[linux-audio-user] Best and Worst?

[Greg Reddin]

I think this is a very useful endeaver.  I've recently started down
the path of Linux audio and wondered myself "What's out there and how
good is it?"  A resource like that would be great for people coming
in.

Just so you'll know what I'm used to, my background is Cakewalk/Sonar
on Win2k.  Now, for about two weeks I've had MusE, Rosegarden, and
Ardour installed on a laptop and have been playing with them.  I've
not messed with Ardour much yet because my soundcard capabilities are
limited.  I hope to have a Linux DAW running by the end of the month
and have a lot more information then.  For now, my reviews will just
be limited to subjective first impressions of two MIDI sequencing
tools.

I'm very reluctant to give any bad reviews because I've made no real
attempts to optimize MusE or Rosegarden.  I've certainly not
contacted the mailing lists to find out how to get things to work
better.  And I can't say I've had enough time to give them a fair
chance.  So anything I say here is **FIRST IMPRESSION** and not
complete testing.

MusE (0.6.1)
I originally had some trouble compiling MusE.  I won't go into it b/c
I figure it's mostly learning curve related.  At first MusE crashed
on me every few minutes, but in the last couple of days has become a
lot more stable.  I've not made any attempts to get to the source of
that.  The interface is certainly usable.  I like the fact that you
can record multiple tracks at a time (I haven't tried it yet, but at
least you can *arm* multiple tracks).  I also like the fact that you
can start synths from within the application and save their
properties so you don't have to reload them every time you start to
edit a song - though it hasn't worked flawlessly with fluidsynth. 
The mixer window is very useful.  I found the notation window hard to
use.  The pianoroll window is somewhat hard but I got use to it. 
Neither of those windows would play back notes as I edited them, as I
would've liked.  Also, I don't like the way everything opens in a
different window.  I'd prefer some sort of multiple document
interface or something.

Rosegarden (latest stable version as of 7/15 - forgot the number)
Rosegarden's interface was initially easier to use than MusE's.  I
don't know if the buttons are bigger or what, but I just had a little
easier time getting around.  I also really like the big transport
window.  MusE has one too, but Rosegarden's is a little easer to use.
 But, I don't like the fact that you have to start your synths
externally from the application.  And, I didn't like the fact that
you could only record one track at a time.  The main thing I disliked
about RG was the lack of a mixer window (maybe I just haven't found
it yet).  RG seems to have really great notation features, but I
haven't gotten to use them a lot yet.

Overall, the combination of these tools seems very useful.  I would
like to have an application with MusE's track arranger, mixer window,
ability to create instances of softsynths and multi-track
capabilities, and Rosegarden's pianoroll and notation editors (but
not in separate windows unless I wanted them to be).  I'd also like
to see an API for creating and interacting with softsynths -- maybe
an extension to Jack?, and plugin/softsynth automation (maybe it's
already there).

The question of "can I be productive" is a definite yes.  If I've
gotten this far in two weeks of hardocre hacking at it, I imagine in
a month or two I'll never look back.  And this environment comes with
something huge that is not available anywhere else -- the ability to
analyze, modify, and contribute back to the applications.  To me,
that's worth a lot.

In a couple of months I hope to have some much better reviews.  Now,
I have to figure out how to write shorter emails.
Greg

--- Natalia <soulsource at cox.net> wrote:
> Hello -
> 
> I'm writing an article on Linux as an OS for audio production.  I
> was
> wondering if I could take a poll of what people think is the best
> and the
> worst Linux audio software.  I'm looking for sequencers, audio
> editors,
> software synthesizers and samplers.  Not really looking for CD
> burning
> software or MP3 players.
> 
> Please reply directly to: soulsource at cox.net
> 
> Thanks...
> 
> -- N
> 
> 


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