Re: [LAU] Linux Audio: An overview

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017, Louigi Verona wrote:

> That not all people would find the situation the same is expected. If you have
> time, I would appreciate several bullet points on what you feel are too grim
> points that I make. No need to spend too much time on this, but I would be happy
> to know your opinion on the subject.

In the conclusion is the line: "it always has been and is likely to stay a
community of people who enjoy communal software development. It is not a
community of musicians."

My experience is that windows or MacOS are the same. From the days when
music was recorded on an Ampex 601, there has been the musician and the
engineer. This has not changed. There are are very few musicians
(percentage wise) who are able to deal with any DAW on any OS. Since I
started playing or working with bands in the early 70s, there has genrally
been one person in the band who owns and knows how to connect/operate FOH
let alone record things. Yes it was all tape in those days... and the
engineer was called such because they designed and built (or rebuilt) some
of the audio bits that were used in the studio and on the road. Just
because we have moved to digital audio has not really changed this. Yes
computers are on stage much more than before. But if a KB player has a
computer, they probably know how to get interesting sounds out of it...
but not how to record, mix or master those sounds.

Yes people can now afford to record in their bedroom, but most of the
stuff that comes out of the bedroom no matter the OS, is not worth
listening too.... Sometimes the artist's artistry shows through in spite
of the poor technical quality of product.... but that is about it.
Musicians seem to do about as well with a smart phone video selfie as with
a DAW. A recording engineer is expected to know their tools and make
changes. Check the credits of almost any recent movie, there is a software
department because they make new software (or modify existing sw) for each
movie.

Almost all audio software and the hardware that goes with it are
advertised for the musician. That is smart advertising because there are a
whole lot more musicians (who can't afford to pay for studio time) who
will buy their stuff, but the reality is that once that stuff is bought,
it doesn't get used by most of the people who buy it. As it turns out,
this is good for the Linux audio community because at least there are
affordable bits of audio hardware to play with. (of course the quality of
these hardware bits reflects the intended audience)

For the most part, audio software is not for musicians, but for engineers.
Musicians may be talented, but their talents lie in making music, not
recording it. There are a few musicians (percentage wise) who are able to
do both.

--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net
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