Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily use?

Support & discussion regarding DAWs and MIDI sequencers.

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What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily use?

Ardour
27
42%
LMMS
2
3%
Non-Daw
2
3%
Non-Sequencer
3
5%
OOMIDI/OOM
1
2%
qtractor
13
20%
Rosegarden
4
6%
Traverso
0
No votes
Jokosher
0
No votes
Something else (please mention!)
12
19%
 
Total votes: 64

TheSafePlaces
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Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily use?

Post by TheSafePlaces »

Just curious to know what everyone uses and why, and what's the most popular stuff. :)

Also, please answer the following questions -
What did you select? (If you selected 'Something else', please mention the program here.)
What work do you do? (film scoring, recording bands, professionally or as a hobby, etc)
You mainly deal with - audio, MIDI, or both?

If you voted for more than one option, for what tasks do you prefer each program?

What else have you tried earlier before settling on your current choices? What caused you to leave from your previous programs? Are you looking to shift to a different program from your current one?
Is there anything you find missing in your current program, or something you wish was improved?

Thank you! :D
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by Aleks »

Also, please answer the following questions -
What did you select? (If you selected 'Something else', please mention the program here.)
Ardour. I seem to be at home with that DAW, although it's still in its beta, and is a bit buggy.
What work do you do? (film scoring, recording bands, professionally or as a hobby, etc)
I'm creating my own music, experimenting with sounds and chords, as a hobby :D
You mainly deal with - audio, MIDI, or both?
Both.

What else have you tried earlier before settling on your current choices? What caused you to leave from your previous programs? Are you looking to shift to a different program from your current one?
Is there anything you find missing in your current program, or something you wish was improved?
In the past several years I've tried a lot of music software. On Windows my favorits were Cubase and Reaper, but Cubase in the first place. I guess that's why I like Ardour over Qtractor. Ardour seems more logical to me when dealing with tracks. I left the previous programs cause I left Windows altogether. :mrgreen:

As far as is there anything missing in the current program, what I find missing is a decent notation editor inside the DAW, so that I wouldn't have to export MIDI from, say, MuseScore in Linux or Finale/Sibelius in Windows and then import them in the DAW, because I'd like to compose it on the spot, if there's something I don't like - to correct it in the very score, and not dealing with all those lines in the piano roll. Also, since I'm used to notation reading and writing as seeing music visually, it's easier for me to have overall look on the whole song when it's notated. to see how the bass is moving against the piano chords or the drums, what scale is going over some chord etc.

But, I guess it's hard to be done, since no program has done it to fulfill all the following criteria:

- To be fully integrated in the DAW - every notation mark to have it's impact on the MIDI data.
- To be easy to use, as in MuseScore or Finale, where you can type the music as you type words on your keyboard.
- To be visually apealing (not that very much important, but still)

So far the closest are Cubase on Windows and Rosegarden on Linux. But if MuseScore would think of providing a possibility to have a MIDI out for every part in the score, then all my wishes would be satisfied, because with the JACK I'd put together a beautiful, frankenstein like DAW of my dreams. It would be a bit more complicated than having it all in one software, but I'd live with using gedit to write down some settings for reopening it all together.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by danboid »

As F says, renoise should be an option as should Mixbus and MusE.

I picked qtractor which I use as a hobby for MIDI and audio.

My complaints with the current crop of Linux DAWs is still accurately summarized here http://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10012 .so no need to repeat myself
TheSafePlaces
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by TheSafePlaces »

