My own mixcloud, finally?

Mixing live in Skopje

I have been for a long time looking for an alternative to mixcloud. I have tried many things including some self hosted solutions like navidrome, subsonic, madsonic, airsonic and ampache. They have all been good except they are best for private sharing. I really wanted to use funkwhale but it was so geared up for single tracks it just didn’t make sense to run a node with my own mixes on it. There is so much I could suggest for  making these software/services better for DJs rather than musicians. A DJ version of funkwhale could be pretty cool, especially seeing the amount of DJs using Youtube and paying for Mixcloud premium to mix live during the pandemic. Heck you could even use web-monetization too (just done).

So with all this and finally thought I have the bandwidth and the storage, I just need a site and some simple software which can share the music files. So I decided to actually setup WordPress with it looking at the local file system (which I can easily have tons of storage). I was going to explore the static file generators again but decided to get something going.

Over the last few days between helping someone out with Linux and cryptocurrencies, I setup WordPress on my RaspberryPi 4 using Yunohost again. As its pretty much static, I think it makes sense.

So here is my own mixcloud site, which I’m still populating, but the latest mixes from my locked down, mixing out album are up complete with artwork. Expect to see more changes over time including a better audio player, more mixes and more everything.

Its not exactly a mixcloud replacement to be fair and my plans to use the .cue files and make better use of playlists, is put on hold for now. I’m sure there is audio plugin which will make use of them. Love to have UPnP and Subsonic apis access from wordpress, but I dream?

Do enjoy and let me know what you think could be improved.

Little update

Following my point about making it work for DJs and mixes. One of my biggest bug bears is playlists. I have been through many of the wordpress plugins for audio playback and I can’t find one which allows me to specify points in a long mix, when different music is played. Its simply a tracklist but all of the ones I have seen and tried are focused on single tracks. Meaning slicing the mix into pieces instead of marking out areas. None of them seemed to support CUE files or things like Ogg vorbis chapters. If there is one I should be looking at, do send it my way because it seems like such a simple thing to do, but I guess theres not enough interest to make it?

Another update

I have retired the old Mix site and replaced it with a new better one.
Learn more about the changes and WebMix.

Digital Italics WebMix

Weather is strange mix

Rain storm over east manchester

What a pacemaker mix, quite mix of tunes from previous mixes with some new ones. All with a changeable pace throughout.

I do love this one which was done during a period during April in Manchester with snow, rain and hot sun over a period of days. Weather is strange just like the choppy nature of this mix.

Listen to it on my personal cloud or mixcloud here and enjoy!

  1. Sunset (Bird of prey) – Fatboy Slim
  2. Go (Extended mix) – Protoculture
  3. Running up the hill (Jermone isma-ae bootleg mix) – Placebo
  4. Prosac – Tomcraft
  5. Wrist block (Joey Beltram remix) – Side four
  6. Wilde (Extended mix) – Jermone isma-ae & Alastor
  7. Follow me (Jermone isma-ae extended remix) – Jam Spoon
  8. Ecstasy – Eddie Makrabi featuring Einat
  9. Outlaw (Extended mix) – Fatum
  10. Sequence (Extended mix) – Estiva
  11. Tears (Protoculture remix) – Dakota
  12. Alastor & Rue (Jerome Isma-Ae untethered remix) – Progressive Astronaut
  13. Sunrise – Marninx pres Ecco
  14. Tomahawk (Extended mix) – Maarten de Jong
  15. The pride in your eyes (Martin Roth remix) – Tillmann Uhrmacher

Kubricks systematic percussive sequence mix

Kubricks systematic percussive sequence mix
Photo credit by @dizzyd718 – Drew Graham on unsplash.com

I have been loving a bunch of tech/progressive trance and decided its time for a nice mix using some of the tunes. I know there is some disagreement about the term, which I guess is closer to the techno category. Especially the tunes by Carlo Ruetz.

Either way its a good mix breaking into some classic trance by the end. The title of the mix is parts of the playlist, and the start is a long lost tune found after listening to one of the very first live mixes I did in Manchester. Roots is a killer start to a mix and sets the vibe perfectly. Reminds me how much I like Tomcraft actually.

