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Music Media Software

Wired: Pro-Level, GPL'd Audio Editing For Linux 356

Posted by timothy from the this-looks-very-nice dept.
Sven Hertz writes "For all us music professionals who were longing to a promising music production and creation software on Linux, there is now Wired (screenshots). It supports unlimited Audio/Midi tracks playback and recording, and introduces a Plugin system for instruments and effects (VST support under way too). It can also read AKAI CDs and import 18 different Wave formats. The first test version was released a few days ago and its news made the rounds successfully on OSNews & GnomeDesktop while it was placed "app of the week" over at GnomeFiles."
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Wired: Pro-Level, GPL'd Audio Editing For Linux More

Wired: Pro-Level, GPL'd Audio Editing For Linux

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  • This rules (Score:5, Interesting)

    by necro2607 ( 771790 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:04AM (#10806041)
    Awesome... The only reason I still use Windows on my desktop is because the audio software I use is Windows-only...

    Let's hope this program will be good enough for me to be able to switch over to Linux full-time :)

    • Re:This rules (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Indy Media Watch ( 823624 )
      I will probably be branded a troll for this, but have you considered Macintosh?

      It beats Windows hands-down for anythiing to do with audio/video straight out of the box. As much as I support Linux development, I don't think the release of first-generation software makes it quite ready for the studio yet.

      As an added bonus, OS X will probably run everything else you are looking at. Think about it...
      • Yeah, I actually have an old PowerComputing PowerTower Pro 225, upgraded to a G3 450mhz. Has 512mb of RAM too.

        Only thing is it's about 8 or 9 years old, the [SCSI/expensive-to-replace] hard drives work only intermittently, and I can't really run Mac OS X on it unless I can find an old ATI Rage 128 or similar Mac OS X-supported video card (the IMS TwinTurbo 128 piece of crap in there isn't supported). I installed OS X before but it crashed constantly and wouldn't display higher than 640x480 resolution. :(

        A
      • Maybe the /. crowd can help point out a Mac, Window, & Linux versions of these Audio/Video apps?

        CakeWalk
        BeSweet
        VirtualDub
        TMPGEnc
        Alcohol 120%
        DVD Decryter
        DVD Shrink
        ? => DVD Studio Pro
        Nero => DiskBlaze (or are there better burning apps?)

        I'm in the process of switching over to Mac OS X. (The only other OS that ever got me excited was BeOS.) The funny thing is I used to *hate* Macs, LOL.

        Peace

        • Re:This rules (Score:5, Informative)

          by CowboyBob500 ( 580695 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:01AM (#10806249) Homepage
          For Mac:-

          CakeWalk -> Logic Audio/Cubase/ProTools/GarageBand
          BeSweet -> FFMPegX
          VirtualDub -> ?
          TMPGEnc -> FFMPegX
          Alcohol 120% -> Dragon Burn
          DVD Decryter -> MacTheRipper
          DVD Shrink -> DVD2OneX
          ? => DVD Studio Pro -> Sizzle
          Nero => DiskBlaze -> Dragon Burn

          For Linux:-

          CakeWalk -> Rosegarden/Ardour
          BeSweet -> Mencoder
          VirtualDub -> KDenLive
          TMPGEnc -> Mencoder
          Alcohol 120% -> K3B
          DVD Decryter -> AcidRip/Video-DVDRip
          DVD Shrink -> ?/DVDShrink runs under Wine
          ? => DVD Studio Pro -> DVDAuth
          Nero => DiskBlaze -> K3B

          Bob

          • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

            by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
            Comment removed based on user account deletion

            • dd (Score:3, Informative)

              by pikine ( 771084 )
              Just for information, to rip ISO files in unix (Linux, Mac OS X, etc), just do a:
              dd if=/dev/cdrom of=~/cdimage.iso
              Furthermore, on Mac OS X 10.3, "Disk Utility.app" will do the same. It also burns ISO images. I've also used cdrecord on Mac OS X with some success (specifying the device was a bit puzzling).

          • Re:This rules (Score:2, Insightful)

            by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 )
            Thx Bob!

            Too bad /. didn't have stickies, as we could compile a "recommended" app list summary.

            I finally remembered that DVD authoring program for Windows...
            - DVD Maestro => DVD Studio, or Sizzle
            (Allthough it is no longer being sold. :( I wonder what people are using instead?)

