creating music freely
https://linuxmusicians.com/
Hey!
A quick inteo of this new guy on the forum.
I'm a sound designer and composer who mainly works with ProTools and Logic. Jumped on the Linux train now to have a stable system for backup and cloud purposes but am very much interested in how far it will take me in music and sound.
Netherlands based dutchie.
Cheers!
It's a very different workflow, but incredibly flexible and amenable to how you want to work, rather than telling you how to work.
There's no version of ProTools that'll work in Linux I think. Isn't it a Apple only DAW?
So Linux audio will surprise you in two ways:
You'll have to learn how to use another DAW.
Music production on Linux ain't no walk in the park because of the confusing: Alsa, PulseAudio, Jackaudio, and now: Pipewire.
And if you use VST's (and who doesn't?) then you'll also have a hard time wrapping your head around Linux VST, Windows VST, 32 bit VST, 64 bit, VST3 and bridging Windows VST to Linux (e.g. to the LV2 plugin format).
Furthermore, many (USB) audio devices require a driver, which they only make for Windows, sometimes for Apple and never for Linux.
It takes a crazy Linux fanatic to jump through all the hoops to get music production working. Then why do I do it...? 
Why so negative? Oh, and all the USB kit I've found is class compliant, so no driver needed.
I only use open source, native linux applications (no Windows) and I am happy with it.
Welcome, and it will be interesting for me to see how you will get along on Linux.
You did find the right forum.
Linux and Mac os, have the same roots, UNIX.
So at least the file system will be somewhat familiar to you.
Certain commands will work on both os.
I am from Amsterdam.
That's four dutchies in one thread. I will leave now :)
Net als op vakantie, daar kom je ze ook overal tegen..
Marvellus_NL wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 7:23 amHey!
A quick inteo of this new guy on the forum.
I'm a sound designer and composer who mainly works with ProTools and Logic. Jumped on the Linux train now to have a stable system for backup and cloud purposes but am very much interested in how far it will take me in music and sound.
Netherlands based dutchie.
Cheers!
I strongly suggest trying a Linux geared and set up for Audio production:
Ubuntu Studio
LibraziK
AV Linux
Any of these are optimized for media production and will have all of the tricky configuration stuff done, the most common Audio applications preinstalled and a lot of good Audio Plugins ready to use. Ubuntu Studio is likely the most newbie-friendly, Librazik is very well equipped and focused on an Open-source Workflow and AV Linux contains both Open-source and Commercial DAW's and Plugins..
https://ubuntustudio.org/
https://librazik.tuxfamily.org/base-sit ... nglish.php
http://www.bandshed.net/avlinux/
To be honest I have to agree that it's not as convenient to make music on Linux. The majority of the good software is only supported on Windows/Mac and you'll likely end up wanting to use some of that stuff instead of only Linux native software.
Setting up audio is more confusing and complicated, although when you get your head around it you can do all sorts of awesome stuff that is probably impossible on Windows/Mac. But this is the nature of Linux in general; Modularity & flexibility. If you want to do something with Linux, you can almost definitely do it! It's just a case of putting the time and effort in to figure out how.
And on that note, I can't be arsed anymore, to be frank. I'm happy enough with the native Linux plugins available so that's no issue for me. It's just the DAWs on Linux that I don't like. None of them do it for me, neither FOSS or proprietary options. So, I just use FL Studio with Windows VSTs in a WINE prefix via Lutris and it's actually working really well for me! Luckily for me, the FLS developers did some work with the CodeWeavers developers (Crossover software AKA a premium version of WINE) in the past and I'm able to run my favourite DAW pretty damn smoothly because of it. You may not be so lucky with other Windows DAWs though so pick a native option if you can. Reaper might work well for you..? There's Bitwig if you like an Ableton Live style of doing things, otherwise you've got a tonne of FOSS options which I'll let others recommend..
