Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New MusE Release, A Step Toward The Linux Studio

Posted by timothy on from the gee-look-at-all-the-little-black-dots dept.

spamatica writes "In these times when multimedia on Linux seems to be on a roll, it's my pleasure to break the news that one of the most powerful midi/audio sequencers on Linux, MusE, has just had a new release. This release is a major milestone featuring things such as Jack-transport and win32/VST-Instrument support. Moreover it has been much improved concerning usability, stability and functionality. The Linux-based studio is looming ever closer -- in fact, it's here!"

17 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. This is where Apple has traditionally worked by Saven+Marek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is where Apple has traditionally worked, and it's been a strong position for them.

    While the market isn't big, it is fiercely loyal and worth money to them. Now that Linux based solutions can compete and strip away that advantage, Linux too will embed itself more concretely in the mindset of Yet Another Subculture.

    Heh. Why would you now spend $50k on a mac recording studio when you can get a Linux based one for the cost of cheap 2nd hand hardware?. Revolutions baby...

    The Nets Biggest Adult Anime Gallery's

    1. Re:This is where Apple has traditionally worked by LizardKing · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This is where Apple has traditionally worked, and it's been a strong position for them.

      This may just be my experience, but I've found that in the UK studios are more likely to have PC's than a Mac. however, in the States the opposite appears to be true. I haven't seen an Atari ST in a professional studio since 1996 though ...

    2. Re:This is where Apple has traditionally worked by ajs318 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And therein lies the problem.

      When the US constitution was written, nobody could have foreseen that one day, the technology would exist that would enable a manufacturer to sell something which effectively kept a secret from its rightful owner. If you bought a locked box, you could always split it open. If you bought something tiny, you could always look at it through a microscope. It just wasn't anything to be bothered about. (This is the same thinking as "you could always sneak off into the woods somewhere to be sure of having a private conversation".) It was simply inconceivable that that "right" could be violated, and therefore, it wasn't viewed as worthy of protection -- it would have been about as sensible as a law today issuing speeding tickets for anybody caught travelling at more than 300 megametres per second. Furthermore, the Founding Fathers wanted to keep the laws fair and few. Banning the impossible would have been a Bad Law -- it was redundant, because there was no conceivable way to break it, and also it might encourage future lawmakers to create redundant laws.

      Fast forward 200-odd years and see how things have changed. Now it is physically possible to attempt to keep details of a purchased product secret from its rightful owner, with a high barrier to discovery; though this is clearly at odds with common law property rights. And the rest of the world seems hell-bent on adopting US-style law.

      What we basically need is a new law clarifying -- for it is not, by any leap of imagination, a new right, but dates back to the time before it was physically possible even to violate that right -- that the rightful owner of a piece of hardware is, by sole virtue of such ownership, automatically privy to {but may be bound to keep} any and every secret contained within that piece of hardware. For manufacturers to attempt to keep secrets from the very people who pay their wages is very broken, and should not be tolerated. There might be some predictable protest from manufacturers, upset at the though of competitors knowing their secrets -- but the chances are that your competitors have already reverse-engineered your secrets. (side note: should we try ATI for open source nVidia drivers?) Furthermore, there are such things as patents, which oblige other people to pay you money before they make any money out of your ideas (at least until such time as you ought to have made enough money out of them and now it's everyone else's turn) which actually can be used properly.

      (Of course, such a law may turn out to be unnecessary: it is entirely conceivable that a future technological change will restore the situation where keeping secrets from your customers is impossible.)

      --
      Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
  2. Thats nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    How about some of these super-star coders make things like simple audio work properly on Linux? Hands up if your soundcard doesn't work properly with ALSA, or aRts doesn't work properly, or you can't get Real Player to use the correct audio device.

    Audio on Linux is a joke, and anyone suggesting for a second that it could be used in a professional studio must have a serious brain injury.

    1. Re:Thats nice by 13Echo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Agreed. And anyone that says that audio on Linux is a joke needs to have their head checked. Not only is the latency lower than Windows, but the ALSA/Jack subsystem is becoming more functional than DirectX in many respects.

      If people would stop buying crappy integrated chips, they'd realize that Linux audio is certainly not a joke. It may not be perfect yet, but in a few years it will be THE system for audio. The framework is already there. We simply need more support from hardware manufacturers.

    2. Re:Thats nice by ignatus · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Audio on Linux is a joke

      No it's not. Allright, not every soundcard is fully covered. And yes, that's mostly the manufacturers fault for not revealing the specifications and refusing to implement a driver themselves.

      But on the other hand, unlike windows, linux has a lot more configuration options. Some year ago, i usually argued that my live! soundblaster just sounded _better_ in windows. Until i discoverd i could costomize the build-in 5-band equalizer in linux (i didn't even know it was there because windows didn't mention it). Hell, you can even root the mixer inputs to the card's output yourself if you want to (which is very neat if you want to fully exploit /dev/dsp2 capabilities).

      Yes, it's not allways as user friendly. But i rather have the ability to costomize than none at all. Normal users aren't going to bother anyway.

      --
      - Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
  3. ardour? by MancunianMaskMan · · Score: 3, Interesting
    anyone know how this compares (quality-wise, cpu-hunger-wise, functionality-wise) to ardour.

