Getting infuriated by workflow

[Vixus]

Hey guys, after ages I finally decided to bite the bullet and start recording stuff but I'm having a horrible time actually getting into the music making because I waste so much time setting up jack, qtractor, etc. etc. and then get bogged down in handling sessions, opening various apps and then jackd crashes, halting me in my tracks. It makes me yearn for Windows and its integrated DAWs.. I hope this is in the right forum and if someone who uses Qtractor regularly can weigh in, it'd be much appreciated.

Now hear me out, I've been messing with this linux audio business for ages now but this is the first time I've gotten down to truly trying to flesh out an entire song. Let me summarise my trauma:

• First of all, session handling -- Jack sessions, Qtractor sessions, apps that support sessions, apps that don't, augh augh augh! How does everyone deal with this other than just keeping everything open all the time and never using the computer for anything else?
• MIDI vs. audio -- if I'm sequencing synths (ie. Yoshimi, VSTs) do I create a MIDI track and audio track for each instrument? When should I record to audio? If you're playing with an external keyboard, do you record everything to MIDI or just the audio output? At the moment I have a MIDI and audio track for each instrument because then I can apply effects in the audio track which leads me on to....
• Mono vs. stereo -- should all my software synths etc. be recorded into mono tracks or stereo tracks? What's the policy? Which brings me to...
• Buses buses buses -- In Qtractor, do I create an input/output bus for each track? How does one handle the massive spaghetti mess that you end up with when you start adding sends and stuff into the mix? What stuff should get sent to the Master buses? A mouse and keyboard is massively disabling compared with a physical hands-on patchbay.
• Plugin Instruments -- This is just an interesting little aside, but how do people deal with instruments that are handled as plugins (ie. CALF Monosynth)? How do you capture the audio? With a send and a separate track, I presume.

Mind you, I don't just work with software.. I record physical instruments too and, for me, it's all very messy. The jack system is wonderful and having all these great, creative external apps is great and all but sometimes you start to see the benefits of an integrated system such as Ableton where everything is a plugin. Qtractor is a brilliant piece of software though, kudos to Rui.

Thank you if you took the time to read this!

[slowpick]

For example, with a track using hydrogen drums, external rythym guitar, and rakarrack fx for each, I make sure that the levels and eq on all of them are right, before recording at 24bit in timemachine.
Other elements get added to that one at a time.

I use multiple desktops, with open borders, so screens don't overlap, and apps can be moved
about as they are loaded. Expand size the qjackctl
connection window to make usage easy. I save a textfile of special combinations
worthy of future uses. I use reaper/wineasio if I need a daw, its output is just another instrument
as far as jackd is concerned, so it need not be the end stage of productions.

Others use ardour, rosegarden, Muse/oomidi, or qtracktor, seq24.

Few small studio producers improve their music when having more than ten or twelve parts.
Mixing skills are thin on the ground, and presenting a theme and hook with excellence,
and simplicity, often trumps a massive production, existing to satisfy ones ego, at the
expense of ones reputation.

There are a few linux users doing 'massive' productions using reaper, and ardour, so it is
doable.

Actually, the stresses producers feel, may be fueled by environmental, dietary,
and social realities. A comfortable private work area, V8 and tea, instead of caffeine/drugs,
and dating your wife/girlfriend with creativity and gusto, will help lay a baseline,
where you are at your best, when preparing to record.

The KX apps from Falk are progressing quickly, so this time next year, it should be much easier
to reload collections of linux apps used in recording sessions intact.

hydrogen &rakarrack &yoshimi
this command loads three at once, if desired, the last sounds used, are loaded at restart,
so it may help. A dual-3ghz core P4, and a pair of Delta 1010 pci cards might be affordable,
and help keep misc hardware/mics connected, Gmac who creates AVLinux distro,
uses a pair of those cards, maybe he and others will offer some expertise.

[slowpick]

I tried aj-snapshop to save and reload jackd connections. There were 7, which were all restored
the next day. I used an & before each app, and started them all with a single command, to be
reused from bash_history.

Some apps demand first access to jackd, so reorder them in the command, if needed.
Falks session handling apps or ladish may be even better, I haven't tried them.

[Vixus]

Thanks for this slowpick, sorry for the really (really) late reply. I think you're right in that I was trying to do too much at once. Basically, I think I just need to figure it out myself, as in how I work best. I was thinking about doing all my MIDI sequencing out of the box, using my MPC and just using the laptop as a synth rack and for the final mixing.

I'll get back to you once everything's all sorted out. I'm moving house, which I'm going to treat like a clean slate... and will set up a proper studio environment there.