Experimenting with soft-synths and sequencers via MIDI

Lately I have been experimenting with virtual synthesizers and MIDI sequencers. As can be seen, my Linux workflow tends to get very modular, which is expected when every software is FREE. At the following pictures I am presenting Carla framework that routes different MIDI information and hosts even some Windows based VSTs using Wine. I’ve been using Rosegarden sequencer + QSynth for sketching compositions before recordings, but with these setups it might be possible to create songs closer to final production during composing which makes sound design more natural part of the production process. Based on these experimentations, I might move to using MusE more, as it has practically the same functionality with Rosegarden and its MIDI-clock works better. It was also easier to setup with this particular experimentation.

Yoshimi/ZynAddSubFX and drum machine Hydrogen have been my default virtual instruments (and hopefully soon some results will be seen on my upcoming electronic album), but on the pictures I am showing multiple different instruments which are more challenging to get working simultaneously. Carla makes this possible anyway. Although, it might require to set some separate MIDI instrument slots on MusE (see jack-midi ports) or Rosegarden (see f1-f3/unnamed ports). However, I recommend NOT following my example screenshots of keeping many instrument GUIs visible at the same time as this might crash the Carla system altogether (especially when there are instruments running on Wine as well). So, use the GUIs for separate editing only! Also, make sure you name your ports properly when there are many instruments to route.

Later I might do some in-depth reviews of some presented soft-synths. Especially Helm is really interesting one when it comes to control features.

13.8.2018: I still use only Rosegarden because MusE doesn’t even work at the moment on my setup. Hopefully devs fix their shit.

VCV Rack – virtual modular synthesizer

I’ve been recently really busy with my bachelor thesis but I learned to use a software called VCV Rack. It’s an open source modular synthesizer emulator and endlessly expandable with external module plugins. I’ve only got started with it even though it is already kinda complicated. At least I managed to plug the synth with MIDI and play some notes. (Routing 1V/oct is the most important thing to get different notes sound instead of steady frequency. Although, I still have to tune the basic frequency correctly…)

At some point I downloaded many other new software synthesizers as well (including VSTs that I was able to get working on Linux using Carla). So far “Helm” is maybe the most promising of them, at least what comes to editing capabilities. Yoshimi/ZynAddSubFX is still one of my top choices when working on software synthesizers though. Hopefully I’ll finish my album next summer where I have been using it much. I have already published some of the WIP songs made during my China trip.

Modus: Simulations runs on Linux!

Onnistuin viimein toteuttamaan pitkäaikaisen haaveeni saada Game Maker projektit toimimaan Linuxilla (itse IDE ei valitettavasti pyöri Linuxilla). Modus: Simulations oli tietenkin ensimmäinen luonnollinen testi tässä mielessä ja kaikki näyttää toimivan moitteettomasti, hiiren rullaa lukuunottamatta.

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I was finally able to fulfill my long dream to get my Game Maker projects work in Linux (IDE itself doesn’t unfortunately run on Linux). Modus: Simulations was naturally my first test in this sense and things seems to work quite flawlessly so far, except mouse wheel doesn’t seem to work yet.

My recent Linux installments: LineageOS for smartphone and UbuntuStudio for laptop

Recently I’ve succesfully made installations for some difficult platforms: smartphone and a modern laptop. For guides in Finnish, there are my relevant topics about these here (LineageOS) and here (UEFIgate).

If I’m conservatist about something then it is about “security features” restricting OS installations in modern hardware which purpose is protecting proprietary software. There are more and more devices having either closed source drivers or protectionist software making Linux installations more difficult nowadays. But don’t get me wrong, the options might give some real additional security in some cases, but large companies aren’t providing these just because of divine charity for customers. As a private business they’re ensuring their profits by limiting open source alternatives and forcing customers to buy new machines if something goes wrong with the software. Ironically, the same set of these new tools that enable personal protection against hackers (crackers) also enable backports for companies to spy and send personal information for advertisers. So, this is not about fighting against hackers, it is about establishing a hierarchy of hackers.

As Microsoft and other manufacturers are still placing their own spy malware in the system, development towards embedded systems justified with security is such hypocrisy in this sense. Okey, maybe I don’t have much merit to talk since I’ve still stuck to use Windows with dual-boot option anyway. (Game Maker is my only reason…) But this rant being said, let’s get into the installation overviews with my additional notes.

