We are told by our governments that in the current crisis the single most important action we can take is to stay at home and minimise the amount of contact with others. The new variants of Covid-19 are much more transmissible than the virus’s previous version. The advice to stay safe is therefore even more important. It’s only with everyone abiding by the law can we protect our health services and save lives.
In this series, we look at a range of home activities where Linux can play its part, making the most of our time at home, keeping active and engaged. The change of lifestyle enforced by Covid-19 is an opportunity to expand our horizons, and spend more time on activities we have neglected in the past.
Now is a great time to take up a new hobby. How about producing your own music? DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is an important tool in your creative arsenal. A DAW is a computer program designed for editing, recording, mixing and mastering audio files. You can record your various instruments, MIDI controllers and vocals, lay down the tracks, rearrange, splice, cut, paste, add effects, and ultimately finalize the song you’ve got cooking for the world to hear.
Here’s 3 gems for producing your own music.
LMMS
LMMS offers you the ability to produce music with your computer by creating/synthesizing sounds, arranging samples, playing live with your keyboard.
LMMS combines the features of a sequencer-program (pattern-/channel-/sample-/song-/effect-management) and those of powerful synthesizers and samplers in a modern, user-friendly and easy to use graphical user-interface.
The song editor is the heart of the program, where you arrange the various parts of your composition along the time axis. Instruments, samples and synthesizer sounds are shown in different tracks.
Ardour
Ardour is a multichannel hard disk recorder (HDR) and digital audio workstation (DAW). It can be used to control, record, edit and run and complex audio setups.
Ardour supports pro-audio interfaces through the ALSA project, which provides high quality, well design device drivers and API’s for audio I/O under Linux. Any interface supported by ALSA can be used with Ardour. This includes the all-digital 26 channel RME Hammerfall, the Midiman Delta 1010 and many others.
Rosegarden
Rosegarden is a professional audio and MIDI sequencer, score editor, and general-purpose music composition and editing environment.
It combines a track-oriented audio/MIDI sequencer with a standard music notation editor to provide an “all-in-one” solution.
This is an easy-to-learn, attractive application, ideal for composers, musicians, music students, and small studio or home recording environments.
All articles in this series:
| Linux at Home | |
|---|---|
| Astronomy | Explore the universe from your garden |
| Brew Beer | Weave malt and hops and yeast together in unique combinations |
| Circuit Design | Learn to design electronic circuits |
| Collaborating | Edit documents collaboratively in real-time |
| Cooking | Home cooking is an activity that’s great for individuals and families |
| Creative Writing | Pen a classic novel or screenplay |
| Cross-stitching | A form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery |
| Digital Art | Paint and draw directly onto a computer |
| Digital Music Production | Digital Audio Workstations |
| DOOM Gaming | Take a break and play classic DOOM |
| Embroidery | Craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle |
| Exercising | Keeping fit can be a challenge with lockdown |
| Gardening | Plan your perfect garden with these great tools |
| Genealogy | Research your family tree |
| Home Security | CCTV solutions to protect your home |
| Musical Instrument | Learn to play an instrument |
| RSI | Reduce and prevent repetitive strain injury |