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"From out of the dark"

From Out Of The Dark

From out of the dark is a collection of 6 songs finished during the infamous Covid lockdown of 2020, drawing musical influences from many different genres and based on different themes close to my heart.

Some with a narrative, others about how I felt a particular junction in life, playing music, writing and recording songs has been a great outlet for me and helped me deal with and express myself in a productive fashion.

With no single genre over the six songs I decided to put them out as From out of the dark, to show how something good can come from the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making them.

I appreciate so much all the friends and family who have helped critique these tracks ready for public consumption. Thanks also to my younger sister, Hannah, for providing her vocal talents and lyric writing on two of the songs.

Please listen below and follow me on all of my social networks using the links above.

Matt x

Error 1722 Installing WSUS on Server 2008 R2

Difficulties Installing WSUS on Server 2008 R2 – Fails at Configuring Database – Error 1722

Running Server 2008 R2 and trying to install WSUS 3.0 service pack 2, I found I consistently got an error upon trying to add the role, whether it be from using a dedicated installer from Microsoft or just by adding the feature from within Server Manager.


Lots of Googling suggested lots of different fixes, and I’ve tried a lot. I put it down to the old install of WSUS which had been working successfully but removed for a time, had left some files behind that were corrupting the new install. But I trawled through the server and ran powershell scripts to remove files all to no avail.

The error is really unhelpful, and the install would always fail at the ‘Configuring Database’ stage, displaying error 1722 and saying: There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. 

I’d seen some posts online about it being to do with the version of dot net that is installed. I removed a version simply through add remove previous Windows Updates, restarted the server and attempted a reinstall. I got the same 1722 error again and went back to troubleshooting.

After going through the logs with a fine tooth-comb I found the following snippet:

Action PERF_COUNTER_INST, location: C:\Program Files\Update Services\Setup\HideConsoleApp.exe, command: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.7.2053\InstallUtil.exe

Well, I looked for the Dot Net folder it was siting and found that it didn’t exist. Very strange. I did a web search for the 4.7.2053 version of Dot Net and downloaded a standalone installer.

Firstly, I ran the installer and chose to repair – just to see if this would fill in any missing files. A reinstall failed just like before.

I vaguely remembered seeing about uninstalling the dot net, and we had other apps using it but all using different versions. Instead removing previous Windows Updates I used the installer package I downloaded which upon running offers an uninstall option.

After completing I didn’t even need to restart, and went back into Server Manager to add the WSUS feature again. Hey presto, this worked!

So, I would say if you’re trying to install WSUS on Server 2008 R2 and get an error at configuring database, saying ‘There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor’ then use the dot net installer package to remove that 4.7.2053 version of WSUS and then attempt a reinstall.


I hope this helps someone else to get their WSUS back up and running!

I’ve linked to the “NDP47-KB3186500-Web” dot net file on my one drive, here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ah2bljWLnhgliBVg0MXrZnlgr-Kg

The Lost Woods Play Along Piano Video - The Legend Of Zelda

Marioverehrer’s YouTube channel is dedicated to ‘learn it yourself’ piano videos, designed to play along with whilst having a graphical score and actual keyboard to look at, so the ability to read musical notation is moot when using these tutorials.

There’s no vocal introduction or visual gumpf – just a text title and the block note score, which comes towards you in Guitar Hero style, the blocks hitting the keyboard at the exact moment you should play.

The quality of the Audio is decent enough, a high level of MIDI, but I personally would’ve liked the actual score as well, and maybe some Legend Of Zelda themed embellishments just to add that personal touch to the video.

The Lost Woods is a bit of the equivalent of a tongue twister for piano, and I’d also have liked the option to switch to a lower tempo, before trying the piece at full speed.

Still, the idea is good and works well, and if you want to learn one of Ocarina Of Time’s iconic tunes you could do a lot worse than starting here.

See the video below, or click here to see it on YouTube! Thanks for reading. 


The Legendary Lullaby Performed on Violin and Ocarina


The music in video games is such an intrinsic part to the whole experience, from the days of the looping MIDI sequences of arcade gems such as Donkey Kong, to the sweeping orchestral scores of Skyrim. The Legend of Zelda series in particular is extremely famous for the many recurring themes throughout its catalogue of games.

Zelda’s Lullaby is arguably most well-known from its use in Ocarina of Time on the N64 accompanying scenes with the famous titular princess as well as enabling link to make the jump from child to adult hood, and invokes with it a swathe of nostalgia for anyone who remembers leading Link into his epic quest throughout Hyrule.

There are so many tributes to the works composed by Koji Kondo that it’s obvious how much love people have for the music in its own right. This is particularly true of this performance of Zelda’s Lullaby by the talented and prevalent YouTube violinist Anime Martha Psyko.
Psyko has teamed up with Alonso Quijano who plays the Ocarina with a sweet delicacy, never over playing which can result in poor intonation of wind instruments. I am unsure how much of this is down to post production, but in any case it’s been done very well and sounds excellent when combined with the violin.

Psyko’s recital is soulful, her violin emitting a full bodied tone with a subtle use of vibrato. Both parts add pretty ornamentation and the underlying nylon guitar accompaniment helps unify the performance.

The video, which contains a short conversation with the two musicians at the end, is made up of footage of the pair performing in a picturesque countryside interweaved with Zelda scenes from Breath of The Wild. The camera work and editing of the video are proficient and result in a professional final product.

Because of the immense nostalgia relating to the themes from Ocarina of Time in particular, it’s important that tributes be handled with a certain respect, evident here from not only the skilled performance but also by the care taken with production.

You can check out the video below or click here to view it on Youtube. ENJOY!


I've started doing a bit of writing on the Zelda fansite Two Guys Playing Zelda. Check out the website here