linux recording

[aurelialuz]

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7205

alex

[thecongostudio]

hmm...i have gentoo on my laptop...i should experiment with that software at some point...

[Kevin Kitchel]

Wouldn't constantly recompiling with that Gentoo box out a dent in your track count?





j/k

[Mr. Dipity]

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7205

alex

No offense, but the few Unix guys and girls I have met trying to do audio have been more interested in Unix than audio. This article is a case in point - it isn't written from the perspective of someone who has done masses of tapeop style home recording, but someone more enamored with signal flow charts than practical experience.

The 'super powerful DAW software' outlined in this article is woefully under functional, compared to Cubase, or Logic. Sure, 32 tracks, of 48k. Woohoo. My three year old laptop does that, and it was >never< a top of the line unit. Where are the high quality freebie compressors, eqs and cool free effects that make my life worthwhile? On linux?

Ahem, ahem:

http://www.informationweek.com/story/sh ... D=18901660


Got to have Unix? (It's extremely cool, in it's own way - it's just not an audio platform) Simple - get a mac. I use pcs myself.

[tbstudios]

I'll classify myself in the UNIX/Linux skillset category. I work on these systems daily and strive for maximum stability in these platforms to support a large corporation. That being said, I would have to agree that these platforms are not a great choice for audio. Linux is certainly not the first port for any major audio software distribution. Most, if not all, audio software manufacturers will not pay attention to Linux until the user base is much higher than it is. ProTools still ports their software to Mac first before releasing to the Windows platform. This is not to say the Windows port lacks the quality of the Mac release but rather suggests a larger user base in the Mac world. (you go where the money is at)

The Linux platform is excellent for many, many tasks. They will make large strides in the audio world soon but for now it is a frustrating choice for audio.

I believe I read an article suggesting the Tracktion software from Mackie will be releasing a Linux port. If that is the case, we're getting closer with the software and the struggle will become the hardware drivers for Linux on high-end converters.

[t.g.lorber]

[

Where are the high quality freebie compressors, eqs and cool free effects that make my life worthwhile? On linux?

You've got to code that up youself using csound, www.csounds.com. I guess you can't really mix very well with csound. There's always jMax, http://freesoftware.ircam.fr/rubrique.p ... ubrique=14.

If you're looking to convert existing hardware, you're probably not gonna fair to well with GNU/Linux-compatibility. If you're buying new then finding supported data acquisition cards shouldn't be that difficult.

So, yes, the tools are nascent but it makes it easier (<$) for the DIYer than forking out the bucks for a G5 and ProTools.

[chriss]

give linux audio a try here http://www.agnula.org/Members/sama/demudi_1_1_1_news

[Moonrider]

I'm working with a linux DAW, and my results are compromised more with a lack of skill, rather than lack of competent software.

I never have been able to get Win XP or Win 98 to behave well enough to get good results - even after months of studying and tweaking. I spent about an hour or so installing linux plus the PlanetCCRMA audio bundle, another half hour or so tweaking the buffers, sample rate, and bit depth, and haven't worried about it since.

The caveat is that I was an experienced linux user to begin with, and didn't have anywhere near the learning curve that someone trying to jump to linux from a Mac or Windows based DAW would experience.

Is linux audio software as polished as similar Windows or Mac software? For the most part, no. Some are awfully close, though.

If you really want to know what's available for linux sound, check out these urls:
General Overview: http://linux-sound.org/
Multitrack recording: http://ardour.org/
Midi Sequencing/Composition: http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/

[Scodiddly]

I'm a Linux user as well. I've gotten some useful results, plus a fair amount of frustration as well. On the other hand, not running Windows has saved me a bunch of money and frustration, so I guess it's a wash.

What would be really cool, and very possible with Linux, is for somebody to create a specialized Linux distribution for audio. The Planet CCRMA stuff is close, but still not as good as I'd like.

[TapeOpAJ]

There has been a bit of talk about running an article/review of Ardour. I have it working pretty well on Gentoo along with a Delta 1010 interface. I think it's completey relevant to TapeOp in terms of price and power, and of course, geekdom. Ardour is still progressing and while I feel that it's still a bit inaccessible to people with little Linux experience(can be a bear to set up ALSA, JACK etc.) ,x86 hardware is dirt cheap and fast. With Linux and Ardour you can set up a powerful multitrack studio for the cost of the PC and the Interface. You can also do the "Rewire" thing with the Hydrogen drummachine via JACK.. Pretty cool stuff.

