Re: [linux-audio-user] Mac? Linux PC?

On 3/11/06, Rob <lau@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> On Sat March 11 2006 03:45, Frank Barknecht wrote:
> > With Common Music, Lilypond, Pd, Csound, Supercollider, every
> > programming languange you want, and with the ability, to run
> > the occasional foreign software through Wine, Linux is a very
> > good platform for Composers IMO.
>
> And by "composers", of course, you mean "composers who are also
> computer programmers". None of the people I know in real life
> who compose music are going to be writing Csound, CM or
> Supercollider code to do what they want. The programs they do
> use, like Live, Fruityloops and Cakewalk, are still way beyond
> any compositional tools we have available to us under Linux,
> with all apologies to the Pd, SSM and Rosegarden guys.
>
> I might use code-based compositional tools (well, the ones that
> can be programmed without using Lisp-like languages, which are
> evil and must be destroyed), but then, I'm a composer who's also
> a computer programmer.
>
> My advice to the parent poster is to get an Intel Mac (either a
> Macbook or one of the new Mac Minis) unless one of your specific
> goals as a musician is to create your music using free software.
> That's one of my own goals, or I'd already have a Mac myself.
>
> Even then, some popular compositional tools (like Fruityloops)
> are Windows-only at this point. The musicians I know who work
> professionally are about a 50/50 split between OSX and Windows.
> I'm the only fool I know who's trying to do everything under
> Linux.
>
> Rob
>

Rob,
   Just chiming in to say I agree. No composer I ever met is
interested in actually language-based programming to get sound. I
think that's the purview of subset of folks, such as university
oriented people, etc. I'm sure it's rewarding for some but it doesn't
even approach being mildly interesting to a guitar player like me.

   I can use Linux successfully for very specific things - audio
recording using Ardour and a few soft synths. Wine is mostly a
curiosity. It works OK for Quicken but beyond that it's more of a
frustration than it's worth to me. I understand that VSTs under Wine
are a relal plus for Linux only folks, but for those with multiple
platforms why bother is my general decision. I'm not intersted
(personally) in being that much of a trail blazer.

   Mostly I still compose in Windows and more on the Mac since I
bought my first machine a few months ago. I'm an Acid Pro guy vs.
FL/Ableton, but they all allow me to put ideas together far faster and
more accurately than I can with any of the tools on Linux.

   I enjoy audio recording using Ardour. It works as well or better
than Pro Tools did for that. I'm not much of a MIDI guy, really, but I
do miss having a real audio/MIDI platform in Linux like I had in
Windows and do have on the Mac. Loop recording would be my biggest
miss in the Ardour area, and somethign to replace ALL of Acid Pro is
only a dream after 4 years and no developer interest.

   Anyway, I write to you from my Linux machine where I'm playing
around with VMware type solutions. Maybe one day, right? ;-)

Cheers,
Mark
Received on Sun Mar 12 00:15:09 2006