Getting Linux to Produce Music Fast and Powerful

Getting Linux to produce Music fast and powerful Hartmut NOACK www.linuxuse.de/snd Max-Steinke-Strasse 23 13086 Berlin, BRD, [email protected] Abstract better usability. But it can be made much more At the LAC 2006 I introduced a plan to build a PC accessible by explaining how it ticks in user ori- to serve as a Linux Audio Workstation (L.A.W.). ented documentation and tutorials. Now we have a prototype of this machine, that we Some may ask: would like to demonstrate. The box shall be dis- played, tried and reviewed by visitors of the con- is this still possible without charg- ference to find out, how its concept can yield its ing the users for software? intended results. The machine has a set of essential GUI-oriented Linux audio software that works with I say: It is! - if we find a way to charge the users jackd and is integrated with scripts, presets and tem- for integration and support... it is my belief that plates that allow to start complex scenarios with a the time is nigh to make people invest in free single click and comes with extensive user-oriented audio software development. People like Fons documentation. Adriaensen, Rob C. Buse or Paul Nasca should be rewarded for their work. A reasonable part of Keywords the revenue that could be generated with floss- usability, integration, suite, interface, workstation based audio workstations should go directly to the developers of the most important software 1 Introduction for these boxes - especially if these developers do Musicians often state that they don’t know very not yet receive any reasonable financial support. much about computers, that they only want to The prototype of the L.A.W. is able to prove, use these boxes and that they have neither the that musicians can get not only the same, but time nor motivation to learn how a computer very new and exciting results when using Linux or software works. Proprietary software ven- for production. So we also intend, to find mu- dors try to adapt to such attitudes by design- sicians that are willing to invest in free soft- ing all-in-one applications, such as Steinberg’s ware development by purchasing a preconfig- Cubase, with simple-looking interfaces and au- ured hardware system such as the L.A.W. We tomatic setup assistants that leave power usage commit 30 Percent of the profit that is made and fine tuning to the experienced users and with each box sold to be donated as a contribu- hide possible options and - of course - the source tion to linux audio developers. Though this can code from the ”end user” to keep their products only be a symbolic act for we lack the resources under control and consistent. to gain a big market-share, we consider it a start This is not the way that Linux audio can go, to better funding of Linux audio development. since it is free/libre open source(floss). Free software authors, as well as the distributors, 2 Gathering functionality the need to develop other ways to achieve usabil- UNIX-Way ity and a trustworthiness that meets the needs Most users coming from proprietary tools, such of productive use. This can be done if the as Steinberg Nuendo or Magix Samplitude, have whole audio workstation is developed and built a rather ambivalent impression of the system as an integrated combination of software and when looking at Linux solutions. On the one hardware components, that fit together and are hand they like tools such as Jamin or SND, but Linux compatible down to the last screw. The on the other hand they are disappointed by the complexity of the software environment, that lack of features that they have commonly come comes with the way, this software is developed, to expect in proprietary applications. The con- cannot and should not be simplified to achieve cept that a complex system can be built out of many little tools that provide each other with consider you crazy. If you work for (paid) hours functions is not very common amongst users of with a band there will always be a good expla- proprietary systems. nation why a certain feature is missing - if the Testing demos of commercial suites on MS- box freezes and the work is destroyed, not even Windows and comparing this way of working the most creative producer will find a reason to with the work in a Linux audio environment I have this accepted. So to make a producer feel came to the conclusion, that the sometimes un- comfortable with a workstation it must be rock- comfortable diversity and modularity of Linux solid. There are 3 prerequisites for this type of audio is indeed its strength - as an artist I want comfort: to do new and unusual things, I want to exper- iment, I want to go beyond limits, I want to be 1. Every part of the suite works with the given free. Jackd provides such freedom by allowing drivers. to combine virtually anything one can do with 2. The parts - soft and hard, do not conflict audio on computers. As the tools derive from with each other the free software culture, they are built to coop- erate - there are no reasons to avoid integration 3. The documentation points the user to bugs with tools from others and there are no reasons and pitfalls that still exist in the software to provide many features that are provided by and shows ways to work around them. others already in a single software suite. Some may argue that applications like Point one is a matter of testing, experience Rosegarden and Muse try to be just that: one- and understanding of predictable user behavior stop applications like Cubase. But to honour (as far as there is something like predictable user reality: has anyone seen significant progress for behavior...). Point one and two can be achieved the wave tracks of these applications in the past with free components under Linux, but it takes 2-3 years? And still those applications have seen a lot of effort to set it up and there is still no significant development indeed - in their special integrated user interface that allows truly intu- domains as sequencers. Truth is: those appli- itive work with the full power of available possi- cations do not need powerful wave editing fea- bilities without unwanted surprises. The ingre- tures because their users can edit wavefiles to be dients for a workstation that is both powerful merely played in them with a plethora of other and stable are available for Linux and PC hard- programs and/or sync with Ardour. The recent ware properly supported by Linux is available Muse and Rosegarden allow calling an external too. So the first steps to build a Linux Audio audio editor to edit wave segments and can rein- Workstation would be: tegrate the results - that’s the UNIX-way and it is implemented perfectly. 1. To design a hardware setup for a reason- So the L.A.W. does not make the futile at- able price, that fits perfectly together and tempt to mimic proprietary audio suites but em- is completely Linux proof. braces the diversity of free software and tries to 2. To develop a set of scripts and consis- give the user a hand to ease the use of the Linux tent templates and presets that allow the audio tools. This primarily means 2 things: user to switch on the full force of a jack- environment with a single click without 1. Integrating all the little, cute and power- breaking something. ful free tools to make them work properly together, without limiting their flexibility 3. To write complete and up to date documentation with the user in mind. 2. Providing readable, usage oriented documentation. If Linux software is simply installed as a bi- nary package and automatically set up, then 3 Not much else matters - reliability Linux will not be as stable and consistent as is or death required. Many developers work and build on If one asks a musician/producer, what could be Fedora or Debian and most of them massively the most important feature of an audio work- alter/tune their systems - so that users who try station, there may be different results. But if to run preconfigured applications on out-of-the- you ask, if occasional crashes would be an ac- box systems from Novell, Canonical or Man- ceptable price for many extra-features they will driva will be confronted with the unpredictable effects of diversity. No installation program can that describes the hardwaresetup is on its way. predict everything and certainly no installer is capable to set an audio card to a single IRQ. So 3.1 What is being done and how we are a reliable, full force system for audio can only different be set up with direct human intervention. Point three of the prerequsites - the documentation of The user has the opportunity of choosing be- pitfalls - is a matter of testing, experience and tween 3-4 preconfigured setups: understanding of predictable user behavior (as • Audio workstation (preset configuration far as there is something like predictable user with factory support, guaranteed function- behavior...). The goal is, to provide the flexibil- ality, limited configurability) ity of the multitude of combinations, that can be used with Linux audio software and to make the • Audio workstation experimental (same pre- unevitable learning as easy and non-frustrating set configuration as above, but with full as possible. configurability, limited support and no guarantee - this would also be available for Since we cannot rely on consistency - we download) need to use the diversity and freedom of free • software to prove that free development can PC Workstation (Standard home computer lead to the same and even better functionality with all the power of a Linux desktop sys- as known from commercial vendors.

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