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Introduction

This Howto was originally written by Paolo aka SteelRage and posted on the Gentoo forums:

It gives an overview about how it's possible to use Linux (I'll focus on Gentoo Linux) as a Hard Disk Recording/Mastering Workstation.I hope, after finishing that, to be able to give some misc tips, for example about how to use your Gentoo box as part of your multi-effects rack for live performances and stuff like that (any suggestions are VERY appreciated!)

I know very well there's A LOT of work to be done to reach the quality of the ultra-expensive Mac or Win professional softwares (and their quality continues to increase...), but you'll see that our penguin is already able to let us produce decent audio productions (demos, simple soundscores, etc)

Before starting I also want to warn you that most of the software I'll talk about is still in beta (or even alpha) state. So keep in mind they could crash or even lead your whole system to a crash.

Our Workstation will be made at least by the following elements:

• Low Latency Sound Server (Jack)
• SEQUENCER (Rosegarden) + DRUM MACHINE (Hydrogen)
• MULTI-TRACK Editor/Recorder (Ardour)
• DSP MultiEffects (LADSPA plugins and VSTi/VST Plugins under Rosegarden and Ardour)
• AUDIO EDITOR (Rezound)
• MASTERING Software (Jamin)

Prerequisites

• I'll suppose your workstation has a working audio card, with working ALSA drivers.

This HOWTO has been written for Gentoo-Linux with 2.6 kernel, but could be easily adapted to other distros with different kernels (I'll discuss, for example, how to configure a 2.4 kernel, that were better than early 2.6 kernels regarding latency)

• I HIGLY reccomend you to use the unstable (~arch) versions of all the programs I'll discuss here.

So be always ready to run a

to add the application you want to install.

I know that this won't ensure you a 100% reliability, but the new features (an example was the introduction in some programs of DSSI, VST support, etc) introduced by the latest versions are often too much important if you want to be productive.

Another good reason to do that is that, if you find something wrong, you can make a good bug report that will help the whole community (the number of musicians doesn't seem to be too high, in fact)

Warning

We will not go into the dependency requirement of a particular application because Portage installs them when needed and we want to focus on practical matter, not to re-invent the wheel.

Consequently, if your Linux is that by Gentoo, please read the ebuilds (non-Gentoo users will find the overlay's ebuilds into the overlay SVN repository at the left). If you want to follow this HOWTO and are using another distribution than Gentoo, please follow the Install procedure of our distribution or from the source code when installing from the source.

Thank you for our comprehension!

Installation of Everminds proaudio overlay

What is this? See the Main Page

How to install? See the Usage Notes

Kernel configuration

Instructions for Kernel 2.4 (deprecated)

Before compiling it, we need to make the following modifications:

Because it's a good idea to use Jack (and all the applications that depend on it) as normal user, but we don't want to lose real time scheduling advantages, we need to activate 'POSIX draft capabilities' (called, more commonly, caps).That's not difficult, we just need to modify a configuration file.

The file to modify is:

Let's look for the following 2 lines:

Now, change them to:

If you don't like to edit files by hand, you can try this patch: http://nospoof.de/linux/patches/posix-draft-capabilities.patch(the link should be correct, but I've never tried it)

IMPORTANT: Every time we install/reinstall a new/different version of kernel sources, we need to remember to make this operation manually, or the new kernel won't be 'caps-enabled', OK?

Download Aviclink Drivers

Instructions for 2.6 Kernels

The recommended method is to use sys-libs/pam with rt-limits activated.

install sys-libs/pam from the proaudio-overlay (only needed for <sys-libs/pam-0.99)to make sure realtime settings are possible with your installed version of sys-libs/pam try the following

if the result looks like this pam is will work

So next edit /etc/security/limits.conf and scroll down and add this settings(when using ebuild from the overlay this settings should already be there)

After this relogin and the realtime stuff should work.If you don't like the 'pam way' you can use instead the realtime modul described later in this section.

TODO: make next step clearer

If you already did the changes written above, then you better undo them :DIf you don't want to do that, rimply re-emerge your favourite kernel-sources.(the command jackstart would work anyway, but I noticed performances were better with the following method)

In 2.6 kernels, in fact, there's a new way to allow users to perform real-time tasks; let's see how to enable it:

First let's compile the kernel we like with the following options (this is not the translation of the Italian guide I wrote, but it's taken from this link)

Low-latency specific configuration

For kernels starting with 2.6.25-rc1, you should check that the following options are *not* enabled, or you will not be able to run realtime processes using the RLIMITS method below:

You should set these voices in the kernel configuration to achieve good low-latencies performances:

and:

JACK needs support for the tmpfs pseudo file system to achieve good performances:

The RTC can be needed by some applications, is better to compile it:

The IDE sub-system can be a bottleneck if not properly configured. As pointed out by Con Kolivas in his Audio Hints, you should set the following config option for your ATA drive (relevant on and off options are showed):

The latest config option is just an example and, almost certainly, you have to change it to reflect your hardware (again lspci -v will tell you which chip-set you have).