I guess I should write my entry as well -

What did you select?
qtractor.
What work do you do?
Film scoring, some audio recording (guitar) on the side.
You mainly deal with - audio, MIDI, or both?
Both.
What else have you tried earlier before settling on your current choices? What caused you to leave from your previous programs? Are you looking to shift to a different program from your current one?
Nothing; not applicable; not sure! :D
falkTX wrote:I also *love* Renoise, can you add it to the list please?
I missed Renoise and Muse (among others, I'm sure), but there's a ten option limit on polls. Maybe I should put Non Sequencer and Non DAW under one, as the Non philosophy is to use things together? That'd give me space for one more :D
(Ah, can't change the options, it'll reset all votes)
danboid wrote: As F says, renoise should be an option as should Mixbus and MusE.
Please see my response to FalkTX above...can't have more than 10 options in a poll, and if I change them around, it'll reset all votes. =S
danboid wrote: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10012
I was getting started in film scoring, and your post makes me realize I'm soon going to be between a rock and a hard place. As I learn more and get assignments, II'll be dealing more and more with MIDI, and what little audio work I will do (recording my solo guitar improvisations) will work just fine with the qtractor+rakarrack combo (could try Ardour when I get time). The problems you outline (tempo ramps, quickly and efficiently mass-editing velocity) are crucial, and the inability to freeze tracks quickly and efficiently is a major time-waster. Muse's eyesore interface instantly destroys any will to work, and I tried OOM, which I was really really enthusiastic about, untill I installed it, tried to work with it and found it to be insanely complicated, for something as simple as getting it to make and play a single MIDI clip =\ (maybe I'm too used to qtractor!)

Scoring in a DAW is not a concern for me because I do mine separately, first on paper, then in MuseScore for putting it out there - although, similar to what Aleks said, if MuseScore would output not just each instrument, but each voice, as a separate MIDI port, it'd be awesome, and would in fact perfectly complement Linux's modular approach.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by tux99 »

I use Rosegarden as IMHO it's still the best (most fully featured) for MIDI and I use almost exclusively MIDI with a bunch of external hardware synths.
I'm keeping an eye on MusE though, as it's coming along nicely too.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by danboid »

Oh yes - 10 limit - I see.

I don't think anyone - likely not even its own devs - are using Jokosher. I think its name says it all personally and it looks like it died a few years ago. I never got it to work properly.

Traverso looked pretty promising at the time and it was cool that it was multi-platform and it had a few fans mainly because you could do most everything without touching the mouse but development seems to have dried up a while back too unfortunately.

I got really quite excited about OOM and I was foolishly willing to overlook the vile attitude of its main dev because it was Muse with plugin support + a few extras so it looked like it could be 'the one'. I donated a significant amount to their fundraiser then shortly after I asked if they'd looked into a bug I reported and his response was "why should I care?". They have no respect for their paying users so I see no reason we should respect them if they can't manage basic manners and decency. On top of that, the project seems to have magically stalled right after their fundraiser (to create their studio more rather than fund further dev it seems) ended so the person who called it out as a scam seems to be been right after all. I got burned so beware of these guys!

So that really leaves us with Ardour, qtractor, Muse, Non, Mixbus, Renoise, nama/ecasound and Rosegarden
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by danboid »

TheSafePlaces wrote: Muse's eyesore interface instantly destroys any will to work,
MusE 1.x yes - that was one of the most butt-ugly apps I've ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on - it made me run away for sure - but 2.x is infinitely better looking. I now want to use it.

You were referring to MusE 1.x right?
TheSafePlaces
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by TheSafePlaces »

danboid wrote: I got really quite excited about OOM and I was foolishly willing to overlook the vile attitude of its main dev because it was Muse with plugin support + a few extras so it looked like it could be 'the one'. I donated a significant amount to their fundraiser then shortly after I asked if they'd looked into a bug I reported and his response was "why should I care?". They have no respect for their paying users so I see no reason we should respect them if they can't manage basic manners and decency. On top of that, the project seems to have magically stalled right after their fundraiser (to create their studio more rather than fund further dev it seems) ended so the person who called it out as a scam seems to be been right after all. I got burned so beware of these guys!
Ouch, I had no idea of all this. That's quite sad, it looked pretty promising on paper (audio, MIDI, somewhat polished GUI, geared towards orchestral composers, video support was on the roadmap) even if I couldn't wrap my head around it. Still, one could give them the benefit of doubt - if it's a scam, it seems to take too much investment (time, effort, expertise, or even a convincing semblence of expertise) for returns that are likely too little. Even then, that attitude of theirs is hardly excusable (although I'm not aware of the context and circumstances).
danboid wrote:MusE 1.x yes - that was one of the most butt-ugly apps I've ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on - it made me run away for sure - but 2.x is infinitely better looking. I now want to use it.

