Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] ardour & snd: the saga begins
From: Paul Winkler (slinkp23_AT_yahoo.com)
Date: Mon May 15 2000 - 04:03:01 EEST
Paul Barton-Davis wrote:
> Paul Winkler wrote:
> >Paul, if I had a million bucks, one thing I would do is try to hire
> >you to implement this
> >portable-rackmounted-effects-box-cum-synthesizer-
> >cum-recorder-that's-really-a-full-blown-linux-workstation device
> >I've been dreaming about.
>
> its OK, amazon.com hired me a few years ago, and now i'm working on
> this for free :)
> i mean come on: put the pieces together: quasimodo, softwerk,
> hammerfall driver, ardour (+ snd): what is it you think i'm doing
> here, eh ?
Well, there is a subtle distinction. You're working from the studio
angle; I'm dreaming from the performance angle. The one piece from
your puzzle that obviously fits right into mine is Quasimodo. And
the portability requirement constrains my hardware options quite a
bit.
I want a box that is sturdy and reliable enough to haul around in a
rack with my bass amp. I don't know *what* kind of interface it
would have! I've thought of doing it as a laptop with a USB audio /
midi interface, but I'd rather have a rackmount... I just don't
trust laptops that much. So then some sort of monitor & control is
needed. You could change patches & parameters via MIDI with any one
of those floor controllers on the market, and anything more advanced
than that would probably require you to hook it up via ethernet to a
laptop... Unless there's a cheap LCD monitor that's sturdy and small
enough that I could fit it into a couple rack spaces! That would be
ideal.
If this type of system could be done well for under, say, $3,000 I
think there would be a substantial market for it. Shhh, don't tell
anyone. Hell, people pay that much for fancy synthesizers. As CPU
price-per-MHZ drops, I think a system like this is inevitable. I'd
just like it to run Linux instead of WinCE or some crap like that.
One thing I just thought of: Commercial FX boxes don't have to run
fsck every time a drunk guy trips over the power cord. I guess
there's nothing to be done but add a UPS to the requirements for my
system...
> i've actually toyed with the idea of starting a business to do this,
Let me know when you want to do it. I hate my day job. :)
> but i've decided that i like the purity of things as they are right
> now. no business plan, no employees, just 200 email messages a day and
> a lot of hacking.
That sounds like a pretty good life!
> its possible that i may end up selling some of this
> stuff, but it will obviously be under a GPL license, so i'd just have
> to rely on the honor of a few people to pay me rather than CheapBytes :)
Works for RedHat et al...
> OTOH, if you want to send cash now, thats fine too :))
Hey, I said *if*. :-/
> ps. Will Work For New Studio Monitors. Just kidding. I blew mine last
> month.
Some people I know use fuses. They blow too fast but they're a lot
cheaper than re-cone jobs... and blowing 10 fuses is a much nicer
way to find out you need bigger monitors than blowing your monitors,
because you can sell the old monitors!
-- ................ paul winkler .................. slinkP arts: music, sound, illustration, design, etc. A member of ARMS -----> http://www.reacharms.com or http://www.mp3.com/arms or http://www.amp3.net/arms personal page ----> http://www.ulster.net/~abigoo
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