Finally, if you want to use the realtime-lsm module to grant realtime privileges to normal user you should also set:

If you don't find that voice, make sure in your/usr/src/linux/.configthere are the following lines (as written in realtime-lsm documentation):

It's VERY IMPORTANT that CONFIG_SECURITY_CAPABILITIES is compiled as a module, or the patch WILL NOT WORK

Now let's compile the kernel as always, with a:

copy the new bzImage in /boot, reinstall the bootloader if you use lilo, etc etc, then let's install the realtime-lsm module (we need to redo that each time we recompile the kernel, make sure to set the link /usr/src/linux correctly)

To have the patch working from boot time, I added this line to autoload.d

NOTE: The gid 18 is necessary, because it's the number given by default to audio group in Gentoo; you can experiment with any other group. An alternative approach would be to use the option any=1, but remember it could give some security problems, because you would allow every user to launch programs with realtime priority (and, if something goes wrong, it could crash the whole system :-D)

There are some other interesting options you can try, but I wont discuss them here. Simply take a look in /usr/portage/distfiles/realtime-lsm-number-version, or read jack FAQ

NOTES:

• I read that aggressive settings for hdparm could increase latency too (somebody said at least 59 ms!! TOOO MUCH FOR A MUSICIAN!). Honestly, I use hdparm only to have DMA mode on My various Hard Disks, so I don't have problems.

So, if you find your latency too high, keep in mind this suggestion.

• 'Important note about ALSA'

DON'T use alsa-modules included on your kernel sources. Just follow the official Gentoo guide (that suggests to use the alsa-driver package).Why?If you have a professional audio-card, maybe you'll need the packageCode:alsa-firmware, whose version must be the same of the installed alsa-driver or you may have problems. Alsa modules included on your kernel sources may be older than current alsa-driver (and alsa-firmware)

Instructions for 3.x Kernels

With the current 3.x kernels series, we have one more possibility to get real-time operations to work: Control Groups, or cgroups in short. This method is available with recent rt-kernel.

For a general introduction, see cgroups kernel documentation.

From it: 'Control Groups provide a mechanism for aggregating/partitioning sets of tasks, and all their future children, into hierarchical groups with specialized behaviour.'

This is exactly what the real-time patch is doing: it provide a mechanism for aggregating the audio tasks, and for attributing them a higher priority than the other tasks. The same (and much more) can be done with the Control Groups, this with any recent kernel.

On the long run, I think many of us will use a vanilla or gentoo kernel with an audio related cgroups set-up. But the rt kernel will remain in use, firstly because it have proven to be a good working solution, secondly because the developers of the rt patch will continue to experiment new solutions, and thirdly because cgroups add a slight scheduling overhead, and some of us don't want it.

Update: I just done (June 2016) some testing with gentoo-sources-4.1.12 (arch) and rt-sources-4.4.7-rt16 (~arch). I made 3 kernels, 4.1.12 with cgroups configuration as explained here, 4.4.7-rt16 with the same cgroups config, and 4.4.7-rt16 with no cgroups at all, that on an ~amd64 system running fvwm-crystal with openrc and eudev, and without *kit. The main noticeable difference is that I was getting some glitches in the sound with both cgroups enabled kernels and that even at low processor use, and no glitch in the same conditions with the kernel with no cgroups. As we all use our real time audio desktops with different kind of workloads, that imply it is best to trust no one and test both solutions, and that on the long run and with real use cases.

For a jack related explanation, see Some notes on CGroups.

RT scheduling cpu bandwidth and cgroups

In the kernel configuration, the minimal and sufficient cgroups set-up to get RT scheduling is:

As you can see in its help, this last option will give us CONFIG_RT_GROUP_SCHED. With this, we get access to RT scheduling cpu bandwidth controlled via cgroups. The root cgroup has this setup correctly. Remember, RT operations is all about bandwidth allocation of resources, more bandwidth for some task imply less bandwidth and responsiveness for the other.

cgroups set-up

Notice: that section is outdated because the kernel guys made extensive changes into the cgroups. The result is a lot of crap into the rt group. If anyone know how to deal with that mess, please feel free to contribute. Anyway, a rt-kernel is a much simpler, well tested and easier to manage solution than a rt cgroups set-up.