Mixcloud restrictions

Hosted again on Mixcloud but unlike the last one, hopefully it won’t fall foul of the mixcloud rules over using the same artist too many times. (note to say I have got a new self-hosted platform but anonymous web access isn’t ideal)

Enjoy the mix and here is the complete playlist.

  1. Roots – Tomcraft
  2. Trick – Carlo Ruetz
  3. Percussive thinking (Meat Katie & Elite force remix) – Frome
  4. Kubrick (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae
  5. Rheninkraft – Oliver Klien
  6. System hack – Carlo Ruetz
  7. Running up the hill (Jerome Isma-Ae bootleg) – Placebo
  8. Opium (Stan Kolev remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  9. Sequence (Extended mix) – Estiva
  10. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  11. Outlaw (Extended mix) – Fatum
  12. Tears (Protoculture remix) – Dakota

Update: Feb 28th 2021

Kubricks systematic percussive sequence is now 95th in the global Tech Trance chart
As I thought, without the Mixcloud restrictions mentioned above, this mix has made it to the 95th place in the Tech trance chart.
Very tempted to see what happens if I rename the playlist for Pattersons pandemic run.

Pattersons pandemic run mix

Here is the first mix of the new year and its a Simon Patterson special. If you liked the previous Patterson’s panic attack. Its likely not going to play in certain regions as its all the same artist and mixcloud thinks I’m uploading a whole album.

Its a very heavy trance mix which whips along at a speedy 138 bpm and never lets up for 50 solid minutes.

Try going for a run with this mix playing, avoid those people and wear a mask.

Here is the playlist for Patterson’s pandemic run mix, enjoy!

  1. F16 – Simon Patterson
  2. Latika – Simon Patterson
  3. Brush Strokes – Simon Patterson
  4. Smack – Simon Patterson
  5. Whites of her eyes – Simon Patterson
  6. Panic attack – Simon Patterson
  7. Opulence – Simon Patterson
  8. Dissolve – Simon Patterson feat Sarah Howells
  9. Strip search – Simon Patterson
  10. Taxi – Simon Patterson
  11. Us – Simon Patterson

https://www.mixcloud.com/cubicgarden/pattersons-pandemic-run/

A unforgettable summer in the city: the mix

A unforgettable summer in the city mix

Its been one heck of a summer, from the covid19 pandemic, national lockdowns to the protests for #blacklivesmatter.

Every once in a while I have been putting out a few mixes under the new album/category of locked down and mixing out. The mixes have been good but I felt they each had something missing, so this is the best bits of previous mixes put together into something extra special.

Its the mix I am listening to when I get out with the Diabolo or go for a long walk.

Enjoy!

  1. A new beginning – Marcus Schossow
  2. Chinook – Markus Schulz pres Dakota
  3. Opium (Quivver remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  4. Open up – Leftfield
  5. Intruder – Armin Van Buuren vs M.I.K.E
  6. My Beat (Ambassador extended remix) – Blaze
  7. Follow me (Jerome Isma-Ae Extended remix) – Jam Spoon
  8. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  9. Opulence – Simon Patterson
  10. Numb the pain – Will Atkinson
  11. Seven Cities (V-One’s living in the cities mix) – Solarstone
  12. Halcyon – Andy Moor
  13. Tears (Protoculture remix) – Dakota
  14. Outlaw (Extended mix) – Fatum
  15. Amino Acids – Tau-Rine
  16. Freedom (Extended mix) – ARTY v Muvy
  17. Indigo – 4×4

This is my pacemaker editor running on a Chromebook

Chromebook running Linux, Windows and ChromeOS

I won’t lie, I was up till 2am getting the pacemaker editor to work with my Chomebook. But honestly it wasn’t so bad, most of the time was unzipping and moving things around in ChromeOS.

It all kicked into gear when I saw you could install Wine5 on Linux on ChromeOS. I gave it a try on my chromebook, as I could never quite get it working correctly on my Dell XPS13 (likely the something to do with the Pacemaker app being 32bit or something?). However it worked on ChromeOS and my only issue is the Pacemaker app makes everything super tiny even when changing the DPI settings in Wine. Luckily I have very sharp eyes and can actually see it ok without changing the native resolution of the chomebook.

