LMMS (Linux Multi Media Studio)

[Erisian]

LMMS is a great tool for a freebie but it is not without its issues. Some of the problems I have are as follows:

1. The first thing I noticed is how much it looks like a child's plastic toy. This, at least, can be remedied by creating a new theme. The controls on the onboard synthesizers look like they were drawn onto a piece of card and then glued to the plastic. I half expect to see ”Made In Taiwan” printed on the bottom.
2. The synthesizers themselves are actually quite useable once you get used to the format, but for me most of them are bloatware as I have no use for them. I only use the triple oscillator and Vibed will be good if I need any slap bass. I might have a use for Organic too. It would be nice to be able to safely remove the surplus to tidy things up a bit.
3. It doesn't support ASIO. This is a biggie. All DAWs should support ASIO.
4. It doesn't support VST3.
5. All the blogs advertise it as having a pattern editor. By this, I am imagining something like FL Studio where you store patterns, then just use single clicks on a song editor to arrange the patterns. LMMS has no such thing. You can create a pattern in the piano roll, close the piano roll, then use copy and paste, but you can do that in any DAW that doesn't claim to have a pattern editor. It might look like FL Studio, but that does not make it a pattern editor.
6. It is inappropriately named. It is neither a Linux only DAW, nor is it a multimedia program.


Having said all of this, it has come a long way since I had it last and the Windows version is a lot more stable than it used to be. The creators have obviously worked hard to make it what it is today and are showing much generosity in giving it away free of charge. People who are new to creating music on their PC have access to everything they need in one package. It also has VeSTige – a very intelligent way of using third party vst instruments. Instead of waiting for a seemingly infinitely long scan through your vst folder, you simply load up VeSTige when you need it and click on the file button and you can browse for the specific vst you want to use. No scans necessary.

[k2006]

I think you can use Beat & Bassline editor for repetitive sequences.

[Erisian]

I think you can use Beat & Bassline editor for repetitive sequences.

Yes you are right. Can you use it with third party vsts? It might be worth exploring. My post above was really just my first impressions and I'm sure I will get to know it better in time.

[k2006]

no idea,i am not that familiar with lmms.for more info there is lmms forum https://lmms.io/forum/viewforum.php?f=2 and lmms project sharing site https://lmms.io/lsp/

[Erisian]

no idea,i am not that familiar with lmms.for more info there is lmms forum https://lmms.io/forum/viewforum.php?f=2 and lmms project sharing site https://lmms.io/lsp/

Thanks.

[pc999]

They are working on version 1.3, it seems it will be a big release.

[Erisian]

They are working on version 1.3, it seems it will be a big release.

Awesome. I'll keep up to date on that.

[ENV1]

It doesn't support ASIO.

Yes it does.

All you have to do is this:

- Get libportaudio DLL here
- Rename the existing libportaudio-2 DLL (in your LMMS folder) to something else
- Rename the downloaded DLL to libportaudio-2 and put it in your LMMS folder

Now you can select ASIO under 'Backend' in Audio Settings.

(With PortAudio selected as Audio Interface, of course.)

[Erisian]

It doesn't support ASIO.

Yes it does.

All you have to do is this:

- Get libportaudio DLL here
- Rename the existing libportaudio-2 DLL (in your LMMS folder) to something else
- Rename the downloaded DLL to libportaudio-2 and put it in your LMMS folder

Now you can select ASIO under 'Backend' in Audio Settings.

(With PortAudio selected as Audio Interface, of course.)

Fantastic. Thank you.

[Erisian]

It doesn't support ASIO.

Yes it does.

All you have to do is this:

- Get libportaudio DLL here
- Rename the existing libportaudio-2 DLL (in your LMMS folder) to something else
- Rename the downloaded DLL to libportaudio-2 and put it in your LMMS folder

Now you can select ASIO under 'Backend' in Audio Settings.

(With PortAudio selected as Audio Interface, of course.)

Fantastic. Thank you.

It messed up the sound completely.

[ENV1]

Forgot to say, you have to restart LMMS after selecting ASIO.

So do that and it should be OK.

[Erisian]

Forgot to say, you have to restart LMMS after selecting ASIO.

So do that and it should be OK.

I did that but couldn't get good results with Asio for all so I tried it with FL Studio Asio and HQ output and it works a dream. Thank you again.

[ENV1]

Check.

[Erisian]

They are working on version 1.3, it seems it will be a big release.

1.3 alpha is available for download. https://lmms.io/download#windows

[DollyNipples]

Made quite a few remixes with that program and posted them on AcidPlanet back during its decline. Someone preserved this track: https://archive.org/details/acidplanet-audio-01396342 on the Internet Archive.