Occasionally, I reassess my native Linux Synth/sampler plugins collection & try to come up with a favorite top 10. While I have plenty more, if forced to choose 10 today it would be:

* Repro
* Hive 2
* Chipsynth OPS7
* Quanta 2
* Sforzando
* Decent Sampler
* Linux Sampler
* Zebra 3
* Apisonic Audio's Speedrum 2
* Shortcircuit-XT

I can make any sound with these.

#Linux #LinuxAudio #MusicProduction #Audio #Music #DAW #Plugin #Plugins #Synth #Sampler #Top #Top10 #Tools #VST #VST3 #CLAP #LV2

The thread continues here:

https://mastodon.online/@ercanbrack/114083495220957795

But, what if someone created a template that everyone could use? What if all a SFZ creator had to do was append this template to the top of the SFZ text file that the instrument creator defined? What if this template not only made the SFZ instrument MIDI CC capabile, but also provided GUI controls to the Sforzando or Sfizz plugin? Wouldn't this make SFZ more expressive?

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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If when creating new instruments in SFZ format, the creator of the instrument doesn't know how to add the needed information to make the SFZ file capable of expression, then the instrument remains unexpressive...lifeless. This is not the fault of the SFZ, but because the creator doesn't have the programming skills.

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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There is one drawback that people complain about with SFZ, and today I want to share a discovery I have made that resolves this one problem. Most SFZ instruments are unexpressive. This is not because of the format itself, but rather it is because of the difficulty of adding MIDI CC information into the SFZ instrument file.

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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SFZ has many advantages for future-proofing:

* There are many available SFZ parsers--most of which are open source

* There are many sets of tools for editing and creating SFZ files

* The Samples themselves are available

* SFZ can be imported into many samplers

etc...etc...etc...

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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After those things, the format itself is the most important. I believe the most useful format for long term storage is: SFZ.

Back in 2023, I laid out my arguments for SFZ in a thread at KVRAudio:

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8691650#p8691650

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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Now honestly, when it comes right down to it, the most important thing for your sample collection are the samples. The second most important thing is having each sample properly looped and labeled with useful information on what the sample is and what it is to be used for.

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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I did some searching and spoke with Jürgen, developer of ConvertWithMoss, and found a handful of sample formats that keep the samples open and available:

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9036638#p9036638

TAL Sampler, TX16w, Akai Keygroups, also Bitwig Multisamples and DecentSampler, along with SFZ.

These are among the best formats for keeping a long term sample collection.

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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Also, some formats, even if they do have the ability to include stereo samples, end up summing them to mono--for example, Soundfonts (sf2). Furthermore, sf2 doesn't allow for round-robins, and other nice essentials. So, I one can safely rule out sf2 as the ideal format.

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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For example, monolithic formats don't give easy access to the samples. One doesn't want to be stuck with the inability to access the samples, or else the sample collection is useless. So formats that exclusively use monolithic formats are not appropriate.

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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I've done a lot of thinking, and believe I have determined the best format for future-proofing your sample collection. Obviously, the original sampler format that the samples were created for would be best, but that's not always possible.

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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There are several open sampler formats. By open, I don't mean open source, but rather, that that the specs are open so that users can create tools to work with the formats. For example, Jürgen Moßgraber's priceless open source tool: ConvertWithMoss

https://www.mossgrabers.de/Software/ConvertWithMoss/ConvertWithMoss.html

#MusicProduction #LinuxAudio #WindowsAudio #MacAudio #Music #Samplers #Audio

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I have put together a set of instructions for configuring/tuning Fedora Workstation for low latency audio work. The instructions are not original—everything comes from other sources smarter than me. But to my knowledge, it is the most complete set of instructions for Fedora Workstation users available today. If anyone is interested, the instructions can be found here:

https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?t=27121

#LinuxAudio #Linux #Fedora #MusicProduction #LowLatency #Audio #DAW

#Linux #LinuxTablet #LinuxAudio #Fedora

I just now got around to upgrading from Fedora 36 to Fedora 37. I truly think it was the most easy and problem-free upgrade I’ve ever had with a Linux distribution! Well done Fedora team!! 😎 👍

#MusicProduction

There are 20+ known
#AudioSynthesis types. The most popular being:

#Subtractive
#FM
#Wavetable

Combined with #Sampling, #modulating, #Layering, & #FX, these audio engines cover the majority of sound generation from the majority of #Synthesizer #Plugins created.

Unless a #synth provides a special character, there is no point in having more than a couple of synths.

#OpenSource has most everything you need.

Don’t collect synths for #patches, learn the tools you have.

Furthermore, there has been a huge influx of people with similar interests to #Mastodon lately. My feed is quite interesting and pleasant—full of topics I like: #Linux #LinuxAudio #MusicProduction #LibreMusicProduction, etc.

If you have similar interests, let’s follow each other! 🙂

#Linux #LinuxTablet #LinuxAudio

Wow! Time flies when one gets busy! I can’t believe how long it has been since my last microblog post about my LinuxTablet project. To quickly sum up the last few months:

I’m still satisfied with Fedora. I have learned how to tune my system for stable low latency audio. I still primarily use #Reaper as my #DAW. I have gathered a decent collection of #MusicProduction tools that work natively on Linux. I no longer have any reason at all for #Microsoft in my home.

#Linux #LinuxTablet #LinuxAudio

When combining the various 3rd party repositories with the default #Fedora repository, most of the software I need is there. I have to do a bit of searching, since the #COPR doesn’t have a great way to search its various repositories, but I’m getting the process figured out. Also, #Pipewire is working very well! Fedora has the newest tech and has new software, yet doesn’t require daily maintenance. It strikes the best balance possible for me.

#linux #LinuxTablet #LinuxAudio #fedora #debian

The last few weeks, I’ve been testing and comparing fedora and Debian Testing. Both are fine, modern operating systems. I don’t think there is a perfect distro, but these two seem to be the best for me. Right now, I’ve got Fedora installed. This may be the distro that I stick with. I like how it has the newest tech and still remains very polished. It may not contain as many apps as other OSes, but it contains the best ones.