Why I switched to Linux for Audio/Music Production
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Francesco introduces his series on audio production using Linux. He shares his personal journey of transitioning from Windows to Linux for music production, highlighting the advantages such as better control over system resources and the use of free, open-source tools. He explains how compatibility layers like Wine and VST bridges allow users to run Windows plugins on Linux. Francesco also recommends various DAWs and plugins, such as Ardour and Reaper, and provides insights into synthesizers like ZynAddSubFX. The video aims to show why Linux is a viable option for professional audio production.
Takeaways
- 🎵 Francesco introduces his new video series on audio production using Linux.
- 🎶 He switched to Linux for music production due to performance issues with Windows on his old laptop.
- 💻 Linux uses less RAM compared to Windows, making it ideal for heavy plugin usage in music production.
- 🧩 Wine and VST bridges allow Linux users to run Windows plugins without issues.
- 🎧 Francesco highlights professional DAWs like Bitwig and Reaper that are available on Linux.
- 🛠️ He recommends Ardour, a free and open-source DAW, which has improved significantly over the years.
- 🎹 He mentions various Linux-compatible plugins like ZynAddSubFX, LV2, and LADSPA for audio work.
- 🎻 VSCO Orchestra offers high-quality instrument samples that work well with both proprietary and free software.
- 🔧 Calf plugins are a suite of tools for audio mastering and mixing, widely used in Linux audio production.
- 🎼 Audio production on Linux has improved dramatically, with more tools, plugins, and commercial support.
Q & A
What is the main topic of Francesco's video series?
-Francesco's video series focuses on audio production, specifically using Linux as the main operating system for producing music.
Why did Francesco initially switch to Linux for music production?
-Francesco switched to Linux out of necessity when his cheap laptop running Windows 10 became too slow for music production. Linux allowed him to unlock the potential of his hardware by using fewer system resources.
What advantages does Linux offer for audio production compared to Windows?
-Linux uses less RAM compared to Windows, which helps when loading many plugins and heavy virtual instruments (VSTs). It gives users more control over hardware, allowing them to optimize performance for audio production.
What challenges did Francesco face when switching to Linux for music production?
-One major challenge Francesco faced was the lack of professional audio software on Linux, as many companies don't provide Linux versions of their plugins. He had to find alternatives, such as using Wine and VST bridges to run Windows plugins on Linux.
What is Wine, and how does it help with running audio plugins on Linux?
-Wine is a program that allows Linux users to run Windows applications on Linux. Francesco used Wine and VST bridges as a compatibility layer to run Windows plugins on Linux.
What digital audio workstations (DAWs) does Francesco recommend for Linux users?
-Francesco mentions several DAWs for Linux, including Bitwig, Reaper, and Ardour. He highlights Ardour as a good free and open-source DAW that has improved significantly in recent years.
What types of audio plugins are available for Linux, and how do they compare to those on other platforms?
-Linux has its own native plugins, such as LV2 and LADSPA. Francesco also recommends ZynAddSubFX (a synthesizer), as well as CALF plugins, which offer a variety of audio mastering and mixing tools. While Linux plugins may be less widely known than proprietary ones, there are many high-quality free and open-source options.
How does Francesco address concerns about the complexity of Linux plugins like ZynAddSubFX?
-Francesco acknowledges that tools like ZynAddSubFX might seem intimidating at first due to their complexity, but with experience, they become easier to use. He compares it to simpler tools like Helm and encourages users to explore the possibilities offered by advanced plugins.
What open-source music resources and sample libraries does Francesco recommend?
-Francesco recommends using SoundFonts and mentions specific resources like the VSCO orchestra for high-quality instrument samples. He also highlights repositories where Linux users can find many plugins and tools for free.
How has audio production on Linux improved over the years, according to Francesco?
-Francesco believes that audio production on Linux has significantly improved due to the development of more tools, better DAWs, and increasing support from commercial software. He mentions projects like Ardour and PianoTeq, which now support Linux natively, making the platform more viable for professional audio production.
Outlines
🎶 Introduction to Linux for Audio Production
Francesco introduces himself and the video series focused on audio production on Linux. He shares his journey of switching to Linux for music production, explaining how he started using it out of necessity when his old laptop became too slow with Windows 10. Francesco highlights the advantages of Linux, such as better control over hardware and less RAM usage, especially useful for running plugins and VSTs (Virtual Studio Technology). Despite the initial challenge of limited professional software, Francesco discusses the workaround using Wine and VST bridges to run Windows plugins on Linux.