You were referring to MusE 1.x right?
Haven't used Muse1, I refer to 2. If it's this bad now, I can only imagine how bad it was back then...screenies? :?
danboid wrote: So that really leaves us with Ardour, qtractor, Muse, Non, Mixbus, Renoise, nama/ecasound and Rosegarden
...bleak. Everything has something missing, there's no 'The One'. Hope ANY one of them becomes better...fast!
Last edited by TheSafePlaces on Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by danboid »

You make a fair point. OOM team could just be super busy with real life and dev may well resume but their git repo hasn't seen any action at all since May - pretty much 6 months ago.

Nonetheless, I have been involved in countless FLOSS projects over the years and no-one has ever been as rude towards me as Andrew Williams (aka Mistik1) - the primary OOM dev. The most popular topic of conversation in their IRC channel is how much they can't stand the Linux audio community and how crap all the other projects are - all this from supposed 'Christians'. I tried to forgive and forget etc. but Andy's rage knows no bounds and even innocent inquiries as to the state of the project, features etc would result in him slinging a torrent of abuse at you. I've never seen anything like it so I'm not afraid to tell it as it is as a warning to others.

As you rightly say, all the current Linux DAWs are missing something right now - for me and you it at least it seems. Both qtractor and Muse are very nearly there for me and I keep telling myself that in the next 6 months those last few missing feature holes will be filled in one or the other and my 16 year wait to use Linux for music without having to sacrifice certain fundamental features will be over but thats a key point - patience! Us users have to be very patient and help the devs however we can as they have to be even more patient - its a largely thankless task being a FLOSS audio developer and Paul is unique in being able to make a living out of it but he did bring us JACK and Ardour and he could prob earn a lot more working in another field - he's a dedicated man.

If you don't mind paying for and using commercial software then Bitwig should be with us soon and that may just do everything you want (if not scoring - I don't think it does that) but I've waited so long now now I can wait another 6 months or so for qtractor or MusE to kill my final nags.

There's some screenshots of the old MusE here:

http://www.muse-sequencer.org/index.php/Screenshots

It doesn't look as bad as I remember to be honest. It was its unattractive GUI compared with a lack of features back then that really sent me packing I think.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by Alwaysanewb »

I'm using ardour becaues it's the only daw I new about starting off in linux audio. Also because it records audio well and I don't need much more than that although I'm reading more about what it can do so I might get into some of the intricassys. I've used reaper before but ardour seems to need a lot less resorces to run smoothly and I'm not sure if it's the linux drivers or the daw itself seems to sound much better.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by TheSafePlaces »

danboid wrote:You make a fair point. OOM team could just be super busy with real life and dev may well resume but their git repo hasn't seen any action at all since May - pretty much 6 months ago.

Nonetheless, I have been involved in countless FLOSS projects over the years and no-one has ever been as rude towards me as Andrew Williams (aka Mistik1) - the primary OOM dev. The most popular topic of conversation in their IRC channel is how much they can't stand the Linux audio community and how crap all the other projects are - all this from supposed 'Christians'. I tried to forgive and forget etc. but Andy's rage knows no bounds and even innocent inquiries as to the state of the project, features etc would result in him slinging a torrent of abuse at you. I've never seen anything like it so I'm not afraid to tell it as it is as a warning to others.
Ugly. Thanks for the warning. :lol:

As for DAWs/sequencers, as I still consider myself new, I decided that just opening each program and toying with it a little is no proof of how it works, so I'll now do one complete song each on qtractor (done), Muse2, and Rosegarden...and A3 when I don't have to build it from source (the first and the last time I compiled something - Ingen - I ended up trashing my Linux install, thankfully that was AVL and I had a Remastersys backup :mrgreen: ).

One thing is for certain...I'm really really thankful for qtractor. Two minutes into Rosegarden and Muse2 one realizes how way simpler and more logical life was in qtractor - it may be subjective, but the qtractor way of setting up tracks and routing, and dealing with clips etc, is the most sensible and efficient thing for me. If the problems I have with it are fixed, I'd really never have to look anywhere else. @_@

As for Bitwig, I wouldn't mind paying, but not if it's proprietary.
Alwaysanewb wrote:I'm using ardour becaues it's the only daw I new about starting off in linux audio. Also because it records audio well and I don't need much more than that although I'm reading more about what it can do so I might get into some of the intricassys. I've used reaper before but ardour seems to need a lot less resorces to run smoothly and I'm not sure if it's the linux drivers or the daw itself seems to sound much better.
It's curious how Ardour's winning! Is MIDI really that unpopular? :D
And strange, no one's mentioned LMMS yet either o.o
Last edited by TheSafePlaces on Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by English Guy »

I have used muse for a long time. I must admit using ardour for audio these days but Muse would still be my first port of call for midi or integrated midi/audio.

