Rather not go #iPad for live?!
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So there is midi-clock-jack-bridge, a Tool that will sync Jack transport to MIDI Clock. I got this working, and I do have a MIDI Clock pedal (which I created myself, it's an Arduino something).
I've written this down in German: https://fresszettel.drni.de/index.php/2026/03/13/rezept-audio-plugins-in-carla-unter-linux-zu-externer-midi-clock-synchronisieren/
Yet I'd like to do this differently, because the MIDI Clock pedal is part of a different effect setup on a larger pedal board.
The only tool I found is InConcert, and this is from 2008… https://www.teuton.org/~gabriel/InConcert/
🧵 So, apparently there is a few #delay #plugin things that do accept #MIDI NoteOn as tap tempo signal.
Not surprisingly, one is by #AudioDamage, the guys also bringing us the #Descent #GranularDelay / #GranularReverb – also for #Linux.
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🧵 So, apparently there is a few #delay #plugin things that do accept #MIDI NoteOn as tap tempo signal.
Not surprisingly, one is by #AudioDamage, the guys also bringing us the #Descent #GranularDelay / #GranularReverb – also for #Linux.
🧵 Yet in the end what this also means is that #Carla, which is a wonderful plugin host I also use on #macOS and #Windows, is not optimal for these types of live setups.
I wouldn't expect it to be #LiveProfessor or #Mainstage.
Yet, easier MIDI tempo sync would be a great thing to have in a plugin host, and perhaps some kind of preset loading by program change. Also, which is an unfortunate thing with #Linux audio altogether is that the MIDI routing between Pipewire/Jack and applications never loads reliably as previously stored.
I'd also have more than two audio outputs without using multiple clients mode.
But then again, I'm on #UbuntuStudio, so my Carla is likely terribly outdated.
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🧵 Yet in the end what this also means is that #Carla, which is a wonderful plugin host I also use on #macOS and #Windows, is not optimal for these types of live setups.
I wouldn't expect it to be #LiveProfessor or #Mainstage.
Yet, easier MIDI tempo sync would be a great thing to have in a plugin host, and perhaps some kind of preset loading by program change. Also, which is an unfortunate thing with #Linux audio altogether is that the MIDI routing between Pipewire/Jack and applications never loads reliably as previously stored.
I'd also have more than two audio outputs without using multiple clients mode.
But then again, I'm on #UbuntuStudio, so my Carla is likely terribly outdated.
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I don't think that generally speaking RME products work better with old-Jack vs. Pipewire doing the Jack thing too.
The RME Digi was a discontinued model in 2006 when I bought it. I might be the only person around still using it in Europe. Haha.
The more recent RME HDSP cards (PCIe) are also old already.
The Fireface 400 (Firewire, not PCIe) seems to work well with Pipewire directl.
The modern RME interfaces with USB class compliant mode should work well with Pipewire. (TotalMix however cannot be used in most of them, except for the UFX II which is supported by Oscmix.)
Apparently, the #RME #Digiface #Dante recently got a firmware update allowing for an USB class compliant mode and operation with #Linux.
I just found this out. This is great news. Don't have the time to test the Digiface Dante with Linux at the moment… it was a bad investment anyways.
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🧵 Yet in the end what this also means is that #Carla, which is a wonderful plugin host I also use on #macOS and #Windows, is not optimal for these types of live setups.
I wouldn't expect it to be #LiveProfessor or #Mainstage.
Yet, easier MIDI tempo sync would be a great thing to have in a plugin host, and perhaps some kind of preset loading by program change. Also, which is an unfortunate thing with #Linux audio altogether is that the MIDI routing between Pipewire/Jack and applications never loads reliably as previously stored.
I'd also have more than two audio outputs without using multiple clients mode.
But then again, I'm on #UbuntuStudio, so my Carla is likely terribly outdated.
@nielso this would actually be a good usecase for Bitwig. You could easily setup a track with the effects, let the delay follow the project tempo and make a normal tap-tempo midi mapping for a pad somewhere.
For a more advanced setup, you could make your own controller extension in Java (or Javascript), so you have exactly the controls you want. I have done that with my small midi keyboard, to give me all the controls I normally need while producing (transport, tap tempo, browser etc…).
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I don't think that generally speaking RME products work better with old-Jack vs. Pipewire doing the Jack thing too.
The RME Digi was a discontinued model in 2006 when I bought it. I might be the only person around still using it in Europe. Haha.
The more recent RME HDSP cards (PCIe) are also old already.
The Fireface 400 (Firewire, not PCIe) seems to work well with Pipewire directl.
The modern RME interfaces with USB class compliant mode should work well with Pipewire. (TotalMix however cannot be used in most of them, except for the UFX II which is supported by Oscmix.)
Apparently, the #RME #Digiface #Dante recently got a firmware update allowing for an USB class compliant mode and operation with #Linux.
I just found this out. This is great news. Don't have the time to test the Digiface Dante with Linux at the moment… it was a bad investment anyways.
