My kid is 8 and is way more intelligent than me which makes guiding him very difficult. He knows html/css/js/python already, he can build websites and simple games. Where should he go from here? Just keep learning languages and fiddling with them? Is there a specific path you would suggest or should I just get out of his way and let him find what he likes?
Asked by Sean (174.68.161.x) on September 28 2023, 5:23pm
Reply on September 28 2023, 5:51pm:

Sounds like your kid is on his own path and probably doesn't need guiding! I'd say embrace and encourage... :) Comment...

Question: What second-hand laptop would you recommend in today's market? I'm not a gamer and I want it to run Reaper in 2050 (I know how to change a hard drive).
Asked by Jojo (31.37.8.x) on September 28 2023, 9:13am
Reply on September 28 2023, 11:43am:

I really like my Thinkpad X60, which is something like 15 years old, but if you want something for 2050 you'll need something newer. Maybe get one of the