LineageOS
I had to install LineageOS since I noticed that OMG, support for CyanogenOS ended last year! All in all, this gave me a chance (or rather a necessity) to install purely sneaky Google-app free system. LineageOS was a natural choice since it continues where CyanogenMod/OS community left. All in all this was probably the most complicated IT process I’ve ever done. But even as a noob, it is possible to install OS into smartphone as long as you’re being careful. In my case (OnePlus One phone) I followed these steps. However, as a dumb proof method I recommend install adb and fastboot via command line:
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb
sudo apt-get install android-tools-fastboot

Also, I recommend to NOT install SuperSU rooting software, since it might get the booting stuck in zero. Here’s also some additional helpful sources:
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/like-a-boss-how-to-root-your-oneplus-one.58493/
https://twrp.me/Devices/ (select your device for specific info)
https://www.reddit.com/r/cyanogenmod/comments/3v5gfy/how_long_to_boot_after_first_cm13_flash/

Installation for UEFI laptop
At first, there are nowadays many different laptops with many different restrictions, because of the reasons I pointed on earlier. My new laptop is Acer Swift 5 and I installed Ubuntu Studio 16.04 LTS along with the preinstalled Windows 10. When installing Linux, one must handle the BIOS options quite carefully, for example: enable separate boot menu (in my case F12), enable secure boot. If one doesn’t need Windows, the most simple way is to enable Legacy instead of UEFI. Then the installation should roll quite easily. However, when installing Linux on modern Acer laptops or such, this guide might be really helpful and solved many things for me.

Workflow-kriisi | Workflow-crisis

EDIT 26.2.2017 FIN: Olen päättänyt, että (vastentahtoisesti) asennan Win10:n pöytäkoneelleni käyttääkseni GameMaker: Studio 2:ta. (En kuitenkaan tarvitse sitä vielä heti, joten voi mennä jokin aika ennen kuin jaksan tarttua hommaan.) Joten, seuraava teksti on nyt hieman turhaa ajanhukkaa luettavaksi.
ENG: I’m decided to (unwillingly) install Win10 to my desktop computer in order to use GameMaker: Studio 2. (But I don’t have to do it anytime soon, so it might take a while until I feel up to do it.) So, the next text is now a bit useless waste of time to read.

Minulla on pieni ongelma projektejani ajatellen. Erityisesti Moduksen kohdalla, jota tämä asia hieman jäädyttää tällä hetkellä. Vaikkakin niin kauan kuin teen vain musiikkia kotona nykyisillä seteillä, niin kaikki on ok. Ongelma on kuitenkin workflowssa ja nykyisen asuntoni tuomissa pienissä tilallisissa rajoitteissa: äänittäessä täytyy kulkea tietsikan ja pääkoskettimieni (Fantomin) välillä (mitä tosin helpottanee uusin synani, jonka etu tosin rajoittuu MIDI-pohjaiseen työskentelyyn tässä mielessä), mutta myös vaikka hommaisin uuden läppärin. Hetkinen, ai miksi?

Huoh… Nykyisessä liikkuvassa työskentelyssäni tulee nopeasti rajoituksia miniläppärini kohdalla. Jopa älypuhelimeni päihittää sen surffailussa ja kirjoittelussa (kuten tämänkin tekstin osalta). Mutta tämä ei ole edes suurin ongelma. Jos milloinkaan tarvitsee tehdä äänityksiä kotini ulkopuolella, siitä tulee usein melko tuskallista, joskin mahdollista… Suurin kysymys koskee tosin pelinkehitykseni tulevaisuutta. Ensinnäkin GameMaker Studio ei toimi Linuxilla. GM:S2 julkaistiin hiljattain, mutta “lupauksista” huolimatta sekään ei tullut Linuxille eikä todennäköisesti tule. Enigma-projektikin on toistaiseksi liian buginen mihinkään. Tällä hetkellä ainoa väyläni tehdä pelejä on miniläppärin Win7 Starterilla GM:S 1.3:lla (kun edes 1.4:kään ei siinä toimi), mikä on suoraan sanoen aika perseestä.

