[linux-audio-user] I'm tired of being a moron

[Robert Jonsson]

Hi Mark,

Your days as a moron are over!! ;-P 

On Monday 09 August 2004 17.17, Mark Wilson wrote:
> I'm relatively new to the audio on Linux scene, and
> admittedly don't have near the best equipment to do
> anything serious, but I'd at least like to hear some
> sounds of out of the synth and/or MIDI sequencing
> software on my Agnula distro.  I don't have an
> external keyboard, so I'm limited to writing the score
> with rosegarden or lilypond.  I'd like to edit the
> MIDI sequences I produce with something like muse, but
> I can't figure out how to hear what changes I make
> *from within muse*.  I don't have an on-board
> sequencer (/dev/sequencer is never recognized or
> accessible, which is no surprise, really) on my card.

Ok, this might require some explaining. 
/dev/sequencer is the sequencer interface for OSS. MusE and Rosegarden do not
support this interface. If AGNULA has ALSA you should instead have the alsa 
sequencer interface. I think this should have been loaded even if your 
soundcard does not have any midi features (I could be wrong about this 
though). 
Since you don't have any external keyboard and do not plan on using any 
outboard gear at the moment the features of your soundcard should not matter.
Whether the alsa-sequencer really exists is easiest to check by doing 'lsmod' 
as root and checking if the module snd-seq has been loaded. (I think there is 
a device somewhere also but I forget..)

I guess AGNULA has MusE 0.6.3 ? With the config you are suggesting this should 
work fine, stability wise 0.7 would be better but it requires jack at the 
moment which is another obstacle to overcome. 

The real question here is whether MusE outputs any errors?

If not you should be able to get some of the internal synths to output enough 
beeps to make you happy for a few seconds atleast ;)
Under the config menu select the "Midi ports / Softsynth" and instantiate the 
organ synth and connect it to a midi port in the "Midi connections" view.
After this you can connect it to the midi track you've done by clicking in the 
O-port column in the arranger. 

After you get this to work it should be no problem stepping to more advanced 
grounds, other synths etc.
>
> I thought I'd try using timidity with the -iA option,
> and when I do that, then try to play a midi file from
> within muse, muse crashes.

If this persists after you tested the above I need to know some more, like if 
there are any printed errors in the terminal?

>
> I just wanna' figure out how to do two things:
> 1) tweak my midi sequences for timing, rubato,
> expression, using somethink like muse or rosegarden,
> and be able to hear what I've done by clicking the
> play button(s) provided

Should be no problem with either.

>
> 2) create my own timbres using some of the
> cool-looking synth software, that I can't figure out
> how to hear whether I've made any changes or created
> any new patches.
>
> The subject line says it all, really. ;-)
> Thanks for any help you can give the clueless...
> Mark
>
> =====
> --
> Seek professional help!  Ask a librarian.
>

/Robert

-- 
http://spamatica.se/music/