Aesthetics aside, I have always found the interface intuitive. The integration of soundfont support via fluidsynth was always a big plus for me. It has not got a lot of unique dependencies so it does a lot without adding a lot to an install.

The community is really nice. I have been on the mailing list for a number of years and when I have a question I have always got good prompt help. When I reported a bug it was promptly quashed.

These days muse seems a bit overlooked which is a shame as it is a little gem.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by autostatic »

What did you select?
Qtractor. But I forgot to also select 'something else' as I use Hydrogen and seq24 too which can record and sequence also.

What work do you do? (film scoring, recording bands, professionally or as a hobby, etc)

Writing songs and recording them. Then I try to work them out which is the hardest part and I hardly get that far :( You don't want to know how many ideas got stacked up through the years on a myriad of different media (computers, phones, mp3 players, cassettes).

You mainly deal with - audio, MIDI, or both?
Both.

If you voted for more than one option, for what tasks do you prefer each program?
Qtractor: recording, mixing, mastering
seq24: sequencing
Hydrogen: sampling

What else have you tried earlier before settling on your current choices?
Nothing. When I started using Linux for making music and I had to choose my DAW I tried Ardour which I totally didn't fathom and right after that Qtractor which I grasped right away.

What caused you to leave from your previous programs?

N/A

Are you looking to shift to a different program from your current one?
No. Qtractor FTW. And I'm pretty serious about this. I'd consider myself a hardcore Qtractor user (by stating this I'm of course defying the very term 'hardcore' because you're only hardcore until you say you are which doesn't matter because I'm actually not a hardcore user at all, at least I don't want others to see me as a hardcore user because well, you know this is already one of the longest sentences between parentheses on this forum and I'm just not hardcore, I'm softcore actually, 'hardcore' sounds so harsh).
When it comes to Hydrogen, haven't worked that much with 0.9.6 but if it's as unstable as the previous version then it's getting time to shift. I'll probably convert all available Hydrogen kits to samplv1 kits and state on my deathbed that I didn't succeed and how sorry I am about that.
Ah, and seq24, it needs a new release, just to keep everyone focused. But it's still alive and somehow I just totally dig this golden oldie.

Is there anything you find missing in your current program, or something you wish was improved?

Oh yes. I have a very, very extensive list that I will discuss personally with the author of my favorite DAW over a nice, lukewarm Germknödel at LAC2013 ;) (this smiley applies to the sentence as a whole so not just the Germknödel).
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by Alwaysanewb »

It's curious how Ardour's winning! Is MIDI really that unpopular? :D
And strange, no one's mentioned LMMS yet either o.o

TheSafePlaces
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I use midi just not on the computer yet. I just run a dx7 or i have a cheap yamaha sy 33 into a little emu module it has one really good paino sound. I'm going to start getting into the linux synths it's just I have a laptop with ubuntu as well and am going to run a midi controller into that and the sound card out of that into the sound card I'm recording with ardour. i don't program midi sequencers but I use it everytime I play paino.
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Re: Poll - What recorder and/or sequencer do you primarily u

Post by Scary Hallo »

What did you select?
Ardour
What work do you do?
Recording my (Rock-)Band. Writing new songs for my band.
I currently started to produce a little radio play
You mainly deal with - audio, MIDI, or both?
75% audio bur midi is also essential.
What else have you tried earlier before settling on your current choices?
Since I came from windows, I worked only with ardour, qtracktor, hydrogen and qsynth. I tried a few other applications, but ardout is 'my' DAW.
Is there anything you find missing in your current program, or something you wish was improved?
  1. Ardour more stable.
  1. An 'easy to use' autotuner for vocals
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