The short answer: Don't waste your time, just make better use of it.

The long answer:

Since you are in the deep about Linux, which is good, I think
you should be searching Linux - only and Linux - audio sites.
Most folks here are into Windoze. A few MacHeadz hang out here
too.

I too, once considered running a Linux sound system.
I bought Gnome Linux (which is so-so) and reformatted
my PC just for Linux. Unfortunately, that particular Linux
package is NOT simple and media-friendly like AmigaDos (a pre-Linux Unix variant).

I think that unless you wait for current Linux systems to beef up
or tap into the Linux development (programming) community, you're not
going to have much luck. Of course, you could start using Linux to
run Windows and Mac emulators, and then coprocess the audio files using
a few Linux batch commands. But this is too much work with too little reward.

Another option would be to check out old Amiga computer enthusiasts and find
out if any Amigas can be enhanced to match current Windows & Mac capabilities.
I used to have some old computer programming friends who did all of their coolest
sound and animation stuff on Amiga computers. Because it has a Linux-type structure
and true multitasking, it was capable of some interesting automation scripts.

I don't really think that Linux is that much more stable than
other systems anymore, because since it became mainstream, there
has been commercial corruption of the Linux distribution. I noticed
this in my Gnome Linux set, as well. Too much recent Linux software
is designed just to poorly copy Windows (and a few Mac) programs.
This is especially evident with regard to internet tools. Then, Linux systems add
some old fashioned and technical networking protocol command sets that are really
best left to system administrators. There are also tons more configuration files
in Linux, and since it is roughly equivalent to advanced DOS, it's still kind of
a text-based system that happens to run graphical interfaces recently.
Macs still seem to be the only system that is truly graphically based 100%.

I think for stability, there is no substitute for maintennance.
You have been doing just that. The only way to improve upon that is
to find and use better tools for configuration, maintennance, and repairs.

Other than that, you could go back to hardware-based audio systems.
American Musical Supply and Musician's Friend and zZounds and Sweetwater
and SoundChaser could get you into some very stable dedicated audio
systems. Some of them can read & write WAV and AIFF or SD2 files too.

I think the most important thing is to listen on a few different pairs of speakers / amps, like home stereo, cd walkman, headphones straight from the soundcard. Once it sounds good on all of these, you have all the bases covered in case anyone else listens to it!

chiselchest

: Right now I monitor through cheap 8" home stereo speakers and was wondering
: if there is a big advantage to moving up to nearfield monitors in the $300
: to $500 dollar range. (which is all my budget can afford). My setup up
: right now is just a simple DAW (gadget labs wave 8/24, samplitude, no
: outboud effects or mixer). My main question is would it be better to wait,
: save my money and get nice pair of monitors, or will I see a helpful
: difference by upgrading to low level nearfield monitor now? The only things
: I'm recording right now are my Turntables, S900 sampler and MPC 2000
: sequencer so I have no need for mic preamps, mics, etc. (for the mean time).

: Another question I have is suggestions on where I should go next. I really
: want to learn to use my ears and become an engineer (and hopefully become
: really good at it.. :-) instead of just buying a bunch of gear and
: "recording". In short, I would like to make music/audio a career (slowly
: but surely right...?) Anyway, I'm thinking about getting the golden ears cd
: set. I read Fletchers article, "shit on a stick," I don't wanna be that guy
: that Fletcher hates, but everybody had to start in the garage right? Sorry
: for the rambling, thanks for the help.

:
: spencer

Hi Spencer

Well, as a fellow newbie, I can tell you that my recording and mixing
experience has been transformed by switching from half-decent hi-fi speakers
(Infinity 21i's and Arcam Alphas) to comparatively cheap monitors (Spirit
Absolute 2's). The monitors are far crisper, more detailed, snappier in
their transients and, it would appear, more accurate in their frequency
response. They also image better. Lurking horrors in mixes have leapt out at
me when, previously, they would only become apparent when playing a track on
some peculiar other system (a boombox, someone else's hi-fi, a car stereo or
whatever).

Properly designed monitors are intended not to flatter the mix, whereas
hi-fi speakers seem to be desirable (and glowingly reviewed) when they
impart a warm colouration to the music, and even when they blur the edges a
bit.

I listened to loads of monitors before I bought mine. You should do the
same. Go for a pair that are unflattering to the music but not harsh in the
highs and high-mids as so many cheapies are; otherwise you'll suffer rapidly
from listening fatigue. Fearing fatigue I ruled out the Behringer Truths
immediately, and the Alesis Monitor Ones after more agonising. I rejected
the little Roland things (D50s, are they?) because they seemed undetailed
and a bit flat. I compared the Spirits with similar-sized Genelecs (I forget
the model number) and thought, hey, for a third of the price the Spirits
achieved pretty much the same (a clear window on to the music) even if the
colouration was rather different.

