I have literally zero experience with creating audio, but I want to try something new for me.
I know most people who are “properly” into music production are just using a Mac, because it just works and where a lot of the software is available.
Thing is, I have zero expectations.
I don’t need a lot of features, plug-ins, and whatever. Most stuff will probably just be fine for me.
Heck, I don’t even know what I need in the first place to get a full “stack” of audio production software.
For the start, I’d prefer something simple. Mostly just something where I can arrange a few recorded audio tracks onto each other and maybe edit them a bit. Something where I can record the tracks with my microphone (and some time later maybe an input device like a piano keyboard, e-guitar, etc.) and listen them at the same time, preferably in the same program.
What are your experiences with making music on Linux?
What software would you recommend?
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Audio Engineer here.
You want Reaper. It’s a $60 program but you can keep it in trial mode for as long as you want till you’ve got the money. Reaper has lots of tutorials available on YouTube and can use industry-standard VST plugins, plus it has enough plugins bundled in to get you started.
Audio Engineer here, too.
What he said. Plus: I’ve been using Ardour for years. Then I tried Reaper, “evaluated” for about 3 months, then decided to pay the ~ 70€. You get a licence for the existing and a future release. It feels much more “natural” to me than Ardour.
Yeah, exactly. I was trained on Pro Tools and Ardour worked OK and made sense to me, but Reaper feels more intuitive to use than either Pro Tools or Ardour.
I’ve been very happy with Ardour. It’s a full digital audio workspace though. Like the other comment mentioned, audacity is a simpler alternative
For music recorded via microphone, Ardour+Hydrogen
For music created more synthetically LMMS
Jack is the way to go. Save yourself the frustration and use it from the start
Seconded! LMMS is a good free DAW to get started.
Bitwig
I’d try some of the Multimedia / Audio Linux distributions. I believe there are some which have everything set up for you and you can just try and explore. Notably Ubuntu Studio, AV Linux
Other than that, LMMS and Ardour, Qtractor, ZRhythm, Rosegarden, MuSE, or Mixxx for DJing… There’s generally a lot. DAWs, trackers, sequencers, synthesizers… you can do professional multitrack recording or just mess with your guitar or sample some electronic music…
It’s a bit difficult as a beginner, since there are a lot of options and they all have different user interfaces and you might need to learn a few concepts first. And /or read the documentation or watch some Youtube tutorials.
You essentially have 3 options with open source audio apps (there are some good closed source options too, like the great Reaper, Tracktion Waveform, and BitWig Studio, but I will focus on foss solutions here):
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Ardour. This is the premier foss app. In fact, a fork of it is closed source used by a big audio manufacturer. So it’s the best tested foss audio software out there. It can do both midi and recording sessions, but it’s best for recording stuff. However, the new version, expected by end of this year, will have major midi updates that probably will put it on top of the king of midi in foss:
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LMMS. Best for Midi. If you’re doing electronic music through and through, this works great. The only downside it has it does not support vst3 plugins (soon enough, this can become an issue, even if you say that you don’t care about plugins). You can still get vst3 support by loading them via the Clara plugin (basically, it acts as a plugin for other plugins), but that can be unstable.
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QTractor. This one is an odd one out. It’s a bit hard to get it going (it requires external synths and some patchwork to connect audio devices), but it is very powerful and I’d say, a more sane UI when editing. It comes with no plugins at all, but it supports all plugin standards for linux. Basically, this one requires more setup, but once you set it up, it gets going easier.
Alternatively, if you’re actually interested only in rec. audio editing (basically cutting, pasting etc), simple stuff, there’s Audacity.
If you’re using Ubuntu or Linux Mint, Zorin, PopOS, install the ubuntustudio package for pipewire (can’t remember how it’s called you need to search for it). It sets up pipewire audio correctly, so more plugins/apps work out of the box (without it, for example, Bitwig studio doesn’t even make a peep…).
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Software wise, ProTools is what nearly everyone in the industry uses. Its been around forever. It enjoys a massive monopoly share of the market. But I don’t think it works on Linux. Mac n PC only.
For a cheaper Linux friendly option, consider Fairlight (the audio component of Black magic Resolve).
The name “Fairlight” has also been around forever, but was defunct for a while, and a handful of years ago the fine folks at Blackmagic Design bought the brand and IP integrated into their Resolve software. While Resolve has a free tier that includes Fairlight, some might require the Studio version which is a one time fee of ~US$300 and includes all future updates. I’ve heard some Pros speak highly of the new Fairlight. Can’t vouch for it myself but the mantra of the Blackmagic CEO is “we build the tools we wanted when we were working creatives.”