We also need to install dev-libs/libcgroup, which provide tools and libraries to configure and manage kernel Control Groups.

However when libcgroup is installed and the cgconfig service has been started, it creates a 'sysdefault' cgroup and moves all tasks over there. The sysdefault group does not have RT bandwidth assigned to it. In this case jackd can not be started.

It is several methods to configure cgroups for our purpose (Some notes on CGroups).I started with the method 2, but it was necessary to add a namespace section. In consequence, the following set-up is a mix of method 2 and 3.

Edit /etc/cgroups/cgconfig.conf as follow:

We create here a kernel cgroup named rtaudio. Root can manage it. The users in the audio group can use it. We use rtaudio to define the processor use of the RT processes. The members of the rtaudio cgroup (the RT threads of the programs which are member of rtaudio) can use the processor during 950000 us per second, the other tasks get the remaining time, 50000 us.

At that time, we need to explicitly add the programs that must get RT scheduling. For that, edit /etc/cgroups/cgrules.conf:

You must add one line per application you want to be in the rtaudio cgroup. In the future, jack will provide a mechanism to move the RT threads of its clients into the cgroup of jackd.

We must configure PAM in /etc/security/limits.conf:

Starting chroups with our configuration:

Only the new processes will be managed by cgroups. It is best to start it at boot time:

Testing cgroups

To test your set-up, you can use the 2 following small scripts, findrtp and findrtt.

findrtt will output the running programs which are member of rtaudio. findrtt will output all their threads.

and

Save them in your path and make them executable.

Run them:

To see which threads are RT, we can use ps:

The FF threads are the real-time one. We will see the same result with htop, but with other priority numbers (I prefer htop).

Another test is to lower jack latency. Run qjackctl and play with the parameters. With the Control Groups, I can lower jack latency with the gentoo-sources from 42,7 msec (1024 Frames/Period, 48kHz, 2 Periods/Buffer) to 0,667 msec (16 Frames/Period) without more xruns (only at applications start-up), which is as good than with the rt-sources.

Portage profile configuration

You can use any portage profile with the overlay. However, I will recommend the use of a desktop profile. Portage provide 3 of them, desktop, desktop-gnome and desktop-kde. The overlay provide 2 of them: desktop-proaudio and desktop-prodaudio-kde.

Those 2 last profiles provide additional audio related use flags. In addition, they are both *kit free. That mean they will not install or remove policykit and any package that depend on it, inclusive udisks, pulseaudio and the whole of gnome. The desktop-proaudio-kde profile doesn't install semaantic-desktop, which result in kde speed-up. See this forum thread for more explanations on an *kit free system, and this one for some background.

If you want a gnome *kit free desktop, you can install the soka overlay. It will work with Gnome2 on arch architectures. It don't think it is possible to make it to work in an ~arch installation without some hard work. To install it, follow those instructions.

In order to use a profile from the overlay, follow proaudio portage profiles.

Avid Link Installer

Jack configuration

Jack is an audio-server made to work with low-latency. Unlike other famous sound-servers (Arts, ESD, Gstreamer, etc), it has some features (and we'll discover some of them, such low latency, flexible audio routing between applications, AUDIO/MIDI syncronization during this HOWTO) that make it a core compoent of a Linux DAW.

Installation of Jack

Once installed the new kernel, rebooted, etc etc, we're ready to install Jack.We'll need the following use flags

• In /etc/make.conf you should have at least the following:

As you will need it a lot.Note: mmx and sse are CPU optimizations which should have been set when you installed Gentoo. Your processor may also support mmx2 and sse2.To see what your processor supports, see

Then for jack do

• Now let's install jack and its dependencies:

I repeat once again it's better to use the latest ~arch version... but it's up to you.

• If you find too many xruns when working with audio-programs, you could add to try these lines to your /etc/fstab

Then, after creating the /mnt/ramfs dir:

add this line too

For details refer to the Jack FAQ at http://jackit.sourceforge.net/docs/faq.php (very outdated).

• Now let's test if jack works:

If you want, you can use jack from commandline (for example to launch it on boot time), so read carefully

that can avoid you some future headcaches.

But, believe me... it's not too much comfortable!That's the reason why I suggest you to use qjackctl:

This is a frontend to control Jack and its connections between programs. But we'll see that in the following part of the guide.

NOTE: Be sure to execute Jack BEFORE other audio apps (or they won't work.)

Under Settings in qjackctl, set Priority to 65 to avoid letting jackd run with a lower priority than your graphics card, serial port and other hardware that might interrupt the sound.

jack and alsa/oss applications

Alsa and oss applications can work with jack.The following will work with sound cards with hardware mixing capability (as exemple soundblaster live and audigy).

