Topic by sandharp

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Topic: Host app for Linux

Hi - I recently switched to Ubuntu studio on my old Toshiba laptop and getting much improved performance from the standalone PTQ5.  The problem is, I have been using the Cantabile host program in Windows for key mapping (splitting) and transpositions.  Does anyone have a  suggestion for an equivalent program?  (It doesn't matter if there are no sequencing capabilities as long as it's stable and low enough  latency for live performance.)  I'm not real familiar with the 'Linux world' so I'd appreciate any help I can get.
Thanks

Reply by stamkorg

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Re: Host app for Linux

Not sure but I think you should be able to do this kind of things using Ardour3 as host since this latest version allows midi fonctions.
You should try to use Pianoteq as a LV2 plugin inside Ardour3 and see what happens.
Cantabile is the best vst host IMO.

Nothing is easy when you begin on the linux world but it is worth a try.
Keep us informed...

Reply by delt

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Re: Host app for Linux

I use Renoise, it's a powerful "tracker" type sequencer. It's commercial, but not very expensive, and the demo version has only a few restrictions which might or might not get in your way.

http://soundcloud.com/delt01
Pianoteq 5 STD+blüthner, Renoise 3 • Roland FP-4F + M-Audio Keystation 88es
Intel i5@3.4GHz, 16GB • Linux Mint xfce 64bit

Reply by sandharp

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Re: Host app for Linux

Thanks for the help!  I will look into both suggestions post the results.

Reply by m.tarenskeen

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Re: Host app for Linux

sandharp wrote:

Hi - I recently switched to Ubuntu studio on my old Toshiba laptop and getting much improved performance from the standalone PTQ5.  The problem is, I have been using the Cantabile host program in Windows for key mapping (splitting) and transpositions.  Does anyone have a  suggestion for an equivalent program?  (It doesn't matter if there are no sequencing capabilities as long as it's stable and low enough  latency for live performance.)  I'm not real familiar with the 'Linux world' so I'd appreciate any help I can get.
Thanks

Hi,

Using PTQ5 as LV2 plugin in Ardour3 was already mentioned.
Another option is Qtractor which also supports LV2 plugins.

I don't know how to do key mapping and transpositions. A good master controller keyboard with built-in split and transpose settings might also work with the standalone version of PTQ5.

m.tarenskeen's Website

Reply by Jorvik

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Re: Host app for Linux

I've always found that Cantabile works well in Wine – I use Cantabile Light to host some VSTi's that won't work by other means.

It can be a bit of bugger to get Wine working well, and you need wine-asio so that Jack can see it, but PlayOnLinux seems to be an easier way of getting things set up these days. That might be another possibility to explore.

I'm not sure that Ardour would be able to do key mappings, but I could be wrong. If so, I've learnt something new about A3!

Some years ago I found a nifty little utility that could do just what you want. I used it to split a keyboard to different manuals of Aeolus (pipe organ emulation). I'm not at home at the moment so I can't check, but I think it was QMidiRoute. It lets you save the mappings as well, which is useful. You'd be able to connect everything up with Jack and use the native standalone version of PT.

PTQ Std: Blüthner, K2, YC5, Steinway D, Kremsegg 2, Celeste, Hohner, Electric pianos
UbuntuStudio, SL88 Grand, Keystation 88es

1903 Bechstein Model 8, Yamaha CP-30

Reply by mwinthrop

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Re: Host app for Linux

I use QMidiRoute with Pianoteq to change a foot pedal midi input from a variable volume to a variable damper pedal.  I also changed an old on-off damper pedal to a different midi pedal using this program since my piano keyboard is so old it cannot be changed otherwise.  All of this works well for me with Pianoteq in Ubuntu.

You might also consider using a program called "mididings" (installable from the Ubuntu software center or through a repository identified at the software website) which apparently allows you to write custom programs in Python.  The webpage is: http://das.nasophon.de/mididings/ which also has documentation available you could look at.  I have not used this software yet, but I am thinking about trying it.  It has a learning curve, but it appears to be extremely flexible.

Edit after reading varpa's post: I probably should have been more explicit and stated I am using KXStudio in Ubuntu Studio for everything I am doing.  When I was just starting with Linux a few years ago, this really made things much easier, just as varpa observes in the next post below!

Last edited by mwinthrop (18-08-2014 04:23)

Reply by varpa

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Re: Host app for Linux

My advice to linux audio users is first to use an audio-oriented linux distribution such as AVLinux or kxstudio which are already set up to music production and will save you a lot of work configuring for best performance and installing/finding music software.   Secondly you should understand how the jack audio/midi server works on linux which allows for simple configuration of latency and allow simple interconnection of audio/midi sources - see
http://www.libremusicproduction.com/article/jackguide.   

Concerning midi configurability I'd first check what your keyboard supports natively concerning keyboard splitting or transposition.   In linux there are the midifilter.lv2 lv2 plugins which can do many types of midi filtering/transposition etc.   These plugins can be used in Ardour, Qtractor, or the carla plugin host.   As has been mentioned middings is very powerful if you are comfortable with python programming (example scripts available on the middings website make it easy to learn).

I have a posting on my practice setup on the AVLinux forum  (in which I admit a preference to some sampled pianos over Pianoteq..., but this was before V5), with many details and some sample middings scripts.   I prefer to run Pianoteq standalone so it records everything since I like to save my improvisations and I use middings to manipulate midi as needed.

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