Its a bit of testament to my knowledge of Linux, one thing lead to another thing, including copying the settings from my other wine running machine, changing config files, mounting the SD card full of mp3s in Linux and pick up my Pacemaker maker device in wine.

For reference I have my music collection on a external microSD and the chromebook has one USB A port, meaning I can plug my Pacemaker in without a USB C to A converter. Wine 5 is installed under the ChromeOS – Linux beta. I launch the Pacemaker editor (windows app) from the command line using

wine ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Tonium/Pacemaker/Binary/Pacemaker

Although I have made a pacemaker.sh for it now. Of course this doesn’t show in ChromeOS’s own launcher but thats not too much of a problem. Its not like I will need it every day.

Now its all working, it means when we can finally go away more easily than right now (written during the Covid19 pandemic). I can record mixes and put them out before going home to transfer them. Which was always a bit of a pain to tell the truth.

Next steps is to see what happens when I use the other pacemaker device which has the upgraded firmware.

The Secluded rave in my head mix

The Secluded rave in my head

My latest mix is a strange one. While sitting on my sofa trying to stay cool in front of multiple fans during some of the hottest days in Manchester. I busted out the pacemaker device and started to mix. I wasn’t really feeling very happy about the heat, hence this is quite a heavy mix which shifts, although only running at 130-ish bpm. I was thinking about redoing it with a different ending but maybe thats for another day.

The cover art is a combination of Artem Bryzgalov and Reynier Carl‘s work put together using my fav photo editing tool PhotoGIMP.

Enjoy the mix, which is another entry in the locked down, mixing out album of mixes.

  1. Anasthasia (Valentine boys rap mix) – T99
  2. Opium (Stan Kolev remix) – Jerome Isma Ae Alastor
  3. Orbion (Max Graham vs Protoculture remix) – Armin Van Buuren
  4. Freedom (Extended mix) – ARTY vs Muvy
  5. Grotesque – RAM & Alex M.O.R.P.H
  6. Floyd (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma Ae Alastor
  7. Reflection (Extended mix) – Ferry Corsten
  8. Metro (US mix) – Oliver Lieb
  9. Time to Burn (12 inch long version) – Storm
  10. The wave 2.0 (Extended mix) – Cosmic Gate
  11. Night in Motion – Cubic 22
  12. Opium – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor

 

Stellar’s freedom mix

Looking into the universe
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Not really had the time to do many mixes in the last few months. I did this one while wondering around the Manchester when the Covid19 lock down was lifted. Its not very long (less than a hour) but its a interesting quick blast through a few newer tunes.

I haven’t yet setup my funkwhale or airsonic instance, so its mixcloud for now. Although I am making cue files along side my nfo files.

Enjoy!

  1. Stella – Jam & Spoon
  2. Natural (extended mix) – KhoMha
  3. The Dark night – KhoMha
  4. Floyd (extended mix)  – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  5. Opium (quivver remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  6. Open up – Leftfield
  7. Follow me (Roger shah Extended deeper translation remix) – Jam Spoon
  8. Running up the hill (Jerome Isma-Ae bootleg) – Placebo
  9. Freedom (extended mix) – ARTY vs Muvy
  10. Tears (protoculture remix) – Dakota

Update

Stellar’s Freedom made it to 78th in the global tech trance chart. Not bad as lots of DJs are now using Mixcloud in lockdown.

78th in the global techtrance chart

Update Monday 10th Aug

Another update to say Stellar’s Freedom is now at 47th in the global tech trance chart. I think its one of the highest rated mixes I have done. Going to need to do another one soon.

stellars freedom 47th in the global techtrance charts

The mayday lockdown night dance

Rave

Taking some hints from my previous live mix, I decided to make some changes and do another mix. This time not live, so its at the perfect volume now. Enjoy the mix which is up to 135bpm with lots of hands in the air trance for your listening pleasure… enjoy!

