Linux Alternatives to Apple's Music Software

[dsreyes1014]

Hey guys. I have a family member who is always trying to sell me on apps like Logic or Ableton Live or Addictive Drums to name a few. I know Hydrogen is what we would use in place of Addictive Drums but what would be
an alternative to programs like Logic or Ableton Live? This is just chit chat really but was curious what do you Linux developers/musicians think?

[sysrqer]

There isn't really anything that is a direct replacement of Ableton Live. It really depends how they use Ableton, for live looping, as a full sequencer, an audio recorder? If it is live looping you need then Luppp is one to check out. For anything else then Ardour is probably the best one to look to, this would be the main replacement for Logic too I think. I haven't used Logic since the last Windows version (5.5 I think?) but I don't think Ardour would really come close to the features that it has seeing as it has many years, or even decades now?, as a commercial product. However, it is very powerful when you dig in to it and learn it properly. It may be good to remember the modularity of Linux and not think that you have to restrict yourself to Ardour, you can sequence midi in Qtractor or Rosegarden, host synths in Carla, record audio in Ardour, all at the same time and synced. I think this is the main thing that new people fail to understand when coming to Linux, I know it was the case for me, they're used to an all in one solution whereas Linux doesn't have to be all in one and even with non music applications you find that the philosophy is 'do one thing and do it well'. That said, this can seem like a weakness to some people but it actually means that it is a much more powerful system when you work out how to reconfigure your workflow. This is the aspect that has taken me a long time since moving to Linux, trying all the programs and learning how to do what I want to do.

So basically what I'm saying is you may need to sell more than just an alternative program to this person, you may need to sell a whole new way of working and a new philosophy.

You might want to check out Tracktion, it's incredibly powerful, if a little different, and supports Linux.

As much as I would like to recommend all free or near free stuff (LinuxDSP is not free but very good and cheap) the best thing might be to wait for Bitwig, it looks like it is going to be a direct competitor for Ableton and every other sequencer on any OS. It's just not that cheap though.

[dsreyes1014]

Wow very insightful. The modularity is what attracted me as well coming from Windows. I appreciate the response. I wasn't really looking to sell him on alternatives as that would have probably led to 'well my Apple can do this' and 'my Linux setup can do this' debate. I have always been the oddball with my Linux support when these conversations come up but I'm ok with that lol. I see more as this my preference and I'm going to roll that and that's his preference. I've heard of Bitwig but looking through these forums waiting see how that turns out and LinuxDSP products to me personally are topnotch as far what I can tell with demo versions. I haven't purchased any of their products yet but will soon granted I have the resources. Really hoping and waiting for a solid midi sequencer as the ones I've tried so far haven't really been that stable yet. Even now with Calf,EQ10Q, Guitarix, Ardour3, Non etc.. I'm loving it and it's all on Linux. It's been pretty good to me. .

[briandc]

Don't know if you knew or not, but Hydrogen can also function as a sequencer! All you need to do is make a "blank" audio file. Just open Audacity, hit record and let it record nothing for about 20 seconds. Then save it as a .wav file somewhere. Then go into Hydrogen and make a New Instrument (righthand side of the screen) and select the .wav file you made. Then you are ready to connect Hydrogen to your instrument of choice and make your patterns/sequences.

In this way, Hydrogen is a very handy tool for sequencing.

brian

[dsreyes1014]

Hmm interesting. That sounds very useful. Does anyone have experience with Muse2 here? It seems to be a decent audio software.