[Moonrider]

Ardour is still progressing and while I feel that it's still a bit inaccessible to people with little Linux experience(can be a bear to set up ALSA, JACK etc.)

If you've got a good fast machine (2GHz or better), The Demudi Live CD is a good way to go for experimenting with linux and audio. You put the CD in, boot from the CD and everything's set up for you. Just remember that it will set up for ALL working sound cards in your box, even the on-board one you forgot to disable and don't really want to use

For slower machines (like mine), PlanetCCRMA is a better way to go, and it's a straightforward install if you're conscientous about following the directions. Updates can be handled by both graphical and command line tools, and both ways are dead simple to use. Fernando Lopez-Lezcano has done a wonderful job with this package, and has put a lot of work into making it easy to install and configure

You can also do the "Rewire" thing with the Hydrogen drummachine via JACK.. Pretty cool stuff.

It's not just Hydrogen and Ardour. ANY jack aware app can accept or send data to any other jack aware app. This can include control I/O as well as audio or midi. You can do some seriously cool stuff - like customizable virtual effects racks, starting all your synths (hardware or software) when you click the record button in Ardour, or vice versa.

Now I'm going to shut up before I sound *too* much like a foaming at the mouth linux zealot

[Scodiddly]

Oooohhhh... check out http://www.agnula.org. It's a bootable CD distribution (based on Knoppix) for audio/video. It includes a low-latency kernel and Ardour! I just found it last night and played around with it a little, but it's very cool. Plugins and everything.

[nutate]

I've toyed around with using Ardour and a Delta 66 for a glorified multitrack, and honestly it's quite good. Well beyond what I believe I could do with the amount of money I was willing to spend on what is a hobby. Apple did quite an end run 'leveraging' the skill of the BSD community and hiring some of their programmers to create such a great OS as OS X.
The biggest problem with Linux is that if you don't purchase your computer without doing a couple of hours homework on hardware compatibility, you could be out of luck when your cdr won't burn cds or your video card won't do 3d graphics or your sound card won't work (ie firewire... need to wait for that ) That describes pretty well the circumstances that lead to people feeling burned by the Linux distributors and Linux zealots who feel that switching to Linux will magically solve peoples problems and won't give them 30 more.
The links above are good starters, even the Information Week story about the poor guy not getting his Sound Blaster to work is good for a laugh and a bit of honest criticism. (my SB here works, I'm listening to a Mermen track right now through it). Learning Linux requires a lot of free time and a serious desire (or is that masochism?). If you aren't working in a Unix environment for your day job, but you're sick of windows, you should check out the Mac. There are a million cool little apps and great developers out there for Linux (Ardour, Rosegarden, the swh plugins, drum machine sims, etc. etc. (documented rather well on the linux-sound.org site)), but they all take time to learn and the documentation is almost never complete. Ardour is on track to become a serious contender for those with the gumption to seek it out, ie it has VST support coming.
Simply put, Linux is far from an audio panacea, but it is a very interesting enclave of development especially if you have the time and arcane knowledge to tap into it. Plus you can save your dough to buy more cool hardware you see in tape op.

p.s. pardon the dangling participles, etc. english is my first and only language.

[nutate]

One other bit about ardour, the sampling rate info quoted in the Linux Journal is totally wrong:

Sample rate and size neutral - any hardware formats from 8 to 32 bits, rates from 8kHz to 192kHz. Internal processing in 32/64 bit IEEE floating point format.

The number of tracks, busses, ins, outs, etc are only limited by your hardware (ie this is a reason to get the latest amd fx-64 processor and a couple gigs of ram)
I have only done 6 tracks at 96 kHz on an AMD 800 Athlon with 640MB, but it worked well, even with some reverb plugins on a few tracks. Since then Ardour development has only speeded up, as well. (Just as a note, I currently use planet CCRMA on my home machine with the Delta 66 in it)

[Moonrider]

The biggest problem with Linux is that if you don't purchase your computer without doing a couple of hours homework on hardware compatibility, you could be out of luck when your cdr won't burn cds or your video card won't do 3d graphics or your sound card won't work (ie firewire... need to wait for that )

Excellent point here! I got my Omni I/O & Delta 66 specifically because it has full support in linux. There's definitely certain companies and certain hardware to avoid if you intend to use any linux version as your main platform