Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] greetings and request for cluestick
From: Tobiah (toby_AT_tobiah.org)
Date: Tue Jan 22 2002 - 19:24:18 EET
> And now I want to get back into music,
> multitracking on my home machine to be specific...
I quested for years for a reliable multitrack program
to run under Linux. The best luck was probably with
SLab, although Broadcast2000 showed periods of functioning
properly.
Bottom line was always that I could get things to work
pretty well, but there was always a certain amount of
drop outs in the audio. It's really not acceptable to
have even 99 out of 100 recording runs go perfectly.
Also, a change of soundcard, or kernel, or distribution
can send you back to the configuration phase wich can
be difficult to escape from.
I look to Ardour to be the Linux multitracking solution,
but until then, I'm ashamed to admit that I boot into
windows and run n-track when I need to do multitracking.
It works out of the box, and has countless features that I
never thought or heard of but now wouldn't live without.
It's hard enough really, to channel creativity into a
multitrack project without babying the software along
and living with a subset of the features that are
available elsewhere. I'm sure that there are dozens
of people on this list that are enjoying the use of
a multitrack recorder under Linux. I'm just saying
that if the computer is going to replace a tape deck,
then you will expend far less effort by slapping windows
on it, and using n-track. You will be recording within
an hour, and will soon forget about the computer and
start focusing on your project.
The quest under Linux was not without great rewards
however, and if you can get one of the great attempts
at multitracking software to run with your card well
enough to work transparently, then you get the wonderful
advantage of running your program in the Linux environment
which is incredibly liberating as compared to it's
lowest common denominator counterpart. You mention a
history of programming, and it is very easy to take
advantage of that skill to automate otherwise tedious
tasks that would wear your mouse out in Windows.
If you want to get this going, the most important thing
is to research your soundcard before purchasing. Try to
get the best supported card for your choice of driver.
Be sure to ask the ALSA mailing list (you are going to
use the ALSA drivers) before you buy because the supported
cards list lies a lot.
I have heard great things about kernel patches as well that
aid the realtime latency figures for Linux. This shows
however, how far one might have to go to get things to work
well. At least by using Linux you will be using 100% free,
open source software, and will be a part of the progression
of Linux audio software.
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