You'll need to setup realtime privileges which your distro almost definitely did not do for you already unless it's a an audio production orientated one. I've been on Linux for years and have just recently switched to Nobara (A modified Fedora) and I do not know how to set this up and no one on the forum has been able to help me so far either. I'm sure it's not difficult but the point is, you don't need to deal with this crap on Mac/Windows.
To be clear; I hate Windows & Mac and will likely never use them again on one of my personal computers so I'm not advocating for them. I just think it's important to be honest. When I started out with Linux I found that a lot of Linux users weren't being real with me and made it all sound so lovely over on the Linux side but years of pain have taught me differently. It's bloody great once you know what you're doing and you don't know how you lived without Linux, it's just the thing of actually learning a whole new system and its quirks that sucks. It's getting easier all the time though to be fair. Audio setup is the hardest thing I've had to deal with on Linux so far..
Side note anecdote
This past weekend I had a Studio Engineer and Band from Toronto out to track for the weekend. The Engineer works with ProTools daily and one of the Band members also does TV post-production with ProTools. Their intention was to track in my Studio facilities and stem out the tracks for final mixing and mastering at the Toronto Studio.
They used AV Linux and Ardour all weekend for tracking and had one crash when the recording interface lost connection with the computer, I hurriedly apologized when I had to reboot and reload the session and they looked at me in disbelief and laughed because they were used to ProTools crashing habitually, even with the crash they very hella impressed with how robust the system was..
I agree with this, just like with the rest of your post. When I started the Linux phrase was: "Put the fun back into computing" and: "Linux has a steep learning curve". Nothing 'bout better stability. BTW, about stability: like you say: as soon as you're gonna run software from Operating System A (Windows) on OS B (Linux) stability issues will rise. I've got that problem mostly with VST's. The nicest ones are for Windows.
Many of the DAW's in the top 10 are Windows, I agree. But there are people that find Ardour or Reaper the best DAW. Those two are available in a Linux native version. And I use Qtractor (= Linux only): it's developer is active here on the forum. Qtractor's interface can be adjusted in such a way that it looks very "simple" and non-intimidating for the beginner/small computer screens. I like that.
Death wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 10:07 pm[...] I've been on Linux for years and have just recently switched to Nobara (A modified Fedora) and I do not know how to set this up and no one on the forum has been able to help me so far either. I'm sure it's not difficult but the point is, you don't need to deal with this crap on Mac/Windows.
That's why I always urge beginners to use a Linux distro that is widely used and has large user base to find/ask help on the internet. Concerning audio one might use the distro that @GMaq makes (forgot which one that is): you might get direct help from him. Otherwise: beginners: please stay away from exotic and/or new distro's. I, for example, will not help you.
Ha ha. I was lucky: they warned me! I installed Linux dual boot. Over the years found Linux replacements for my favourite Windows software. I've got nothing against Windows nowadays: you can run Linux stuff (even with a GUI) better and better. And your old favourite software from decades ago will work in it. Linux is a PitA that way. Made me consider a switch back last summer.
Anyway, I haven't heard back from the topic starter so we all might have scared him away. Ooops.
Linux has just as long a history for audio as windows. The Win95 driver for my soundcard was buggy. In Linux it was perfect. That same card is still flawless and "just works" in Linux latest distro. I don't think it's possible to still use in Windows. Win95 would crash just sitting idle. Linux never crashed. Available audio software for Linux is excellent. If you have a problem the actual developer will speak with you personally.
Win95 was my last windows install. No regrets.
It could be an exception, but my switch from Windows to Linux was real smooth. Sure, I had to figure some things out, but at least, it was there to be figured out.
I've used Windows for 22 years, and at the end of those 22 years I still hadn't figured out how permissions on Windows worked, and how I could change them..
Within two weeks of switching to Linux I had more control over my pc than I ever had. And even running some old Windows software with Wine/Proton went smoother than getting them to run on Windows itself (specifically Rebirth, and some older games like Thief).
It's not like it was never necessary to troubleshoot on Windows. It was harder to get to a solution though.