Changing to Linux for music making

[classic]

I am done with windows so fare.
After every update I got, it becomes slower and slower.

I am intending to add a new SSD HD into my computer and install the newest linux on it.

So, here for all the Linux cracks, the final frontier.

Which Linux version is the best on for muxic making?
Is there an easy way to use windows vstś on Linux?


Thank you very much for all your input in advanced.

[glokraw]

AVLinux

https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=avlinux

comes with wine-staging installed, along with yabridge plugin wrapper and a Reaper demo, to make vst .dlls easy to use in linux daws. And has the main audio tools people rely on. Your main commercial native linux daw choices will be, Reaper, Bitwig, Harrison Mixbus, and free daws qtractor, ardour, and carla. I think as a first go, installing the ssd in an external case, would be safer than booting alongside windows.

Burn a dvd of the distribution iso, and boot it from your computers early-boot menu, to verify potential happiness. There's no hurry, except for backing up whatever is important, and then consider cloning the windows setup first.

Be prepared to find a linux-friendly audio interface, if the one you have is not well supported. The yabridge page has excellent info:

https://github.com/robbert-vdh/

The linux Reaper forum is helpful:

https://forum.cockos.com/forumdisplay.php?f=52

Bitwig has a forum here at kvr.

Linux Mixbus forum is at:

https://forum.harrisonconsoles.com/

This forum has many separate topics for linux musicians:

https://linuxmusicians.com/

Surge XT, Odin2, Vital, Dexed, and Yoshimi are a great core of synths.
Hydrogen drum machine is pattern/grid based, and easy to make new kits from samples, Guitarix is an ever growing and improving amp-sim collection, and rakarrack is great fun as a multi-fx panel. Stochas and Patroneo are there for sequencer fans.
Cheers

[audiojunkie]

Well said, Glokraw! I agree that an appliance-type setup where everything is already configured is the best way for those new to Linux to get started. AV Linux is a perfect distro for a former Windows user to get his/her first experiences with Linux Pro Audio.

You are right on target with your core synths selection as well. I would add Cardinal, LinuxSampler (along with companion apps QSampler and GigEdit) as well as the Linux Studio Plugins and airwaves plugins to your recommendations to further round things out. For a DAW, you can’t go wrong with Reaper, Ardour, or Bitwig.

Edit: As far as audio interfaces go, any Class Compliant device should be simply plug-n-play.

[classic]

Waohh..Lots of information and tips.

If it is possible to stay with the synths I use right now, I would be happy.

[audiojunkie]

Waohh..Lots of information and tips.

If it is possible to stay with the synths I use right now, I would be happy.

As long as you don’t use ilok or dongled copy protection, there is a very real chance of that being possible through WINE and yabridge. Glokraw is the resident expert on that subject.

[glokraw]

Lucky for me, it's not rocket science

@ classic this will help with yabridge plugin wrapper, and no rocket-science,
except tons of that implemented by the coder!

https://github.com/robbert-vdh/yabridge

To use yabridge, unpack the yabridge archive in

/home/you/.local/share

This will create a Yabridge folder. Using sudo, or as root user, copy it's contents to

/usr/bin

Next, add a path command for your plugin folders, substitute your chosen username for 'you'...some common examples, note the quotes are needed when spaces exist.

yabridgectl add /home/you/.wine/drive_c/users/VstPlugins
yabridgectl add /home/you/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/VstPlugins"
yabridgectl add /home/you/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/Common Files/VST3"
yabridgectl add /home/you/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/Steinberg/VstPlugins"

yabridgectl add /home/you/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files (x86)/Cakewalk/VstPlugins"

yabridgectl add /home/ciento222/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/Native Instruments/VSTPlugins 64 bit"

yabridgectl add /home/you/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files (x86)/Creative Professional/Proteus VX"

next, run the sync command, that does all the rocket science for us, creating linux readable plugins with .so extension, right next to the original .dll

yabridgectl sync

Then have your daw rescan. When you install a new plugin to one of these paths,
run the sync command again.

Saving text files will be important references, as you'll have full access to your system, typically locked away in most win/mac setups.

Making a naming convention will save you much scrolling in filemanagers, so a folder named
.0aaa-new-music might be first in the view and .aaa-album-art a bit lower etc Most filemanagers have the hidden files setting at 'off'. The . before the title makes it hidden,
but .vst, .lv2, and .vst3 are common plugin folder defaults for linux plugins, , so I always turn on hidden files, andmake use of the . to prioritise and minimize mousing around.
Cheers

[margaret0547]

I'm using Ubuntu Studio.
I couldn't install wine-staging successfully. I followed instructions on videos and on web pages.
So I just installed wine from the 'discover' gui. That was successful.
I then installed yabridge and it added and synced successfully on ValhallaSpaceModulator vst3.
I added the path to Reaper, but Reaper would not recognize the new plugin on a re-scan.
So I'm stuck.
I think I need wine-staging(?) but can't install it. Any advise would be appreciated.

[glokraw]

Hi, go here:

https://www.winehq.org/

...but first, use your package manager to fully uninstall the existing wine,
and rename your .wine folder, so wine-staging has a fresh start.