            You a Red Dwarf fan?! The seasons are out on DVD! (Or your "local" torrent TV show listing)

            Peace

          • Re:This rules (Score:5, Interesting)

            by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:44AM (#10806363) Homepage
            for mac -> seting up any of these audio tools is easy.

            for linux -> getting alsa and JACK running together correctly is a nightmare.

            getting some of the apps to recognize your version of JACK is also a fight, give up on binaries, try to compile and then can not figure out why rosegarden will not see your installed JACK libraries and therefore refuses to compile with JACK support making it 100% useless.

            Fight to get your midiman MIDI hardware recognized. Get pissed because your nice 8 channel USB midi rackmount device is not supported yet, you need to downgrade to the 2 port cheap model.

            Be happy that your pro soundcard is supported, format your linux partition and go back to windows in hopes of tyring this while dance again in another 6 months.

            I am a huge support and user of linux, the only 2 machines in my home that run windows are my video editor and the dedicated audio PC in the music studio.

            I would love to get microsoft completely out of my house but it is not possible yet again.

          • VirtualDub (Score:3, Informative)

            by DrYak ( 748999 )
            Avidemux is a replacement closer to VirtualDub

            (Both are linear editing tools : i.e.: you process video streams on which you apply filters and codecs).

            KDenLive like BroadCast2000, are more like MainActor, ULead, Adobe Premiere, etc...
            They are non-linear (you have small clips you assemble together [usually by drag-dropping them on some storyboard-like tracks])

            It's easier to do editing with non-linear.
            But you can still do some editing with linear tools too. (Usually linear editting tools alow you to work o
        • It's not my intention to spam this article with Sonic Foundry Products, but CD Architect is the best audio cd authoring program I've used.

      • Re:This rules (Score:5, Insightful)

        by renoX ( 11677 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:14AM (#10806275)
        Do you realise you advise him getting a new computer for an app?

        Kind of expensive, don't you think? Especially since he has already a working solution dual booting Windows..

        I wouldn't brand you as a troll, but as an "over-enthousiast"!
        • "Do you realise you advise him getting a new computer for an app?"

          He suggested it as a consideration. Nothing wrong with that. It's up to him to decide if it's too spendy or not. When it comes to content creation, using the right tools for the job is never frowned upon.

      • Re:This rules (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Bedouin X ( 254404 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:23AM (#10806309) Homepage
        What does the Mac do out of the box that Windows doesn't do? Like you, I'm not trolling but I really don't see any evidence of this. I have been a Mac user for 15 years and have a dual G4 in my office and have been settng up a couple of dual G5 ProTools systems over the past few months so I have a decent cache of experience to go on.

        Maybe in the Windows 3.1 days or even windows 9x I would concede that the Mac had better audio capabilities by default, but I really don't see it these days.

      • Re:This rules (Score:3, Interesting)

        by boodaman ( 791877 )
        Maybe it is due to lack of knowledge, but I haven't found anything yet that compares to SonicFoundry (now Sony) ACID on Windows. I have a G4 Powerbook, and GarageBand, but it just isn't the same. In my amateur opinion, GarageBand doesn't come close to ACID, and the interface is horrible.

        I use Windows, OS X, and Linux at home, on three different computers. Whenever I want to whip up some quick audio tracks, whether for fun or something serious, I always find myself back at ACID on Windows. It just works, th

        • Re:This rules (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Necr0maN ( 141939 )
          I think you really should check out Ableton Live (for mac or wintel), it has the same autostretching loop-based approach as ACID + lots of extra's.

    • Re:This rules (Score:5, Informative)

      by krymsin01 ( 700838 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @08:27AM (#10806202) Homepage Journal
      I use a program called Buzz [buzzmachines.com]. It's a windows program, and was once the only reason I used windows at all. Buzz is a modular synthesizer/composer, and a very powerfull tool once you get used to it. I tried to get it to run under wine, but never with much success (various dlls would kill wine). Eventualy, I found a good tutorial [wipe-records.org] on how to get it working under wine. Haven't used buzz on a windows machine since.
      • Ahh yeah someone I know recommended Buzz to me one time. I thought it was cool, but it felt like a step backwards for me, learning a whole new interface which likely wouldn't have much benefit for me compared to what I've been using... Uh I think basically I just didn't feel like learning a whole new program, especially with the minimal free time I have these days.. :\

