Linux Production Distributions and Repositories
Your standard Linux distribution may be able to perform some audio recording tasks, but sometimes, it helps to have a tuned system from the get-go; this is especially important in those cases where one just wants to get to the business of sound as quickly as possible.
Below is a list of repositories and full distributions to give you a jump-start on creating a workable audio production environment as quickly as possible. The full distributions will generally come fully-tweaked, removing the need for you to do the work yourself.
- Self-Contained Linux Distributions
- AV Linux
- ArtistX
- dyne:bolic
- puredyne
- 64 Studio (old)
- Musix
- Remix-OS
- GNUGuitarINUX (Guitar Specialization)
For those who already have a Linux distribution installed, and don’t want to shift about, they can always choose to add a professional audio repository to their system, and just add the necessary software and tweaks that way.
Ubuntu is a popular Linux distribution, and actually has several different Audio Workstation package repositories available, each of which actually comes as fully-installable distributions in its own right.
- UbuntuPackage Repositories
- Ubuntu Studio (full distro)
- KXStudio (full distro)
- Tango Studio (full distro)
- Dream Studio (full distro)
Ubuntu does not have the monopoly on professional audio repositories, however, as other distributions have their own audio repositories available.
- Other Package Repositories
- Gentoo:
- Arch:
- Fedora:
- Slackware:
- Slackware Audio Workstation (old)
- SlackerMedia (instructions to roll your own tools)
One thing to keep in mind: This list is absolutely not exhaustive, it’s just the distributions and repositories I’m aware of that have the settings and tools for media production available. Also, some of these distributions are seemly defunct, and have not updated in more than a year. For those, I will identify with “(old)”.
If you want something turnkey, something that will just up and work, and you’re willing to fork over some money on the solution, then you might want to check out Indamixx, a prebuilt system with a custom Linux distribution installed, as well as some custom commercial (and proprietary) applications installed (EnergyXT, LinuxDSP, Renoise, ArdourXChange).
Any Linux distribution can be set up as a studio distribution and work, so if you don’t have the above, don’t worry, with some tweaking, your personal choice can be sufficient as well!
Note: ArdourXChange has been reported as an attack site. The link has been removed for now, and will be returned when the issue has been resolved.
Sorry, I think Tango Studio and AVLinux should be in this list for sure. I would put them on top…
I don't know about dyne:bolix, but KXStudio is only packages on top of your distro of choice (Ubuntu/arch/?). So yes, it's available in 64-bit…
This list is fine but very limited and somewhat misleading because there are many other decent linux music distros out there: ArchLinux+Proaudio overlay, DreamLinux, Musix, Fedora+CCRMA …
I think your criticism of AVLinux is not well founded. The developer provides a constant stream of updated packages, and is very responsive to suggestions so if there is an issue with loopback drivers and Jack Bridge devices, I'm sure that could be resolved. In addition, since AVLinux is debian based, you can easily install addtional packages from any debian repo (and Ubuntu debs will often work, I've found).
There are a lot of Linux distributions that can be used; I personally use the Gentoo distribution with the Pro Audio overlay. However, this particular article is aimed at beginners, not just to audio production, but also to beginners who are just considering moving over to Linux, and need a distribution where the optimizations are mostly set up for them, and where the tools are already installed. But you are correct, general-purpose distributions can be tooled to maximize multimedia creation.
Additionally, the items I posted are distributions which have been updated within the last year, come prepared with audio tools from first install. Musix was last updated on April 2010, so I wasn't sure if it was still being developed. Studio 64's current version has been around for at least 3 years, and their most recent forum posts were made a year ago, so the project seems dead.
As for AV Linux, I had made the attempt to update the thing, and came across a lot of package conflicts (differently-named packages attempting to install the same files such as libsamplerate and samplerate-utilities), preventing any further upgrade from there. Now, with time and some forcing from the command line, I can probably work around the rocks, but I can't recommend the distribution for beginners.
To be fair, I haven't given Dyne:bolix much of a check yet, although it's next in my test-list. I have used ubuntu and found it sufficient.