Alsa and jack

From How do I route audio to/from generic ALSA-using applications?: There are two ways of approaching this.

Using the ALSA JACK PCM plugin

You must install alsa-plugins with USE='jack'.

Edit ~/.asoundrc or /etc/asound.conf and add the following

This will work with most alsa applications. Some applications will not work, as exemple beast with the alsa plugin. When starting an alsa application as usual, if jackd is started, the application will use by default the jack plugin and appear in the connection panel of qjackctl. Otherwise, it will generate an error message and start using alsa.

Using an ALSA Loopback device and zita-ajbridge

This approach is more complex but probably more robust. This method is also deprecated.

The loopback ALSA device is a virtual sound card that will let you to connect audio streams. We will use it to connect ALSA and JACK in full duplex. As the first sound card is the default ALSA sound card in most (if not all) systems, we will put the loopback virtual card as first sound card. That way, the ALSA only software will use the loopback by default.

zita-ajbridge is a software by Fons Adriaensen that provide 2 programs, zita-a2j and zita-j2a. They provide input and output ports for ALSA into JACK. They are the equivalent of alsa_in and alsa_out but archive a better sound quality, a lower and constant delay, as well than a much better jack stability (the most visible effect is no more xruns at jack program start or stop).

First, you must have snd-loopback into the kernel:

Now, we must add it into /etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf (example for 2 sound cards, the loopback and an audiophile 192):

You can restart ALSA:

We install zita-ajbridge:

Now, we made a simple script, I call it loop2jack

The -J option of zita-a2j and zita-j2a is needed by software like flash. You you get no sound, try to change the ALSA device to something like hw:0,0 or hw:0

Made it executable

and put it somewhere in your path.

The ALSA user configuration file at ~/.asoundrc is also needed:

That's all, you can start jack with qjackctl. Don't forget to add 'loop2jack %r %p' in qjackctl -> Setup -> Options -> Execute script after Startup.

If you get no sound into JACK with the ALSA programs, you can try to change the ALSA devices in the scripts (the hw:0,0) or to add the -L argument to zita-a2j and zita-j2a. Also, read the README for zita-ajbridge into its doc folder.

OSS and jack

Edit ~/.asoundrc and add the text in the preceding text box (alsa and jack) as well as the following:

It will work the same as the alsa to jack converter. Some applications will not work, as exemple beast.

Note

mplayer will crash with this setting when jackd is started. To avoid it, start mplayer with native jack driver:

Link

• Knowing JACK: Very informative reading on JACK and its configuration.

Installation of needed packages

Now it's time to install the most important packages from the overlay

VST Support

What is a VST plugin? Without getting technical, VST is a plugin format used by most Win/Mac audio-related applications. You can use it within other audio programs (called hosts) for real time effects, virtual synths and other things. If you are interested and want a more detailed explanation, take a look here.Do I really need that stuff? I hate Wincows, Micro$oft and Macintrash! Yes. You need it. Just take a look at http://kvraudio.com to see how many tons of free plugins (some are really really good!) you can have access to.How could it be? Sounds like magic; I suppose I didn't understand anythingThere are at least 2 systems to use VST plugins under Linux:

• dssi-vst: it's a dssi plugin (so the host you're going to use must support DSSI!) that can make use of VST plugins. To do that, it uses Wine, DSSI headers and Steinberg VST SDK headers (VST protocol, in fact, was created by Steinberg)
• fst: it's a server that, with the combination of Wine, Jack and Steinberg VST SDK, allows you to use VST plugins under Linux
• Vst server. This should be the first program who gave VST support to Linux. I did never understand how to use it, so if you know how to, please write me a note, so I can add it to this documentation.

OK, it sounds cool. What do I have to do? First go here http://www.steinberg.net/532+M52087573ab0.html, read the agreement and download the 2.3 version of the SDK (or a following one, depending on what the overlay will require by the time you read this). If the link doesn't work anymore, go to Google to find the vstsdk2.3.zip file (it's part of the vst_sdk2_3.zip archive).Remember that YOU CANNOT REDISTRIBUTE IT, SO READ CAREFULLY THE AGREEMENT I told you above. If you don't like it, simply don't use it (and you won't have VST support).

Once you found vstsdk2.3.zip (good luck), copy it in /usr/portage/distfiles

Now add to your /etc/make.conf the following (new) useflags:

(I know you just need the vst USEFLAG, but I prefer to set them all at this stage). This should be enough to let you have that support in Ardour, rosegarden and other important applications.

