[18:22] <corshmock> Hello Everybody.
[18:23] <corshmock> Ubuntu Studio 19.10 or Ubuntu Studio 18.04?
[18:26] <Eickmeyer> corshmock: That's completely subjective. You need to decide for yourself, but look at it this way: going from 18.04 to the next LTS (20.04) will be a major jump as opposed to going from 19.10 to 20.04 and remaining on that for LTS.
[18:28] <corshmock> Thank you very much Eickmeyer.  I'm a total newbie on 19.10.  I normally support Windows, but I really have my work cut out for me with Linux.  Beautiful system though.
[18:28] <Eickmeyer> corshmock: Thanks.
[18:29] <corshmock> What version do you use Eickmeyer ?
[18:30] <Eickmeyer> corshmock: I'm the project leader, so I typically use the pre-release, which I do not recommend for production. I'm the worst person to ask.
[18:38] <corshmock> Is it okay to ask a support question in here Eickmeyer ?
[18:39] <corshmock> Hexter wouldn't run for me in 19.10, I tried to install it from the command line but got an error.  I tried to killall but there was no process.  I tried to reinstall it from Synaptic, but none of those things worked.  So I installed 18.04 in a VM and Hexter isn't even there.
[18:41] <OvenWerks> hexter is a plugin.
[18:42] <OvenWerks> command line would be jack-dssi-host hexter.so
[18:43] <OvenWerks> you would of course need jack-dssi-host installed as well (not sure of the package name)
[18:44] <corshmock> Which is probably why I got this?  jack-dssi-host hexter.so
[18:44] <corshmock> jack-dssi-host: Warning: DSSI path not set
[18:44] <corshmock> jack-dssi-host: Defaulting to "/usr/local/lib/dssi:/usr/lib/dssi:/home/corshmock/.dssi"
[18:44] <corshmock> jack-dssi-host: Error: Failed to load plugin library "hexter.so"
[18:45] <OvenWerks> because hexter is a dssi plugin there are some applications like Ardour that do not support it. Un fortunately hexter's author has lost interest in it and so it has not been converted to lv2
[18:46] <corshmock> Does that mean we can forget hexter?
[18:46] <OvenWerks>  here it says /usr/lib/dssi
[18:46] <OvenWerks> I am on 18.04 BTW
[18:47] <OvenWerks> it could be we are going to loose hexter to bit rot
[18:47] <corshmock> I've just installed 18.04 in a VM, but I can't find hexter, even though synaptic says it's installed.  Maybe there's a way to run hexter from the command line?
[18:47] <OvenWerks>  It was likely writen with gtk 2.*
[18:48] <OvenWerks> yes in 18.04 the menu file(s) were wrong so it did not show.
[18:50] <OvenWerks> jack-dssi-host hexter.so works here.
[18:51] <OvenWerks> you could also try loading dexed in carla.
[18:52] <OvenWerks> dexed is another dx7 emulator
[18:54] <corshmock> I've just loaded carla.  No idea how to load dexed though.  Apologies for my Newbieness.
[18:55] <corshmock> Maybe I should just follow another tutorial either in 19.10 or 18.04 that will work for me?
[18:55] <OvenWerks> at the top there is an "Add Plugin
[18:55] <corshmock> I've looked in that but don't see dexed
[18:56] <OvenWerks> it gives a window you should check both Instruments and LV2 at the top
[18:56] <OvenWerks>  then click on Name so the names are in alphabetical order
[18:57] <OvenWerks>  put you mouse ponter over the list of names and scroll down till you see dexed. For me it is just above the first DIN meter
[18:58] <OvenWerks>  (to be honest I do not know if dexed is something Studio came with or something I added later
[19:01] <corshmock> yeah I've done all that but no sign of it.  I've just done a sudo apt-get update (not sure if that's the right command) but it's doing something :)  18.04 doesn't even have carla
[19:01] <OvenWerks> That is true
[19:02] <OvenWerks> but carla is available for 18.04 from the ubuntustudio backports ppa
[19:02] <OvenWerks> !ubuntustudio-bacports
[19:03] <OvenWerks> !ubuntustudio-backports
[19:05] <OvenWerks> BTW, the first time you show the dexed GUI, it takes a long time to show. The window comes up right away but is empty then after a while the contents show up.