Yksi mahdollisuus olisi ostaa siis uusi kunnon läppäri, MUTTA se saattaisi olla liian suuri uskonloikka. Kunnon hinnalla pitäisi melkeinpä myydä nykyinen pöytäkoneeni (2011 miniläppäristäni tuskin paljoa saisin), jotta saisin (enemmän tai yhtä) tehokkaan läppärin vastineeksi. Sekään ei tosin ratkaisevasti ehkä ylittäisi workflow-ongelmiani, sillä edelleen pitäisi dual-bootata Linuxin (musiikkisetit ja peruskäyttö) sekä Windowsin (vain GM käyttö) välillä. Sitä paitsi en mielelläni tukisi Mikkisoftaa ja sen kurkusta alas tungettua spyware-käyttistä (eli Win10, joka olisi luultavasti väistämätön uusien koneiden kohdalla, ja luoja auttakoon kaikkien mahdollisten UEFI yms. rajoitusten kohdalla, joita Linuxia asentaessa voi tulla vastaan näiden nykyisten käyttisprotektionististen saatanallisten myllyjen kohdalla, joissa M$ on törkyisellä bisneksellään pakottanut askelia Applen suljettujen sääntöjen suuntaan.)

Pöytäkoneet tarjoavat raudassa siten enemmän vapautta, joka on hyvä Linux-käyttöön (vapaaseen softaan). Joka tapauksessa, radikaalein muutos vaatisi muuttamista toiseen asuntoon ja nykyisten koneideni myymistä uuden läppärin tieltä, mikä vaatisi myös ties kuinka monien tiedostojen siirtoa nykyisistä seteistäni. Mieluusti pitäisin pöytäpeeceeni jo ihan näiden varastojen takia. Mutta jos pitäisin sen, tarvitsisin enemmän tilaa (avaruudellisesti). Tämä myös maksaisi luultavasti ihan liikaa (muutto kenties isompaan asuntoon vuokrineen päivineen + kunnon läppäri ilman lisätuloja). Ja vaikka minulla olisi kaikki aika ja raha tähän, epäilen olisiko se sen arvoista. Toinen vaihtoehto olisi hylätä GameMaker kokonaan ja aloitettava puhtaalta pöydältä esim. Godot-Enginellä opetteluineen päivineen, mikä maksaisi puolestaan sikana aikaa.

Kaikista muutettavista asioista ja syistä tässäkin on luultavasti vain jäävuoren huippua kartoitettu.

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I have a slight problem considering my projects. Especially with Modus which is slightly freezed because of this for now. Although, as long as I keep doing only music in my home with my current setups, everything’s fine. Still, the problem is mainly about workflow and the spatial limitations of my current apartment that give some obstacles: need for moving between my main keyboards (Fantom) and computer (which is overcomeable partly because of my newest synth, even though only in some MIDI working), but also if I would get a laptop. Oh, wait a sec, why?

Sigh… There are some limitations in my current portable working considering my mini-laptop. Even my smart phone beats it with surfing and writing (like this text). But that’s not even the biggest issue. If I ever need to do recordings outside my home, it is going to be a bit painful, but still possible… The biggest question anyway entails my possible future with game development. First of all, GameMaker Studio doesn’t work on Linux. GM:S2 was recently announced, but despite of “promises”, it wasn’t announced on Linux and possibly is never going to will. Enigma project is also still too buggy to begin with. Currently my only way for doing games is with GM:S 1.3 on my mini-laptop (even 1.4 doesn’t work on that) which is kinda shitty honestly.

I could purchase a proper laptop BUT it would still be maybe too big leap of faith. I should probably sell my desktop computer (I wouldn’t probably get much out of my 2011 mini-laptop) to get (more or as) efficient laptop in return. That wouldn’t still probably solve many workflow issues because I would still have to dual-boot the computer between Linux (music setups and basic usage) and Windows (GameMaker). Besides I’m not very willing to support Microsoft and its throat-shoveled spyware OS (Win10, which is probably unavoidable when looking for a new laptop, and god help you with all those possible UEFIs and other restrictions that might come on the way when installing Linux on these modern OS-protectionist satanic mills where M$ has forced shitty business leaps towards Apple and its closed policies).

Desktop computer still offers hardware more freedom that is good for Linux usage (and its software freedom). Anyway, the most radical change would require moving to a different apartment and selling my present computers when getting a proper laptop, which would also require who knows how much moving my files from different sources to this new setup. I’d rather keep my desktop PC for these storages alone. But if I keep the desktop computer, I probably would need more room (spatially). And this might cost too much (moving to another, maybe bigger apartment + a proper laptop and no extra incomes). Even if I would have all the time and money to do this all, I doubt would it be worth it. Another option would be abandon GameMaker completely and start freshly with Godot-Engine and learn that, which would probably take really long.