NOTE: museseq may not compile with >=fst-1.7, so, if it gives you problems, try to install it with aCode:USE=-vst emerge museseq

Lash or Ladcca

Almost all the newest audio applications now use Lash, instead of Ladcca. After recommending you to take a look at their web sites, I also suggest to remove ladcca (emerge -C ladcca) and re-emerging your (~arch) version of vkeybd, jack-rack and museseq so they'll use Lash libraries.

You need to add 2 lines at the end of /etc/services:

Rosegarden (sequencer) installation

With this one we can start to be a bit productive... Rosegarden is an audio and MIDI sequencer, based on KDElibs+QT (sorry for the users who hate this DE :-P). In the beginning it was written only to manage/edit MIDI files, but now audio support has been integrated (OK... it cannot be compared to Cubase or Sonar... But... It's growing quite well). It also have a good score editor, that allows you to export files to Lilypond and nice editing features.

So, if you want to start using it, you just need to do anCode:USE=”+jack +dssi” emerge rosegarden(remember I suggest you to use the latest ~arch version).On the overlay you'll also find rosegarden-9999 (svn-snapshot) ebuild.Take a look at it too, because audio support is getting better and better in newest relases
To enable snapshot ebuilds *-9999 read our FAQ about svn/cvs/whatever-ebuilds
Why did I add DSSI useflag?DSSI is a 'temporary' API for virtual instruments with a GUI. Without going deep in details, I'll just tell you there are some nice virtual synths using it and that there's an extra-plugin that lets you use VSTi and VST plugins under rosegarden (or other DSSI-compatible hosts), but if you read this guide carefully, you already know that. Take a look at http://dssi.sourceforge.net/ for further informations.

Remember that, if you want audio support, you have to run jackd BEFORE Rosegarden. It would be a good idea to run it through qjackctl.

Ardour Installation (multi-track audio editor)

If you need VST support, you just have to do a

If that gives you problems, try to emerge ardour-9999 (cvs) instead (I prefer the cvs version).You can also try to emerge ardour2 if you want a bunch of new features but less stabilty.
To enable snapshot ebuilds *-9999 read our FAQ about svn/cvs/whatever-ebuilds

Interesting Virtual synths

zynaddsubfx

Real time Virtual Analog synth

fluidsynth

MIDI virtual Synth based on SoundFont. You can use it either via qsynth (a nice QT GUI) or via his DSSI version, called fluidsynth-dssi

hexter

A Yamaha DX7 reprodution via DSSI. It can also import your old Yamaha DX5 and DX7 patches. Take a look if you need a nice FM synth

hydrogen

A very good drum machine

ams

Alsa Modular Synth (still have to try it)

amsynth

another virtual synth that seems to sound very nice (I found filters to be a bit 'cold', but I still have to experiment well with it)

Csound

As the homepage says: 'Csound is a sound and music synthesis system, providing facilities for composition and performance over a wide range of platforms'. Ehm... Still have to try it too :D

aeolus

a synthesised pipe-organ instrument written by Fons Adriaensen. The default sounds have been skillfully programmed and are very realistic; this means that Aeolus can be very satisfying to play, or to listen with your favourite MIDI files. Aeolus Quickstart Guide

bristol

an excellent project written by Nicky Copeland. The project emulates twenty of the classic instruments from the 60's, 70's and 80's. The sounds are distinctive to the Bristol project and are not intended to be totally authentic, however they do sound great. Bristol home page Note that JACK support by Bristol is considered experimental.

Rezound (audio editor) installation

If you need to cut&paste samples, resample, apply offline effects, remove noise, to put quickly your latest demo on a CD, converting it to mp3, ogg and other things, a sequencer couldn't be enough... You need an audio editor!Lots of people use Audacity, because it's muti-platform, it's well known, etc etc. Well, I really hate it. That's why I suggest to try rezound. First because I find its GUI is more intuitive, second because it can use jack as an output.

To install it, aCode:USE=”+jack” emerge rezoundshould be enough. Feel free to add other USEFLAGS you may need (emerge -pv rezound to have a complete list).Once again, I recommend to put rezound and its deps to /etc/portage/package.keywords so you can use the latest version.

Jamin installation

Avis Part Time Driver

Jamin is a 'simple' mastering suite, made by a multi-band compressor and a 30-bands EQ. As all the other mastering suites, it requires you know very well what you're doing.You can install it with a simple

(or jamin-9999, if you want the cvs version).Remember that mastering is the final stage of the audio-production process, so, when you route the signal via qjackctl, insert jamin right before the output you want to send audio to. (Jamin is used as an audio effect, so it must be used in real time with jack! you cannot import, for example, wave files on it to modofy them!)

