Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

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Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by smokinjo »

I am in the boat that al new people are.

Where does one start. I have a newly acquited electronic keyboard. I wan tto be able to use it to record my ideas and melodies, and make song with it.

I have been reading about a variety of software, and even full blown linux distributions catering to linux music enthousiasts.

My initial list is short, but as I learn, will likely grow:)

I want to be able to:

1 - record, via midi, melodies and songs I come up with
2 - convert these melodies and songs to a written music
3 - will want to record some audio tracks and use this to layer and make songs.

I will eventually want to learn how to play with layering different tracks to make my songs.

I have heard of AV Linux and ubuntu studio as all in one systems. I have also heard of building your own system.

Any feedback for a beginner?

Thanks

Joseph
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by Basslint »

Welcome Joseph, I'll answer your questions.

1. The easiest way to do that is by using a modern DAW such as Ardour, Qtractor or MusE and save it as a .mid file
2. If you import the .mid file you created at point 1 into MuseScore, you will be able to generate a score from it
3. See point 1, you can keep working inside one of the specified DAWs

If you use MusE as your main DAW, you will be able to do all 3 points in the same program, although its score editor is quite limited compared to MuseScore's.
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by milo »

I second the above, but would add that your workflow could just as easily start in MuseScore for #1 and #2, and then export midi for #3 and import into a DAW.

Another relatively easy place to start is LMMS, but it will only get you to #1. But it is very easy to get your feet wet in Linux audio with LMMS, and you could worry about #2 and #3 down the road a bit. Just a suggestion.
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by smokinjo »

Thanks for the ideas.

I installed Ubuntu Studio, whcih made sdure the ALPA and Jack are installed correctly, as is low latency.

I will install MuseScore as well.

I also read about Rose Garden. What do you think of this as a DAW?

THanks
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by milo »

Some people really love Rosegarden and get good use out of it. I would have mentioned it in my comment above, but I've never really liked it. You might get more mileage out of it than I have. :)
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by Michael Willis »

You can possibly do 1, 2, and 3 all in Rosegarden. I haven't used it for years though, so I'm not sure how well its features measure up to some of the other applications that have been discussed on this thread.
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by Basslint »

Michael Willis wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:14 pm You can possibly do 1, 2, and 3 all in Rosegarden. I haven't used it for years though, so I'm not sure how well its features measure up to some of the other applications that have been discussed on this thread.
The problem with Rosegarden (and I say it as a huge fan) is that for a beginner, it doesn't include LV2 support which is a basic necessity these days.
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by smokinjo »

Basslint wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:28 pm
Michael Willis wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:14 pm You can possibly do 1, 2, and 3 all in Rosegarden. I haven't used it for years though, so I'm not sure how well its features measure up to some of the other applications that have been discussed on this thread.
The problem with Rosegarden (and I say it as a huge fan) is that for a beginner, it doesn't include LV2 support which is a basic necessity these days.
Thanks Milo, Michael and Basslint,

What is LV2? I looked it up, and the website it says that ti is an open format/standard for audio plug ins.

I will be honest: as a beginner, how does this affect me? It is all new for me, and I do not , yet, see th emplications.


I can imagine, but then, not knowing what plug ins can do(I am a newbie), I might not see what I am missing.

Thanks

Joseph
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by Michael Willis »

smokinjo wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:48 pm What is LV2? I looked it up, and the website it says that ti is an open format/standard for audio plug ins.

I will be honest: as a beginner, how does this affect me?
Yes, LV2 is an audio plugin format. Plugins do many different things. One type of plugin is a virtual instrument: the plugin takes your midi track as input, and gives you sound as output. There are myriad virtual instruments available as plugins, including synthesizers and sampled instruments.

Audio effects are another type of plugin. It is common to have multiple effects applied to different tracks in music projects. These are things like EQ, compression, saturation, reverb, among many many other things. As a beginner, don't worry too much about what these mean, but eventually you will get to the point that you will want solutions to things like this:

"The trumpet track sounds harsh, I want it to be more smooth."

"The piano track sounds like it is playing in a concert hall, but the vocal track sounds like it was recorded in a closet, I want them to sound more like they are in the same space."

"I want to make the snare drum and cow bell pop a bit more"

Audio effects address these kinds of things and much much more.

Plugins can be chained in arbitrary ways. For example, in a current project I have a midi track with a plugin that uses trombone samples, then a compression plugin to tame the louder notes a bit, then the signal is sent to a reverb plugin to make it sound like it is in a bigger room.

Don't get too overwhelmed by all of this though. There is a while universe of possibilities to explore. For right now with your main objectives of composing, seeing your music presented as notation, and hearing your multi-track compositions, try out MuseScore and Rosegarden, and maybe Muse, and see which one you like the most. They all can give you a notation-based workflow. Later if you want to get into mixing and sound design and such, you can import your midi tracks into another app like Ardour or QTractor, or you might even decide that your notation app is enough and gives you the capabilities that you want.
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by Basslint »

smokinjo wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:48 pm What is LV2? I looked it up, and the website it says that ti is an open format/standard for audio plug ins.