🔧 Free and Open-Source DAWs and Tools
Francesco introduces several Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) and tools available for Linux, both commercial and open-source. He discusses popular options like Bitwig and Reaper for professional use, as well as Ardour, an open-source DAW. He also mentions other emerging DAWs such as LMMS and Zrythm, emphasizing the growing support for audio production on Linux. Additionally, Francesco highlights the wide range of free plugins available, including Linux-native VSTs (LV2 and LADSPA) and synthesizers like ZynAddSubFX, which offer powerful sound design capabilities for Linux users.
🎛️ Exploring Plugins and Synthesizers on Linux
Francesco gives an in-depth look at various plugins and synthesizers available on Linux, showcasing ZynAddSubFX and demonstrating its interface, oscillators, and sound manipulation features. He explains how users can modify voices, apply effects, and shape sounds using different parameters like LFO and filters. Francesco recommends other plugins such as the Calf plugin suite for mastering and mixing, and also points to valuable resources like GitHub repositories where users can find additional Linux-compatible plugins. He emphasizes the versatility of Linux for audio production, noting the continued improvement of tools and support for the platform.
🎹 Final Thoughts and Encouragement to Switch to Linux
Francesco concludes by reaffirming that Linux is a viable option for audio production, with numerous DAWs, plugins, and tools now available. He highlights Yabridge as a great VST bridge for running Windows plugins on Linux and encourages viewers to give Linux a try, noting the flexibility and extensive resources the platform offers. Francesco invites viewers to check out future videos for more tips and insights on audio production on Linux, and he shares links to his music and other resources in the description for those interested in exploring further.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Linux
💡Audio Production
💡VST Bridge
💡Wine
💡Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
💡RAM Efficiency
💡Open Source Tools
💡Ardour
💡ZynAddSubFX
💡Reaper
Highlights
Francesco introduces the topic of the video series on audio production and mentions the use of Linux as a primary operating system for producing music.
Francesco discusses his personal experience switching to Linux due to necessity, specifically for unlocking the potential of his old, slow laptop for music production.
Linux uses less RAM compared to Windows, making it more efficient for loading heavy plugins and VSTs in audio production environments.
Wine, a program that allows Windows applications to run on Linux, is crucial for using Windows-specific plugins on Linux during audio production.
VST bridges, which facilitate the use of Windows plugins on Linux, are now easy to set up and function smoothly for both audio production and gaming.
Bitwig is mentioned as a professional DAW available on Linux, though it's proprietary software and was too heavy for Francesco's older laptop.
Reaper is another professional DAW available on Linux, adding to the range of commercial audio production tools for the platform.
Ardour, an open-source DAW for Linux, has significantly improved in recent years, offering a viable alternative for musicians looking for a free option.
Francesco highlights the availability of several free tools and plugins on Linux, such as LMMS, Zrythm, and LV2 plugins, which enhance the audio production experience.
ZynAddSubFX is presented as a powerful synthesizer available on Linux, offering a rich set of features for sound design and synthesis.
Francesco demonstrates ZynAddSubFX’s interface, showcasing its various features like multiple oscillators, LFO, and voice control for detailed sound shaping.
Francesco discusses using free soundfonts and sample libraries like VSCO Orchestra to access high-quality instrument samples for music production on Linux.
Calf Plugins, a suite of open-source plugins for Linux, offer essential tools like EQs, compressors, and effects for mixing and mastering.
Francesco mentions the GitHub repository where users can find a wide variety of Linux plugins and DAWs to enhance their audio production setup.
Commercial tools like PianoTeq are now available in native Linux formats, further expanding the professional audio production ecosystem on Linux.