Mastering is a very important aspect of music production, because it decides how your music will sound when played all around the world (from the ultra-expensive stereo to the cheapest walkman or mp3 player).That's why you need a studio and amplification system made just for mastering. If you don't have it... Well... You better give your precious single to a studio specialized in mastering ;)

PulseAudio

PulseAudio is a networked sound server, similar in theory to the Enlightened Sound Daemon (EsounD). PulseAudio is however much more advanced and has numerous features.

PulseAudio comes with many plugin modules. Among them, 2 jack modules that make possible to interface PulseAudio with jack. It is also possible to interface alsa and Pulse Audio with an ALSA pulse plugin in ~/.asoundrc. The result will be that any alsa application will use jack trough this Pulse plugin.

To install it, just run

Other programs that you may want to install at the same time are:

• PulseAudio Volume Control
• PulseAudio Volume Meter
• PulseAudio Preferences

Those programs are GUI using gtk+.

To install all of them:

To take a look at some configuration and usage examples, read the PulseAudio How-To wiki article.

For serious audio work, it is better to avoid pulseaudio. The main raison is because pulseaudio make no gvaranty about the latency. The latency of pulseaudio will increase in case of xruns, and the only possibility to decrease it, is to stop and restart pulseaudio.

SEQ24

SEQ24 has 2 different ways of working with MIDI.

The default method is in the MIDI input page it will show all other MIDI connections and allow you to check boxes. (This can be pretty annoying).

To work with qjackctl to setup the MIDI connections and have seq24 have it's own input follow these steps:

1. Open then close seq24.

2. Open up the file .seq24rc

3. Find the section that looks like

4. and make it look like this

5. Reopen SEQ24 and you should see a MIDI port under the ALSA section(it doesn't support jack MIDI although using a2jmidid -e will expose all ALSA sequencer ports in JACK)

Other overlays of interest

• PureData overlay with all the needed external libraries (zexy/gem/etc..).

Notes

Jack and sound level

Jack uses a floating point sample format, which allows values above 0 dBFS. When such a value is passed to a DAC, it will be clipped and cause distortion or worse. (A DAC in a sound card use fixed point values.)

Within JACK, 0 dBFS corresponds to a sample value of +/-1.0, and will emerge from the other side of your DAC with the maximum voltage level that the DAC can emit. Values above 0 dBFS are legal within JACK, but should probably never be routed to a physical output port.

Jack transport

From Robin Gareus on linux-audio-dev email list:

'Rolling' (like 'Starting' and 'Stopped') is a state of the jack-transport (SMPTE timecode) mechanism. (see the diagram on this page).

This has nothing to do with JACK audio-process callbacks which is/are always running. Every JACK application can *optionally* synchronize it's play position to jack-transport. Many jack aware application does not support this feature or have they own 'motor' to do that (as example audacity).

Quoting Paul Davis on linux-audio-dev email list:

'Most JACK clients pay no attention to JACK transport status. Only those that wish to participate in a fully synchronized start/stop/move-to system do so, and there are few of them. Clients are free to completely ignore transport status without any side effects.

'rolling' means that transport-aware clients should think of themselves as moving along a linear timeline. JACK transport info tells them where they are.'

Recommended books for new audio developers

What if you want to hack some linux sound software? Here are some books recommended by developers on linux-audio-dev mailing list:

• Computer Music Tutorial by Curtis Roads (1995, 1254 pages) A misnamed classic. It's no tutorial, but it is crammed with information. It provides a background, a context, a way of thinking about the goals. Its certainly not useful directly for developers, but everyone writing audio software should know most (or at least a good chunk) of what is in there.

• Computer Music: Synthesis, Composition, and Performance by Charles Dodge and Thomas Jerse (1997, 480 pages). Recommend to newbies to computer-assisted sound design and music-making.

• Read the docs/source for things like ALSA, Jack, LADSPA/LV2, DSSI & LASH.

• Introduction to Sound Processing by Davide Rocchesso (2003, 236 pages). Printed version

• musicdsp.org has tons of examples for concrete tasks like oscillators and filters, often in a portable way, read pure c or c++ so it helps you on every OS.

• The Science of Musical Sound by John Pierce. It only has a bit of material about computer music, and that is pretty light and pretty dated, but otherwise it's GREAT background for thinking about how sound works.

• 'Recording Studio Design' by Philip Newell.

• Theory and Techniques of Electronic Music by Miller Puckette. It's pretty high-level and a bit pure-data centric, but it's an excellent introduction.

• Elements of Computer Music by F. Richard Moore. This book is for anyone interested in using computers to extend the boundaries of music.