@nielso thanks for clarifying
I've recently started my Linux audio journey and have a FireFace800 connected to Ubuntu Studio. I was trying to daisy chain another firewire interface, which Pipewire aggregates so that you can use both interfaces at once. Comes with a big 63ms latency penalty unfortunately.
My next bet is connecting an interface through ADAT. -
@nielso this would actually be a good usecase for Bitwig. You could easily setup a track with the effects, let the delay follow the project tempo and make a normal tap-tempo midi mapping for a pad somewhere.
For a more advanced setup, you could make your own controller extension in Java (or Javascript), so you have exactly the controls you want. I have done that with my small midi keyboard, to give me all the controls I normally need while producing (transport, tap tempo, browser etc…).
Interesting! So Bitwig will feed the tempo into the effect even when transport isn't running?
The routing however is a bit weird in my setup… now testing Audio Damage Dubstation 2… actually a pretty sweet delay, but it is hungry. So the entire “circuit” hits the limits of my old machine now.
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@nielso thanks for clarifying
I've recently started my Linux audio journey and have a FireFace800 connected to Ubuntu Studio. I was trying to daisy chain another firewire interface, which Pipewire aggregates so that you can use both interfaces at once. Comes with a big 63ms latency penalty unfortunately.
My next bet is connecting an interface through ADAT.If you don't need RME-class high end inputs, you can check out older Focusrite OctoPre units on the used market. For feeding your ADAT ports.
The inputs of my 01V96i are also not that good… so I use an RME Octamic II for microphones and the internal inputs of the 01V96i for keyboards.
I notice that there must have been days with more revenue when I bought these things.
The Octamic also goes together with the mobile setup with the Fireface 400… usually with an old MacBook from 2017, which is the shittiest MacBook ever since it easily goes into throttle mode due to overheating and then it ruins recordings… just using it for original TotalMix because ffadomixer for the Firefaces makes me go mad.
Most recordings I do these days are multitrack live recordings happening inside of some Allen&Heath mixing console with their okayish preamps… nobody cares.
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Interesting! So Bitwig will feed the tempo into the effect even when transport isn't running?
The routing however is a bit weird in my setup… now testing Audio Damage Dubstation 2… actually a pretty sweet delay, but it is hungry. So the entire “circuit” hits the limits of my old machine now.
@nielso to be sure I understand your use case: If what you ask is, that you place a delay on a track, set it to sync and want it to follow the project tempo, without pressing play - then yes. I just tried to do this with a midi instrument and a delay (Uhbik), and I could easily move the tempo up and down, and have the delay follow the tempo (you also get a pretty cool effect, if you do it while the delay is active).
In Bitwig you can easily setup remotes, which can be controlled by midi.
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@nielso to be sure I understand your use case: If what you ask is, that you place a delay on a track, set it to sync and want it to follow the project tempo, without pressing play - then yes. I just tried to do this with a midi instrument and a delay (Uhbik), and I could easily move the tempo up and down, and have the delay follow the tempo (you also get a pretty cool effect, if you do it while the delay is active).
In Bitwig you can easily setup remotes, which can be controlled by midi.
@nielso regarding the routing, you have several options in Bitwig. First of all you can make a bus, which shows up in your digital patchpay. Then you also have devices inside Bitwig that functions as sends in the middle of a device chain, so you can send your signal to another channel.
You also have hardware integration, so theoretically, you could place a hardware pedal in the middle of a device chain. And of course layers, so you can mix to taste, even if the plugin doesn't have a mix knob.
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If you don't need RME-class high end inputs, you can check out older Focusrite OctoPre units on the used market. For feeding your ADAT ports.
The inputs of my 01V96i are also not that good… so I use an RME Octamic II for microphones and the internal inputs of the 01V96i for keyboards.
I notice that there must have been days with more revenue when I bought these things.
The Octamic also goes together with the mobile setup with the Fireface 400… usually with an old MacBook from 2017, which is the shittiest MacBook ever since it easily goes into throttle mode due to overheating and then it ruins recordings… just using it for original TotalMix because ffadomixer for the Firefaces makes me go mad.
Most recordings I do these days are multitrack live recordings happening inside of some Allen&Heath mixing console with their okayish preamps… nobody cares.
@nielso i never used TotalMixFX, getting used to Ffado mixer. I'm pretty psyched that this all runs pretty well on Linux
I've bought a Focusrite 26 i/o on the cheap; firewire stuff is being dumped atm. Going to try to run that standalone, connected with ADAT on the FF800. Fingers crossed, it should work.
The goal is to make demo recordings, track the entire band with drums. -
🧵 Yet in the end what this also means is that #Carla, which is a wonderful plugin host I also use on #macOS and #Windows, is not optimal for these types of live setups.
I wouldn't expect it to be #LiveProfessor or #Mainstage.
