I use Pure Data a lot, and you're right that it could certainly handle this kind of thing. I guess I was just hoping to find something with a different workflow, as imo pd isn't really geared up for the kind of semi-DAW-type work I have in mind. However, if I don't find another viable option, I may well end up hacking something together in pd.

You're also right that Ingen is ideal for this, but the last time I used it, I was frustrated by how unstable it seemed to be. Might give it another go soon and see if things have improved, though.

Hadn't considered Ardour, but you're right that the same sort of thing *could* be achieved with creative use of busses (I think?). Having said that, it seems a little less elegant, somehow.

Thanks for the suggestions, regardless.

On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 10:49 PM, Paul Davis <paul@linuxaudiosystems.com> wrote:
On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 5:43 PM, James Mckernon <jmckernon@gmail.com> wrote:

> Relatedly, another thing I'd like to be able to do is a delay effect, with
> effect(s) (i.e. filters or certain kinds of distortion, followed by a gain
> reduction) applied 'inside' the delay loop, such that the effect is
> recursively, cumulatively applied to the looped material. Might sound like a
> strange requirement, I know, but it's actually a fairly central effect to
> the kind of music I'd like to make (dub reggae). Unfortunately, this is
> difficult to achieve easily in Linux.

its not difficult to achieve on Linux at all. it *might* be tricky to
do it with the specific toolset that you seem to be thinking about
(and maybe not even then - i don't know ecasound well enough to
comment on).

tools like Pure Data can do this easily. tools like Ingen could do it
easily. you can even do this in ardour with a bit of thought (though
its linear signal flow presentation in the GUI makes it trickier). you
could do it using multiple instances of jackrack or newer jack LV2
hosts.

you could even load up the odd windows VST plugin (such as King Dubby)
in a host that supported windows VST plugins and get the entire effect
from a single plugin.

--p