About all the things that need to change and their reasons, this is however only the tip of an iceberg.

Music production with Linux: 5 rules

Many people have fought with Linux setups (including me). Some of these keyboard warriors give up but I haven’t. Originally I came up with these tips in a reddit discussion but I thought I could share this knowledge here as well. These tips are only based on my experience when setting Linux up. If you’re planning on making music on Linux you should at least consider these rough guidelines presented here. (This post is exceptionally now only in English because without basic knowledge of English I’m sure you can’t always find the solutions anyway if/when problems occur.) Linux is profoundly a community driven project: everything isn’t setup for you as a default. As it might be seen as a big downturn of Linux it’s also the same thing that gives Linux its wide customizability. In order to use Linux you should probably agreed with this philosophy (at least I think so). As this view of Linux is now briefly covered we can now move on setupping things.

I’ve setup Linux audio systems since 2011 (including different Ubuntus and AV Linux). Couple years ago I finally figured out how to make a stable system without having any fatal problems anymore. Here’s my five rules. (For simplicity these tips are excluded to Ubuntu operating systems but could be applied at least on Debian systems. Ubuntu is generally the best alternative for getting things done without much hassle.)

Rule 1)

Ubuntu Studio and other similar distros get broken easily by updates -> Just in case you should make a regular Ubuntu install or such (I use MATE nowadays) with Ubuntu Studio extensions:

sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-audio
sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-audio-plugins

Rule 2)

The two main audio platforms for Linux are Pulseaudio (for basic audio input/output) and JACK (for deeper audio work). Pulseaudio and JACK do NOT work together unless you setup them to do so following e.g. these pulseaudio-jack-sink instructions.

Rule 3)

If you’re for example using Ardour and doing some realtime stuff, install cpufreq to switch into performance option during music sessions to prevent xruns and such (lowlatency/realtime kernels are also installable but I won’t cover them here):

sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq

Rule 4)

Problems with MIDI devices? Make sure a2jmidid is installed and running. For example in JACK setup (script after startup) you can set it to start automatically: a2jmidid -e &

Or just launch manually:

a2jmidid

Rule 5)

Also before doing anything else make sure your hardware is actually compatible. Otherwise look for class-compliant interfaces for example (or about supported interfaces check this list out).

An idiot proof solution is of course to make an installation that will not be updated, but with these tips it should work (at least for me…), and if something gets broken usually some of these fixes the issue. This is not a thorough list but interwebs offers more info about those mentioned things if you handle the search engines…

Älyaikaan | To the smart age

Ostin käytettynä OnePlus Onen. Siinä on CyanogenOS käyttis, joka perustuu Linux-pohjaiseen Androidiin, muttei nojaa liikaa Googleen. Se oli käytännössä ainoa vaihtoehtoni, koska yritän boikotoida Googlea softineen ja suljettuja käyttöjärjestelmiä (lähinnä Appl€lta ja Micro$oftilta) mahdollisimman paljon. (Lopetin esim. Googlen hakukoneen käytön kokonaan 2012, kun he julkistivat uudet “yksityisyys” -ehtonsa.) Asiasta kukkaruukkuun: siirtynen myös ehkä pelinteossa Godot engineen, kun sen IDE on Linuxillekin. Kyseessä on ilmainen avoimen lähdekoodin pelimoottori, joka vaikuttaa hyvältä, kunhan sitä opettelen käyttämään. Tästä lisää myöhemmin, kun tutustun.

Siinä se pyörii | There it rolls

I bought a second hand OnePlus One. It has a CyanogenOS which is based on Linux based Android but isn’t relying on Google too much. That was practically my only option since I try to boycott Google software and closed source operating systems (from Appl€ and Micro$oft) as much as possible. (I also quit using Google search engine in 2012 when they announced their new “privacy” policy.) Offtopic: I also possibly move to make games with Godot engine in the future if I learn to use it. It’s available on Linux and it’s open source and free. I’ll post more about this when I get in touch with it.

