S
SmithULTD
New member
Hi;
My name is Riley Smith; I am a composer, guitarist, and then some, and I'm writing an EP that will be tracked, mixed, and mastered by me using open source software. Open Source Software is a great way to do what we all love to do for free, as an alternative to the commercial products. While I have used Pro Tools, and LOVE Logic Pro, I'm using Ardour2 as my DAW. On this thread, I'm hoping to share with anyone interested in going the open source route. If this is in the wrong spot, let me know and I will remedy this.
First off, I'm using an Acer Aspire 5920. I was using Logic Pro 8 on my Mac Book Pro, but unfortunately it got clogged with dust, over-heated, and died. Until I get that fixed, my mum gave me her old laptop (the Acer) which had a corrupt version of Windows Vista (disconnected from the internet during the SP2 update.) I installed Ubuntu Studio on it. Ubuntu Studio is, as it sounds, a version of Ubuntu (a Linux OS) specifically designed for creative production: music, graphics, video, and photography. It includes a Real Time kernel unlike the standard versions of most Linux distros, which has given me latency of less than 3 milliseconds most of the time.
Ubuntu Studio is an older version, so several of the programmes need to be updated. There is a newer version of Ardour, but it is still unstable at the moment, so I'm using Ardour 2 as my DAW. What one needs to understand about music production in Ubuntu is that it replicates a studio environment more than most platforms. If you're recording something through an interface, you must use a daemon tool called JACK through either Qjackctrl or Gladish (both provided in Ubuntu Studio) since the daemon tool has no GUI, or you can use the command line. JACK allows you to connect input and output sources the same way a patchbay does in a physical studio, which is both a pro an con of this setup. For plug and play, you're out of luck. It will take some time to figure out the best settings for your setup. But what this allows you to do is "wire" many different applications together in unique ways that are far more difficult in most professional DAWs.
I record mostly metal music (for metal haters out there, you can still apply this stuff to what you do) so I need to get my guitar signal into the computer. For that, I use an Lexicon Lambda USB interface I got a few years back. It works pretty damn well for what I need, though I would love to get a good tube preamp someday. Ubuntu recognizes this piece of hardware pretty easily, so there was no configuring issues at all. Ubuntu Studio comes with two guitar processors, Rakkarack and Guitarix. I've seen more people using Rakkarack, thoug my experience with is was very poor. Instead, I use Guitarix which sounds amazing - better than a POD HD Pro, in my opinion; maybe even (dare I say it) comparable to an Axe FX. It has several presets that aren't my personal taste, but they have a lot you can work with, plugins, different simulated tubes, etc.
From here, I connect the output of Guitarix to the input of whatever track I want in Ardour (sometimes even sending a dry signal to another track for possible re-amping.)
For drums, I use a sequencer that is included called Hydrogen. This programme is amazing! However, the kit libraries are small, and unimpressive, unfortunately. I had bought some loop samples from Beta Monkey several years back as well, and imported the single-shots they had, but found that they didn't work too well since they weren't multisampled. So I scoured the internet to find appropriate multisamples and have yet to find the perfect mix, but I have some kits that work. Hydrogen has three humanizing tools: velocity, timing, and swing. Putting a little of this on the tracks makes it feel infinitely more human. The only thing I can do better would be to get a much better multisampled kit and do some engineering wizardry.
Using JACK, I can synchronize Ardour and Hydrogen to play together, using either one as my Time Master. This allows me to write a drum part and test it easily to see if it's what I like.
Ardour comes pre-installed with a lot of presets, and many more exist. Some of the better ones are the C* plugins, the CALF plugins, and the TAP plugins. The CALF plugins can be run as external applications, or as plugins within Ardour. With Ubuntu, you will not be able to use your VST or VSTi's easily (the only successful way is through Wine, but it's hit or miss, and a lot of functions fail) and you will need to find LADSPA or LV2 plugins. But they're usually free, so it's not that big of a deal.
