8 Oct
2003
8 Oct
'03
2:22 p.m.
Hi Mark:
I think you raise some good points. They've been raised before, maybe
many times over the last few years, but they do indicate how far we
still have to go before the average *musician* will forsake his Win/Mac
tools for the Linux kit. As another "odd man out", I really don't worry
much about it, probably because most of my music-making is still done as
a live performer with tools like a guitar, a PA, and my voice, along
with other live players (the dead ones never make the gigs ;). I don't
use the computer on my jobs, nor do I plan to.
However, obviously a lot of people would like to make Linux their
music-making platform of choice, but our current lack of GUI sex appeal
and the general attitude of "Linux is still a bit too difficult for me"
work against a swelling of the ranks in Linux audio *users*. It's
probably safe to say that at this time most of the active users _are_
the developers. I like the visionary aspect of it all, but I know that
the majority of computer-based music-makers are utterly non-interested
in becoming developers (as you say, you'd rather develop music than
software). Linux audio developers might best be considered as the
architects of a foundation for a wonderful future, which is hardly
consolation for the average musical Joe who wants to turn on, tune in,
and rock *now*.
All that being said, I am very impressed with the whole JACK
development strategy, the evolution of Ardour, Csound going LGPL,
Kjetil's vstserver, Steve Harris's LADSPA plugins, Miler's awesome PD,
PlanetCCRMA/AGNULA, and even some of the newer Linux softsynths. IMO
we're already far beyond the "toy" stage and we're moving forward at a
respectable rate. Much of the available Linux audio software is usable
right now, though there is indeed still a long path ahead before it
attains the transparency that Win/Mac users are accustomed to.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Sinus infection, wrecked laptop, hard-disk
failure, bad tooth, WINE headaches... maybe I'll just switch back to
Win98 and end it all... ;)
[OT] Btw, has anyone else noted that if Arnie becomes governor of CA,
that'll make two members of the original cast of "Predator" who have
become state governors ? Who knows, maybe Carl Weathers is next... :)
Best,
== dp
Mark Knecht wrote:
I think you're probably right, although of the thousands I wouldn't venture
a guess as to how many of those are warez types. More than NI might want to
admit.
That said, Reaktor Session comes with 35-40 prebuilt instruments, and each
instrument has many sounds ready to go. It comes with a large library of
wave files built into the instruments, but they can be extracted and reused
elsewhere. I think the method to that madness is that NI creates enough
usability out of the box to get users really turned on to create more. Then
the library comes, which benefits all the users again.
I'd love to see that happen with one or more of the Linux tools. I simple
don't have the time or interest to become a programmer. When I turn on my PC
and try to write music I need tools that get me there faster. I don't want
to spend an hour grabbing blocks and wiring them together. By the time I get
that done I've lost my inspiration for making music.
I may be the odd man out around here. I'm not sure...
- Mark
>I think we Linux soft synth users should try to
make that happen.
>
>
Reaktor users == thousands
Linux softsynth users == dozens
Umm, maybe it's a numbers thing ??
== dp