• Musical Signal Processing, 1997 Swets & Zeitlinger Publishers

• Electronic and computer music by Manning Peter (2004)

• Musimathics by Gareth Loy. An excellent introduction to anolog and digital signal processing, covering many basic concepts like filtering, convolution, sampling, and synthesis.

• Musik- und Audioinformatik (course) by Prof. Dr. Guerino Mazzola

• Digital Audio Signal Processing by Udo Zolzer

• DAFX - Digital Audio Effects by direction Udo Zolzer

• additional resources: FAQs (Frequently asked questions with answers) on Digital Signal ProcessingPublications and Presentations

TODO

• Adding at least a part of http://demudi.agnula.org/wiki/Low-latencyKernelBuildingHowto this guide
• tips on EQ, mixing, mastering, automation
• an introduction to the main effects used during HD recording

(flangers, reverbs, panning) and how/when to use them (help appreciated)

• To insert other programs, after testing them: Wired (DAW with

nativeakai support), Seq24 (light sequencer for live performances),Bristol (moog emulator, etc)

Credits

• Jack Homepage: http://jackit.sourceforge.net/
• Paul Davis on the alsa users mailing list

License: All 1 2 | Free

FCT software - Festo ConfigurationTool for CMXR .
Festo ConfigurationTool Plugin CMXR software - Configuration and commissioning software for the multi-axis controller CMXR-C1.
Document type: Commissioning
CMXR-C1 :
- PlugIn V1.0.6.2
- PlugIn V1.1.0.486

Category: Home & Education / Miscellaneous
Publisher: Festo, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 127.3 MB
Platform: Windows

The ManageEngine's Free VMware ConfigurationTool is a light weight Tool, can configure VMware Virtual server (VM's ) resources such as CPU, RAM or execute Power operations or change the Name of the VM'S, and also it fetches comprehensive data about the servers and its virtual machines and presents them as visually elegant graphs and reports in a desktop...

Category: Utilities / File & Disk Management
Publisher: ZOHO Corp., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 2.6 MB
Platform: Windows

The imagePROGRAF Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper. This software is compatible with: Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows 2008, Windows 7 32bit, Windows Vista 32bit, Windows XP.

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 24.8 MB
Platform: Windows

The Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper.The Media ConfigurationTool enables your computer to interface with your iPF8000S at the right parameters.

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 102.8 MB
Platform: Windows

The media ConfigurationTool is a software utility for the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF650 printer. This software helps users manage different types new media printers and select the best paper choice for each printer. User can also add or register new types of files for the printers that they use.

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 38.9 MB
Platform: Windows

The Inverter ConfigurationTool allows Configuration of the SolarEdge inverter without removing its cover. In PV sites with multiple inverters that are connected to each other via RS485 or wirelessly, all inverters can be configured from a single “master” inverter, using the Inverter ConfigurationTool. The Tool enables the setup of LAN,...

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: SolarEdge, License: Shareware, Price: USD $249.90, File Size: 6.2 MB
Platform: Windows

The Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper. The Canon imagePROGRAF iPF600 24-inch large format printer produces stunning, color, full-bleed posters, line drawings and documents quickly and easily.

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 27.6 MB
Platform: Windows

The CMXX plug-in is integrated in the Festo ConfigurationTool (FCT for short) and enables the Configuration and commissioning of the multi-axis interface CPX-CMXX via an Ethernet interface. CMXX is a plug-in for the special requirements of each component or device type.

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: Festo, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 53.1 MB
Platform: Windows

The imagePROGRAF Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper.
If you own a Canon imagePROGRAF iPF825 printer, you will definitely need the iPF825 Media ConfigurationTool to streamline the device's operation by managing the media types you want to print.

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 40.5 MB
Platform: Windows

Software file of the BACnet Communication Module Configuration Tool for MicroTech II chiller unit controllers.

Category: Utilities / Misc. Utilities
Publisher: McQuay International, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 568.8 KB
Platform: Windows

The Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper. Is a useful application, easy to install and easy to manipulate. It was created to help you when you use the printer and have problems with the paper.

Category: Utilities / Printers
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 41.1 MB
Platform: Windows

The iPF8100 Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper. Operating system(s): Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista 32bit, Windows XP.

Category: Utilities / Printers
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 110.8 MB
Platform: Windows

The Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper.
It has been improved to reduce the JAM error (paper jam).
The media information of Premium Glossy Paper 2 280 and Premium Semi-Glossy Paper 2 280 has been added.

Category: Utilities / Printers
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 47.1 MB
Platform: Windows

The imagePROGRAF Media ConfigurationTool (hereafter Media ConfigurationTool) is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper.
It offers a wide range of printing profiles, allowing you to choose the paper type (glossy, dry, commercial, photographic, etc.) and the printing...

