Linux software for musicians

[Jerryz1963]

Maybe I should be asking this on a different forum. Have any of you used Linux and run your guitar's signal through the computer and used some of the freely available guitarist software (effects)? I'm curious what you think of it, if you like it, which software specifically, Ubuntu in particular has a LOT of software that is musically oriented. Some of it looked very intriguing and impressively comprehensive.

[jml77]

I haven't used it for a while, but have a system with ubuntustudio installed, it's setup for multimedia, the Jack server handles the audio in and out and routing, so that Jack aware programs can be linked together. I've used, Ardour (multitrack recorder), Guitarix (Amp, cab and effects), Rakarrack (Guitar effects), various different synths, 'Bristol' is interesting as it models some fairly old analogue synths.

In fact there's so much to fiddle with, it can become distracting, and it's nice to get back to basics with a guitar, a cable and a simple valve amp.

[Jerryz1963]

I was wondering, given how powerful computers are today, how well the digitally modeled effects in the Linux software compares with modern day stomp boxes. This youngster whom I used to supervise in the machine shop is very into playing guitar keyboards, mixing, recording. He seemed to indicate that digital reverb was just as good as analog. So, I was kind of fishing for an opinion along those lines. The Rakarrak looked especially interesting. I haven't really had time to play with it. Also in there was software to make your own PC boards, Oscope, all kinds of goodies for engineering. I downloaded but just haven't had a chance to look at it yet. I don't even know what a Gerber file is exactly.

[Gibsonman63]

I am using Sonar on a window 7 box, not Linux but...

For time based effects, it shouldn't be much any different than any modern outboard digital delay or reverb. I always record everything dry and add delays and reverbs in the mix.

If there is a specific analog delay you like or spring reverb, that may be harder to emulate.

[vibratoking]

+1...So many possible toys/distractions with home studios and software. It can be very similar to guitarists chasing tone. Better strings, better cables, better tubes, better caps, better resistors, better everything...forget the playing. Look everywhere to solve the problem...except in the mirror. Mixing is an endeavor of creativity and art. Just like guitar playing. I've heard incredible recordings done on shitty gear and terrible recordings done on great gear.

Off my soap box...DAWs can put a lot of utility in the hands of creative people. There are many positives, but the technology is only as good as the user. I love the idea of open source and any OS that isn't Microsoft.

[chocopower]

I have that DAW. It works with Linux. Similar to Ableton.

https://www.bitwig.com/en/bitwig-studio/overview.html

[Jerryz1963]

I word my questions vague on purpose because sometimes responses go off on a tangent and impart things that are really good to know and such knowledge might not be imparted if I ask a very specific question.

But specifically, I was wondering how you feel about the quality of the FX. I was thinking that, as powerful as computers are today, the digital FX of a PC ought to be as good or better than a stomp box. If I ever get some spare time, I thought it might be interesting to see what a PC can contribute since I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, so the stationary drawback of a PC is irrelevant to me, and I have PCs coming out of my ears from my brief bitcoin mining venture. I like the whole open source concept. I'm never going to buy a bunch of stomp boxes and make a pedal board anyway.

I thank everyone for your insights.

[LeftyStrat]

The best way to try it out is to download VirtualBox and the Ubuntu Studio iso image. You can run it in a virtual machine and get a feel for it, though real time performance can suffer if you're running VirtualBox on Windows.

Some apps approach commercial quality (Ardour), and some of the things like Jackd, which allows different apps to pipe their audio to other applications precede some of the commercial implementations.

Here's a video of Rakarrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d83cYqOe4tU

The tube simulators are similar to commercial offerings, they remind me of a quote about documentation:

"Documentation is like sex: when it is good, it is very, very good; and when it is bad, it is better than nothing"

The "very, very good" being a real tube amp.

