Getting started with LinuxSampler
by Kevin Donnelly
Install LinuxSampler (package linuxsampler) and the frontend Qsampler (package qsampler). Download and unrar (package rar - rar -e rarball.rar) Mats Helgesson's Maestro Concert Grand piano sample from the LinuxSampler site - http://www.linuxsampler.org. It's a 337Mb download, and unrars to 939Mb! Start JACK, and then Qsampler, which will also start LinuxSampler itself.
Go to View -> Instruments and click the New Instrument icon. Browse to the location of the Maestro sample and load it (it will go into Program 1). Close the Instrument dialogue by clicking the x in the corner.
Go to View -> Devices. Click on Audio Devices in the left-hand panel, choose JACK as the driver from the drop-down in the right-hand panel, and then click Create. A new entry, Audio JACK device 0, should appear under Audio Devices. The MIDI Devices entry can be left alone, since it shows only ALSA as the driver.
In QJackCtl, go to the Connections window. In the Audio tab, connect the LinuxSampler entry to alsa_pcm. In the MIDI tab, connect Rosegarden to LinuxSampler. Connect your input keyboard to both Rosegarden and LinuxSampler.
In Rosegarden, select the track to be recorded onto. In the Playback parameters drop-down of the Track Parameters section of the left-hand pane, select the proper entry for LinuxSampler from the Device drop-down. It may be labelled as something like "out 4 - MIDI output system device", but once you have the right one, it will show up as something like "132:0 LinuxSampler: Port 0" in the Instrument Parameters section. Press the red Record button, and play something on the keyboard.
Hi,
Is it possible to use virtual keyboard with qsampler/ linuxsampler? How should I set up this?
How do I have to load timidity?
newbie question about sampling: Is a the same principle of making music as working with midi but with different soundfiles, samples (gig) and not midi?
Yes - install vkeybd, and use JACK to connect it to RG and LS just the way you would a real keyboard.
As far as I know, samplers use MIDI to trigger actual recordings of the instruments, instead of synthesising the instruments in a processor. See also: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linuxsampler-project
Sorry, I missed that question. I don't think it's possible to use Timidity with LS - Timidity is a sound synthesiser (ie it tries to imitate a real instrument), whereas samplers use snippets of sound recorded from a real instrument. Download the piano sample as outlined in the howto, and use that instead - it has a really excellent sound.
I had a user help me with this part here is what he emailed to me below, I am going this for friend so he can try Linux as a pro audio production system. He is not a big band just himself.
I am a newbie when it comes to music production so any help would be great even a guild to using this would be nice
start qjackclt
$linuxsampler
java -jar fantasia-0.9.jar
new terminal $a2jmidid
dave
In Fantasia open the unpacked maestro gig file
Create audio device and midi device in Fantasia (right)
connect vkeybd to linuxsampler and linuxsample to system playback
Google for linuxsampler and linuxjournal for more info
I always get audio device can not be created