What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

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Valso
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What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by Valso »

Years ago I made my own music (purely amateurish) just for the fun of making it and I used MAGIX Music Maker. But that was long before I moved to Linux as a daily OS and MAGIX is a Windows program. Ever since I moved to Linux, I stopped making my own music bc I was told there was no native software for that. But now seeing the name of the forum, that makes me think things might have changed and maybe there IS native software for making music.
So, what programs do you use to make music on Linux? Preferably something easy to use, similar to the MAGIX's program?

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by Michael Willis »

I'm not familiar with that Magix product, but this conversation might help you.

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by Impostor »

Valso wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2023 4:45 pm

So, what programs do you use to make music on Linux? Preferably something easy to use, similar to the MAGIX's program?

You should not be averse to tinkering and troubleshooting, but since you've already switched to Linux for an OS, I think switching to a Linux native DAW won't be all that hard for you.

"Ease of use" is really subjective, so I'll just name the stuff I currently mainly use, but these are not objectively better or worse, harder or easier, than any alternative. It all comes down to preference:

DAW/midi sequencer: MusE
Drum sequencer: Hydrogen
Wave editor: (Cool Edit, windows program)
Standalone instrument to play (in my case meaning arbitrarily pressing midi keys) while browsing: Pianoteq
Plugin sound generators: AVL Drumkits, Pianoteq, a soundfont player with a shitload of soundfonts, Dexed, Odin2, and Uhe's stuff (Triple Cheese/Zebralette).
Plugin effects: Calf (reverb, delay, phaser, flanger, equalizers)

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by MattKingUSA »

Qtractor
Ardour
Lmms
Audacity
Ffmpeg
Hydrogen

That's my list of things I use. 😄

-Matt :D

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by folderol »

Qjackctl
Rosegarden
Yoshimi
Audacity (minimal processing and saving the file)
If there is incoming audio I'll load it into Rosegarden - makes it easier to keep everything in sync, then feed this and Yoshimi's audio via meterbridge.

The Yoshimi guy {apparently now an 'elderly'}
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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by Gps »

The easiest might be to install LMMS and off you go.

LMMS can't record audio, and if you want to use windows VST, you also need to install wine.

You do not need wine, to see if you like LMMS though.

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by tavasti »

Valso wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2023 4:45 pm

Years ago I made my own music (purely amateurish) just for the fun of making it and I used MAGIX Music Maker. But that was long before I moved to Linux as a daily OS and MAGIX is a Windows program. Ever since I moved to Linux, I stopped making my own music bc I was told there was no native software for that. But now seeing the name of the forum, that makes me think things might have changed and maybe there IS native software for making music.
So, what programs do you use to make music on Linux? Preferably something easy to use, similar to the MAGIX's program?

Maybe not too many are familiar with Music Maker, and anyway biggest question is, what kind of music you are making? Are you recording audio, making midi with mouse or recording midi with keyboard?

Linux veteran & Novice musician

Latest track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVrgGtrBmM

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by Valso »

tavasti wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:26 pm

Maybe not too many are familiar with Music Maker, and anyway biggest question is, what kind of music you are making? Are you recording audio, making midi with mouse or recording midi with keyboard?

I was using samples which I would simply arrange in this screen of the program

Image

and then export the result as 32-bit WAV.

I did check LMMS but I couldn't understand it. It doesn't have a screen like MMM where to arrange the prerecorder samples. Nor does it have any samples for that matter. Maybe I should try running MMM again, so far it was the easiest program I've ever used.

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by Impostor »

Valso wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 4:53 pm

I did check LMMS but I couldn't understand it. Nor does it have any samples for that matter.

Become a pro in 8 steps:

  1. Press instrument plugin button
  2. Drag Audio File Processor into the Song window
  3. Click
  4. Click
  5. Choose
  6. Double Click to open Piano Roll
  7. Draw notes
  8. Click and enjoy.
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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by tavasti »

Impostor wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 11:23 pm

Become a pro in 8 steps:

  1. Press instrument plugin button
  2. Drag Audio File Processor into the Song window
  3. Click
  4. Click
  5. Choose
  6. Double Click to open Piano Roll
  7. Draw notes
  8. Click and enjoy.

Am I mistaken, but for just arranging audio clips, this is wrong thing to do? Using sample track would be the thing?

Linux veteran & Novice musician

Latest track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVrgGtrBmM

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by Impostor »

tavasti wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:38 am
Impostor wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 11:23 pm

Become a pro in 8 steps:

  1. Press instrument plugin button
  2. Drag Audio File Processor into the Song window
  3. Click
  4. Click
  5. Choose
  6. Double Click to open Piano Roll
  7. Draw notes
  8. Click and enjoy.

Am I mistaken, but for just arranging audio clips, this is wrong thing to do? Using sample track would be the thing?

Well, the complaint was that lmms didn't ship with samples. But it does, and that is a way to use them. Arranging audio clips can better be done with sample tracks, yes.

I just forgot to give the default path to lmms' samples:
/usr/share/lmms/samples
Or in my case (firejailed appimage):
/run/firejail/appimage/.appimage-3148/usr/share/lmms/samples

These samples also should appear under "My Samples" in the lefthand icon column.

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Re: What programs do you use to make music on Linux?

Post by MattKingUSA »

Also you can drop whatever samples you want in that directory. I use ogg because I don't know if any other format works. But you can sample anything you like for lmms. Also there are track controls where you can change pitch, length, speed and add effects to your samples. Pretty useful stuff.

-Matt :D

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