Linux noob here

(Crossposted to Tuning-L and MakeMicroMusic.)

Recently, I installed Ubuntu Studio, which is the Ubuntu distro of Linux
with lower latency plus a lot of free software for musicians and such.
Adapting to Linux was easier than I thought, even after using MS Windows
for 14 years, but I still need to figure out programs like Jack and
Fluidsynth.

I had been using Noteworthy Composer to write music, but it's only
ported to Windows, versions 95 through Vista, so I have to learn Rosebud
or Lilypad. And I'm still having trouble getting .sf2 soundfonts to work
with my SB Live! soundcard.

I have been Googling for hours to get all the info I need and I don't
want to reply on people for advice too much, but I'll ask here for
pointers anyway. (And no, I'm not interested in starting a big OT debate
on operating systems.)

I'll try to post some music, at least some beginner work in 72-tet. I'll
have to see if I can share files from my file storage account. ~D.

On Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 9:45 PM, Danny Wier <dawiertx@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> (Crossposted to Tuning-L and MakeMicroMusic.)
>
> Recently, I installed Ubuntu Studio, which is the Ubuntu distro of Linux
> with lower latency plus a lot of free software for musicians and such.
> Adapting to Linux was easier than I thought, even after using MS Windows
> for 14 years, but I still need to figure out programs like Jack and
> Fluidsynth.
>
> I had been using Noteworthy Composer to write music, but it's only
> ported to Windows, versions 95 through Vista, so I have to learn Rosebud
> or Lilypad. And I'm still having trouble getting .sf2 soundfonts to work
> with my SB Live! soundcard.

Lilypad is great, but there's a steep learning curve if you're not
already familiar with TeX or another non-WYSIWYG typesetting system. I
haven't used Rosebud much.

For the soundfonts, did you install the "awesfx" package?

> I have been Googling for hours to get all the info I need and I don't
> want to reply on people for advice too much, but I'll ask here for
> pointers anyway. (And no, I'm not interested in starting a big OT debate
> on operating systems.)

I consider it my duty to help others get started with free software,
so I'll be glad to answer your questions.

> I'll try to post some music, at least some beginner work in 72-tet. I'll
> have to see if I can share files from my file storage account. ~D.

Cool!

Keenan

Keenan Pepper wrote:
> > > On Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 9:45 PM, Danny Wier <dawiertx@sbcglobal.net > <mailto:dawiertx%40sbcglobal.net>> wrote:
> > (Crossposted to Tuning-L and MakeMicroMusic.)
> >
> > Recently, I installed Ubuntu Studio, which is the Ubuntu distro of Linux
> > with lower latency plus a lot of free software for musicians and such.
> > Adapting to Linux was easier than I thought, even after using MS Windows
> > for 14 years, but I still need to figure out programs like Jack and
> > Fluidsynth.
> >
> > I had been using Noteworthy Composer to write music, but it's only
> > ported to Windows, versions 95 through Vista, so I have to learn Rosebud
> > or Lilypad. And I'm still having trouble getting .sf2 soundfonts to work
> > with my SB Live! soundcard.
> > Lilypad is great, but there's a steep learning curve if you're not
> already familiar with TeX or another non-WYSIWYG typesetting system. I
> haven't used Rosebud much.

Do you mean Lilypond (music editor)? Rosegarden (sequencer)?

There are some really great resources for audio on Linux. http://linux-sound.org/ has pointers to a number of them. Some other "notes":

1. There are two WYSIWIG TeX editors, LyX and TeXmacs. LyX has some interfaces to Lilypond and Noteedit. I don't know about TeXmacs.

2. For tuning/temperaments/scales, "Scala" runs on most Linux distros.

3. If you don't mind learning Lisp, there are a number of packages for algorithmic composition and synthesis written in Lisp. Most of them are "native" to Fedora, via Planet CCRMA, but they'll run fine on Ubuntu.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <znmeb@...> wrote:
>
> Keenan Pepper wrote:
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 9:45 PM, Danny Wier <dawiertx@...
> > <mailto:dawiertx%40sbcglobal.net>> wrote:
> > > (Crossposted to Tuning-L and MakeMicroMusic.)
> > >
> > > Recently, I installed Ubuntu Studio, which is the Ubuntu distro
of Linux
> > > with lower latency plus a lot of free software for musicians
and such.
> > > Adapting to Linux was easier than I thought, even after using
MS Windows
> > > for 14 years, but I still need to figure out programs like Jack and
> > > Fluidsynth.
> > >
> > > I had been using Noteworthy Composer to write music, but it's only
> > > ported to Windows, versions 95 through Vista, so I have to
learn Rosebud
> > > or Lilypad. And I'm still having trouble getting .sf2
soundfonts to work
> > > with my SB Live! soundcard.
> >
> > Lilypad is great, but there's a steep learning curve if you're not
> > already familiar with TeX or another non-WYSIWYG typesetting system. I
> > haven't used Rosebud much.
>
> Do you mean Lilypond (music editor)? Rosegarden (sequencer)?
>
> There are some really great resources for audio on Linux.
> http://linux-sound.org/ has pointers to a number of them. Some other
> "notes":
>
> 1. There are two WYSIWIG TeX editors, LyX and TeXmacs. LyX has some
> interfaces to Lilypond and Noteedit. I don't know about TeXmacs.
>
> 2. For tuning/temperaments/scales, "Scala" runs on most Linux distros.
>
> 3. If you don't mind learning Lisp, there are a number of packages for
> algorithmic composition and synthesis written in Lisp. Most of them are
> "native" to Fedora, via Planet CCRMA, but they'll run fine on Ubuntu.

Don't forget the Zynaddsubfx synth. The only synth I know that can
load both .scl and .kbm files.

Joe

On Sat, 2008-03-08 at 23:23 -0500, Keenan Pepper wrote:

> Lilypad is great, but there's a steep learning curve if you're not
> already familiar with TeX or another non-WYSIWYG typesetting system. I
> haven't used Rosebud much.
>
> For the soundfonts, did you install the "awesfx" package?

No, but I won't need it anyway; I've decided to use the Intel chip and
Timidity++ instead. I got it to work, but I still need to get some
things set up better.

Also, I did install Scala, and I have used it in the past to retune .mid
files. I also know how to write .seq files, but I haven't actually used
that format much.

> I consider it my duty to help others get started with free software,
> so I'll be glad to answer your questions.

I appreciate it. If I need any further help, I'll e-mail you privately;
is that okay?

Oh, and one more thing: what do you recommend in the way of musical
fonts for Linux, preferably with quarter tone and arrow accidentals like
those found in the TrueType fonts used by Sibelius? Besides Sagittal, of
course; I'll look for that one posthaste. ~D.

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 1:27 AM, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky
<znmeb@cesmail.net> wrote:
> Do you mean Lilypond (music editor)? Rosegarden (sequencer)?

Yes. LOL, Danny used the wrong names, and then I totally forgot what
the right names were and just went along with it. =P

Unless there really are different software packages named "Lilypad"
and "Rosebud"... ?

Keenan

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 6:38 AM, Danny Wier <dawiertx@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I appreciate it. If I need any further help, I'll e-mail you privately;
> is that okay?

Sure.

> Oh, and one more thing: what do you recommend in the way of musical
> fonts for Linux, preferably with quarter tone and arrow accidentals like
> those found in the TrueType fonts used by Sibelius? Besides Sagittal, of
> course; I'll look for that one posthaste. ~D.

I'm not sure about fonts, but
http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.11/Documentation/topdocs/NEWS has an
impressive demonstration of weird-looking accidentals halfway down the
page. Click on the image to see the source.

Keenan