Game Maker ~> Enigma

Enigma (and lateral GM) is an open source project and version of Game Maker which works also in Linux. Although the installation was a difficult process I managed to get it working. (Just make sure you got plugins and executable file in the enigma-dev folder then you’ll ready to go if everything other has went by the instructions.) There are some bugs and benefits with the engine but seems that I might move slightly to Enigma and make my games with that. Adaptation will take time but we’ll see how much. Reason (along Enigma being open source) for me to prefer Enigma is that when I use Game Maker I have only Windows 7 starter in my laptop which might not be the best environment to develop games. I still have WinXP in my desktop computer but Game Maker Studio doesn’t work on that anymore.

BackWatch (open source)

Watch your back! (In English briefly below)

GMS-aihe

Eli, tämä on hyvin alkeellinen kyhäelmä taisteluun selkäkipujani vastaan. Tein softan sitä varten, jotta voisin paremmin tauottaa koneellaistumisaikaani. Enkä liene ainut, kuka istuu liikaa… Joten tämä voi olla yleishyödyllinen muillekin. En siis löytänyt mistään vastaavaa softaa, joka ajastaisi tiettyjen aikojen välein ilman herätyksen uudelleenasettamista joka kerta. Tässä on siis simppelisti kolme asetusta, joita voi sivunuolilla vaihtaa: puoli tuntia, tunti ja kaksi tuntia. Minun pitäisi siis parin tunnin välein tehdä tiettyjä venytyksiä, mutta jo yleisestihän pelkästä puolen tunnin välein noususta kroppa sanoo tack så mycket. Enteristä laittaa ajastimen päälle, jolloin kuuluu myös hälytysääni. Se on oletuksella virtuaalianalogisyntsalla simuloitu kissan maukaisu. Pohjana on hieman käytetty jotain examplea gmc:stä enkä tiedä, onko ajastin ihan kaikista tarkin millisekunneissa jne. Pointtina on kuitenkin säännöllinen tauotus, joka toimii joka tapauksessa.

Ja kyllä, tämä on peli, jos haluat pelata terveydelläsi! Pelin voittaa se, jolla säilyy terve selkä ja pelissä häviää se, joka sairastuu tuki- ja liikuntaelin sairauksiin sekä halvaantuu ja kuolee. Any questions?

Ainakin toistaiseksi tämä on hyvin pelkistetty, mutta toimiipa jopa winen kautta Linuxilla, mikä on pääasia minulle. Siinä on esimerkiksi aika räikeä tausta (tosin tuskin kukaan koneella tunteja istuu BackWatch päällimmäisenä ikkunana). Laitoin kuitenkin projektitiedostonkin mukaan, jos haluaa viritellä oman kellon tältä pohjalta. Ei siis muuta kuin peba ylös penkistä.

I didn’t found any software that could make constant alarms without having setting up alarms again and again. I made this software with Game Maker: Studio for keeping track of health. When you stand up regularly when doing things with computer, body thanks. There’s three options 30 min, 1 hour and 2 hours that you can choose using left and right keys. Timer starts and stops with enter producing the demonstration of alarm sound as well. This works also via Wine (at least with me) in Linux but is exe file. There’s also the source code in project files attached.

DOWNLOAD
SOURCE CODE

Joitain uutisia | Some news

Olen tekemässä tuoreita käyttisasennuksia tietokoneilleni. Siirryn takaisin KXStudioon (tällä kertaa KDE työpöydällä). Sitten voin varmaankin keskittyä musiikkiin aikaista enemmän. Jossain vaiheessa Moduksenkin tarina ylitti 10000 sanaa. Se etenee todella hitaasti, mutta valmistuu toivottavasti ennen ensi vuotta. Ai niin, blogin näyttökerratkin ovat ylittäneet 2000:n.

Testaan myös bandcampissa maksuominaisuutta. Nykyiset lataukset säilyvät ilmaisina, mutta Dear Diary OST:n kohdalla kuuntelijalla on mahdollisuus tukea taloudellisesti halutessaan. #CAPITALIZM!

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I’m doing fresh OS installs for my computers. I switch back to KXStudio (this time with KDE desktop). Then I can propably focus on the music more than before. Also in some point the story of Modus overcame 10000 words. It’s progressing slowly but hopefully it’ll gets ready somewhere before the next year. Oh, and views of the blog acchieved over 2000.

I’m also testing a payment feature in bandcamp. Current downloads there will stay free but Dear Diary OST has now an ability to make a donation if the listener feels like supporting. #CAPITALIZM!