The bottom line in monitors, it seems to me, is that you want as close to a
full, flat frequency response as possible, with excellent transient response
and plenty of high-end detail but not at the expense of harshness. Beyond
that, you simply have to adjust your ears to the pair you buy and learn how
to compensate for the inevitable idiosyncratic colouration. Listen to lots
of commercial CDs on them.

I obviously have an interest in thinking I made the right choice but you
could do worse than listen to the Spirit-by-Soundcraft Absolute series (they
come in "2" and "Zero" flavours). The Zeros are a little smaller and have
slightly less bass extension (50Hz instead of 45Hz on the 2's, according the
spec anyway) but the Zeros, which are a bit cheaper, are a more recent
design and have zarjaz waveguides for the tweeters and wotnot. They sound
incredibly good for their size. I really couldn't decide but eventually
plumped for the 2's because I wasn't about to lash out on a subwoofer to add
bass extension.

On the other hand, I know a commercial recording studio that produces superb
mixes that get plenty of radio play with no more monitoring than a pair of
Absolute Zeros.

Spirit-by-Soundcraft products seem comparatively hard to find in the US, but
you could persevere. These monitors are ridiculously cheap for the quality
you get.

Here's the Soundcraft website:

http://www.spirit-by-soundcraft.co.uk/

Don

: Right now I monitor through cheap 8" home stereo speakers and was wondering
: if there is a big advantage to moving up to nearfield monitors in the $300
: to $500 dollar range. (which is all my budget can afford). My setup up
: right now is just a simple DAW (gadget labs wave 8/24, samplitude, no
: outboud effects or mixer). My main question is would it be better to wait,
: save my money and get nice pair of monitors, or will I see a helpful
: difference by upgrading to low level nearfield monitor now? The only things
: I'm recording right now are my Turntables, S900 sampler and MPC 2000
: sequencer so I have no need for mic preamps, mics, etc. (for the mean time).

: Another question I have is suggestions on where I should go next. I really
: want to learn to use my ears and become an engineer (and hopefully become
: really good at it.. :-) instead of just buying a bunch of gear and
: "recording". In short, I would like to make music/audio a career (slowly
: but surely right...?) Anyway, I'm thinking about getting the golden ears cd
: set. I read Fletchers article, "shit on a stick," I don't wanna be that guy
: that Fletcher hates, but everybody had to start in the garage right? Sorry
: for the rambling, thanks for the help.

:
: spencer

:
: I am building a new recording studio in a commercial building. Most of
: the existing "standard office grade" walls have been demolished in
: preparation for construction. However, there is one very long office
: grade wall that is in the exact location of a new soundproofed wall
: slated to be built. Here is the question. Do I leave it in place and
: build a soundproofing wall on both sides of it or whould I get better
: low frequency blockage by demolishing the existing office wall and then
: building my two sound blocking was as normal. The soundproofing walls
: are the standard...three sheets of drywall, metal studs, insulation,
: metal studs and three layers of drywall again.

I'd say leave it. It might be a load bearing wall. Rip that out and you'll have
one hell of a headache. It might be worth hiring an architect for a few hours.
If it's an office grade wall it might have a lollycolumn in the middle. Get
blueprints for the building or talk to the super.

---
-Jay Kahrs
Owner - Chief Engineer
Mad Moose Recording Inc.
East Rutherford, NJ
http://www.madmooserecording.com

"Difficult is what the studios that aren't up to par call it.
Demanding is what the studios that are up to par call it."
B. Blackwood

: Hello.

: I'll make a program that can generate midi file. Where I can get that
: information. I want to know the specification for the midi file.

GO here www.borg.com/~jglatt
What you need is the Midi File Spec from the site.

--
Barry Graham
Top Brass Events Band
Melbourne, Australia

: Hello.

:when I plug the keyboard into the
: microphone input it will record but I can't hear what I'm playing out
: of the headphone jack on the computers speakers.

That's a function of the sound card in your computer. The term is "duplex" and
it isn't. It can't play back what it's recording.

If your keyboard has two outputs, use one for the headphones and the other for
the computer, but it doesn't sound like you have this option. You could send
the signal to your 4-track and then to both the computer and the headphones.

can you try the line in on your sound card.
check the audio mixer properties, maybe your mic input is disabled.

: Hello.

: I'm having a problem with my CoolEdit program. I had assumed it worked
: similar to my four track. I plug the (excuse my ignorance of music
: recording/computer terms) connection cable from the headphones/aux out
: of the keyboard into which ever track I want to record on the four
: track. While I'm recording I can hear what I'm playing. The problem
: I'm having with CoolEdit is when I plug the keyboard into the
: microphone input it will record but I can't hear what I'm playing out
: of the headphone jack on the computers speakers. Can I plug it in
: somewhere else? Is the microphone input going through the sound card?
: Please help, I'm starting to feel like beethoven and definitely not
: as good. Thanks a lot colleen

Nice Idea but I never have seen such software

D
;)

: I would like to get a software CD/MP3 player that I can
: start/stop/rewind/etc using programmable midi commands that I can send
: from across the room @ my midi control station.

