Piano + midi in Linux???

[NomadJago]

If I had one question I need help on initially, it would be how do I get a cheap or free piano (synth or sampled) working in MX Linux so I can practice piano daily using Linux and not have to boot into Windows 10? I really have no clue how to figure out JACK so I need something simple, no virtual cables or Jack. I have Ardour and Reaper for Linux installed. I also have tons of VSTs for Windows and I have used WINE before successfully. What is my best pathway to getting a piano sound on Linux for keyboard practice?

If I had a second question I need help on it would be where can I find nice instruments to use in Linux (Reaper or Ardour DAW etc)? I would even be willing to pay money to buy instruments for Linux. I do not really understand the equivalent of Windows VSTs, for Linux.

[tavasti]

For piano, I would download Salamander Grand piano sfz, and use it with carla, or get liquidsfz plugin tu your ardour.

[NomadJago]

For piano, I would download Salamander Grand piano sfz, and use it with carla, or get liquidsfz plugin tu your ardour.

Thank you! I will do this today!

[sunrat]

As you already have Ardour it's quite simple to run as a plugin host. Just create a new MIDI track, load a sampler, soundfont player, or synth and select your MIDI keyboard as input. For practice I quite like MDA Piano which comes with the mda-lv2 package. It's tiny, just over 3MB installed and the piano is quite realistic. You don't need to load any samples or soundfonts.
Of course the Salamander Grand is great for a free offering albeit a large download. Get it here - http://freepats.zenvoid.org/Piano/acous ... piano.html
Pianoteq is widely held to be the best soft piano although it costs money - https://www.modartt.com/

[Philotomy]

If you're looking for the "Linux native" equivalent of Windows VSTs, you'll need to look for LV2 plugins or "Linux VST" plugins.

[NomadJago]

... Pianoteq is widely held to be the best soft piano although it costs money - https://www.modartt.com/

I am looking into Pianotek
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=22450

[tavasti]

And in case you want to turn back to Darkside, pretty many windows plugins are possible to make working also in linux. Sure, if you can live without them, your life is easier: sometimes wine version update breaks things, etc.

[bluzee]

I didn't realize you could use sfz with carla. I've been using linuxsampler with qsampler gui and the previously recommended grand piano sfz. Works with ALSA or JACK and ALSA or JACK midi devices. My keyboard shows up as an ALSA midi device so I can use it with qsampler without having to start a2jmidid.

If you can figure out Windows VST then I think you can figure out anything.

[Philotomy]

I didn't realize you could use sfz with carla.

You can, but I don't think Carla fully supports all the sfz spec. I've had better results with sfizz. But sfz in Carla should work for some cases.