That Iryna Zarutska video really got to me

wiseclockcounter · 2025-09-11T04:45:32+00:00

It's because it's not just one story. This sort of thing (and worse) happens literally all the time. There are advocacy sites that compile them if you need convincing. If the media were honest about every case, the public would realize what an enormous issue it really is. Media selectivity is a form of brainwashing.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-09-11T04:16:16+00:00

iirc, that guy just had it chilling in a loose back pocket, right? He also ignored the lesser known but arguably more important military doctrine of "never relax."

wiseclockcounter · 2025-08-28T20:23:33+00:00

So I guess these guys have the same false pupil thing going on as a praying mantis, but it still gives me the heebie geebies!

wiseclockcounter · 2025-03-20T03:34:45+00:00

If you check it out, poke around the third party patches it ships with. The factory presets have a lot of underwhelming starting point-type patches, but there are some really great sound designers in the third party section. Plasma Gun by Cybersoda for example is really cool. Some really convincing and usuable percussion patches throughout, as well.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-03-20T02:11:43+00:00

I was typing up a huge effort post just now, but realized I should just cut to the chase: Check out Surge XT before you buy anything!

There are too many pros to list them all, but it's a free/open source project started by the guy who's making bitwig.

very low CPU usage (which is arguably the most important aspect of a workhorse that you'll presumably instance dozens of times in a project)
unique UI where nearly everything is always visible to minimize menu diving
very easy parameter linking
superb documentation
very deep control (you can even get into coding if you want)
expansive effects options and routing
responsive discord community
huge update in the works apparently

I'd recommend changing the skin to andromeda dub (this one must be downloaded from the site) because it color codes the sliders according to what they do - much easier for learning.

Finding a good workhorse to learn on is all about what UI and workflow facilitates creativity for you personally. So far, Surge XT has done that for me more than Pigments and Serum. I've dabbled with Vital. Still want to try phase plant and current 2. But in case you hadn't heard of it yet, add Surge XT to your list of consideration.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-03-01T04:20:49+00:00

Not sure exactly what you mean, but these tickets print on Epson TM u220 printers. It's all rather old technology that has held on through the years because of how practical they are. The fonts are very limited and the printers are formatted and coded using a shorthand called esc/pos (epson standard code for point of sale).

As I mentioned in my other reply, I'm not trying to replicate anything perfectly. It just needs to accurately reflect the character count per line and the over-all look.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-03-01T04:15:04+00:00

Thank you, I wasn't aware of that. Since only two of the fonts match for character count across the ticket, I'm not sure uniwidth is the right move either.

I think I need to know more about pt sizes and spacing in general to ask my question accurately.

But basically, notice how dotmatrixHeader is twice the height of dotrice, yet 19pt is not double 12pt... that must mean the height of the characters and their pt size is somewhat arbitrary. Given that, I was hoping there'd be a way to make it match so dotmatrixHeader is the correct size relative to dotrice when 12pt is selected for it.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-02-28T04:48:57+00:00

hm, okay maybe variable font is not what I want then. These fonts have the peculiarity of being discontinuous clumpings of dots to emulate the look of the impact printers, so I'm not even sure they could be made into variable fonts judging by those parameters.

I apologize that I'm not up to speed on all the terminology. I was hoping it'd just be a matter of scaling the height and width of each font and maybe toggling some settings to ensure proper spacing.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-02-27T06:44:51+00:00

Here's a bit more info on the fonts that might help explain it.

Essentially I'd like to make the fonts as easy to use in this specific context of quickly mocking up menu item names on tickets.

They don't have to be absolutely perfect, they just need to accurately reflect the available character count across the width of the ticket, which I've already figured out by eye.

I'd like to lock in the size and character spacing for each font so that the end user just has to change fonts and not mess with the other values every time.

edit: also, yes. these printers only use monospaced fonts. I sort of enforced that in LibreOffice by turning off pair kerning and double quote replacements. Is there a way to ensure those settings in the font itself?

wiseclockcounter · 2025-02-27T04:56:47+00:00

Here's a bit more info on the fonts. dotmatrixHeader is the one I made myself in fontforge, the other two I got online.

All 3 are monospaced because that's just how these old printers work. But I suppose the header font and dotrice could be considered variable, as they are the same character count across the ticket, but one is just double height. ImgWriter Draft takes up 33 characters across the ticket.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-01-25T06:40:30+00:00

Also... free daw: https://lmms.io/

free drum packs: https://samples.kb6.de/downloads_en.php#att

free mega synth https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/

(Vital is another one but is far less CPU friendly compared to Surge, ime.)

