Writing music in Linux: LMMS
Today I want to talk about a great program for Linux, which is called LMMS, that is, Linux MultiMedia Studio.
In the screenshot you can see (at least if you open it) three tracks, one of which is performed by the software synthesizer LB302 (it emulates the Roland TB-303 synthesizer ), and the other two carry drum parts. Well, let us dwell on the latter and try to do something.
')
If you open a new project, you will see three tracks, the last of which is the Beat / Baseline 0 we need. Well, let's double-click on the first beat of this track (bars are separated by vertical lines) and add some drums to the editor that opens. In the My Samples tab on the left, it is easy to locate the drums directory. By clicking on each of the files present there will be a corresponding sound. If you like this sound, take it and drag it to an empty space in the drum editor. Add as many drums as you need and proceed to create a drum part by rotating the mouse wheel over the steps (rectangles with rounded edges) until you get the desired volume (you can immediately set the full volume or, conversely, return it to zero). Conveniently, by the way, to start playing the game. Play with this editor, he has many interesting features; However, for complex drum parts, I would advise using a specialized editor, for example, Hydrogen - the result can then be inserted as a sample-track. And you can also play on a real installation - in my opinion, the best solution. :)
So, the middle track of the new project is “Sample track”. These are added, respectively, by the button "Add sample-track". You can insert (double-click on the desired beat) any sample of almost any format. I tried to record an electric guitar and insert it in such a way - it turns out very great if you play exactly. And, no less interesting, here you can use LADSPA-plugins. For example, you can add distortion / overdrive / wah-wah / etc (at least not at all, do not burn the processor yourself) to the pure sound of an electric guitar. By the way, a terrible secret - LADSPA effects can be used in LMMS everywhere - even for drums (FX tab for AudioFileProcessor).
And finally, the most interesting is the LMMS sound synthesizers. Present in the project, initially, TripleOscillator has many settings, but, in my opinion, the LB302 synthesizer sounds much more interesting. Well, let's take the LB302 (or something else from the Instrument plugins tab) and drag it over thebad TripleOscillator. Now is the time to connect any keys that can work with MIDI. I have a Yamaha PSR-295 synthesizer at home, which, when connected via USB, is immediately picked up by the ALSA drivers as a MIDI input and output device (that is, you can not only play something, but also output a MIDI stream for playing real iron synthesizer ^ _ ^). So click on the icon with the keys on the desired track and choose your device as the “MIDI input”. Now you can again turn to the instrument settings and twist something on the “plugin” tab to get a pleasant and suitable sound for your composition (well, or unpleasant, but suitable - depending on the composition). Accordingly, playing something at this time (as you can see, you can even do it with a regular computer keyboard and / or mouse) and generally enjoy the fact that such a program exists in the form of free open source software. :)
So, here it is. The means of translating the LMMS melodies. Start the recording and try to play something smoothly. The metronome will help you with this by beating 4 beats each time. In the default “draw mode” (pencil) mode, you can pull the notes off the right edge, thereby changing their duration; You can move notes in any direction; You can even create new notes, which is also often convenient. The bars below allow you to change the volume of each note (of course, if recorded from a MIDI device, the volume will have to be set on its own, depending on how hard you press the instrument keys). If you started playing not immediately, but, say, with the fourth beat of the metronome (second beat), it does not matter - in the music editor there is a selection tool (“select mode”) and a move (“move selection”). Having finished recording a melody, you can return to the main window with tracks (“Song-Editor”) and, for example, duplicate this melody. To do this, just hold down the Ctrl key and drag the resulting pattern to the next, free measures.
In conclusion, I would like to say that only the main features of this program were considered. In practice, it is very likely that the ability to use a musical editor in drum parts (“Open in piano-roll”) or, for example, the ability to add a VST (i) instrument to a song (VeSTige plugin; must be installed WINE) will also be useful. Have fun making music! :)
In the screenshot you can see (at least if you open it) three tracks, one of which is performed by the software synthesizer LB302 (it emulates the Roland TB-303 synthesizer ), and the other two carry drum parts. Well, let us dwell on the latter and try to do something.
')
If you open a new project, you will see three tracks, the last of which is the Beat / Baseline 0 we need. Well, let's double-click on the first beat of this track (bars are separated by vertical lines) and add some drums to the editor that opens. In the My Samples tab on the left, it is easy to locate the drums directory. By clicking on each of the files present there will be a corresponding sound. If you like this sound, take it and drag it to an empty space in the drum editor. Add as many drums as you need and proceed to create a drum part by rotating the mouse wheel over the steps (rectangles with rounded edges) until you get the desired volume (you can immediately set the full volume or, conversely, return it to zero). Conveniently, by the way, to start playing the game. Play with this editor, he has many interesting features; However, for complex drum parts, I would advise using a specialized editor, for example, Hydrogen - the result can then be inserted as a sample-track. And you can also play on a real installation - in my opinion, the best solution. :)
So, the middle track of the new project is “Sample track”. These are added, respectively, by the button "Add sample-track". You can insert (double-click on the desired beat) any sample of almost any format. I tried to record an electric guitar and insert it in such a way - it turns out very great if you play exactly. And, no less interesting, here you can use LADSPA-plugins. For example, you can add distortion / overdrive / wah-wah / etc (at least not at all, do not burn the processor yourself) to the pure sound of an electric guitar. By the way, a terrible secret - LADSPA effects can be used in LMMS everywhere - even for drums (FX tab for AudioFileProcessor).
And finally, the most interesting is the LMMS sound synthesizers. Present in the project, initially, TripleOscillator has many settings, but, in my opinion, the LB302 synthesizer sounds much more interesting. Well, let's take the LB302 (or something else from the Instrument plugins tab) and drag it over the
So, here it is. The means of translating the LMMS melodies. Start the recording and try to play something smoothly. The metronome will help you with this by beating 4 beats each time. In the default “draw mode” (pencil) mode, you can pull the notes off the right edge, thereby changing their duration; You can move notes in any direction; You can even create new notes, which is also often convenient. The bars below allow you to change the volume of each note (of course, if recorded from a MIDI device, the volume will have to be set on its own, depending on how hard you press the instrument keys). If you started playing not immediately, but, say, with the fourth beat of the metronome (second beat), it does not matter - in the music editor there is a selection tool (“select mode”) and a move (“move selection”). Having finished recording a melody, you can return to the main window with tracks (“Song-Editor”) and, for example, duplicate this melody. To do this, just hold down the Ctrl key and drag the resulting pattern to the next, free measures.
In conclusion, I would like to say that only the main features of this program were considered. In practice, it is very likely that the ability to use a musical editor in drum parts (“Open in piano-roll”) or, for example, the ability to add a VST (i) instrument to a song (VeSTige plugin; must be installed WINE) will also be useful. Have fun making music! :)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/17216/
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