        Anyway I actually started out using a similar (although primitive in comparison) program called PlayerPro for Mac OS years ago, which was a
      • For something that can be used a bit like Buzz, but is far more advanced, try Pure Data [puredata.org]. Be prepared for a very steep learning curve, though. The default screen is just a blanc canvas, and it doesn't need to be used like a tracker (the likeness to Buzz is in the modular approach to synthesis).
      • Agreed, man. I do all my music on Buzz. People are surprised to find out it's all done in a free (as in beer) piece of software. (http://www.lacunaemusic.com/)

        Gotta love those finnish hackers.
    • There's already a gigantic shitload of good audio software for Linux . . . I'd call this a "minor addition". Here's a listing [condorow.net]. There's also an entire Linux distribution [agnula.org] set up for audio.

      Here's what I use:
      multitracking: Ardour
      MIDI sequencer: Rosegarden
      editor: Audacity
      drums: Hydrogen
      softsynths: Alsa Modular and QSynth

      There's really a ton of stuff out there . . . it just (like almost all free/OSS) doesn't get as much exposure as commercial work.

  • But... (Score:2, Funny)

    by flewp ( 458359 )
    will it run on linux?

    Sorry, I had to. But on a serious note, does anyone know of any good free audio editing software for Windows? I don't currently have a sound card in my linux box, but I might throw one in if this is a nice program.
  • But that means no more having to find cracks on P2P networks... what a shame!

  • How does this compare with Ardour? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by adrianbaugh ( 696007 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:07AM (#10806051) Homepage Journal
    That seems to be a pretty comprehensive recording package. I'm guessing this is more a mixing / editing / adding MIDI type of program?

  • WiReD (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    There I was thinking that was a Magazine/Portal that regurgitated 'news' in handy dead tree format...

    maybe this audio software might need to be renamed FireWired
    hold on, what does that remind me of...? hmmm...

    AndyboyH

  • Maybe Microsoft should take a look at this... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cybergibbons ( 554352 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:08AM (#10806056) Homepage
    seeing as they are running short of licenses of another piece of software....

  • OSX needs this (Score:2, Insightful)

    by imag0 ( 605684 )
    Would be nice to have more GPLed/Free audio/music editing apps for macos X. Sure, Garageband is nice, but the more the merrier!

  • Linux sound is start to pick up (Score:5, Informative)

    by Pecisk ( 688001 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:12AM (#10806063)
    Yes, it is great to welcome another program, aimed at normal production use for common users for working with sound, but I want to point out that it doesn't arrive in the empty place. We have Audacity, Ardour, MuSE, lot of other programms which slowly reach stability and production use. Also I should mention work on ALSA and JACK, which are critical components making Linux a profesional workstation for working with sound.

    Of coarse, lot of work should still be done for getting serious for common recording pro's crowd, but we are moving here.

  • Damn. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:12AM (#10806065)
    A very important rule in software engineering (especially in OSS) is: A program should have as few dependancies as possible.

    So this is for gnome. Next week we'll have a similar thing for KDE on qt. And next month another tool based on XUL that runs on all systems....

    Why, did't they had to add the GNOME(->pango->freetype->xrenderer->xpat->rederer- >xgoofy) dependancy on a program who's main function is audio processing?

    They will lose users because at the time the same thing appears with no WM dependancies, users will prefer that. Compare KDE-mail-app, GNOME-mail-app and mutt. Everybody except KDE/GNOME developers uses mutt.
    • Everybody except KDE/GNOME developers uses mutt.

      Not quite. I use Thunderbird, and apparently Eric Raymond's wife is a very happy but nontechy Kmail user.

      Good point though.

    • Re:Damn. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by TheNarrator ( 200498 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @08:12AM (#10806163)
      A very important rule in software engineering (especially in OSS) is: A program should have as few dependancies as possible.

      The other far more important rule is don't reinvent the wheel. I think your attitude has come from years of Redhat/Mandrake/RPM dependency hell. I've been there, I know what it's like, I feel sympathy. You probably wouldn't have this gripe if you used Debian. I'll be able to install the whole thing with one command, dependencies and all when the deb package gets added to the repositories.
    • My WILD guess is: audio programs NEED good looking user interface. Judging by few released screenshots, this is one of the best looking Linux applications.