I will be honest: as a beginner, how does this affect me? It is all new for me, and I do not , yet, see th emplications.
As you said, LV2 is a plugin format, like VST and AU - perhaps you've heard of those.

A plugin basically can be either
* An effect, for example an equalizer
* An instrument, for example a piano
(actually, there are a few other things it can be, but for now let's keep things simple)

The implications of not having LV2 support out of the box are missing out on the greatest programs GNU/Linux has to offer. Of course, you can still use them (for example by using an external program called Carla) but it'd be more complicate than using a program which natively supports them like Qtractor or MusE.
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by smokinjo »

Hello all,

Thanks for the variuos ideas.

I finally hooked my keyboard up to my computer(Ubuntu Studio), and added MUSEand RosGarden to look at them too, along with th eother Qtractor,etc...

I even tried MuseScore.

Remember, I am a total newbie, and know nothing.

MuseScore worked right away, once i learned how to connect the keyboard(adding it from within the software).
But. until I take a break, or stop for a rest, all notes played all stay on the same count in the measure. Meaning, I can play a string of notes, and the all appear on count 1 in the measure. I pause, then the notes all appear on count 2 in the measure.

Does this software just take 1 note/chord at a time, an done in the basic note length(quarter, half, etc...) according to the time signature of the score? Or, should I just be able t play, and the notes appear inthe rigth way on the sheet of music?


As for recording midi in the different software(muse, qtractor, rosegarden, LMMS, ardour... I would create a track, but when recording, only Rosegarden actually recorded something. Rosegarden worked "out of the box", as goes the expression. I am sure that I am missing something with the others:)

Then there was recording audio. I tried just to mess around. How does one get the audio sound into the computer? ThUSB cable is likely not the right one. I need to take the audio out from my keyboard and use audio in (like a microphone jack?) on the computer?


I also had a moment where I knew, but did not click in my brain the utility of the plug ins(at least for sounds), and being spoiled with vast amount fo sounds on my PSX-3000 casio keyboard. Realising that I cannot just automatically transfer the "sound" to the DAW.

When I recorded the midi, it was played back as the rosegarden piano sound.

I need to get my "sounds"(would that be what one calls the "samples"?) inside the software to get the sound I create on my keyboard. This is where Basslint eluded to adding a piano sound via a plug in.

It is slowly being learned:)

Joseph
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by Basslint »

So, a small recap:

1) To record the sounds that come out of your keyboard, you must record audio -> To do this, you need an audio interface (like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or the Steinberg UR22) with an audio input port, not a USB MIDI cable
2) To record the MIDI that comes of out your keyboard, which must then be plugged to a virtual instrument, you must record MIDI

You are experimenting with 2). As you say, you need some samples of a real piano. In terms of software, these samples are packed into a single format called SoundFont 2 (SF2) and loaded by a program. There are several such programs, one of them which is very easy to use is called Qsynth.

Now, Rosegarden is a great program but I'd recommend it only for advanced users since to get the best out of it, you must learn to use JACK. This is because it lacks support for LV2 plugins, and you should use another DAW like Ardour to get that support.

What I'd recommend to you right now is to switch to Qtractor and to use CALF Fluidsynth to play the soundfonts.

After you've installed the
* calf
* qsynth
* qtractor

packages, open Qsynth and "Track" and then "Add track" on the top menu. Select MIDI as the type and then go to the Plugins tab, then click "Add..." and search for "Calf Fluidsynth", then check the "Activate" checkbox and click "OK". A green-ish window will open. Click where it says Soundfonts (None) and a file picker will open. You must select the file /usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2. You can now close the Track window by clicking "OK".

Now you should be in the timeline. Right click on the MIDI track and click "Inputs". Now a "Connections" window will pop up. Select your MIDI keyboard from the left and connect it to the 0: Master track to the right by clicking the "Connect" button. Now if you play some notes on your keyboard, they should produce sound.

When you've gotten this far, just tell us and we'll go ahead :D
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by smokinjo »

Hello,

Thanks for the recap and short starting point to get things going.

I installed Ubuntu Studio

I do have qsynth and qtractor installed.

I looked for the CALF fluidsynth, and it was not there.

But, I did fin CALF for JACK.

I ran this, and it allows to launch CALF Fluidsynth. But, that is it. Bu sure what to do with it.

I am able to launch qtractor and add a track. But, when it gets add fluid synth, I am not sure where to get it, as it only seems to open up in CALF for JACK.

I did nto get as far as your guided me, but hopefully my roadblock makes sense, and you might have a way to help me move forward.

Thanks

Joe
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by Basslint »

From what you said, it seems that you are not launching the LV2 version of calf but rather the standalone JACK version. To use the LV2 version, follow this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZyaufDJF58 but look for CALF Fluidsynth instead of Zynaddsubfx.
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Re: Beginner - record songs via midi and music notation

Post by smokinjo »

Hello again,

I watched the video as you instructed.

I understood very well about adding the plug in.

But, in the listed plug ins, CALF or fluidsynth does not show up when I search the list.

It is not there for some reason.

If it helps, and in case I did not mention it, I installed Ubuntu Studio. It seems ot have LOTS of things installed. But, CALF Fluidsynth is not on th elist of available plug ins.

How can I get it there?

Thanks
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