Click the Download button on the right of the wineHQ page

You'll now be in the binary packages page, click the blue
Ubuntu link. The page that opens (see pic below) will have two commands
to paste in a terminal, one for i386 32bit support, and one for the repository key,
then a third command based on your Ubuntu version.
These three commands set up the wineHQ download repository.
The next command reloads your package manager to include the wineHQ items

sudo apt update

Lastly, paste the command for the 'Staging' branch option, one of the three
branches listed. I would reboot for good luck, launch Synaptic, install wine-staging,
and then do the yabridge waltz again. I have a Ubuntu Studio 20.04, well updated, and pretty sure Valhalla Supermassive works there.

also, be sure the yabridge path statement for your vst3 folder has quotes around
"Program Files/Common Files/VST3"
Cheers

wine-staging-commands.jpg

[BertKoor]

I am done with windows so fare.
After every update I got, it becomes slower and slower.

I am intending to add a new SSD HD into my computer and install the newest linux on it.

Personally I'd first see what swapping the rotating disk of rust for a SSD does to system performance.

[margaret0547]

glokraw, thanks for the detailed reply. I'm taking a detour from yabridge.
I'm currently playing around with windows Reaper running in wine. It's going well. So far most of my windows plugins and instruments work fine. The CPU load is big, though. It appears that Reaper running in wine doesn't recognize my external audio device (native Linux Reaper does). In the end I'll probably go back to yabridge if I can get it to work.

[FrettedSynth]

I agree with glokraw AV Linux MX21 is the way to go for easy setup.
Spent the last two weeks setting up a box with it and everything is running smooth.
Have a live setup running on a 256GB flash drive so if the machine\drive dies reinstall will be simple. The snapshot feature is great, last Linux I tried with that feature was puppy.
Was able to install most of my Windows plugins through WINE bridged to Linux with Yabridge.
For some silly reason Wusikstation installer would not run? Not a huge loss and I think I may be able to pull the install and registry entries from an old Win box and move to the install.
That's around 700 Windows plugins, Damn installed everything except the kitchen sink.
None have funky copy protection, gave up on that years ago. Serial, key file or free plugins.

[audiojunkie]

Way cool, FrettedSynth!! I'm the same way with all commercial apps as well. I've been using serial, keyfile or free--just like you for years as well. You know what's the funniest thing about getting your 700 Windows plugins working? In ten years, WINE will only emulate Windows better, and you'll still be able to use your 700 Windows plugins. I have serious doubts that Windows 11 users will be able to say the same thing about their Windows XP and Windows 7 (and maybe even some of their Windows 10) plugins.

[BONES]

Why would you think that when all my Windows 98 plugins still work in Windows 11, 24 years later? If they survived the switch from DOS to the NT kernel, I reckon they can survive anything.

I am done with windows so fare.
After every update I got, it becomes slower and slower.

Really? Mine sort of goes the other way - after every update it works better and better. They finally got around to updating Windows 10 on my workstation at the office and it's gone from being an unreliable slug to an absolute ball-tearer now that Windows is up to date. The difference is night and day. At first I thought they had completely rebuilt it but all my settings were intact and they assured me all they did was update it to 21H2. It's the same at home with Win11, every update seems to make things just that little bit better. Not necessarily faster, but little things I didn't even notice were problems disappear here and there.

The problem with Linux is that unless you compile your own custom kernel, it can be just as bloated as Windows, possibly moreso, depending on the distro you choose. That AV Linux seems like it might be OK, though. In the end, I think you'll find you're just swapping one set of problems for another, possibly much bigger set.

Good luck!

[FrettedSynth]

Why would you think that when all my Windows 98 plugins still work in Windows 11, 24 years later? If they survived the switch from DOS to the NT kernel, I reckon they can survive anything.

I am done with windows so fare.
After every update I got, it becomes slower and slower.

Really? Mine sort of goes the other way - after every update it works better and better. They finally got around to updating Windows 10 on my workstation at the office and it's gone from being an unreliable slug to an absolute ball-tearer now that Windows is up to date. The difference is night and day. At first I thought they had completely rebuilt it but all my settings were intact and they assured me all they did was update it to 21H2. It's the same at home with Win11, every update seems to make things just that little bit better. Not necessarily faster, but little things I didn't even notice were problems disappear here and there.

The problem with Linux is that unless you compile your own custom kernel, it can be just as bloated as Windows, possibly moreso, depending on the distro you choose. That AV Linux seems like it might be OK, though. In the end, I think you'll find you're just swapping one set of problems for another, possibly much bigger set.

Good luck!

I agree about Windows I have plugins from way back that still run perfect on Win10. So far on my Linux trials I have installed an Ubuntu studio system with WINE and LinVst ran really well. Decided a couple weeks ago to try AV Linux things went so well I installed basically everything. Both systems can run at a better real time latency then Windows, who knows maybe I just got lucky?

The added bonus I see is both are backed up in a way that installing to a new machine is now simple. For AV Linux I have a .iso file that can write a Live USB, from that I can run on most machines provided they are not using fancy graphic cards and such. From the Live USB I can just click install and I have my setup on a new computer.

[BONES]

I don't like backing up that way, I appreciate the opportunity for a fresh install with none of the baggage that builds up over time. With my Documents folder automagically backed up to OneDrive, getting a new laptop up and running these days is stupidly simple. I lost interest in Linux a long time ago, probably at the time I switched to Win2000 at home, although I kept using it at work, alongside Windows, until 2008.