[linux-audio-user] MIDI and Linux

[Mark Knecht]

Daniel,
   A quick response:

1) Check out Rosegarden. It's a very nice MIDI environment. Or go with
Jazzware, although I think development on that has ceased.

2) Upgrade to a newer version of Alsa if you're going to do this at all.

3) If you're new to Linux, consider one of the prepackaged environments that
supports a specific distribution. If you're interested in Redhat, then go
the PlanetCCRMA site for most everything you need. For other distributions
others here will give you guidance.
http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/software/

4) Don't be totally sure you can't use your existing samples. If they are
Sound Font based, there are Sound Font tools under Linux. Two favs are Swami
and Fluid Synth.

5) Lots of good soft synths coming along here, and the price is right, at
least monetarily. Try our amSynth and ZynAddSubFx as your more standard user
interface models, and then things like Spiral Synth Modular and many others
for you're more daring endeavors. ;-)

6) If you like MIDI, stick with MIDI. Trackers are fun. Some of the Windows
ones will run under Wine, should you want to mess with a mixed environment a
bit, but that's quite challenging.

Good luck,
Mark

> -----Original Message-----
> From: linux-audio-user-admin at music.columbia.edu
> [mailto:linux-audio-user-admin at music.columbia.edu]On Behalf Of Daniel
> Klein
> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 9:48 AM
> To: linux-audio-user at music.columbia.edu
> Subject: [linux-audio-user] MIDI and Linux
>
>
> Hello all,
>
> I am completely certain that what I am about to ask has been
> asked a million
> times. But I am also rather tired of searching for answers for
> these things,
> and I've been looking around on and off for something like a
> year. This list
> is my best shot so far, so please excuse my ignorance and my
> laziness to keep
> looking all by myself. Next to this mail I have another question, but I
> decided to put that into its own mail to reduce confusion.
>
> Quick description of what I WANT to do:
> Compose music on my Linux system, playback MIDI files.
>
> What I HAVE done in the past:
> I've composed midis in windows for pretty much as long as I can remember.
> Starting on an AdLib card, I have never bought myself any other
> hardware than
> soundcards. I composed in MIDI only, using JazzWare
> (www.jazzware.com), which
> I would be able to get for Linux as well of course.
>
> What I HAVE in my computer right now is a Terratec DMXFire 1024.
> I assume I
> will not be able to use the samples on that card according to
> what I've read
> so far. I would *like* to keep composing in MIDI format, since I
> know that
> pretty well by now. I realize I will probably need a software synth or
> something like that and need to get myself patches from
> somewhere, and I have
> found a number of pages online, but have been totally unable to find some
> sort of VERY basic FAQ.
>
> So exactly what do I need.. is MIDI the way to go at all still or
> should I
> consider learning some other format (probably using some tracker like
> software.. a finnish friend of mine exclusively uses Impulse
> Tracker on his
> win box)? What Software Synth (if that is the name of the thing I
> will need)
> will I need, what can you recommend? It would of course be best
> for all if
> someone could just point me to a general FAQ and tell me to read
> the fabulous
> manual.
>
> Right now I'm also running ALSA 0.5.. there is some version of
> esound on my
> computer as well. Things are rather confused, but my other mail
> will be on
> that topic.
>
> Thank you in advance for your patience and more importantly, your answers.
>
> Daniel
>
>