Setting Up A DAW in Ubuntu For Beginners

[mozzy69]

Hi All
I thought this would be a good place to introduce a guide that I wrote for new comers to Linux on how to set up a Digital Audio workstation using Ubuntu Studio with Ardour (the version without midi), Rosegarden, JACK and various software synths. The guide also covers the very basics of the physical connections that are required for recording an electric guitar, then moves onto getting Rakarrack to process that signal and record it in Ardour. A midi setup that envolves sending data to a track in Rosegarden for recording and getting that data to trigger a software synth such as zynaddsubfx, yoshimi or external midi device (like a drum machine) is also covered.
There are lots of illustrations and I've done my best to keep the explanations plain, simple and not too technical.
My intentions where to create a guide that can get a new-comer up and running with a mulit-purpose recording session in as short a timeframe as possible, and also creating a flexible workflow that can be adapted to the multitudes of audio equipment out there.
I'd love to hear what you think about it, thanks

http://www.lyndondaniels.com/2010/learn/music/OSSDAW/

[varpa]

I think your how-to looks very promising. I have not looked it all over, though I notice you have incorrect explanation of the difference between ZynAddSubFX and Yoshimi. Your actual use of them looks fine. Yoshimi is a fork of ZynAddSubFX with improved Jack support. Yoshimi supports Jack Midi (which is why it shows up in the "Midi" tab of QJackCtl) whereas I think ZynAddSubFx only supports Alsa midi and apparently not too well which is why Yoshimi was forked (though I must confess I only have experience with Yoshimi). Other than the midi support they are essentially the identical. When you use ZynAddSubFX directly in Rosegarden is it not because it has better "Jack support" it is because you are using it via the Zyn DSSI plugin to use ZynAddSubFx as a virtual instrument on a Rosegarden midi track. When you use Yoshimi you are connecting it was a standalone synth, not as a plugin.

Also your explanation about a2jmidid is misleading. There are 2 midi standards supported in Linux: Alsa (original, shows up in Alsa tab of QJackCtl), and Jack Midi (Jack tab of QJackCtl, newer, with lower
jitter that Alsa midi). a2jmidid allows you to interconnect Jack and Alsa midi devices/programs. Since most audio hardware devices (the Lexicon you use) have Alsa drivers, midi devices connected to them (e.g.
keyboards) will show up as Alsa midi devices. However, if you connect you keyboard via a firewire it will show up in the Jack midi tab, since firewire devices use ffado drivers which use only Jack midi. Your diagrams are correct, however.

Keep up the good work.

P.S. Also there is already a nice FOSS guide to Ardour - might want to link this from your site:
http://en.flossmanuals.net/ardour/index/?q=flossmanual

[mozzy69]

Hi Varpa
Thanks for the comments, suggestions and general feedback When I get a chance to update the tutorial your feedback will certainly come in handy.
Again, thanks a million for the comments I really appreciate it!

[briandc]

Hello,
from what I've seen, your work looks pretty good. However, there are some elements that are needed, imo.

I have installed Ubuntu Studio 12.04 on my ASUS desktop with default audio card (nothing special I'm sure), and all I would like to do for now is connect my external synth (via audio cable) to the mic jack and record tracks using Audacity. Simple enough. (I am aware that you don't mention Audacity in your work, but I would consider it a "simpler" version of Audour, which you mention.)

But it isn't working.
I have tried tweaking the ALSA mixer. I have tried running QJackCtl and adjusting the settings every way I can, and running Audacity with Jack. Nothing.

So, what I am trying to achieve should be ridiculously simple. But ALSA and Jack are not that simple. In fact, I'm seriously considering installing a "normal" distro and I'll probably have better luck with ALSA working than I have been trying to do with Ubuntu Studio.

Could you add a section on how to get ALSA working correctly? I would consider myself a beginner, but I need more info than what is given in your tutorial.

Brian

[Thad E Ginathom]

So, what I am trying to achieve should be ridiculously simple. But ALSA and Jack are not that simple. In fact, I'm seriously considering installing a "normal" distro and I'll probably have better luck with ALSA working than I have been trying to do with Ubuntu Studio.

Possibly. My recording only extends to digitising vinyl, no studio work at all, and my RME PCI card was just it-just-works. However, Linux Studio shouldn't take away from any of that: You still have Pulse Audio and ALSA and anything that plugs-and-plays under a "normal" distro should work under Studio too.

If Jack is giving you headaches, I suggest you look at KXStudio: The Cadence program and associated tools make it easy.

(I only got involved in all this stuff because I went and bought a Firewire audio device.)

Hi All
I thought this would be a good place to introduce a guide that I wrote for new comers to Linux on how to set up a Digital Audio workstation using Ubuntu Studio with Ardour...

It is a beautifully presented piece of work. It does a good job of explaining what's what, what's connected to what, and how ... and with illustrations too. Very nice

[briandc]

I found a solution "already."

I removed Pulseaudio.

The reason is that I was thinking that if ALSA and Jack are already provided, then having Pulseaudio would only "compete" with them and make trouble. And in fact, when I put "top" into the terminal, the first process was Pulseaudio!!

So I got rid of it. Now Audacity works just fine with ALSA, except for a very slight latency when adding additional tracks. I've had this occur before, and I don't know if it's due to Audacity or something else. I end up having to trim the additional audio track by a fraction of a second to get them inline, then all's good.

I don't know if this helps, but it might be worth adding to the original work of this thread..

Brian

[mozzy69]

Hi
@briandc: Adding a section on Audacity (as a waveform audio editor) is definitely something I'll consider, when I revise the guide. Thanks for the suggestion I'm also working on a more thorough explanation of setup when starting with a vanilla Ubuntu installation providing more information on kernels, alsa, jack and pulseaudio out the box.
@Thad E Ginathom

It is a beautifully presented piece of work. It does a good job of explaining what's what, what's connected to what, and how ... and with illustrations too. Very nice

Thanks for the feedback and complement, I'll do my best to ensure that the improvements I make to the guide keep up to this standard

[briandc]

Hi
@briandc: Adding a section on Audacity (as a waveform audio editor) is definitely something I'll consider, when I revise the guide. Thanks for the suggestion I'm also working on a more thorough explanation of setup when starting with a vanilla Ubuntu installation providing more information on kernels, alsa, jack and pulseaudio out the box.
@Thad E Ginathom

It is a beautifully presented piece of work. It does a good job of explaining what's what, what's connected to what, and how ... and with illustrations too. Very nice

Thanks for the feedback and complement, I'll do my best to ensure that the improvements I make to the guide keep up to this standard

Kudos for your work! It's shaping up nicely!

brian

[ufug]

This is great!

I'm neither a beginner musician (30+ years) or Linux user (7 years, switched from Mac) but I am still so confused by putting the two together.

I was staying at a friend's house last week, and we decided to record a song on a whim. We overdubbed 4 live tracks, a couple MIDI keys and some drum loops in under an hour in GarageBand. There was no fuss, no technical issues.

On the other hand, it still takes me an hour each time just to remember how to get started with my current Linux studio setup, and then there are always technical issues to solve along the way... the experience of the easiness of Garageband made me so jealous that I (briefly) started shopping for Macs. I'm just a songwriter and don't want to do futz about forever with audio connections and a gazillion applications. Just trying to get things running has consistently been a creativity killer for me.

This is the long way of saying: a well written, clear guide like yours is an extremely valuable tool to help someone like me get to work quickly and easily. It explains workflow concepts clearly without being distracting. THANK YOU.

It would be great to see this expanded to follow different workflows, maybe like a "build your own adventure" format where you could link between different apps/instruments and the guide could walk you through getting the project completed.