Good Beats: December 2012

George Acosta feat. Emma Lock – Never Fear (ATB Remix)
Buy this track on Beatport!

Lange – This Is New York (vs. Gareth Emery) (Heatbeat Remix)
Buy this track on Beatport!

Please enjoy!

Converting FLAC to MP3 in Linux

Converting FLAC files to MP3 is very easy to accomplish in Linux. Unfortunately, FLAC files can not be played on most mobile devices and they normally take up too much space anyway. Use the script I wrote below to easily convert a folder (recursively) to mp3 files. It defaults to 320 kbps bit rate if you do not specify. This script was tested in Ubuntu 10.04 with: flac 1.2.1 and lame 3.98.2. Nothing else is required.

Usage

flac2mp3 /path/to/flac/files/ /path/to/output/mp3/files/ [bit_rate]

The Script

#!/bin/bash
convert_dir=$1
output_dir=$2
bitrate=$3

# Ensure require params are passed in
if [ -z $convert_dir ] || [ -z $output_dir ];
then
  echo "Usage: flac2mp3 rip_dir output_dir [bitrate]"
  exit
fi

# Default to 320 kbps if bitrate not specified
if [ -z $bitrate ];
then
  bitrate=320
fi

# Get the list of files to convert
files=( `find $convert_dir -iname '*.flac' | tr "\n" " "` )

# Convert each file, one at a time
for file in ${files[*]}
do
  flac -dc $file | lame -b $bitrate - $output_dir/`basename $file`.mp3
done

echo "Conversions complete!"

Installation

cd /usr/bin
sudo curl --silent --output flac2mp3 https://gist.github.com/raw/708704/10b41ddb2ab43ade403038cfb78364eb5e168286/flac2mp3
sudo chmod 755 flac2mp3

Music Spotlight: Boom Bach Music

This is one of my colleagues at work. He combines anything from trancey synths, guitar riffs, and big bass lines to make what he calls ‘Gangsta Jazz’ Check out all of his work on his SoundCloud page. It is definitely work a look!

DevELOpe
DevELOpe by BoomBachMusic

Oh no, Tokyo
Oh no, Tokyo by BoomBachMusic

My First Mix Coming Soon: Furious Elements I

I have been practicing my beat matching and collecting tracks for several weeks now. This evening I spent some time and picked some of my favorite tracks out of everything I have gathered thus far. The result: Furious Elements I. This will mark my first mixdown since I have gained an interest in breakbeats and will be my FIRST EVER demo mix. Back in college when I was spinning NRG at raves I never successfully recorded a mix for a demo. I always nit picked and critiqued myself and would never settle for anything but perfection. I am going to be aiming for the same level of perfection in this mix so let’s hope it actually happens. Hopefully within the next 2-3 weeks I will be posting it on Soundcloud!

Jesse Adams – Furious Elements I
01: Sketi – Hyperstate (Original Mix)
02: Far Too Loud – We Want to Dance (Original Mix)
03: X-Dream – The 1st (Far Too Loud Refix)
04: Electrixx – Tetris (reFaze Edit)
05: Suko – More & More (Quadrat Beat Remix)
06: Destroyers & Aggresivnes ft. Ann Lee – Ring My Bell (Original Mix)
07: Sub Focus – Rockit (Stanton Warriors Edit)
08: Le Castle Vania – Nobody Gets Out Alive (Noisia Remix)
09: DJ Fixx, Keith Mackenzie, Whis – Get With The Program (Calvertron Remix)
10: BreakZhead – Disposis (Aggresivnes & FactorFunk Remix)
11: Access Denied ft. Mc Incyte – My Life (Dub Mix)
12: Vandal – Idiots (Original Mix)
13: Physical Bross – Untitled (Cote Remix)
14: Aggresivnes – Essence (VIP Mix)

Coming Soon! Stay tuned…

Check Out My New Numark NDX400′s

I recently become obsessed with breaks. I am not sure why, but I can not get enough. My lovely wife was nice enough to let me purchase some CD turntables. These babies are AMAZING for their price! The only thing I dislike is that they don’t read mp3 metadata. Why not go with Serato or Itch instead you ask? The software only runs on Windows and Mac which is NOT for me. I am perfectly happy using CDs and my 4 gig USB sticks.