      Now, question is: could they make it to look this good, and work on both Gnome/KDE/whatever, without reinventing lot of hot water?
      • and work on both Gnome/KDE/whatever

        KDE apps run fine under Gnome, and vice versa. In fact, both KDE and Gnome apps should run just fine under any (X) window manager/environment.
      • My WILD guess is: audio programs NEED good looking user interface.

        You've never used ProTools huh?

      • Worst UI Ever (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Nurgled ( 63197 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @10:06AM (#10806419)

        It would have been better to use standard UI widgets for a lot of that stuff. When will people learn that rotary knobs do not work well in computer interfaces.

        We use rotary knobs on physical devices because they are easy to manipulate by applying friction with our fingers. A far better alternative for a computer-based interface would be a slider combined with a text-entry widget to allow precise values to be entered, thus making the computer interface better than the real-life one, rather than reinventing all of the limitations of the physical interface with the extra pain of figuring out how to manipulate a turning control with a mouse pointer. They'd also have a bit more room to write a decent text label on the control, rather than the unreadable blurs they use now.

        None of it goes together, either. If they'd just let the standard UI widgets render in the standard way it would have looked a lot more consistant across different parts of the application, and they'd only have had to implement special behavior for the more specialised widgets such as the waveform viewers and so forth. I suspect that as we reach higher and higher display resolutions that bitmap-based interface will end up tiny and unusable, too.

        • Actually the only way I find either slides or rotary "knobs" usable is when I can mouseover and use the scroll wheel to manipulate them :)

          SB

        • Re:Worst UI Ever (Score:2, Insightful)

          by CamTarn ( 751785 )
          Rotary knobs are designed to be packed densely. Witness an audio mixer: each channel is made up of many knobs and small buttons, and one slider. Replace each knob with a slider and a text-entry box, and suddenly your channel density drops by a factor of four. It doesn't matter too much in normal applications, where if you've got that number of controls packed that densely, you're probably doing something wrong.

          Possibly a better way to do things would be to use knobs, with some way of popping up a text entr
    • I am not anwering the original poster. It is clear to me that this is just a deliberate troll, and a damn skillful one and I respect that. Kudos to whoever posted it. But this is a response to the four individual people who modded this up and obviously need a response.

      This is not a gnome application. I don't really know what it was doing on gnomedesktop.org in the first place, it really has nothing to do with gnome (or at least no more than it has to do with XFCE). It's a GTK2 application which uses wxwin

    • > A very important rule in software engineering (especially in OSS) is: A program should have as few dependancies as possible.

      Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of OSS though? The whole *point* of OSS is that you don't have to write every little thing, because chances are there's a perfectly good free library out there that already does it.

    • Why do these comments always come up? I *want* my software with lots of dependencies. I don't want my software duplicating effort, especially if the duplicate will be of lower quality. I want it to inherit the work of Gtk+/Gnome so that my computer will have a consistent look and feel. I understand this program uses wxWidgets which supposedly abstracts the gui. This is only true to a point... I hate the wxWidgets gtk file selector (though perhpas they now use the nicer gtk2 file selector? I don't know...).

  • Cool, but what about... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by AceJohnny ( 253840 ) <<jlargentaye> <at> <gmail.com>> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:21AM (#10806078) Journal
    There are other "professional audio" tools for Linux out there. Now I'm not into this, but how does Wired compare with these?

    Ardour [ardour.org] multi-track sound editor (not MIDI, I think)

    Rosegarden [rosegardenmusic.com] Audio and MIDI sequencer

    The smaller Audacity [sourceforge.net] A wave/AIFF/MP3/Ogg/etc editor

    • Re:Cool, but what about... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:50AM (#10806130)
      I'm not a beliver, all pro audio software more or less sucks, so take what I say in context with that.

      Ardour is closest to a how a pro DAW should be with a plain workman like interface that inspires confidence. Rosegarden is obviously inspired by cubase, I've fired it up but never used it on a project because I can't stand QT apps. Audacity is a great editor, it's always built without error for me and despite a couple of minor niggles it's solid and usable.

      Ardour is the most solid, workman like DAW I've used since the Otari RADAR; if you want to work with sound and not look at pretty brushed metal UI crap that is.

  • Linux Audio developement is fairly decent nowadays (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:26AM (#10806086)
    And it's good enough for the amature/prosumer enthusiest definately. If they have a strong computer background already.

    Of course nothing will be good enough for the wannabees, which I suspect will come out in droves on this article. (which I hope not)

    Linux has gotten very decent at audio production since Alsa drivers became standard. It makes this sort of thing much easier then compared to the old OSS stuff. Now you have stuff like gstreamer being developed, but that's desktop stuff, not audio developement.

