playing live midi keyboards
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playing live midi keyboards
Hey everybody! I'm relatively new to linux and using ubuntu studio. what's your opinion on best setups for live performance playing keyboards with virtual instruments? i used to do this using logic mainstage when i had a macbook. is there any specifically designed software for this? thanks
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dednikko
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Re: playing live midi keyboards
I do this, and I have to tell you you've picked a great time to start with midid and Linux.
You are probably most used to playing with the synths as plugins and there are a few ways to accomplish this. Ardour 3 can support you, but if you aren't needing patch changes and synchronized audio, You can use a lot linux softsynths as standalone apps, even if they aresn't designed as such.
Tell us about your expectations and what you would LIKE to do live, and we'll see if we can help you set it up besy. What kind of music and what kind of sounds are you looking to make?
You are probably most used to playing with the synths as plugins and there are a few ways to accomplish this. Ardour 3 can support you, but if you aren't needing patch changes and synchronized audio, You can use a lot linux softsynths as standalone apps, even if they aresn't designed as such.
Tell us about your expectations and what you would LIKE to do live, and we'll see if we can help you set it up besy. What kind of music and what kind of sounds are you looking to make?
Think like a gun.
Re: playing live midi keyboards
hi thanks for the quick reply- i play jazz, mainly in trio and quartet and use mainly a lot of rhodes and other modified electric piano sounds. i also play i a rock group where i need a few pads and synth sounds. what i need i think is pretty simple, just an interface where i can load a few sounds and switch quickly between them, preferably via midi keyboard. ive looked at zynaddsubfx and yoshimi but i cant find a way to load new soundfonts and the ones they bring are not that good, and changing sounds is not that easy..
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dednikko
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- Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:47 am
- Location: Dallas, TX
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Re: playing live midi keyboards
Regarding soundfonts, if you are using SF2, I recommend opening them in LMMS. It is very stable for me. I'd recommend JSampler Fantasia as well.
Think like a gun.
Re: playing live midi keyboards
You can also use qsampler to load soundfonts (qsampler and jsampler both use the same engine, they just look different I think). If you want synths here's a list of a few, you can also use the bristol collection which has stuff like a minimoog emulator.
You'll need to connect your keyboard to whatever program you use with some sort of patchbay: I recommend catia, though there's also patchage/qjackctl. If you want to save the connections for later I recommend using claudia. Most all of linux audio goes through JACK and the cadence tools manage JACK the best, so it might be a good idea to read a little about the cadence tools/kxstudio.
You'll need to connect your keyboard to whatever program you use with some sort of patchbay: I recommend catia, though there's also patchage/qjackctl. If you want to save the connections for later I recommend using claudia. Most all of linux audio goes through JACK and the cadence tools manage JACK the best, so it might be a good idea to read a little about the cadence tools/kxstudio.