Category: Utilities / Printers
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 46.9 MB
Platform: Windows

The Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper.
Canon Driver Downloads is for the support of Canon Products SOLD IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND ONLY. It includes drivers and demonstration software for Canon brand printers, scanners, cameras and other Canon products.

Category: Utilities / Printers
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 38.9 MB
Platform: Windows

Nokia E-mail ConfigurationTool is a freeware application for Nokia PC Suite that allows you to define e-mail settings on your desktop computer and send them to a Nokia mobile device via SMS text messages. E-mail ConfigurationTool helps users to set up their preferred mobile email settings quickly. Once set up, the user will get notification of a new email and can...

Category: Internet / Email
Publisher: Nokia, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 0
Platform: Windows

The Festo ConfigurationTool is the software platform for configuring and commissioning various components from Festo.
Among other Configuration tools inside of this package there is a CMMS-AS plugin which provides Configuration, simulation and stats analysis for the product. The component can be tested with full range of options and customization settings.

Category: Software Development / Misc. Programming
Publisher: Festo, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 72.2 MB
Platform: Windows

Media ConfigurationTool is a software utility that registers new media types to the printer and related software according to your choice of paper.
The following hardware and software are recommended for this software.
Operating Systems:
-Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit edition, English edition
-Microsoft Windows Server 2008 64-bit edition, English edition

Category: Audio / Music Creation
Publisher: Canon Inc., License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 96.1 MB
Platform: Windows

Moxa Mass ConfigurationTool is a time-saving Tool that helps users simultaneously deploy many tasks to Moxa’s embedded computers. This Tool is particularly useful for deploying programs or tasks to a large number of identical devices. Users can configure the settings at the control center, and then deploy them to all computers at once. This mass deployment...

Category: Audio / Utilities & Plug-Ins
Publisher: Moxa, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 5.9 MB
Platform: Windows

Blackberry Converter Suite is a simple yet excellent Tool for Blackberry phones. There are two converter software combined into one program: DVD to Blackberry Converter and Blackberry Video Converter. This suite is special offer for Blackberry fans. 2 in 1 suite is more cost-effective to have this combined suite than to purchase separately. The...

Category: Multimedia & Design / Video
Publisher: Aviosoft, Inc., License: Shareware, Price: USD $39.95, File Size: 38.5 MB
Platform: Windows

Best sms Tool for Blackberry mobile phone invents and send bulk text messages from desk top or laptop in very short time. Powerful SMS App Blackberry software is valuable for both professional user as well as Home users to instantly send birth day massage, festival, company ads sms, emergency meeting alert message and job sms in simplest way. Freeware Blackberry bulk...

Category: Internet / Misc. Plugins
Publisher: SMS app blackberry, License: Shareware, Price: USD $45.00, File Size: 4.0 MB
Platform: Windows

BlackBerry Master Control Program (MCP) is a power tool for BlackBerry devices designed for moderate to advanced users.

Category: Desktop Enhancements
Publisher: mcp.sodpit.com, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 3.0 MB
Platform: Windows, Mac, Vista

The Development Cleaning Suite (DCS) is comprised of several utilities designed to complement the Windows Disk Cleanup Manager. It includes a COM DLL 'Disk Cleanup Handler', Disk Cleanup Utility and a Disk Cleanup ConfigurationTool. The tools provide greater flexibility over the standard tools provided by Windows. You can: * Select fixed drives for scanning and cleaning....

Category: Software Development
Publisher: MJ Freelancing, License: Freeware, Price: USD $0.00, File Size: 3.9 MB
Platform: Windows

Easy-to-use button menu to help visitors around your site. These are triple-state sticky web buttons with hover and pressed states. Horizontally laid out menu. The Aqua-R design is a different approach to the watery 3D buttons which have become popular on many well-designed sites. The buttons are much darker than the other aqua themes and only the hue can be modified by the user. An online...

Category: Internet
Publisher: Image Intelligence Software Ltd., License: Shareware, Price: USD $39.00, File Size: 55.4 KB
Platform: Windows, Linux, Unix, OS/2, Mac

Easy-to-use button menu to guide people through your pages. These are triple-state sticky web buttons with hover and pressed states. Place it down the side of your web pages. The Aqua-R design is a different approach to the watery 3D buttons which have become popular on many well-designed sites. The buttons are much darker than the other aqua themes and only the hue can be modified by the user....

Category: Internet
Publisher: Image Intelligence Software Ltd., License: Shareware, Price: USD $39.00, File Size: 55.4 KB
Platform: Windows, Linux, Unix, OS/2, Mac