How far can I get with open source audio production?
How far can I get with open source audio production?
I'm a professional instrumentalist and I've begun tinkering with digital audio production , hoping to start a side career composing digital music.
I've been working with Linux in general for over 15 years, and I'd like to stick with it, but I'm wondering if its actually viable in the professional world. It seems like most professionals are working with Ableton or other commercial software. I'm learning and working with Ardour, which seems great, but I wonder if I shouldn't be investing my time in software that will be more useful longterm.
Anyone here have thoughts/experience with this?
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I've been exploring studio work this year on a small budget, and I've been able to get some pretty good sounds using ardour as my DAW.
That said, I've been using windows (boo, I fuckin hate it, can't wait to run out my warranty and get back to Linux) and plenty of closed-sourc donationware or gratis-tier plugins. The plugin selection in particular is where I've felt the limitations of FOSS for music production.
Some examples: Analog Obsession has some great donationware (I'm partial to the Comper compressor), and for free-tier versions of proprietary plugins, I really like the way Tokyo Dawn's Nova EQ sounds.
For open source plugins, I think Airwindows has some very interesting options!
Now, take my experience with a grain of salt: I'm coming from the live audio production world, and that's the material I've been working with. Since you're more focused on creating your own music in the box, you may not need the kinds of tools for which I've been reaching while trying to mix and master multitracked, full band performances.
Good luck!!!