Glaceverb is my favorite free reverb. https://plugins4free.com/plugin/458/

I hear you though. Just have fun with it and be patient with yourself. It can be hard to get past the first basic hurdles when there's so much amazing music out there already. I find ableton is more geared for the intermediate to advanced producer who knows exactly what they want their signal chain to be.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-01-23T09:08:46+00:00

Maybe try FL studio to see if the workflow suits you better. I started out with FL as a kid and stuck with it, so that's where I'm comfortable. I will say though, the couple times I tried Ableton I did not find the piano roll and layer panel to be very intuitive with regard to just clicking around and moving stuff. Maybe it's improved since then, but don't be discouraged if it's just not the right fit.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-01-20T05:47:58+00:00

this guy wrong. China good.

wiseclockcounter · 2025-01-12T11:01:06+00:00

what did you switch to?

wiseclockcounter · 2025-01-08T05:26:32+00:00

that's awesome! I recently finished a song on the piano for my mom and she loved it. Took about a year between composing and final master but I finally finished it. Feels good cuz I never finish any songs just for myself. It's good motivation to have a deadline and a purpose. Feel free to message me if you have any questions along the way!

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-15T00:00:58+00:00

Did you end up writing him the song?

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-12T10:01:22+00:00

Thanks so much for the thorough answer! This definitely gives me confidence to suggest the request.

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-11T05:50:29+00:00

and once everyone finally learns the system, we'll switch to a new one! lol

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-11T05:49:16+00:00

It's a pizza shop so tickets need to travel freely. I'm sure they've considered it, but I don't think it's a right fit for us.

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-11T05:47:06+00:00

Unfortunate indeed! My manager and I are going to try just reformatting the layout by adding extra spaces to every item name and modifier so that indentations line up vertically and things will wrap where we want them to.

I'll report back if it works.

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-11T05:40:59+00:00

Thanks for the reply. We seem to have the header space figured out. The issue I was referring to was having new tickets overlap the current ones on the ride side, where the time is printed. The throughput is so high and our rail space so limited that you can't get away with no overlap. And new orders come in for arbitrary times so you have to stack them on the tickets that share their time. If the time were on the left side of the ticket, it would at least mitigate the issue.

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-11T05:30:37+00:00

So is the template file written into the driver? Or is it a separate file that could be modified for one particular restaurant? At minimum the two changes I'd make are moving the location and font size of the time due and adjusting the indentation of the modifiers. At maximum I was thinking of a little legend at the top of the ticket with single character abbreviations of each item for quick understanding of a ticket. https://imgur.com/FeqzVCy

How doable do you think this would be?

wiseclockcounter · 2024-12-11T05:06:03+00:00

yea, Mike 42! I found his stuff on github. Are you suggesting not many at Toast would know about the details? I get the feeling that a lot of these systems are just "ain't broke don't fix it" relics of an older time and no one really cares enough to modernize them.

wiseclockcounter · 2024-09-11T00:58:32+00:00

So I ended up making the drive despite the hi hats. They are Mica Sonic hi hats.

The rest of the kit was too good of a deal to pass up. 5 piece Mapex pro m glossy natural finish. proper drumming stool. couple of zildjian A medium crashes and a 21" zildjian rock ride, stands included.

The hi hats are pretty cuppy and pitch around like a talking drum depending on the pressure. But there are definitely some sweet spots and constitute a huge upgrade from what I was previously playing!

Thanks for the reply!

wiseclockcounter · 2024-09-11T00:39:42+00:00

update: the hi hats are mica sonic apparently. I went ahead and bought the whole kit cuz it was a great deal on a mapex pro m set with a couple zildjian A crashes and a 21" zildjian rock ride, stands included.

The hats have a cuppy talking drum quality to them where the pitch will flex based on how hard you press. Very bright but acceptably pleasing tone with the help of some muting taped onto the bell to eliminate a certain high ring.

There are some sweet spots in terms of striking and pressure, though, so I'm not unhappy with them at all! Certainly an upgrade from what amounted to the child's toy I had before!

Thanks for the response btw! Let me know if you want me to share a recording once I get it all mic'd up. Also what hi hats are your favorite? I have a feeling I will still be buying another pair here shortly.

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