[EtherealWidow]

+1...So many possible toys/distractions with home studios and software. It can be very similar to guitarists chasing tone. Better strings, better cables, better tubes, better caps, better resistors, better everything...forget the playing. Look everywhere to solve the problem...except in the mirror. Mixing is an endeavor of creativity and art. Just like guitar playing. I've heard incredible recordings done on shitty gear and terrible recordings done on great gear.

Off my soap box...DAWs can put a lot of utility in the hands of creative people. There are many positives, but the technology is only as good as the user. I love the idea of open source and any OS that isn't Microsoft.

+1000

I was on that quest for a while until I had to come to the realization that I couldn't actually afford any of the magical gear. Then you realize that 60 years ago people were doing amazing work with much less sophisticated gear. I mean... look at what we managed to land on the moon with.

[RWood]

+1...So many possible toys/distractions with home studios and software. It can be very similar to guitarists chasing tone. Better strings, better cables, better tubes, better caps, better resistors, better everything...forget the playing. Look everywhere to solve the problem...except in the mirror. Mixing is an endeavor of creativity and art. Just like guitar playing. I've heard incredible recordings done on shitty gear and terrible recordings done on great gear.

Off my soap box...DAWs can put a lot of utility in the hands of creative people. There are many positives, but the technology is only as good as the user. I love the idea of open source and any OS that isn't Microsoft.

+1000

I was on that quest for a while until I had to come to the realization that I couldn't actually afford any of the magical gear. Then you realize that 60 years ago people were doing amazing work with much less sophisticated gear. I mean... look at what we managed to land on the moon with.

Ever wonder why Eric and Dwayne recorded Layla with a Champ amp sitting on a piano when they could afford all the latest gizmos available?

[jml77]

I think the effects are pretty good, probably not top notch by a long chalk. I can only compare with what I have multifx pedal wise (digitech rp80), and Guitarix is as good if not far better. I didn't get on so well with rakarrack, it seemed far more modifiable and much easier to make howlers, and not such a slick interface as guitarix.

I think guitarix is fairly similar to amplitube in use. Amps, cabs, mic placement, room size, pre n post effects...

Cost wise, hardly anything, I was running linux on a 10 year old pc, which was saved from the dump, and although I bought a cheap usb audio interface, the onboard MB soundcard was quite usable, and gave far better latency results. With better hardware, I'm sure good results are possible with this type of setup.

[LeftyStrat]

+1000

I was on that quest for a while until I had to come to the realization that I couldn't actually afford any of the magical gear. Then you realize that 60 years ago people were doing amazing work with much less sophisticated gear. I mean... look at what we managed to land on the moon with.

I went the rack gear way back in the eighties, Marshall JMP-1, MIDI controlled Digitech TSR-24, and multi-order programmable switching system for my stomp boxes. This was from the simplicity of an amp, a DOD 555 distortion pedal, a wah, and an analog EH Deluxe Memory Man and an EH Clone Theory.

The damn thing was so complicated it sucked the joy out of playing. When I realized I only used one of 128 settings on the JMP-1, I sold it. When delays started coming with tap tempo, suddenly you didn't need a handful of delay presets.

Some times too much choice can kill your creativity, you become overwhelmed at the options, and spend all your time searching through the endless possibilities.

Sometimes being constrained forces you to be inventive. Next time you're changing strings, just put a G-string on, maybe a 300 ms delay, and see what you can come up with. Kind of breaks you out of that box thinking about scales.

[Jerryz1963]

I'd look funny in a G-string.

[EtherealWidow]

Some times too much choice can kill your creativity, you become overwhelmed at the options, and spend all your time searching through the endless possibilities.

Axe FX

[EtherealWidow]

Sometimes being constrained forces you to be inventive. Next time you're changing strings, just put a G-string on, maybe a 300 ms delay, and see what you can come up with. Kind of breaks you out of that box thinking about scales.

An acoustic works really well for that too. Especially when a string breaks. You gotta work around it and re think some of the playing. Different tunings work really well for "re learning" the guitar.