    There are lots of apps. Lots of information:
    Linux audio developer's list
    http://www.linuxdj.com/audio/lad/

    google will show you the way.

    A great app is Ardour, which makes your Linux PC into a audio workstation.
    http://ardour.org/

    From their website:
    Ardour is a digital audio workstation. You can use it to record, edit and mix multi-track audio. Produce your own CD's. Mix video soundtracks. Experiment with new ideas about music and sound. Generate sound installations for 12 speaker gallery shows. Have Fun.

    Ardour capabilities include: multichannel recording, non-linear, non-destructive region based editing with unlimited undo/redo, full automation support, a mixer whose capabilities rival high end hardware consoles, lots of plugins to warp, shift and shape your music, and controllable from hardware control surfaces at the same time as it syncs to timecode. If you've been looking for a tool similar to ProTools, Nuendo, Cubase SX or Sequoia, you might have found it. /end of qoute.

    And before you get all up tight about VST/VSTi plugins you can run many Windows plugins thru Wine
    http://www.djcj.org/LAU/quicktoots/toots/vst -plugi ns/

    And there is ongoing work of getting native plugins developed/ported.

    With audio backends like JACK and Linux 2.6's scedualling options you can mix outputs from various different applications and sources with garrenteed latency and quality.
    http://www.agnula.org/documentation/dp_t utorials/a lsa_jack_ladspa/

    Here is a audio specific distro:
    http://www.agnula.org/

    Linux audio Guide:
    http://www.djcj.org/LAU/guide/index.php

    And that's just scratching the surface. If your intellegent and you make sure to select the proper hardware and sound equipment you can setup a very effective Linux-based audio workstation enviroment for relatively low bucks compared to something like OS X or Windows and depending on commercial software.

    Unless of course your a Warez'ng pigfucker and don't pay for crap in the first place.

    Before you get all up tight about desktop quality or lack of hardware support and how windows kicks ass and such, just stfu. If I was going to do this professionally and I had a lot of money I'd use OS X on Apple hardware. Windows just blows goats for everything except generic desktop usage, unless your willing to just throw pockets full of cash at it.

    But Linux is actually fairly decent. Not the greatest, but definately best bang for the buck.
    • Hell yeah dude, thanks for the post.

      Mod parent up!!

      Totally useful. Ardour looks awesome. Now I'm all excited to get all this stuff running. I can see it being very very useful for our band and future musical endeavours.. !! :)
    • Now you have stuff like gstreamer being developed, but that's desktop stuff, not audio developement.

      As I understand it, Gstreamer is a multimedia framework, and as a framework it would be IDEAL to build Wired/Ardour-like software on top of it.

      When changes are made to the framework, they would also work for the software on top of it.

      For example, all plugins written for Gstreamer could work for the software you build on it. And when other people make Gstreamer plugins for their gstreamer-based software, t

  • pro-level... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Cryptnotic ( 154382 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:42AM (#10806115)
    ...you keep using that term. I think it does not mean what you think it means.

    • Re:pro-level... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by PasteEater ( 590893 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:03AM (#10806252)
      ***I have not used this software***

      However, as a professional who makes a living both recording and doing live sound, I find this very hard to believe.

      Let me explain, please....

      I think that software deadlines are similar to professional audio deadlines- you just never have enough time. No matter what happens, you can always look back and think, "This could have been better."

      However, you get no revisions with a song (or album, etc.) after it's been released. Once it's "done"... you're ass is on the line.

      Here's the big finish: I don't know of anyone (and I don't know _everyone_) who would consider this "Pro-level". It's only pro-level when it does A) things better thanPro Tools [digidesign.com] B) things better than Logic [apple.com] C) things cheaper than both. Most importantly D) Has been through trial by fire.

      Perhaps I've not emphasized enough that prefessional audio engineers are under a very tight schedule. Considering that fact alone, it's *very* difficult to call something "professional" when it's barely out of it's infancy.

      I would really like to see something like this succeed. After spending a huge amount of money on pro gear, it would be nice to have some thorough, reliable tools that work well. Remember though, Pro Tools has the same thing Apple has going for them - tight software/hardware integration.

      I don't care about the Open/Closed software discussion when it comes down to paying my bills or not paying my bills. If it works, you are going to have to *really* try to convince me that I should change my mind.