[19:06] <OvenWerks> It is interesting that it seems to indicate it can save patches directly to a DX7 memory cart there is no MIDI out.
[19:07] <corshmock> I think I've installed backports (I did read something about this).  So I'll try Carla again now?
[19:08] <OvenWerks> sure
[19:09] <corshmock> It's actually installing carla!!!
[19:09] <OvenWerks> wow did we do that? cool.
[19:09]  * OvenWerks wrote the code but doesn't remember that part now.
[19:11] <corshmock> You wrote the code?
[19:11] <OvenWerks> for controls
[19:12] <OvenWerks> not carla.
[19:14] <corshmock> You very clever person!!!
[19:14] <corshmock> Carla and Carla controls is there now but it's still doing a LOT of installing.
[19:15] <OvenWerks> probably just stuborn
[19:16] <corshmock> I wonder will hexter be available after that's all finished
[19:17] <corshmock> It was a fresh install of 18.04 as of this evening
[19:19] <OvenWerks> hexter should be a part of both 18.04 and 19.10 but to be honest, I don't know if hexter was tested in 19.10
[19:21] <corshmock> It's still pumping away with installs so I'm hopeful I can continue that tutorial.  I have enough trouble with my audio interface as it is :)
[19:22] <OvenWerks> I don't know which tutorial that is. I hope it is relatively up to date
[19:22] <corshmock> It's Peter Reppert.  I just downloaded it as a PDF.  Have you come across it?
[19:23] <OvenWerks> no, but I have not looked for tutorials for a long time.
[19:26] <OvenWerks> the main thing is getting an up to date tutorial, things do change...
[19:26] <corshmock> Maybe if I search for an 18.04 tutorial?
[19:27] <OvenWerks> I am not aware of any tutoral being written for Studio in the last few years... but possible.
[19:27] <OvenWerks> Eickmeyer: ^^^?
[19:30] <corshmock> mmmmm  I think I get what you mean about up to date.  Maybe I will need to look really hard for something that works.
[19:40] <OvenWerks> Jack used to be a requirement for any reasonable audio use, but with the proliferation of plugins, Ardour recommends using alsa instead. (as an example)
[19:41] <OvenWerks> (Jack was written by the author of Ardour and Ardour uses the same jack code inside for a lot of things)
[19:42] <OvenWerks> However, there are a lot of cheap USB mics around and in order to use them with built in sound jack is still needed.
[19:42] <OvenWerks> I don't really need jack, but I run it all the time as it allows desktop sound to pass through.
[19:46] <corshmock> What about Pathage?  Does that do a similar thing or not?
[19:47] <OvenWerks> patchage uses jack
[19:47] <OvenWerks>  is shows what jack clients are available and allows connecting them together
[19:48] <OvenWerks> once jack is started in controls, it stays running and will restart at session start after a reboot
[19:49] <OvenWerks> so patchage will just work (Carla has a patch bay as well so patchage is not needed)
[19:51] <OvenWerks> I find patchage starts a bit quicker than Carla so I use it for quick checks and connects. It is a little less stable.
[19:55] <corshmock> Thank you so much for this information.  In windows I used to have a patch bay for my Edirol UA-101.  Would such a thing exist in Ubuntu?
[19:55] <corshmock> Or can you do it with the patch bays in Studio?
[19:56] <OvenWerks> It depends on what information the device gives via USB 2.0
[19:57] <corshmock> Would (excuse my ignorance) lsusb tell me anything?
[19:57] <OvenWerks> if it does not need an extra application on Mac os to control these things then alsamixer (command line) or qasmixer (GUI) should show what controls are available.
