Linux DAW - January 2008 roundup

[kara]

Since we now a have a couple of members with a LINUX DAW, i was thinking that it was a good idea, to have some overview of the actual situation.

Let's start with an overview of the win tools with the linux equivalent, feel free to complete this 

MIDI sequencer
Equivalent of Cubase, Sonar,....
Linux : Rosegarden (http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/)
A midi sequencer that has all the features of a modern midi sequencer

Audio DAW
Equivalent of Pro Tools,....
Linux : Ardour (http://ardour.org/)
Full fledged audio daw in ongoing developpement, lack a good manual. Only manual that I'm aware off is the online ?
Allso : Audacity which is multi platform
Audacity is an audio editor that is highly underestamed by people that don't know it.

Integrated MIDI & Audio DAW
Equivalent of Powertracks,....
Linux : Energy XT Linux version (www.energy-xt.com)
I think this is the only midi&audio on linux at the moment, a shame it's not stable at the moment.

Music Creation tools
Equivalent of Band in a Box, Jammer Pro,...
Linux : MMA (http://www.mellowood.ca/mma/)
MMA is at least as powerfull as the windows tools, in some domains it's even more powerfull since the definition of the styles is more detailed.
But you'll have to learn the text interface !

Live setup tools & modular studios
Equivalent of  Forte Brainspawn, Energy XT, Usine,...
Linux : The only equivalent I know of is the Linux version of Energy XT ?
Again it's not stable yet and there are a lot of live features from the win 1.4 version that are not implemented yet in the linux version.

Trackers
Equivalent of Buzz, Renoise,....
Linux : Trackers are very well represented in the Linux domain. Milytracker amongst others are multi-platform and in continuous development on both platforms. Renoise announced allso a linux version which will be available very soon now, propably in january even.
( http://www.milkytracker.net/ , http://www.renoise.com )

In what domain do Linux users still have problems ?
Mainly in connectivity of hardware...
1. Most manufactors don't deliver Linux drivers for there hardware (soundcards, keyboards,...)
Meaning that users have to carefully choose what hardware they use.
2. Some hardware that needs software to work or to be configured can only be used on win.
Examples : Clavia products which needs software to be programmed (editor is only available on win), same goes for ex. Virus TI

Allso in software there are still a couple of problems
- Lack of good vsti integration. This limits the amount of virtual instruments usuable on Linux. Some good commercial virtual instruments simply don't work on linux (ex : Garitan Personal Orchestra)
- Lack of good vst integration. On Linux there are the famous LADSPA plug but... well there not that easy to use and they don't have a graphical GUI
 
Feel free to add your personnal observations

k
 

[kara]

Update
The linux version of Renoise is available now on www.renoise.com

k

[Oren]

Kara,

This is LARGE

I've heard what Alex (beatslaughter) can do with Renoise, and what Will (folderol) can do with ZynAddSubFX/Rosegarden.

I think a person who moves up to Linux is presented with a staggering array of new possibilities, and needs to become selective. A small kit of carefully selected interactive tools that suits the personality of the artist and his/her compositional style is what will ultimately allow the creative juices to flow.

My question: With all these excellent programs being made available in Linux....if they don't interact with JACK, what's the point?
...............Audacity is not a JACK client, nor are Renoise, Reaper, or MMA.
...............JACK is like the ASIO/MIDI of Linux - if the music software we are considering will not interact with the principle most outstanding feature of Linux digital audio, should they really be considered viable?

Oren.

[kara]

2 quick answers Oren

Renoise on Linux IS a jack client 

MMA is a midi generating program, so doesn't need jack
The difference between BIAB and MMA :
BIAB generates internaly his song and then sends out the midi (in allmost realtime) to what you want, VCS Dxi as an example.
MMA does the same thing but simply generates a midi file, which you then load up in your sequencer

k

[Oren]

Thanks, Kara!

So, more choices.... I think I feel my head going numb

[folderol]

Hmmm.

Which version of Audacity?

The one I have here is quite happy to chat with jack

Incidentally, is there a drum tracker like hydrogen available for Windows?

