Re: [lp-ca-on] FSOSS Music Talk Accepted

[Blaise Alleyne]

On 03/11/15 05:12 PM, Rudolf Olah wrote:
> Hey Blaise, wondering how the talk went!

It went alright! I think it was very well received. I wasn't super happy with my
performance, need more practice with the looping especially with a time limit,
but I think it still worked well in the context of a tech demo.

I bought a Keith McMillen SoftStep 2 a few days before the talk, so I was able
to record/overdub/start/stop/undo from a MIDI foot pedal -- also, can use it to
switch instruments in a software program. And I haven't even started really
configuring that in a custom way!


> Are there videos from FSOSS?
> 

It was recorded. I don't know how the audio will turn out, but it will be
uploaded to the CDOT Seneca YouTube channel probably within the next few weeks
(judging from last year).


> Oh and is there a list of the software you're using?
> 

Quick list of software:
- KXStudio (repos for Debian, also available for Ubuntu, or separate distro)
- Cadence/Catia for JACK control
- Software synths: Yoshimi/ZynAddSubFx, amsynth (post-SFD), Sorcer
- Samplers: QSampler (linuxsampler GUI) with Salamander piano samples, Fabla
(drum sampler)
- Guitar sound processing: Rakarrack, Guitarix (and I've pre-ordered the MOD 
Duo!)
- Other: Zonage (keyboard splitting), QMidiArp (arpeggiation), jalv.gtk (for
running plugins like Fabla or Sorcer as stand-alone programs), liquorix (low
latency kernel)
- DAW: SooperLooper (primary for live looping), luppp (have played with it),
Ardour (serious recording), QTractor (quick recording sketches), LMMS (on my
list to explore further)


Hardware:
- Novation Launchkey 64 MIDI keyboard
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface
- Presonus Firepod audio interface at home (8 inputs rather than two, but not as
portable)
- Keith McMillen SoftStep 2 MIDI foot controller

The SoftStep2 and Launchkey both have proprietary firmware, and require
proprietary Windows applications to change any presets or configuration, but
they're totally USB class compliant, so they don't require any proprietary
drivers for regular operation with JACK in GNU/Linux.

All running off my Thinkpad X60 with a SSD, so not requiring a ton of computing
power.


Also, highly recommend:

http://libremusicproduction.com/ -- great tutorials, I've learned a ton from 
there

#opensourcemusicians on irc.freenode.net (I've received help from lead
maintainers of some of the above projects, great community channel)

http://linuxaudio.org/ -- wiki, mailing list, the unofficial community hub

http://linuxmusicians.com/ -- active forums *shrugs*


> I hope it went well, it was impressive to see your setup at Software Freedom 
> Day
> 

Thanks!


I'm leaning towards applying to do a workshop at LibrePlanet in Boston in March.
I don't feel quite ready yet, but I think it'd be a good deadline to work
towards and I'd have the time to get ready.