: thx for any recommendations,
: frenchy

: Info please , how do i convert my old GM midi files to XG files

GM play fine on XG, but if you want to add XG features, all you need
is some program which lets you add XG specific information easily.

You can use the dedicated XG Editing programs like XGEdit95 -- load
a file, then make changes using its interface until the remix sounds
nice.

You can use a sequencer program with some XG editing environment.
Yamaha's XGWorks is perfectly intergrated, naturally. Cakewalk,
Cubase, and Logic all have environments for XG editing. Plus you can
use the separate XG editing tools along with them.

Converting isn't really what you're doing though. It is remixing,
and sometimes, additional sequencing.

Once you get the basic mix, it is tempting to add additional
controllers to exploit the expression that XG synths allow. Doing a
track of just filter controls, for example, or any other sort of
effect change, can make the things come to life. If you want to add a
true wah-wah guitar sound to the guitar track, the only way to do that
is to play the wah effect via MIDI controllers (even a nice pedal or
wheel, if you happen to have such a hardware controller which is
mappable).

Eventually, you might think about redoing certain tracks to
specifically exploit the features of the XG synth, playing the notes
differently in order to mesh with the effects and other controllers
you are using.

But the start of it all is a basic remix, using some XG editing
software. Just changing the instruments and effect parameters for
reverb and chorus can make a big difference.
--
*-__Jeffery Jones__________| *Starfire* |____________________-*
** Muskego WI Access Channel 14/25 <http://www.execpc.com/~jeffsj/mach7/>
*Task Force Games* <http://www.task-force-games.com>
*Starfire Design Studio* <http://www.starfiredesign.com/>
*Graphic Reflections and Websites* <http://www.execpc.com/~jeffsj/>

I don't know about this "notepad" finale but in my version of finale, you
can load a .MUS and go in file -> save as, and then select the save type as
midi to save a .MID format file.

- muik

: Hi all.

: I have a dozen or so songs I created in the shareware version of
: Finale "NotePad". The file type is ".MUS". Is there anyway I can save
: these files as wave files or midi??, given that playing them via
: soundcard (SB16) and attempting to sample/record through Cool Edit
: doesn't work?

: Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

: Wes

Notepad is a free program. So, I'll bet Finale coded it in such a way (or
left out the code needed) so you can't do that.

: Hi all.

: I have a dozen or so songs I created in the shareware version of
: Finale "NotePad". The file type is ".MUS". Is there anyway I can save
: these files as wave files or midi??, given that playing them via
: soundcard (SB16) and attempting to sample/record through Cool Edit
: doesn't work?

: Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

: Wes

Channel limits should be the same for both file types, the only difference
between type 0 and type 1 is that type 0 merges all tracks into one,
although they will still show as separate tracks on your sequencer whereas
type 1 will leave all individual tracks as they are...poss something to do
with the way the file types save onto disc to save disc space (sort of
compression of files if you like)
There is also type 2 but this is rarely, almost never, used, I've certainly
never come across any type 2 files and don't know of any kit capable of
reading those type files
Regards.......Mark.

: i'm wondering if anyone can tell me:

: what the total no. of tracks available is in a type 1 midi file

: total no. of channels allowed in a track is in type 1

: as well as channel limits in type o

: thank you

I'm a little late in posting, but when I looked at portables, none of them supported digital transfer back onto the PC at all. I bought a Sony MZ-R700DPC (with the Xitel DG-2 USB/optical unit) but that only works for transferring music from PC to minidisc player, not the other way around. The MZ-R700 has a powered mic jack and a line-in/optical-in built into the same jack, but none of these function as a signal-out. The headphone jack is the only way of getting any signal back out.
...
The manual says to get a patch cord and hook up the MD's headphone jack to the line-in of whatever you are recording. Start with the recorder's level at 50% and turn the MD's volume up as needed to get a good signal. When I do it and view the transferred signal, it clearly shows the chopped up ATRAC signal when run through teh line-in of a (1+ year old) SoundBlaster 5.1 soundcard...-so you're not going to be losing a whole lot on the way in doing this. And even so, the MD still sounds far better than any portable cassette recorder, and is 1/3 the price of a DAT.

I dont think so - but I'm not sure!
You can always get them onto computer from the MD LineOut socket to the PC's
LineIn socket.

Cheers

Tim

: I am looking to buy a personal mini disc player/recorder. The models I
: am looking at all have the digital PC link. I know that it can
: transfer songs from the computer to the device, but can you put songs
: that you record to the mini disc player on the computer? I am
: intrested because I would like to record recitals and then burn them
: onto a cd. Any help is appreciated!

: Thanks,
: Andrew
: (First time poster on this ng)