      So... mod the parent UP, not only is he right, but dammit, The Princess Bride is a funny movie!

      • Re:pro-level... (Score:2, Insightful)

        by StormReaver ( 59959 )
        "***I have not used this software***"

        Come back and give us your opinion on this software when your opinion means something: after you've used the software, found it lacking on a professional level, and have something concrete to say about it.

        "It's only pro-level when it does A) things better thanPro Tools B) things better than Logic C) things cheaper than both."

        By your own (bad) logic, only one, at most, of the tools you mentioned can be considered "professional", as only one can be better than the other
      • I'm not sure what your professional specialty is, but I do know there are very many different pro-level needs. We (radio) have three production studios, two occupied 18+ hours a day, none running Pro Tools or Mac. Everything's done on Intel/Soundscape and at least one of the producers bugged me for months to get 'downgraded' to Soundforge, which he feels is more efficient. The department cranks roughly $25 mil in commercial inventory a year, plus promos and positioning. By any measure a 'pro' shop. These gu

      • Re:pro-level... (Score:3, Insightful)

        by CliffH ( 64518 )

        Before I begin, to all the mods. Mod me down to oblivion, I don't really care. I need to say this even if no one wants to listen.

        "***I have not used this software***"

        That's the most telling thing you have said. As a sound engineer, musician, artist, you should be wiling to experiment a bit, try new things, look at other avenues. This doesn't mean giving up any of your knowledge, equipment, tools, etc., it could mean adding a valuable piece. When I was activiely recording and playing, I wasn't afraid in

  • SMP support? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Thaidog ( 235587 ) <slashdot753@nym. ... om minus painter> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @07:56AM (#10806141)
    Being both Linux and "pro level" I would imagine this would be a no brainer but I don't see it in the documentation...?

    • Re:SMP support? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by StormReaver ( 59959 )
      If the application is either multi-threaded, or uses multiple processes, then it automatically supports SMP.

      On Linux, apps don't have to be specially aware of multiple processors. Linux apps are SMP aware merely by being multi-threaded or multi-processed. Linux will automatically spread them around the processors.

  • deepZ0ne (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13, 2004 @08:12AM (#10806162)
    Now Microsoft can afford to edit wav files legally.

  • The first step, no more (Score:5, Informative)

    by NeedleSurfer ( 768029 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @08:15AM (#10806169)
    One can hardly run a studio with only one software, I'll agree that the main required software has finally been made for Linux but there is a host of other software you need to actually run a studio. Librarians/editors, machine control for your automated consolle, track and cue sheet software, archival software (which surely exist on Linux), countless number of utilities; BPM to delay calculators, pitch to loop lenght calculators, you know, little utilities you just can't live without in the end when you get use to their function. You will also need, pitch detectors and a lot of pluggins, from noise reduction to convolution-based reverb and so on.

    What I'm trying to say is that, this Wired software looks fun and potentially great but as of now it looks like it's not even on par with Cakewalk (or Sonar if you prefer) which in turn, aren't on par with anything they are the lowest grade wares you might find in a studio (I say might because I never have seen a studio running on Cakewalk or Sonar).

    I sincerly hope some LinuxHeadz will be jumping at this and bring us back the good ol' days on the Mac, when the entire audio community was working on one platform making better and better by the day, now the devellopement effort are spread a lot less new wares and a lot more me-too wares are being made, Wired has the potential to change that. The Linux community has the necessary structure to bring this back and make this software evolve and get complete with an incredible assortment of companion wares.

    So a first step it might be but it's a great one and the future will tell us if it was a leap...
    go Linux!

    • http://www.multitrack.us/ (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Those guys would tend to disagree with you.

      Also take a look here:
      http://www.linuxmusician.com/index.php
      You might be surprised. ;-D

    • Re:The first step, no more (Score:5, Informative)

      by micromoog ( 206608 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @11:24AM (#10806686)
      There's already a gigantic shitload of good audio software for Linux . . . I'd call this a "minor addition" rather than a "first step". Here's a listing [condorow.net]. There's also an entire Linux distribution [agnula.org] set up for audio.

      Here's what I use:
      multitracking: Ardour
      MIDI sequencer: Rosegarden
      editor: Audacity
      drums: Hydrogen
      softsynths: Alsa Modular and QSynth

      There's really a ton of stuff out there . . . it just (like almost all free/OSS) doesn't get as much exposure as commercial work.

