[64studio-devel] Re: DSSI

[Daniel James]

Hi Gabriel,

> i am pleased that 64Studio is running quite nicely on my Compaq R4000 / 
> ATI xpress200m chipset-graphics / etc.

Glad to hear it! :-)

> so here is my question: are there any plans for DSSI, or even DSSI-VST 
> (i know i would have to get the headers and compile :) )?

The DSSI packages are available from Debian:

http://packages.debian.org/cgi-bin/search_packages.pl?keywords=dssi&searchon=names&subword=1&version=testing&release=all

The easiest way to get these is to add a Debian line to your 
/etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb ftp://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ testing main

where 'uk' is your local mirror. Then run an apt-get update before the 
apt-get install 'packagename' command. You can also add repositories and 
search for packages in Synaptic, if you prefer a GUI. Desktop -> 
Administration -> Synaptic on the Gnome menu.

We will probably add DSSI instruments in version 2.0, out some time next 
year. At the moment, we're up against the space limitations of the 700MB 
iso image. Not everyone has a DVD burner available, and we really don't 
want to use multiple CD installs.

> Clearly this is a great distro as it is for anyone who records a lot of 
> audio, and produces music / post-production in a more traditional way; 
> but there are very few options synth-wise that are part of the distro; 
> or that is how it appears to a novice linux user like myself.

There are actually six different synths included in the latest version - 
we've tried to cover all the bases...

1. Ams is a modular synth with patch cables, like the Moog modular.

2. AmSynth is a knob-turning synth, like a VCS3

3. Hydrogen is a drum synth and sequencer, a bit like a TR808 but with 
many other drum kits available

4. Qsynth is a GUI for playing your old-school soundfonts via the 
fluidsynth engine

5. Qsampler is a GUI for LinuxSampler, which supports Gigasampler files 
(you may not have this installed yet, as we've only recently re-added it)

6. Zynaddsubfx is a keyboard synth, with lots of good sounds in the 
presets and infinite tweakability

> LMMS would be nice too, but finding the dependencies for debian 64 is 
> proving too difficult for me. Also, Muse doesn't seem to work either.

We've packaged Rosegarden 1.4.0 as the default sequencer.

> I hope this doesn't come accross the wrong way. I think what you have 
> done is amazing! But i am a musician and artist, not a technician, and 
> am finding it frustrating trying to work it all out. (sigh)

One of our aims for the distro is to make it as simple as possible to 
use. Even expert Linux users can find configuration problems very tedious.

Cheers!

Daniel