  1. Gouryella (From the heavens mix) – Ferry Corsten presents Gouryella
  2. Arise – Victor Ruiz & D Nox
  3. Follow me (Jerome Isma-Ae Extended remix) – Jam Spoon
  4. Call the galaxy taxi (Martin Roth Nu Style remix) – Plastic Angel
  5. Stellar – Driftwood
  6. Floyd (extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  7. Borealis – Dj Eco
  8. Breathe (Blake Jarrell remix) – Anna Nalick
  9. Freedom (extended mix) – ARTY vs Muvy
  10. Grotesque – RAM & Alex M.O.R.P.H
  11. Soundbar (extended mix) – Giuseppe Ottaviani
  12. Numb the pain – Will Atkinson
  13. Everythings been written – 8 Wonders
  14. Tears (protoculture remix) – Dakota
  15. Hello (Jerome Isma-Ae remix) – Above & Beyond
  16. The Legacy 2.0 (Alphazone remix) – Funabashi pres. Saltwater
  17. Valhalla (tonerush remix) – OneBeat

Its been a while… the mayday rave up in your flat live mix

 

Its been a while since I uploaded a mix to mixcloud. I have plans to self host my own mixes using funkwhale or airsonic. But its not quite happened yet. So in the meanwhile I have done a few mixes and I’ll do the posse thing and upload it to mixcloud with a smaller amount of metadata.

Of course I’ll be keep a copy of my metadata for when I get my own system up and running. In the meanwhile the mixes will form not travels with pacemaker but locked in mixing out.

I present the mayday rave up in your flat live mix. Recorded live while mixing live on R&Dio the other day. The volume levels were a bit high sorry but its not horribly distorted

Here’s the tracklist… (at about 133bpm) as always enjoy!

  1. Gouryella (fall from heaven remix) – Gouryella
  2. The Desert – protoculture
  3. Arise – victor ruiz & d nox
  4. Switch (oliver klien & peter jurgens remix) – beckers
  5. Special K (timo maas remix) – Placebo
  6. Prosac (original mix) – Tomcraft
  7. Floyd (extended remix) – Jerome isma-ae & alastor
  8. Soundbar (extended mix) – Giuseppe Ottaviani
  9. Cuckoo – Jon Mangan
  10. Breathe (Blake Jarrell remix) – Anna nalick
  11. Cut and run feat Emma lock – Beat Service
  12. Freedom (extended mix) – Arty vs Muvy
  13. Tears (protoculture remix) – Dakota
  14. Megalodon – MaRLo
  15. Grotesque – RAM & Alex M.O.R.P.H
  16. The Legacy 2.0 (alphazone remix – Funabashi pres Saltwater
  17. Anahera (extended mix) – Ferry Corsten pres Gouryella
  18. Echoes (extended mix) – Henrik B, Niklas Gustavsson, Peter Johansson
  19. Higher State of Conscientiousness – Josh wink

.

The underground inception mix

London underground inception map

I did this pacemaker device mix over 2 separate mini mixes while in London last year. I joined the mix together and walla you have the underground inception mix. A mixture of tech-trance reflecting the maze of some of the London underground stations.

Enjoy…

  1. Opium (Quiver remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  2. Open up (Full vocal mix) – Leftfield
  3. Intruder – Armin van Buuren vs M.I.K.E
  4. One for you (Oliver Klein remix) – Oliver Klein
  5. Into the dawn (James Holden remix) – Accadia
  6. Godd – Marco V
  7. Fall to pieces – Jonas Steur feat Jennifer Rene
  8. Lunacy (Extended mix) – Stoneface & Terminal
  9. Nitric (Division one remix) – Hybrid system
  10. Stellar Perspetive – Hawkwind Light Orchestra
  11. Opulence – Simon Patterson
  12. Verdi – Mauro Picotto

Updated – Saturday 23th November 2019

55th in the global tech trance

One of the highest rated mixes to date, and I don’t rate as much as the Quiver in the underground mix.

A quiver in the underground mix

I did a number of mixes while in London for Mozfest but I quite liked the feel of this one. Some familiar tunes but quite different from my usual style. Mainly recorded on the Jubilee line, I present a quiver in the London underground mix. I found the perfect picture too.