    • Well personally I think that Sonar is the best sequencer around. It runs rings around ProTools and is much more intuitive than Nuendo. I hear that Digital Performer is cool but the copy that I had wouldn't install on my dual G4. After scouring the web and sitting on hold with MOTU for a couple of days I just said to hell with it and went back to Sonar on PC.

  • Suggestion: A music section (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gad_zuki! ( 70830 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @08:29AM (#10806206)
    Music tech has gotten extremely geekified in the past twenty years and its a shame tech sites don't embrace and report on some of the very-high tech stuff out there. Many "geeks" are either musicians or have dabbled in music. Many are also hardcore music fans.

    I've found one blog that does this very well and its called MusicThing [blogspot.com] (I have no relation with the people there, just a fan). I wished slashdot or other high-profile tech sites would also report on pro-audio gear, audio software both free and Free, the digital revolution in music (not just in techno), etc.

    I mean, one of the coolest pieces of tech I own has to be my Line6 amp, which models eight tube amps digitally. That's a little revolution in itself.

    After reading this article [blogspot.com] I was wondering if there were open source equivalants or homebrew solutions like build your own analog synth, theremin, microphone, etc.

  • Fruity Loops? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Tethys_was_taken ( 813654 )

    I've just started to dabble with music creation on the PC. While I was looking for apps to start with, I found this excellent windows app called FruityloopsM [fruityloops.com] (FLStudio now). IMO, it is very polished and excellent to use. And, like a good game, simple to learn and hard to master. I'm not advertising, I'm just blown away by this things quality.

    Now, FL is pay software, and I have the 30 day demo (*hangs head in shame*) and it's one of the things keeping me on Windows (the other things being the games :).

    I'v

  • For MIDI/Audio with music notation, try (Score:3, Informative)

    by FeatureBug ( 158235 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:15AM (#10806277)
    Rosegarden [rosegardenmusic.com] has a MIDI sequencer, a music-notation editor, audio, DSSI plugins, etc. For musicians who can read music notation, Rosegarden is probably the best available MIDI software for Linux.

  • On Windows I've been using a Yamaha UW-500 audio/midi capture device (USB, works well with the laptop so I can capture piano and voice). What are the hardware options for doing this kind of stuff under Linux?

    (I also use Finale for notation, but that's separate. Perhaps the most frustrating piece of software I've ever used...)

    Eric
    • These USB devices work well enough. There are two gotchas. The first is that these devices tend to be samplerate locked at either 48 or 96 Khz. If they work at other rates in Windows, it is because the drivers are dithering down in software. The Linux snd-usb drivers don't do that. The second gotcha is that many of these devices need a firmware blob beamed into them before they start working. The windows "driver" has the blob and the facilities to send it to the device. These will work under Linux as

  • Other PRO-Level audio software for Linux (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:47AM (#10806368)
    There is also advanced drum machine for Linux. It's called Hydrogen. [sourceforge.net]

  • Just tried to compile it (Score:3, Informative)

    by Chilltowner ( 647305 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @09:57AM (#10806392) Homepage Journal
    It looks cool from the screenies, but it has some fairly serious dependency nightmares once you actually try to get it going. I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to compiling these things, and I'm not afraid to start tearing around in the code to make it work, but this is beyond the pale. PortAudio is particularly hellish to deal with. It's only version 0.1, so I'm sure they'll improve things in the future, but I'm giving up until the install and dependency issues become more sane.
    • Since this seems to be the only thread in this discussion involving people who have actually tried this software, maybe you can answer this: does it support LADSPA plugins, like virtually all other Linux audio software? Seems like a very important feature to me, and I don't see it mentioned on their ultra-sparse website.
  • Well, this is not quite a replacement for Reason by Propellerhead Software, but it is close. Great job. I think it will make a lot of audio heads consider Linux a lot more.

  • sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rage Maxis ( 24353 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @10:36AM (#10806509) Homepage
    this app isn't "pro quality". Its tinker grade at best, alot of the bargain bin software at your local music store is better at being amateur grade than this product is.

    1) Lack of good low latency options for the MIDI, etc.

    2) Where's the vocoder? the pitch matching? the multipass filters? the FFT-based filter? the automatic noise reduction based on a noise sample?

