Linux Audio

I am very interested in Linux Audio and want nothing more than a set of powerful, customizable tools that reflect my needs as a composer. But, being interested in the creative end of things instead of the developing end of things there are problems that need to be fixed before I'll even give it a serous look. ( most of these arguments have been spelled out to the linux community by average users, but they seem to fall on deaf ears, or disinterested ears, or ears that are more interested in creating competing linux distributions that confuse normal users)

Current problems with Linux Audio =

1. Productive Time vs Fiddle Time ratio: (PTVFTR)
Staying on top of this ratio is key to staying productive when using digtial production tools. Digital music can be a trap if you're not ever vigilant of your PTVFTR!

I am willing to pay big money for software that works right away. Every minute spent pissing around with drivers and libraries is time spent not doing what I want to be doing. I'm curious about this stuff, but fiddle time isn't productive time. I could spend months on this and never have anything that is even close to what I already have in Windows. The big question on a linux developer's mind (if they want real world users to use their software) should be... Can it be installed with a double click? Will it work the first time?

2. No Love for VST:
Yeah, you can blame Stienberg for not developing linux stuff, but the fact of the matter is, they aren't the ones who develop the pluggins. 3rd party companies like Native Instruments and Waves are the ones who aren't making Linux things. It costs NI a lot of money to port its stoff to VST/RTAS/DirectX/MAC, all of these are closed but represent a large userbase. Does Linux even have a music standard? I've heard of LADSPA... But without a proper sequencer to run them or supported hardware there is no market.

3. Show me the Software:
Unlike Mozilla, Open Office and Gimp, the audio end of the open source pool is shallow. There are cool toys like PD. Rosegarden and Audacity... But nothing comparable to the functionality/stability/usability of even a semi professional audio suite. It's not like I expect music software to be easy, it often isn't. mostly I expect it to work, 100% of the time. That being said, not many artists are interested in creating a score with lines of code. "LillyPond". PTVFTR!

4. Hardware Support Nightmares:
Musicians have lots of complicated demands. Fancy keyboards, interfaces and sound cards. External Midi Cocks, DA converters, sample rates, bit rates... I have yet to get sound from my computer via linux, never mind tapping my AISO and low latency processors... Or even the multi channel stuff. Are the drivers there? It's hard enough to keep my shit running when it is fully supported by Steinberg! I can't imagine how shitty it would be to troll nerdy message boards having linux people give me shit about not knowing how to put the numbers into my internts. Do I double click on them and they install? If not, come talk to me when they do. PTVFTR!

5. Why Change?
Some people have been using Cuabse since 1989. Finale Since 1988. ProTools since whenever...
It takes years to become a power user of one of the big digital audio workstations, the interface, support and feature set will have to be mind blowing if it will convince power users to abandon their powers. Even a switch from Cubase to Logic is crippling for weeks.
For some music people, the jump away from analog and real instruments is a compromise enough. Having a linux craproximation of a virtual representation of an analog mixing board is just a bit too much.

6 Hope for the Open future:
The Windows exodus might not be as cut and dry as the open source software Community might expect. Like Open Office, Gimp and FireFox, SunBird... I hope to see Native Linux pluggins ported to windows to entice me into the open source world. After a slow transition fraught with emulation and WNE and vitalization... I might just find myself running Ubuntu Studio in 10 years.

Welcome Home

My ICMC paper went in today, I'm officially finished school for the year. All things considered, McGill was a great experience. I managed to do tick a lot of things off my life list while in Montreal.

This summer looks like it's going to be full of new projects. New commissions, new people, new habits. Living away from home has changed some of my habits quite a bit. I'll try not to sink into my old routine.