Garage Band

I've just decided that my next project will be to create some instrumental tracks using Apple's ILife GarageBand mixing software, that can possibly be used for pre-service music at our local church.

Requirements for the project will be:

IMac computer
Ilife GarageBand
USB PreAmp
XLR cabling
Shure MIC for Recording

The tracks will include live SAX recordings with instrumental loops and rhythm. I'll post the finished product as well as my personal opinion on how GrageBand works for music mixing.

Daphne Emulator

While configuring my recently built Mame machine using the GameEx front end application, I came across settings for a Daphne emulation application. Going to their website at www.daphne-emu.com I quickly found out that this emulator allows you to play the vintage "LaserDisk" games that came out in the early 1980's. This immediately brought back memories of trying to beat Dragon's Lair!

After reading the list of requirements to set up a laserdisk game for my Mame machine I found that you can still order the games from www.digitalleisure.com. I ordered the three disk set which took a couple of weeks to arrive. The disks can be played on a standard DVD player right out of the box. My desire was to transfer the content to the PC in the Mame machine... To do this you need to use an application called "DVD2DAPH". The application will take the video content from the DVD and transfer it to your hard disk as Mpeg content.

Once Daphne was installed and the mpeg files were in place, I only needed to configure the emulator, obtain the roms, and I was off and running!

Mame Sound System Upgrade

Yesterday I upgraded the sound system in the Mame cabinet from a non powered two speaker system to a Creative Labs powered package which includes a sub and external volume control. The volume control is now mounted next to the keyboard for easy access. The sound is much better! Especially when listening to MP3s through the jukebox option on the GameEx frontend.

Mame Arcade Project - Bezel

I decided to add a bezel to the Mame arcade machine to hide the sides of the TV after a friend of mine suggested I get a piece of plexiglass and paint the back. I purchased a 1/4" piece from Home Depot and cut it (using a jigsaw, you need to be careful about melting). I then temporarily mounted it to get a idea at to how it would look and to determine the sides for the monitor that would stay clear. Using a marker to mark of the sides, I then covered up the area with painters tape. I then used two coats of black spray paint and removed the tape. Mounting included using an extra section of marquee mounting that I had left over from the sign which I place on the bottom.

Everything went in place pretty quick. The only other thing left to do was to mark and remove a small square section of paint for the IR on the TV so I could use the TV remote as the button is no longer accessible.