And while you're right about the 64-bit availability of KX studio in Ubuntu, the available LiveCD installable distributions do not support 64-bit Linux. However, if you install Ubuntu first, and go through the process of installing the KX Studio packages from there, then you should have a 64-bit system to work with.
This is the first I've heard of DreamLinux, but on first review, it seems to be another general-purpose Linux. This is fine, if you know what tools are available and want to install, but it's not a media-production distribution by default.
Good to see Tango Studio on the list, stable and very up-to-date if you want (unstable repo)
If you want to work with Puredata, Supercollider etc. be sure to check out Puredyne!
AV Linux should feature in the list, especially if you're aiming at beginners. It is intended to be used as a live environment and in that context update issues don't really apply. I also wonder if beginners have any clue what an alsa loopback driver or Jack Bridge devices are. Personally I think it is one of the best equipped and configured live audio distros around.
Studio 64 isn't dead, Daniel James did a presentation at LAC2011 on the OpenDAW project and that's where the project is heading.
Best,
Jeremy
I did mention AV Linux for a while.
The problem when I came across the attempt to get the ALSA Loopback drivers installed. I did not find any modules for the drivers, and when I had the bright idea to update it before trying anything else, I ran into conflicting installs that tried to overwrite each others' files.
I probably could have gotten past that hurdle with some effort (I use Gentoo for my distro of choice) and some carefully-applied "dpkg -i –force" commands, but the amount of work it would have required to get past that snag would be the kind of thing that would send someone who does not want to deal with technical obstacles to retreat back to familiar ground.
For that reason, I've retracted AV Linux as a recommendation for now, in favor of the Ubuntu-based distributions. As for Tango and dyne:bolic, I still need to look those over, focusing on the ease-of-setup aspect.
Reteo, I just tried the latest AV Linux 5.02 and it's nice but it has the "lock ups" syndrome. I installed Mumble but to get the 1.2.3 version I had to go into the unstable repo. I think that made it start getting the "lock ups" syndrome. It freezes up and wont do anything except you can move the mouse around on the screen. So I guess after work I'm gonna try Dream Studio 11.04 or Tango Studio.
But AV Linux is a no go for me too.
I returned AVLinux to the list; apparently, something went wrong with the prior install that prevented it from cleanly installing.
There are still issues I had, namely its inability to properly store the password at install; I had to manually clear the /etc/shadow passwords by a text editor from the livecd to allow myself to login. I don't know, however, if this is a problem with the distribution, or from my own rather extreme password choices.
Tango Studio has also a live-cd
On the bottom of this page
http://tangostudio.tuxfamily.org/en/tangostudio
Ah, I see it. I also see it for Dream Studio. Article has been updated accordingly.
I think your list looks quite good now (though I know there are even more linux audio distros out there like GNUGuitarNux and Remix_OS…)
Concerning the upgradability of AVLinux, the stated goal (if you read its manual) is to have a stable distro rather endlessly updating packages and risking breaking things. However, the maintainer does an excellent job of supplying the latest audio/video packages. Also, I have noted that people sometimes criticize AVLinux on some issue or other, yet I do always see these concerns posted on the AVLinux forum. If you do not point out problems they will not get fixed…
I had found the issue with AVLinux; apparently, it does not have packages for the latest version of Mumble, which I find to be an excellent tool to function as a round-table recording application; it even saves separate recordings of each member, and with the bridge, the round-table can be added to the Internet DJ Console to be broadcast over Ice/Shoutcast.
The errors were a result of adding the Debian repositories (part of the package manager's "commented out" items), and the upgrade just wasn't going to work.
It works by itself, but if it doesn't have the packages I need, it's not for me.
Im going to try Tango Studio.
I gavs AV Linux a second go but it did the lock up syndrome on 2 different computers after 4 days of use.
Its touted as the "stable" one?
Not for my computers. Dream Studio, Ubuntu Studio, Musix and Puppy Studio all worked great on these machines!
At this point, I am going to strongly recommend Ubuntu or one of its derivatives. Ubuntu has the Alsa Loopback device available by default. It also has Ladish packages available in its default repository, and I've yet to see anything to compete with the KXStudio packages (Only available for Ubuntu and derivatives as a PPA) for simplifying the management of whole pro audio sessions.