Ken, I think this will appeal to you - Linux

[Nestor]

I know you've been interested in Linux for music creation for quite some time, this may be what you have been looking for:

Article:
http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/08 ... al-studio/

Official link:
http://www.bandshed.net/DownloadInstall.html

[kensuguro]

I've tried AV linux. There are a couple of these pre packaged linux distros that are configured for multimedia work. I believe it mostly refers to the apps that come packaged or pre installed, and also uses a realtime linux kernel.

In the end, for me it all came down to the software. The linux world shares the same or mostly the same set of audio apps so I'm assuming you'll end up with mostly the same stuff regardless of distro. The problem is that while you may have a good audio recording app like ardour, or even Mixbus, there's not a very good sequencer app.. EnergyXT runs in linux, but it's sort of a bare minimum sequencer and not really a bread and butter sequencer.. Rosegarden seems like it could work, but the user experience is horrible, and it's just clunky compared to mainstream sequencers. Then there are instruments and effects.. there are some that are so-so, many that are horrible, a bunch that haven't been tended to in the past decade, and a handful that don't work at all. So even if I got Mixbus running and I'm rockin' it with the internal channel effects, the moment I try to get a different comp, a para eq, or a convolution verb, things quickly fall apart. You want a comp that emulates X? Forget about it, cuz it's tough enough finding 1 good comp in the entire linux universe.

Some linux sequencers can be compiled with vst and vsti support.. and they run okay, but still a keep your fingers and hope it doesn't crash situation. So you've got a hard to use, buggy sequencer running all your favorite vst plugins with occasional crashes. I'd say that's a pretty successful setup by linux standards. But if I get a call and need to send something to Tokyo in the next 48 hours, it's not going to cut it for me. It also defeats the purpose of using linux anyway if you're going through all sorts of hoops to emulate your windows environment to fool your vsts into working.

Of course, I do try to check back every 2 years or so to see where linux audio's at. It's been a while since I last checked so maybe I should check again. I do want it to work though, and it's at a point where you can imagine how it could be possible. But it takes forever for anything big to happen in the opensource world so it'll take time.

I've tried using rosegarden for a while, and the community experience was pretty bad. I'd ask questions, and wonder why it wouldn't do this or that, and people would get very sour and upset. It usually boiled down to "why don't YOU build it? it's opensource", or "if Cubase is what you want, then use Cubase".. basically along the lines of "please go elsewhere if you're not pleased". It's the ultimate negative effect of opensource. Sequencer builders just do sequencers so they're not worried about how there are only horrible effects or synths out there to use with the sequencer. Then you compare to what's out there, say, Zebra.. then you get the "well, just go back to windows and Live, and use Zebra if you've already got it and that's what you like". I don't know if it's pride, or lack of confidence or what, but it's hard to work with opensource guys. I feel opensource is being used as an excuse or scapegoat more than anything else, and it's very unfortunate because I personally believe in its potential.

[Nestor]

Well..., I thought there was advantages on using Linux, but I see it is a nightmare, so forget about it all toguether

[kensuguro]

theoretically there could be benefits. You can have a fairly stable operating system that can be very slim. Theoretically there could be a bunch of ALSA plugins (like vst) made by academics and enthusiasts that are too edgy to make it to mainstream market. The cycle of users fixing / modifying code could produce very refined features in the plugins and sequencers. Of course we know this doesn't happen, but the chances of this happening is not exactly 0.

Even with JACK (like ASIO) it's interesting that apart from being a low latency interface to your hardware, it also serves as a patch bay to control audio and MIDI flow between different apps. But JACK itself can be difficult to deal with due to version incompatibilities and not all apps support JACK. If JACK runs fine for you right away, chances are it'll keep running. Stable, reliable. If you have problems getting it to run, chances are it won't work on your system. (at least from my experience)

I really like linux though. I use linux at work and it's been awesome. Coding, data analysis, even some simple audio tasks I'd just do within ubuntu (I use xubuntu). But for production work.. probably not. Not for now. I actually did a bunch of audio for a game in Ardour, and got by with ALSA plugins, but that was really just eq and comp to do level matching for different music tracks. Not like writing a new soundtrack.

[Nestor]

That's cool, but as you say, for serious music productions it seems that we will have to wait for a few more years... I have always wanted a simple and light studio, but..., it is too complicated and slow...

Anyway, I can already do everything and more with my present studio, I don't see honestly, any important need to be covered.

Let us make some music instate...