[19:57] <OvenWerks> lsusb just list what devices are there
[19:57] <OvenWerks> alsamixer is quickest
[19:59] <OvenWerks> (though maybe not the easiest to understand)
[19:59] <corshmock> I must remember that.  If I can get my headphones working through the ua-101, import tracks and practice finger drumming on my Akai LPD8, it would be a start, before I unleash my compositions on the world :)
[19:59] <corshmock> I like the way, you can draw lines between devices (am I correct) in jack.
[20:00] <OvenWerks> if the headphones are not outputs 1+2 that will mean fidning out whch outputs they are and connecting things there instead
[20:01] <OvenWerks>  controls lets you set the default outputs for desktop audio coming from pulse
[20:01] <corshmock> I think this is an issue I will have difficulty with but I hope I can get my head around it.
[20:01] <OvenWerks>  The drawing lines part is not jack itself but rather the gui (Carla, patchage or qjackctl)
[20:02] <OvenWerks> sometimes the easiest thing to start is just to plug left into all the odd outputs and right into all the even outputs
[20:03] <corshmock> I'm slightly confused already
[20:03] <corshmock> Left and right?
[20:03] <OvenWerks> Most people only use two of however many outputs there are.
[20:03] <corshmock> Okay
[20:03] <OvenWerks> pulse shows left and right most every thing else is 1 and 2
[20:04] <corshmock> So pulse is a major player here?
[20:05] <OvenWerks> pulse is what all the desktop audio goes through including the browser and most games.
[20:05] <OvenWerks>  (many video and music players too)
[20:06] <OvenWerks>  We automatically bridge pulse to jack and normally connect the output of pulse to the outputs in jack so the desktop adio just works
[20:06] <corshmock> Pulse as everything I see in Ubuntu Studio picks up every piece of hardware immediately.
[20:06] <OvenWerks> however pulse is not good enough for audio production as it is not bit perfect or low latency
[20:07] <OvenWerks>  When jack is started from -controls, pulse no longer sees any audio devices :)
[20:07] <corshmock> Jack locks them?
[20:07] <OvenWerks> jack becomes pulses only audio device
[20:08] <OvenWerks> actually yes and any device jack doesn't use we still tell pulse not to look at.
[20:09] <OvenWerks> I have had trouble with pulse seeing a device and not even using it but still affecting the sound quality of my main audio device
[20:09] <OvenWerks> also if pulse can see any audio device it will not allow jack to "free wheel"
[20:09] <OvenWerks>  free wheel is important for some programs when exporting audio to files
[20:10] <corshmock> Free wheel means to take control of any device it wants to?
[20:11] <OvenWerks> no, free wheel mean that jack is no longer locked to the audio device and starts the next cycle when all processes that need time are finished
[20:11] <OvenWerks>  this means export does not need to be in real time and yet can still use plugins
[20:13] <corshmock> When jack no longer has a device locked, Jack can freewheel to another device?  Not sure if I'm following you correctly
[20:14] <OvenWerks> no jack freewheels to itself.
[20:15] <corshmock> Jack allows itself to prioritize as it wants?
[20:15] <OvenWerks> or to put it another way it is not really locked to any thing and each cycle is only as long as needed to finish all calculations for that cycle
[20:15] <OvenWerks> so each cycle may be a different length
[20:16] <corshmock> Rather than, each cycle being of a determined length, which must be finished
[20:16] <OvenWerks> normally each cycle is the length of time between audio device iterupts
[20:16] <corshmock> This is very interesting I must say.
[20:17] <OvenWerks> this allows exports to happen faster than the elgth of the audio or take longer if the plugin math is too much for real time.
[20:17] <corshmock> It would be so nice if you just plugged everything in and it 'just worked', but I know this is not going to work that way :)
[20:18] <corshmock> That is one hell of an update.  It's still only at 32%!
[20:19] <OvenWerks> having come from analog studios (broadcast studios in my case) I would say it is easier and a lot closer to just working. However, the learning curve has not gotten any less
[20:19] <OvenWerks> for 18.04? ya, I don't we did "point" releases
[20:19] <corshmock> So you have a background in Audio Recording?