  1. Activator, I know you can (That kid chris mix) – Whatever girl
  2. Air traffic (Erik De Koning remix) – Three drives
  3. Chinook – Markus Schulz pres. Dakota
  4. Opium (Quivver remix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  5. Surveillance – Jordon Suckley & Kutski
  6. Nitric (Division one remix) – Hybrid system
  7. Circa-Forever (Galen Behr & Organ Nilsen remix) – Rapid eye
  8. Opulence – Simon Patterson
  9. J’ai envie de toi (Protoculture remix) – Armin Van Buuren presents Gaia
  10. Z.I.T.A (M.I.K.E’s progressiva mix) – Hiver & Hammer with Funabashi
  11. Kubrick (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor

Updated… I’m 95th in the global tech trance chart on mixcloud

mixcloud chart

The Helsinki drop out mix

Somewhat as a forerunner to the peace of mind in Brussels mix. The Helsinki drop out mix is also a bit slower but a lot more punchy with harder tunes.

Recorded while sat in the city centre of Helsinki, watching people go by. Enjoy!

  1. Tenshi (Magdelayna’s Resurrection mix) – Gouryella
  2. Empty Cities, Dead Ghost (Chronosapien remix) – Fictitious Riceboy
  3. Big Sky (Agnelli & Nelson remix) – John O’Callaghan feat Audrey Gallagher
  4. Circles – Robert Nickson
  5. Everythings been written – 8 Wonders
  6. Hello (Jerome Isma-Ae remix) – Above & Beyond
  7. Kubrick (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae Alastor
  8. Out of the Blue (5am mix) – System F
  9. The Wave 2.0 (Extended mix) – Cosmic Gate
  10. Crayons (Leama and Moor remix) – Starkid
  11. Torrent – Dave 202
  12. The Game (Extended mix) – Fatum

The Peace of mind in Brussels mix

Recorded in Brussels while taking the Eurostar, while thinking about mental awareness week at work. Nicely relaxing with a slight edge.

Enjoy…

  1. Empty Cities, Dead Ghost (Chronosapien remix) – Fictitious Riceboy
  2. Big Sky (Agnelli & Nelson remix) – John O’Callaghan feat Audrey Gallagher
  3. Bulgarian (Signum remix) – Travel
  4. Drifting away (Lange sunset dub) – Lange feat. Syke
  5. Casino Fire – Matias Faint
  6. Tears (Protoculture remix)- Markus Schulz pres. Dakota
  7. Crayons (Leama and Moor remix) – Starkid
  8. Sister Sister – Sister Bliss
  9. Floyd – Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor
  10. Key of life (Marlo remix) – Ohmna feat. Nurlaila
  11. Made of love (Extended mix) – Ferry Corsten feat. Betsie Larkin
  12. Peace of mind (Myon & Shane 54 summer of love mix) – Above & Beyond feat. Zoe
  13. Peace – Yves Deruyter
  14. Indigo – 4×4

Follow me into the fading moonlight mix

Moon crest

I have been travelling again; and when I travel I can’t help but get the Pacemaker device out. So with a recent bunch of travelling including to the Moon Festival and buying a tune with a woman I use to play Volleyball with (Sarah de Warren). I threw together this mix while on a delayed plane to Guernsey for a wedding over the bank holiday weekend.

Lots of Moon and Sun related tunes and a photo credit to edbrambley.

As always Enjoy!

  1. Fading (extended mix) – Rodg X and Sarah de Warren
  2. Moonlight party – Fonzerelli
  3. Moon Shadow (Fictitious riceboy remix) – Mike Efex
  4. Lost in moonshine infinity – Planisphere
  5. Dark side of the Sun – Rory Gallagher
  6. Dark side of the Moon (Marc Van Linden remix) – Ernesto Vs Bastian
  7. Salvation (Album Re-vised mix) – M.I.K.E
  8. Reborn – Ferry Corsten
  9. Homeward – Ferry Corsten
  10. Sunshine City – Slava V
  11. The Wave 2.0 (extended mix) – Cosmic gate
  12. Follow Me (Jerome Isma-Ae Extended remix) – Jam & Spoon
  13. Sunrise – Marninx pres Ecco