Also what about an in-line processor - aka Jamin. This has a 3 band compressor, 30 band equaliser and final stage limiter. As it is a true Jack client you can run multiple instances, each with different settings (all of which can be saved for repeat performances).

On a slight downside. There is still a longstanding bug in Rosegarden where occasionally after a session of heavy editing it can suddenly lose sync and go galloping away. There are two cures. One is to just leave it till it settles down again, the other is to save the work then close and restart the sequencer. I go for the latter just to be safe.

A music related application is EasyTag which will enable you to set the ID tags of both ogg and mp3 files. I would expect there is something like that in the Windows domain, but don't know what.

[Oren]

Will,

Audacity, as included by Ubuntu Studio, tends to trigger x-runs when no other app will. There is likely a remedy, but my direction is to just bite the bullet and learn Ardour.

I haven't scoped the whole picture yet, but I'm hoping Ardour will sequence ZynAddSubFX (along with Hydrogen), so I won't have to learn Rosegarden. Or will Rosegarden be a necessary component?
Ardour is probably at least as good as Audacity as an audio editor, and JAMin will be my mastering tool.
I'm prepared to learn Q-synth if for any reason I want different sounds than Zyn has to offer. The whole idea is to assemble a backing band for my guitar and (ahem..) vocals Sound at all realistic?

Yes, I use EasyTag, and it does a lovely job.

I've worked with a number of drum sequencers over the years, both hardware and software in Windoze, and Hydrogen is proving the equal of the best of them (although I have yet to sequence a project in swing/syncopated/shuffle time). 

[kara]

Oren,

If you use Audacity alone, you don't have  have to route trough jack, you could use it just with alsa...
Still, on my config i have no x-runs with jack (see other thread) at 5.8 msec of latency.

But i discovered something odd. It looks like an audacity project created on win and then loaded in linux, isn't completly compatible It loaded fine and the tracks where visualy alligned, but playback wasn't !!
Importing the tracks one by one solved the problem, strange...


If you want to use midi sequencing, you'll have to dive in Rosegarden, ardour is audio only. It is WAY more advanced then audacity, it is actually a protools clone.

k

[folderol]

Hmmm. Don't see any x-runs here with audacity.

As Kara said, Ardour doesn't send MIDI messages. It can send transport 'triggers' via Jack so can start and stop Hydrogen, and erm, Rosegarden

Qsynth is very easy to use. It is simply a soundfont player. Soundfonts need to be the .sf2 format. It comes with a few default ones (can't remember which). One of the best known free ones is FluidR3-GM but this comes in at a whooping 142MB. If you can't find it let me know and I'll send it to you.

P.S.

When you have complete mastery of Ardour you can teach all of us.

... next week will do

[kara]

I've worked with a number of drum sequencers over the years, both hardware and software in Windoze, and Hydrogen is proving the equal of the best of them (although I have yet to sequence a project in swing/syncopated/shuffle time). 

Oren,
Do you know this tutorial : http://hydrogen-music.org/content/tutorial/tutorial_en.html
Excelent start, shows you how to create a complete song

k

[Oren]

Thanks, Kara!

I'll use that.
Always wanted to be a drummer, but didn't seem to have the co-ordination. The percussion sequencer is the perfect solution to this dilema, because the drums get played the way I hear them - without all the fumbling and cursing that would ensue.

Oren.

[folderol]

It is rather good. I hadn't noticed that one myself!

[Oren]

Hmmm.
Which version of Audacity?
The one I have here is quite happy to chat with jack

Will,

The version of Audacity that ships with Ubuntu Studio is 1.3.3
I have a real affinity for Audacity, and I'd like to get it working as a JACK client on the new computer - downloading version 1.3.4 may be of some help....

Presently, when I attempt to bring up Audacity, it triggers an immediate x-run in JACK, and Audacity will not load.
Turn off JACK, and Audacity will load very nicely, perform normally, and interface with ALSA and my Audiophile 2496 card. 

[kara]

Oren,

I have allso 1.3.3 and it works perfectly happy with jack   
Be sure that in the settings of audacity you have the sample rate as in the settings of your jack control panel.
If they aren't the same, you're in trouble 
Could this be your problem ?

k

[Oren]

Kara,

I'll check.....