[20:20] <OvenWerks> broadcast. I have worked both in Radio and TV
[20:20] <OvenWerks> (so video... back when it was just ntsc)
[20:20] <corshmock> And you're a Developer too.
[20:20] <OvenWerks> That is self taugh mostly
[20:20] <OvenWerks> computers were not the thing they are now in the late 70s
[20:22] <corshmock> I don't know anything about recording.  Zero about Linux, but my simplistic goals are small, so I hope I can get those established, if even to a minimal degree.  My respects and thanks to you for the education you have been giving me.
[20:22] <OvenWerks> no problem
[20:23] <corshmock> That is one hell of an update.  I'm not sure the 40gb I gave that VM will be sufficient :)
[20:24] <OvenWerks> it should delete as much as it installs pretty much
[20:24] <OvenWerks> I use 40G for my installs and then mount my home directory separate
[20:25] <OvenWerks> I do this so that I don't loose my home directory when up grading or reinstalling or trying out something new in another partition
[20:26] <corshmock> Do you use VMs?
[20:27] <OvenWerks> no
[20:28] <corshmock> I don't understand the file system, so I know I would crush everything.  I also unplug any external hardrives :)
[20:28] <corshmock> sda sdb etc :)
[20:28] <corshmock> I'm used to drive letters, but I don't want to go back to windows.
[20:29] <corshmock> I do love this system but I have a LOT to learn to even get to grips with basics
[20:29] <OvenWerks> Most linux machines end up looking like a single drive
[20:30] <OvenWerks> So the drive/partition I install on would be / and my home directory is mounted as /home/
[20:30] <OvenWerks> it looks exactly the same as if it was all on one partition... but it's not
[20:36] <corshmock> I've seen this terminology but I need to read a good book on it.  I understand the directory structure, but I don't even know how to navigate it yet.
[20:36] <OvenWerks> for most use all you need to know is your own home directory
[20:37] <corshmock> To give you an idea of how zero I know about recording, I recorded myself singing over a backing track, posted it on a forum, and a guy said, TELL US YOU DIDN'T RECORD JUST SINGING INTO A MIC WITHOUT HEADPHONES ON.  At least now I know why they wear headphones when they're singing :) :) :)
[20:38] <OvenWerks> your own ears are the most important tool you have for recording
[20:39] <OvenWerks> finding what is making your ears tell you it's not right is the hard part...
[20:39] <corshmock> Oh and someone told me about headroom, so I am now equipped with the knowledge to blow the world away with my art :)
[20:40] <corshmock> It certainly sounds very difficult to find that.
[20:40] <corshmock> Maybe some people just have an Engineer or Producer who makes their music work?
[20:41] <OvenWerks> lots of people do. In a band there is ussually one person who understands at least some and the rest don't
[20:42] <corshmock> So you don't use VMs.  Do you have a multiple boot system?
[20:42] <OvenWerks> A lot of producers don't know much either, they have an engineer to yell at :)
[20:42] <corshmock> Oh>
[20:42] <corshmock> Oh?
[20:43] <OvenWerks> yes, I have a 2T drive and I split off 4 or 5 20 - 40 G partitions that I install into.
[20:43] <OvenWerks> For testing 20G is enough, for my working install I use 40G
[20:44] <corshmock> Is this just to try out different distributions?
[20:44] <OvenWerks> for testing prerelease ISOs for Studio mostly
[20:45] <OvenWerks>  Or I will install kubuntu or some other flavour to test -installer
[20:46] <corshmock> Do you make a living out of this or is it a labor of love?
[20:47] <OvenWerks> I am retired so volonteer
[20:48] <corshmock> Well you have certainly been keeping your brain very sharp, so great choice!
[20:49] <corshmock> And sorry, I don't mean to ask personal questions
[20:49] <OvenWerks> :)
[20:49] <OvenWerks> I play guitar and bass, generally don't sing much
[20:50] <OvenWerks> my recording is pretty much all analog. I don't play kb very much and so synths are not so interesting.