Yet, easier MIDI tempo sync would be a great thing to have in a plugin host, and perhaps some kind of preset loading by program change. Also, which is an unfortunate thing with #Linux audio altogether is that the MIDI routing between Pipewire/Jack and applications never loads reliably as previously stored.
I'd also have more than two audio outputs without using multiple clients mode.
But then again, I'm on #UbuntuStudio, so my Carla is likely terribly outdated.
🧵 … so adding that #AudioDamage #Dubstation2 #Delay was a bit too much for my old PC in the endavor of creating a bass FX pedal train in #Carla on #Linux.
I had thought.
But just today, Audio Damage released version 1.0.9 of their #Descent #GranularDelay / #GranularSampler which features: Performance improvements on Linux.
And all of a sudden, my old PC is okay at least at 256 samples buffer with running this weird setup live…
(Yes, this includes #DecentSampler, since one of my basses has an additional MIDI pickup.)
I really love updates that do make my life better.
(One might almost think that these days, updates only make things worse. But it's not all Windows 11 doing AI shit or macOS losing features.)
EDIT: This now seems to work even at 128 samples buffer.
EDIT2: The gain modules in the graph are controlled by an AKAI LPD8 MIDI controller.
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🧵 … so if it's not #IOS / #iPad but #Carla on #Linux, building my FX rig for a MIDIfied bass guitar is actually a quick thing to do.
So, the bass goes into a Roland GI20, which provides MIDI notes and audio. Audio goes into an Eden WTDI preamp and then into any decent audio interface. MIDI goes via USB into the computer – which only works on Linux because the G20 needs special drivers and other OSses do not ship them included, and it's and old device… difficult.
I can control parameters (such as volume of the FX returns) via an AKAI LPD8 MIDI controller.
Yet, there's trouble which I often have with this kind of setup: None of the delay plugins I have has a tap control that can be operated via MIDI. Jack/Carla can be sync'ed to MIDI clock, but that doesn't help either with the buttons of the MIDI controller.
Also, my elderly studio PC is a little challenged at 256 samples buffer size (RME Digi PCI sound card… also only Linux drivers available these days).
🧵 … continuing my research on replacing my bass guitar pedal board by audio plugins in #Carla, I tried #TalChorusLX today, and not to my surprise, I like it.
https://tal-software.com/products/tal-chorus-lx
Another #plugin I found today is simply called #Overdrive, by #vzTec. Digital overdrives are quite a difficult thing, and coming from a simple analog #tcElectronic #DarkMatter, the vzTec Overdrive is the first I encountered that I might actually want to use.
https://en.vztecfx.com/overdrive
Yet I won't use it live, because it consumes too much CPU power for my old machine.
So what's the fuzz about all this, overdrive and chorus in the box, if I do have a pedal board full of expensive TC gear?
Well… the board cannot host #AudioDamage #Decent #GranularDelay / #GranularReverb anyways, and hardware granular stuff is more expensive than a used Mac M1.
Plus… why not having a laptop-sized *extra* pedal board? For almost no money? Both plugins in this toot are: Free as free beer.
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🧵 … continuing my research on replacing my bass guitar pedal board by audio plugins in #Carla, I tried #TalChorusLX today, and not to my surprise, I like it.
https://tal-software.com/products/tal-chorus-lx
Another #plugin I found today is simply called #Overdrive, by #vzTec. Digital overdrives are quite a difficult thing, and coming from a simple analog #tcElectronic #DarkMatter, the vzTec Overdrive is the first I encountered that I might actually want to use.
https://en.vztecfx.com/overdrive
Yet I won't use it live, because it consumes too much CPU power for my old machine.
So what's the fuzz about all this, overdrive and chorus in the box, if I do have a pedal board full of expensive TC gear?
Well… the board cannot host #AudioDamage #Decent #GranularDelay / #GranularReverb anyways, and hardware granular stuff is more expensive than a used Mac M1.
Plus… why not having a laptop-sized *extra* pedal board? For almost no money? Both plugins in this toot are: Free as free beer.
🧵 … so here's a little noodeling with my #Carla-based bass FX rig running in #UbuntuStudio #Linux. Still experimental, and I clearly suffered from the red button fever in this snippet…
Input-wise: Steinberger Synapse bass guitar. Eden WTDI bass preamp, Yamaha 01v96i + RME Digi PCI card as an audio interface (any decent audio interface should do). Roland GI20 module via USB feeding MIDI notes from the GK3b MIDI pickup on the bass guitar. Akai LPD8 MIDI controller via USB for parameter adjustments.
All processing in Carla, including reverb. Screen-recorded directly from Carla into #OBS via #Jack.
When Carla is in patchbay view, I get xruns caused by incoming MIDI CC events. Strange. Also, AudioDamage Dubstation 2 does not care for tap commands via MIDI CC unless its window is displayed. Also weird. It would be sweet to have the vzTec Overdrive here, but that just won't work out…
Considering a longer video my PeerTube / @atkwap
#LinuxProAudio #LinuxAudio #BassGuitar #Effects #Plugin #Recording #BassRig
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