Re: Music on Linux

I managed to get Rosegarden working on my HP laptop with the Intel-8x0 
soundcard, and Yamaha keyboard attached externally. Just for the record
and for those who want to try the same, here's how I did it.

I've used the distribution from Planet CCRMA:
http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/software/

For sequencer I used Rosegarden from:
http://www.rosegardenmusic.com

I had to buy a MIDI-USB adapter to get the input from the keyboard into my 
laptop.

The /etc/modprobe.conf file is:

alias eth0 b44
alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0
options snd-card-0 index=0
install snd-intel8x0 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-intel8x0 && /usr/sbin/alsactl restore >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
remove snd-intel8x0 { /usr/sbin/alsactl store >/dev/null 2>&1 || : ; }; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-intel8x0
alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio
options snd-usb-audio index=1
alias usb-controller ehci-hcd
alias usb-controller1 uhci-hcd
alias ieee1394-controller ohci1394

To get my soundcard play midi, I login as a root and start jack:
jackstart -R -d alsa -d hw -r 44100

I run qsynth to emulate the Soundblaster-type card with midi capabilities.
The first time I run qsynth I load the soundfonts from a file I've got
from my Soundblaster card distribution disk (I use SB-Live on my
worstation). The soundfont files usually have suffix *.SF2. I presume one
can get those somewhere on the web. Any subsequent time you run qsynth you
don't have to load soundfonts.

I start jack and then qsynth before I run Rosegarden. The alternative is
to compile Rosegarden with configure --with-dssi option, and use dssi
plugin, but I used the binary distribution which came wthout plugins. One
can also skip starting jack if one ads the jack-command above into the
startup setup of Rosegarden in the configuration menu.

I should note that the real Soundblaster card on my linux-workstation
plays midi without qsynth as it has midi capabilities hardwired. However I
have to load soundfonts with the sfxload command, and for that command to
work one has to have awesfx rpm installed. However that is usually
automatically done by the Fedora installation program.

Andrei

On Fri, 1 Apr 2005, Andrei Smirnov wrote:

> 
> Thanks David for your excellent discussion on this subject. It gave me a
> useful first insight into the Linux music/audio package collection I've
> got. So if you ever have time to give a presentation on this subject I'd
> love to hear it.
> 
> I am still on the amateur level - just trying to setup a working 
> midi/sound system for my wife. I did some sequencing before using Cubase - 
> it was fun. 
> 
> Currently my problem is that the Intel sound-card on my laptop does not seem
> to have midi capabilities, and I did not manage to get the softsynth
> going.  On my workstation I have a SB-Live! and it works.  I still want to
> use the laptop, since I can put it on top of the Yamaha keyboard we have,
> and you can take it with you on the trips and work on your compositions
> anywhere.  So, I ordered the external SB USB card, hoping that it will
> solve the problem. What do you think about it?
> 
> Right now I can get MIDI OUT from the laptop and play the scores using
> keyboard's synth. I can get the signal from the keyboard and record the
> performance on the laptop. However, when I have both MIDI-IN/OUT cables
> connected I get into some kind of infinite feedback loop where the note
> starts jumping from the computer to the keyboard and back, producing a
> jittering sound, that never stops. I suspect it has something to do with
> channels. I tried to assign RX channel to 2 and TX channel to 1 on the
> keyboard, but I found no equivalent settings in Rosegarden. I presume it
> may be a typical newbie problem, so if you have any hints I'd appreciate.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Andrei
> 
> On Fri, 1 Apr 2005, David A. Riggs wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 2005-03-31 at 11:36 -0500, Andrei Smirnov wrote:
> > > Just in case if anyone is interested in making music in Linux, like using
> > > MIDI sequencer programs and audio editors, I found that two distributions
> > > that somehow work better than others are Mandrake, and especially PLANET
> > > CCRMA distribution from Stanford:
> > 
> > I would certainly include CCRMA, but not Mandrake as an option. My
> > personal, biased opinion is that the best Linux-based solution for
> > making music and doing general audio work is DeMuDi ("Debian-based
> > Multimedia Distribution"), a distro that I've done a lot of work for and
> > done a lot of work with.
> > 
> > http://demudi.org
> > 
> > The definitive index of Linux audio software is Dave Phillips' page,
> > which is so large that it makes it a bit difficult to sort out the good
> > apps from the junk.
> > 
> > http://linux-sound.org
> > 
> > I agree that Rosegarden is the most advanced MIDI sequencer available
> > for Linux, but I'd hardly call it competition for Cubase. I like Seq24
> > for simple pattern-based, live MIDI sequencing. Specimen is my preferred
> > sampler. I recommend Ardour for multi-track recording, Audacity for
> > lighter-duty audio editing. Jack-Rack and the excellent LADSPA (Linux
> > equiv of VST plugins) collections by SWH and TAP for effects processing.
> > Jack-Rack combined with Linux's low-latency audio handling makes for a
> > great virtual guitar/instrument rack BTW. ZynAddSubFx is a full-featured
> > software synthesizer, and Hydrogen is a very nice drum machine. The more
> > programming-oriented people may be interested in PD or Csound.
> > 
> > All the above mentioned software are available along with many many
> > others, and they work with your consumer sound card and cheap MIDI
> > controller out of the box. 
> > 
> > Linux audio right now can do some great things, cheap low-latency
> > processing and arbitrary signal patching between and inside of
> > applications with Jack and ALSA is incredibly powerful. OTOH,
> > professional-grade software is just not there yet. I must admit that my
> > main audio workstation dual-boots Windows 2000 alongside DeMuDi, and I'm
> > much more productive in Windows, though the things I do in Linux are
> > quite unique and I wouldn't know how to go about them at all in Windows.
> > 
> > I'd love to have the time to give a presentation on this subject, but
> > I'm quite strapped for time as it is. It will happen some day, but I'd
> > love for some discussion to take place on this topic.
> > 
> > - David A. Riggs
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Morlug mailing list
> > [email protected]
> > http://mailman.morlug.org/mailman/listinfo/morlug
> > 
> 
> 

-- 
---------------------------------------------
Dr. Andrei Smirnov,  West Virginia University
Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Morgantown WV, 26506-6106
Tel:+1(304)293 3111 x2345, fax:+1(304)2936689
Email: [email protected]
http://smirnov.mae.wvu.edu     1024D/5CEDD3E2
---------------------------------------------