[20:51] <OvenWerks>  when I was using tape, I enjoyed the extra 16 tracks a midi sequencer could give me over just 8 on tape
[20:51] <corshmock> I used to play bass.  Nowadays, I might strum a few chords.  I actually did vocal tuition for a year a few years ago, and found out that I can actually sing a little bit.  Don't worry, you won't be within earshot, if I kick off a dodgy ballad :)
[20:51] <OvenWerks>  So I used some synths then
[20:52] <corshmock> kb?
[20:52] <OvenWerks> keyboard
[20:52] <corshmock> Just gotcha at the last second :)
[20:53] <OvenWerks> definately not a piano player, but I can do some strings and lead lines when pressed
[20:54] <corshmock> My keyboard skills are worse than my guitar, but as I say, I'm a very simplistic person.  I'm more interested in imaginative content than I am in virtuosity, for which I am very thankful :)
[20:54] <OvenWerks> that is generally best
[20:56] <corshmock> Absolutely.  I'm not impressed by people show casing their "skills".  I do appreciate great musicians, but I'm just more simplistic in my way.
[20:57] <OvenWerks> I like writer/singers who are singing about their own life and not just singing a song because it sounds nice.
[20:57] <OvenWerks> or someone who can relate to the writer and make a song their own is good too
[21:04] <corshmock> What about someone who just goes out there regardless of what everyone else is doing and isn't afraid to pursue their own direction, no matter how unusual it is (obviously not distasteful) ?
[21:05] <OvenWerks> hearing a 15 year old sing about their partner of many years leaving or dying doesn't do it for me... vocal gymnastics are anoying.
[21:05] <OvenWerks> if their heart is in it I am generally ok with it
[21:09] <corshmock> I have no contact with mainstream so I probably never hear those things.  The bits of it that leak through to me, I actually can't believe anyone could be sold on it.  However, we have always had mainstream and there are good moments to remember, so I'm sure there must be some good things.
[21:10] <corshmock> You sound like you're not asking too much.  I don't have kids and the dog only likes gentle classical music :)
[21:11] <OvenWerks> I have kids, a wife and a dog. My dog doesn't complain... the house is big enough we can all have our own space
[21:12] <OvenWerks> My wife likes to watch singing contests so I am tired of vocal gymnastics pretty much
[21:16] <corshmock> So that's what gymnastics are :)
[21:17] <corshmock> Lord I thought my one was bad :)  She watches the wedding dresses programs!
[21:19] <OvenWerks> Well my wife is not bad... she has a nice voice of her own, just poor taste in youtube viewing :)
[21:19] <corshmock> 71% on the updates now.  Hey, if you here of any up to date tutorials on Studio, that would be basic enough for me in getting Audio Interface, Headphones, Recording basic you might let me know if you wouldn't mind?
[21:20] <corshmock> My Missus hates music, but she doesn't admit it :)
[21:20] <OvenWerks> Eickmeyer: might know better that one...or others who lurk here
[21:21] <corshmock> People who hate music?
[21:21] <OvenWerks> know might know of good tutoials
[21:21] <corshmock> Maybe they're Photographers, or Movie Makers?
[21:23] <corshmock> Seeing as you have some idea of how UN-knowledgeable I am, you should be able to advise on appropriate content :)
[21:23] <corshmock> You've seen nothing yet :)
[21:25] <corshmock> By the way, how do you keep your home directory safe?  Do you just make a backup of it and restore it after you log in?  Or do you just make sure you don't install into the partition that your home directory is in?
[21:27] <OvenWerks> Generally just don't install in that partition, but I also have some back up
[21:36] <corshmock> 99%!
[21:37] <corshmock> It's just finished.  Should I try 'sudo apt-get install hexter', or should I bother?
[21:42] <corshmock> Hexter actually installed, but when I clicked on it, same as 19.10, nothing has happened.
[21:42] <corshmock> I mean Hexter installed as apart of those long updates
[21:56] <corshmock> .
[21:56] <corshmock> What a lovely channel