So as a recap:
My name is Riley Smith; I am a composer, guitarist, and then some, and I'm writing an EP that will be tracked, mixed, and mastered by me using open source software. Open Source Software is a great way to do what we all love to do for free, as an alternative to the commercial products. While I have used Pro Tools, and LOVE Logic Pro, I'm using Ardour2 as my DAW. On this thread, I'm hoping to share with anyone interested in going the open source route. If this is in the wrong spot, let me know and I will remedy this.
First off, I'm using an Acer Aspire 5920. I was using Logic Pro 8 on my Mac Book Pro, but unfortunately it got clogged with dust, over-heated, and died. Until I get that fixed, my mum gave me her old laptop (the Acer) which had a corrupt version of Windows Vista (disconnected from the internet during the SP2 update.) I installed Ubuntu Studio on it. Ubuntu Studio is, as it sounds, a version of Ubuntu (a Linux OS) specifically designed for creative production: music, graphics, video, and photography. It includes a Real Time kernel unlike the standard versions of most Linux distros, which has given me latency of less than 3 milliseconds most of the time.
Ubuntu Studio is an older version, so several of the programmes need to be updated. There is a newer version of Ardour, but it is still unstable at the moment, so I'm using Ardour 2 as my DAW. What one needs to understand about music production in Ubuntu is that it replicates a studio environment more than most platforms. If you're recording something through an interface, you must use a daemon tool called JACK through either Qjackctrl or Gladish (both provided in Ubuntu Studio) since the daemon tool has no GUI, or you can use the command line. JACK allows you to connect input and output sources the same way a patchbay does in a physical studio, which is both a pro an con of this setup. For plug and play, you're out of luck. It will take some time to figure out the best settings for your setup. But what this allows you to do is "wire" many different applications together in unique ways that are far more difficult in most professional DAWs.
I record mostly metal music (for metal haters out there, you can still apply this stuff to what you do) so I need to get my guitar signal into the computer. For that, I use an Lexicon Lambda USB interface I got a few years back. It works pretty damn well for what I need, though I would love to get a good tube preamp someday. Ubuntu recognizes this piece of hardware pretty easily, so there was no configuring issues at all. Ubuntu Studio comes with two guitar processors, Rakkarack and Guitarix. I've seen more people using Rakkarack, thoug my experience with is was very poor. Instead, I use Guitarix which sounds amazing - better than a POD HD Pro, in my opinion; maybe even (dare I say it) comparable to an Axe FX. It has several presets that aren't my personal taste, but they have a lot you can work with, plugins, different simulated tubes, etc.
From here, I connect the output of Guitarix to the input of whatever track I want in Ardour (sometimes even sending a dry signal to another track for possible re-amping.)
For drums, I use a sequencer that is included called Hydrogen. This programme is amazing! However, the kit libraries are small, and unimpressive, unfortunately. I had bought some loop samples from Beta Monkey several years back as well, and imported the single-shots they had, but found that they didn't work too well since they weren't multisampled. So I scoured the internet to find appropriate multisamples and have yet to find the perfect mix, but I have some kits that work. Hydrogen has three humanizing tools: velocity, timing, and swing. Putting a little of this on the tracks makes it feel infinitely more human. The only thing I can do better would be to get a much better multisampled kit and do some engineering wizardry.
Using JACK, I can synchronize Ardour and Hydrogen to play together, using either one as my Time Master. This allows me to write a drum part and test it easily to see if it's what I like.
Ardour comes pre-installed with a lot of presets, and many more exist. Some of the better ones are the C* plugins, the CALF plugins, and the TAP plugins. The CALF plugins can be run as external applications, or as plugins within Ardour. With Ubuntu, you will not be able to use your VST or VSTi's easily (the only successful way is through Wine, but it's hit or miss, and a lot of functions fail) and you will need to find LADSPA or LV2 plugins. But they're usually free, so it's not that big of a deal.
So as a recap:
- Acer Aspire 5920 running Ubuntu Studio
- Ardour2 as my DAW
- Guitarix as my guitar processor
- Hydrogen as my sample sequencer
- JACK as my patchbay
- All hosted through Gladish
)