The next step

[kara]

ok, since now i'm convinced that linux is a solution for a complete daw, it's time to move to the next step....

here is what i'm at the moment.

- hydrogone : propably the best drum sequencer i'm aware of
- Seq24 : yes a nice pattern mode sequencer, but suffers from a couple strange quirks, abandoned it...
- Ardour : a very good audio daw
- Rosegarden : the best sequencer I know
- Qsampler : a great instrument
- Amsynth : a typical am emulation synth, which makes good sounds
- Jack : the best, a universal routing system

So, yes, a great system with unlimited possibilities !
But, what about workflow ?

The next step would be optimize workflow. At the moment, and that's propably just a lack of knowledge of me, I have to spend a lot of time thinking how to do my project, which tools to use, how to root them and how to get to the final result.
And as I consider 'time for technology' as 'wasted time', I think this could be optimised ?

Any ideas, how do you optimise your project setup ?
Perhaps templates ?
One way could perhaps be, not to use Ardour, do everything in Rosegarden ?
Rosegarden has FX inserts on the audio tracks... I din't find how to make a wav file out of a Rosegarden project, something like 'Render all tracks to audio'

Any ideas as how to make my workflow more simple ?

 k

[folderol]

I use templates extensively for almost everything I do on the computer, from standard letter headings on my office machine to startup on my music machine. I've also managed to persuade my window manager to start up programs in a certain order on certain desktops (but that means diving into scripts). I've set file associations so that (say) clicking on a Zyn parameter file will start up zyn with that file installed.

Having said that, I think I have a much simpler set-up than you do, and a lot of things are more variable, so setting defaults is not so practical. What is practical for me is setting up project directories/folders so that all the appropriate files are together.

Cutting out all the waffle - I think you'll just have to work out your own 'preferred' setup

P.S.
I'm disappointed you didn't mention Zyn in your list

[kara]

I think you're right and it's allso a matter of getting used to the tools.
I've found out how to render to audio from Rosegarden, it's actually very simple, just connect Timemachine to rosegarden's output and press record 

Don't be disappointed, I didn't forget Zyn 
but for the contest I needed only classical instrument sounds, so the qsampler rack with my GIGA files was the quickest solution.
I'm planning to redo the Respect Intro song from scratch and there Zyn will be the obvious solution 

I'll redo the Respect song completly in Rosegarden, for the moment I'll leave ardour aside. I think I can get a good result with Rosegarden only.

Now, don't leave us, I think I'll need some of your Zyn presets 

k

[Oren]

Personally, I wouldn't recognize a template if it came up and bit me on the keester! (look that one up on babelfish )

Flow is a function of rhythm and attitude - sometimes the quirky tools suit my personality better than their more streamlined alternatives. That's one reason ZynAddSubFX works for me: that's no ordinary synthesizer! Ardour has a similar vibe, somehow....

I'm going to try to warm up to Rosegarden, because all the cool people on the site seem to favour it, but Seq24 feels like it goes better with army boots and a black hat 

[kara]

I'm going to try to warm up to Rosegarden, because all the cool people on the site seem to favour it, but Seq24 feels like it goes better with army boots and a black hat 

Sure, you could use SEQ24 to create the song, record track by track with timemachine and then import the different tracks into Ardour to mix them. Just another way to do things 

OR... you could use Seq24, different instances of Zyn, create a couple of Jack fx racks with different setting that you connect to the different Zyn outputs, send all outputs to timemachine and record the whole song in one take.
Another way of doing things... but if you do it that way, you're actualy doing the same in a complicated way what you could do in one go in Rosegarden
Now the advantage of doing it Rosegarden is that if you reload the rosegarden project, everything will be reloaded in one go . If you go modular like I explained, you'll have to reload all components one by one and load presets one by one for every component.
See the difference 
Or like Will said, you just write a script that loads it all, but isn't that beyond the scope of a musician ?

k
 

[Oren]

"I've found out how to render to audio from Rosegarden, it's actually very simple, just connect Timemachine to rosegarden's output and press record"

Kara,

Is it possible that you're referring to "Timidity" rather than "Time Machine" (an Apple MacIntosh program)?

[kara]

Nope i was referring to time machine under Linux
See here : http://plugin.org.uk/timemachine/

Actually with Rosegarden this isn't needed as I have found out, because you can bounce directly to wav in Rosegarden
Here is how to do it :
Create a new audio track in rosegarden and set his input to the main out
Arm it for recording
Press play
All tracks that are played will be rendered to your new audio track.

Again a workflow enhancement

k

[folderol]

One of the greatest features of Time Machine is that 10 second 'pre-record'. I would think this would be especially useful to Oren when messing about experimentally developing on the guitar

If I'm feeling lazy, and I know levels are pretty much OK, I'll use it to make a combined recording from Rosegarden's audio side, together with Zyn's output and the soundcard's input.

The thing is, as I think you've both hit on by now, there are just so many different ways to do the same thing

[Oren]

TimeMachine - looks like a handy little tool!

Both my chosen synthetic sound sources, ZynAddSubFX and Hydrogen, have audio-out capabilities, so rendering will not be necessary.

Kara,
Rendering within Rosegarden by recording to an audio track is a very elegant solution 

Will,
Very often, when messing around, er, creatively noodling on the guitar, I'll have a backing track and stereo recording track rolling - just in case I do something extraordinary (hasn't happened yet, but preparation is everything )

The option of accomplishing a task in a manner that suits the personality of the individual user is a big feature of a Linux O/S. You and Kara, by choosing 64studio, seem to have more freedom to successfully deploy the availalble tools than I do with Ubuntu Studio.
I'm very tempted to make the switch now, before proceeding with setting up the apps in their final configuration.

The 64studio disc asked me to "enable IOMMU" in the bios set-up, but there is no IOMMU setting in the bios of this Asus MN2 mother(board).
Hooped again

[folderol]

Two BIOS things that can cause problems:

Try disabling apic (if it's available)

Also enable memory hole. Don't know why but it seems to work if you have lots of RAM.

If this doesn't help, give me a full breakdown of your setup, which version of 64studio you're trying and what error messages you get, and I'll post it on the 64studio list.

<edit>

Are you trying the live CD or the Install DVD?

[Oren]

Will,

Disabling my ACPI APIC support allowed the installation to proceed. I'm in the process 

Thanks, Bro!

[folderol]

Ah. This is very good news. I'll be shutting up shop soon (off to the Linux Audio Conference first thing tomorrow) so this is a good note to go out on 

[kara]

@Oren,

If you do the install of 64studio from the DVD image available on the 64studio site, be aware that this isn't the very last release.
First thing to do is connect the PC to the internet, launch the synaptic package manager and do a FULL upgrade, you'll see that there are 133 package upgrades avialable ! Over a good cable connection, the upgrade takes about 30 minutes.

k

[Oren]

Yesterday I went through four installations of 64studio and three installations of Ubuntu Studio.

There is a fundamental conflict between the video drivers in 64studio and the video card in this new computer that my Linux builder could not resolve, and neither can I. After a successful installation, the monitor displays "out of range".

Ubuntu Studio, however, settles in very nicely, and I feel the best course of action is to proceed with it, and work out any Linux audio software conflicts from within the program, using the Ubuntu forums and my own native ingenuity

Thanks to both Kara and Will for their unflagging enthusiasm 

[kara]

if your builder is a linux expert and he can't solve the problem, we won't be of any help i guess 

An out of range message on the monitor is in general related to a refesh rate that it can't handle (normal range 60 Hz - 75 Hz)
A possible solution could be to play with xconfig, but i guess your linux expert allready tried this, so i'm just rambling here 

k