    I can't try it out because my pII-233 is a bit weak...

  4. Re:Finally, by Threni · · Score: 5, Interesting

    > What's this Atari ST nonsense?

    So you know little about audio software, right? Cubase on the ST was more stable and usable 12 or more years ago than the same software under Windows. I gave up trying to get accurate, fast hihats on my PC, instead using Cakewalk (which is inferior to Cubase in practically every other way). Cubase on the ST is rock solid, with out-of-the-box midi support, and many studios still use it. You're suggesting people upgrade from STs just because they're old? Why? That's just not how things work once you get out of the PC industry. People upgrade because there's a point to it, or because they have to, not just because they can.

  5. Re:Finally, by tolan-b · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Atari ST has very low MIDI latency. Also, the OS is on firmare, so you don't have to boot off floppy.

  6. Rosegarden by javilon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How does Muse compare to Rosegarden?

    --


    When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon Johansen trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."
  7. Re:still no vst support... by nmoog · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I dont know who you were addressing that initial question to, but I do agree that VST support is (almost) essential to anyone wanting to do pro audio.

    There are a couple of really decent attempts at using vst plugins under wine. Check this excellent tutorial from Dave Phillips

    I have got all my favourite VSTi and VST plugins going a treat thanks to this.

    Now quit whinging.

  8. Close, but no cigar by iamdrscience · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Good MIDI support, sequencers and virtual synths are all great stuff, but there is one hugely crucial element to "the linux studio" that's missing, and that's support for professional sound cards.

    It's always been a bit of a trick to get sound working on Linux, but it's always getting easier too and most desktop oriented distros (i.e. Mandrake, Redhat, Suse) make it no problem in most cases, but there is really zero support for most of the established professional audio interfaces (i.e. Motu, Audigy, etc.). I've had a few friends adventurous to consider playing around with Linux audio programs, but when they ask if their $200 (and up) interfaces don't work and the best I can do is point them to the O'Reilly book on writing Linux drivers, it's (understandably) a real turn-off.

    In summary: If anybody out there has the time and knowledge and is looking for a project, this is a great one. Work on writing drivers for the upper-crust interfaces. I'm sure there are even a few nerds out there willing to lend you their cards so that they can get a driver for it.

  9. Re:VSTi support?? by spamatica · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It works through the wonders of the beautiful projects Wine and libfst. So, basically all your favourite plugs are compatible.

    Though this technology is still quite young, your milage will vary (it works better than expected though). Eventually all plugs will work!

  10. Re:Pushing for multimedia power in Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Huh? I have system wide midi, with a patchbay, using qjackctl. I also have eight channel sound at 24bit 96k with a latency of 5 ms, and can patch any apps I/O to any I/O on the card.

    I don't use arts. If you want pro audio on Linux, use Jack.

    And what the hell is a WMV9? I'm a sound engineer, not a lampie!

  11. OT: Linux replacement for Cakewalk by Zebbers · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've used the cakewalk line of programs for years now and it's one of the few reasons I still run windows on one of my boxes....are there any replacements?

    I have a dedicated box for it, so its highly unlikely Id ever switch unless it was as polished as CW.

  12. Korg Triton Extreme USB Midi and USB Storage by KodaK · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just wanted to make a post in case others might be interested.

    Well, in that case: my newest toy, a Korg Triton Extreme works too. It has a built in USB-MIDI interface and you can access the compact flash slot as usb-storage (the EX must be in usb-storage mode). I had to patch usbquirks.h in alsa to get it to work, but the changes have been added to CVS.

    FWIW, I also have a Radium 61 key and a Midisport (this device is sold under many names) working just fine in Linux.

    So, yeah, Linux audio isn't that pathetic. Granted, I'm no pro, but I can make sounds. I love using the Radium to control AmSynth. Sweeper madness. :)

    I'm just using a Soundblaster Live for audio at this point. Sometime in the near future I'll get a M-audio 2496, but I need to pay some of this other crap off first.

    --
    --J(K) DOS is like Unix in exactly the same way that a pinto is like an aircraft carrier.
  13. Re:VSTi support?? by soliptic · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Thanks for clarifying. I have to say I didn't realise this was possible in Linux yet.

    From a musician/producer's perspective, I have to say I will never, ever switch to Linux for my DAW work as long as I see things like this: "None of these VST solutions is currently at all easy to configure and build..." (+5 post a little up the page). I find it very hard to find time to write music these days, what with the hated full-time job and the large amount of time I spend organising not-directly-musical things like online sales of my band's album. There's no way I'm going to eat into that using anything requiring conf file editing, compilation, finding obscure libraries and dependencies, or whatever.

    If it's not easier and more solid than my current setup, I won't switch. Realistically, if it cant run 90% of my current preferred tools smoothly, I won't switch either ("as good as" doesn't really cut it in this game). I suspect most others would say the same.

    Nevertheless I follow Linux audio with interest. I can't wait to jump the Windows ship because the DRM-enabled future Microsoft envisages is somewhere I never, ever want to tread. My only real hope is that Linux becomes a 100% realistic proposition for me before my current XP box needs replacing, because Longhorn looks like something I wouldn't touch with someone else's ;)