Transcripts
hello everyone and welcome to my channel
my name is francesco
and this is the first video of a series
of videos where i will talk about
audio production
have ever wondered about switching to
linux as your main os
and producing music on linux well i've
asked
this thing myself years ago and now i
can show you
why is not only possible but you
should switch linux to produce audio
nowadays the idea for this video came
after the mini debian conference
2020 where i talked about free tools
and open source tools that we can use
for audio production in linux
so i'm a musician and i'm a music
composer i compose
game soundtracks and i will tell you why
i switched to linux and i use linux as
my main events
i have some experience in recording
studios and i never
met someone that used linux to produce
music
i actually started to produce musical
linux on my old laptop
i bought this cheap laptop that after a
while just broke
i switched it to linux from windows 10
on that laptop because
otherwise it would have been too slow to
use
for music production so that was my
first attempt
as using linux as my main os to produce
music and actually i've used that cheap
laptop
to record some tracks and some of my
studio
tracks that are part of my new album too
so i switch it because of necessity i
need linux to unlock the potential
of that laptop i needed linux to have
the control over my computer
now i have three different computers all
running linux
and i've also my workstation here
running linux2
depending on which distro you wanted to
use linux can use
a little bit of ram compared to windows
because windows can just take
one or two gigs of ram out of nowhere
just starting the system
and that's a problem when you have a
workstation you want to produce
audio and you want to use a lot of ram
to load
many different plugins and many heavy
vsts that you have your heavy library
will take a lot of ram if you have that
run locked by windows because
it's used it is used for something else
that's a problem you want to
have the control over your hardware the
thing that
scared me when i was switching to linux
was the lack of professional software on
linux itself
problem is many companies don't support
linux and they don't have linux version
of their plugins
so we have something called wine wine is
a program that allows you to
run windows programs on linux and
luckily enough we have vst bridges
bst bridges are programs that allow you
to use wine
as a compatibility layer and you can run
the plugins that you run usually on
windows you can run them
on linux just fine inside your though or
outside if you want
so this thing really helped me a lot
because
during the transition i used many many
plugins that
were only available on windows and
that's why i switched to linux without
problems at all
also vst bridges nowadays are very easy
to set up and
are not so complicated why it's just
working well
and it's doing great also in video games
because wine is so good right now you
can start windows game
or linux without problems at all or at
least most of them
so after i found that i could run
windows plugins linux now i had to find
some gudu that can run on linux
so my eyes were on bitwig bidwig is a
cool dough
made in germany and that is not a
free and open source dough at all you
can run the demo but that's property
software
and this though it's very nice it's very
i like that
a lot but it was too heavy for my cheap
laptop
i discovered the reaper that's also
available
on linux but those are two professional
programs and commercial programs that
are available and that's
great by the way there is another though
that
attracted me and its name is ardhru
arthur is a very cool though and
it's false software and i think that
they're improving
a lot though now it's much better
comparing that to years ago now we are
at
6.5 version and i was surprised when
i found this though because actually
yeah you have to pay
to download the latest version but you
have to
donate something to have the dough there
are many three other
those available linux like lmms or
z written zender readme is newer
they're developing it and it's really
fresh and new so
you should try it if you were just
coming to linux right now and you want
to try some new dough
because either it's a little bit like
traditional those
talking about free tools and open source
tools that we have
available on linux right now there are
many many plugins that you can find and
that
your though can run without problems we
usually refer to linux plugins as
lx est or linux vst or lv2
there are also lads ba plugins that are
just
lb one if you want to to call them like
that
because lb2 is just the successor to
la dspa so i mostly use free tools and
open source
plugins and there are many that are
very very good for example there is zine
ad
sub fx that is a cool synthesizer
that you can download and it's not free
but you can compile that if you know how
to do that
okay now i want you to show a little bit
of the
xenapp subfx interface
so we have uh
some weird note here going on
so um this is cool like you can see
you have many many options you can add
fx to to your oscillators
you have many effects you you can
select different oscillator actually you
can use
up to eight voices here
so for example you can still stack um
so on a square or sign or a triangle
[Music]
right now we have just two waves
and we can see old voices here on voice
list
we can set the volume here
the second oscillator is just a noise
oscillator
as you can hear and this first one is
just
a so we can
modify the single voices for example
this is the first one okay
this is the volume we can change
cut off you can change all parameters
we have lfo here you have everything you
need
to create your scene to to shape your
scene
like you want
at first glance you can be uh scared by
by this because it's not so
straightforward like
helm for example that's very simple to
use
but once you start using that it becomes
really easy
to understand where are all the things
all the parameters that you need to
shape your synthesizer
cool things that is capable of doing
anything
anything really so that's that's really
cool i
recommend it and there is elus that is a
good and very very well done organ pipe
simulator
there are many some fonts that
you can run with property software or
non-proprietary software
and free software you can run sfd
format and you basically have many
samples of
a huge variety of instruments for
example i can suggest you a
vsco orchestra that has many many good
samples that you can use in your trucks
we have also called plugins
i use calf plugins a lot there are many
many plugins that you can use
it's it's like a suite of plugins there
are a cues compressors
there is everything you need to do audio
mastering
mixing there is everything and
it's just gorgeous there are also many
other plugins that you can find
in this github repository here
here you can find many many linux
programs and linux plugins
also you can find those and this is a
cool
github repository if you need something
there is everything you need here
link in the description below we can say
that
audio linux is really improving you have
many
projects under development there are
commercial tools that now support
linux 2 for example piano tech plugins
you basically can have a professional
piano
plug-in on linux without problems
running in
native lv2 format and or linux vst
you can use windows plugins using
yabrige that's a cool vst bridge that
you can use
and you can find the link in the
description below
and i think that in general triangle
linux as your main eyes for audio
production
it's worth a try you now have many
choices
you have many of those you have many
plugins
and if you don't have them you can just
use
wine you can use bridges and you can run
them without problems at all
i will make more videos about this topic
so if you liked the video please leave a
comment and subscribe
and if you're just curious about my
music and what i do
you can just check it out in the link in
the description below
and you can tell me what you think about
that
so thank you for watching and goodbye
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