In this course, Lieven Moors will give an introduction to the GNU/Linux system from the viewpoint of a musician, and give an overview of some of the most influential open source projects for audio and midi.

As a musician, Lieven Moors always thought that commercial software offerings were too monolithic, and lacked the kind of flexibility that stimulates creativity. This is exactly what FOSS has to offer us. Not because it does things in a better way, but because openness is its most fundamental quality.

This workshop series will consist of six lectures of six hours, which will take place at the end of January/February 2010. The lectures will be given in English by Lieven Moors.

PRACTICALITIES :

€30/weekend or €75 for the complete cycle.
The workshops will take place at Ateliers du web, rue du Fortstraat (next to Pianofabriek)

Inscriptions : david.elchardus[at]pianofabriek.be

This workshop is open to all people with a minimum knowledge of computers.
Knowledge of Linux and/or any audio software is a plus.

People who wish to install Linux on their computer, can go to a Linux Copy Party. Two of these will be held prior to the workshop in January, mail us for more info.

Before the workshop: come prepare your computer

If you want to prepare your computer for the Linux Audio Workshop, or if
you want to install all possible free audio software, bring your computer
to one of the following Linux Copy Parties:

– Sunday 10/01 at Fourquet, St-Agatha Berchem St-Agathe, from 12 to 16h

http://www.lefourquet.be/content/view/15/68/

– Sunday 24/01 at FIJ, S(a)int-Gill(e)(i)s, from 12 to 18h

http://www.bxlug.be/fij

PROGRAMME

WEEKEND 1 (sat 30/01/10 & sun 31/01/10)

Lecture 1: Introduction to GNU/Linux

We will start with an introduction to the FOSS ecosystem, and talk about the architecture of Linux based operating systems.

Lecture 2: ALSA

In the second lecture we’ll discuss the different parts of ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture), and how they provide audio and midi support for the system.

WEEKEND 2 (sat 06/02/10 & sun 07/02/10)

Lecture 3: JACK

In this lecture we’ll learn how to use JACK and Qjackctl to route audio and midi streams, and how JACK provides synchronization between many different audio and midi programs.

Lecture 4: Ardour

This lecture will deal with Ardour, which is a very powerful multitrack recorder (or better: Digital Audio Workstation). We will see how you can record, edit, and mix a song with this program.

Weekend 3 (sat 13/02/10 & sun 14/02/10)

Lecture 5: Rosegarden, Softsynths

Rosegarden is one of the most advanced midi sequencers on Linux. In this lecture we will be introduced to this program, and learn how to use it with softsynths or samplers to generate sound.
In the second part, we will have a closer look at one of the most famous open source softsynths: ZynAddSubFX.

Lecture 6: Samples, Plugins

In the first part of this lecture, we will discuss how to use samples on Linux. We will talk about a number of different sample file formats, and the programs that are used to play them (Fluidsynth, Linuxsampler). The second part of this lecture will deal with the different plugin standards that are used on Linux (LADSPA, DSSI, LV2), and how you can install new plugins for your audio and midi programs.