    3 examples (of many) of why this isn't *PRO* software. I already saw many posts "WOW! FINALLY ANOTHER REASON I CAN GO 100% TO LINUX!!!!"

    This release and any number of previous sound software releases suggest that but I dont see anything from 1 hr of reading on the website about this package that suggests it even competes with Samplitude releases from 1995 or Sound Forge in 1995 in terms of even single channel editing.

    Windows and Mac still and always will rule for "pro" sound editing, unless protools, samplitude, propellerheads or any number of other companies port to windows.
  • What is it about audio software that the programmers always have to use their own crazy non standard widgets?

    It is not an expensive piece of hardware. You're not going to trick us into thinking it is by using strange pixmapped widgets.

    Always cool to see more Free audio software though.

  • Rezound (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I think one of the best available WAV editors for Linux is Rezound http://rezound.sf.net/ [sf.net]
  • So how long until they're pressured by Wired News/Magazine to change their name, and then finally settle on Spectrum only to find out that there already exists a company by the name of Software Spectrum [softwarespectrum.com] forcing them to once again change their name ala Pheofirebirdfox.
  • Another thing that might be nice to see on Linux would be an all in one set up like propellerheads reason. Some people really like this kind of all in one synth, drum machince, sequencer, effects processor set up - personally hate trying to go back to things like cubase after using it although I certainly see how those apps are perfect for some people. http://www.propellerheads.se/ [propellerheads.se] There are things out there like buzz machine and reactor but the interface to reason is nice and easy :)

  • It's raining bile, hallelujah! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by billcopc ( 196330 ) <vrillco@yahoo.com> on Saturday November 13, 2004 @01:17PM (#10807269) Homepage
    I hate to rain on everyone's parade here, but every time a "great" linux app comes out, it turns out to be a pale mockery of some "great" Windows app. Here's my opinion on this project:

    It is (at least to me) obviously mimicking Cubase. Cubase is a serious application, used by serious musicians and audio engineers. I use Cubase, almost daily, and I find it kind of backwards sometimes because it is designed from a musician's point of view, making it look like conventional rack equipment, while I am a code guru and I'd rather have extreme control over everything.

    Now we have Wired, which is a virtual studio app built for a coder/hacker's operating system; why are we imitating the rich fool's interface when we could instead be designing one that is better suited to the target demographic ? I'm not saying this app does not belong on Linux, but instead of blindly copying an existing app's look and feel, why not start with a clean slate and build it RIGHT ?

    And VST support ? that's a pipe dream if you ask me. Running Win32 video codecs in MPlayer is one thing, running Win32 VST plugs is a whole different ball game. One thing I learned over the years is that most people who are good at music, suck at code, and vice-versa. I am one sexy exception =) What I mean is that the typical VST plugin is kind of rough around the edges.. they look pretty and sound kinky, but under the hood it's grossly inefficient and poorly debugged code. VST plugs tend to crash often, and most likely depend on a few Win32 support DLL's for a handful of stupid non-audio tasks. Lots of nasty stuff to "emulate" if you want it to work good (and fast).

    What I think Linux needs is for people to accept a common audio interchange format and protocol. VST is just a standard for software plugins, but it is Steinberg's intellectual property. What if Linux had a license-free standard for audio chains, let's call it LinVST for fun. Write one linux app that takes LinVST Input, does a few nasties then spits out LinVST Output. Then that conformant app can be plugged into any LinVST-aware host.
    • LADSPA [ladspa.org] has been around for a long time. It is not meant to duplicate VST, but it is a simple plugin interface just "good enough" to chain together effects like freeverb, compression, etc. It relies on the host (audio program that uses the plugin) to provide a user interface of the parameters to program the plugin. The plugins tend to come in a bundle, from dedicated plugin developers, such as Steve Harris and Richard Furse, who are experienced in DSP. There is also some kind of XML-based GUI description for

  • cubase and logic (Score:3, Informative)

    by Britz ( 170620 ) on Saturday November 13, 2004 @01:24PM (#10807308)
    the largest 2 apps for midi sequencing with integrated audio support are Cubase and Logic.

    You can choose between them. Since logic was bought by apple now for x86 there is no choice. Most studios run one of them (together with other, more professional apps). Those are like Photoshop for graphics. And like Gimp never caught up with Photoshop I have yet to see anything remotely similar to Cubase or Logic on Linux.

    My friend does Cubase and as soon as something occurs I can install Linux on his comp, but until then ...

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