NOTE TO ADMINS - Feel free to move this to a dedicated thread if you think it is warranted.
I'm looking for some input about hardware for creating minimal ambient drone pads and soundscapes in a Linux environment.
I've researched and compiled over 20 pages of notes from forums and resources around the web for electronic music composition in Linux, from ambient VSTs to generative synthesis. I installed Ubuntu Studio and experimented with creating drone loops from classical waveform samples but I have a limited comprehension of compositional terminology, so I'm wondering whether or not a dedicated controller and interface are necessary to start creating ambient pads.
From what I've read I'm considering investing in an M-Audio Oxygen Pro Mini – 32 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller With Beat Pads, MIDI assignable Knobs, Buttons & Faders (
https://a.co/d/2cbBadB) and an M-Audio AIR 192x6 USB C MIDI Audio Interface for Recording, Podcasting, Streaming, Studio Quality Sound, 2 XLR in (
https://a.co/d/iKoBBSB).
It looks like the official M-Audio website provides Linux drivers for the interface. A clerk at Guitar Center explained that the keyboard is non-returnable as the bundled Windows/Mac software is single-user-licensed and the software doesn't support Linux.
USB MIDI is universal so Linux is not an issue, however from M-Audio's bundled software, described on their info site
(
https://support.m-audio.com/en/suppo...d-questions#OS) I see that the M-Audio proprietary software applications, (Pro Tools, MPC Beats, Ableton Live Lite, AIR Virtual Instruments, MPC Sound Packs, Skoove, and Melodics) are strictly for Windows and Mac users.
So I explored the Ubuntu Studio OS as a software solution. According to their official site (
https://ubuntustudio.org/tour/audio/) Ubuntu Studio audio tools include Jack, Ardour, Carla, Audacity, Qtractor, Hydrogen, Yoshimi, Rakarrack, Guitarix, and puredata, with additional support for supercollider, csound and chuck.
I'm hoping that the library of available tools from Ubuntu Studio will be sufficient for ambient pads and long-form drone soundscapes.
UPDATE: I spoke with an electronic music producer friend who invested over $10,000 into recording software plugins, and he expressed that while he respects my commitment to Linux, that he is concerned that there are next to no free and OSS software applications in this space. Very, very little. His concern is that I am charting a course that is artificially harder than it has to be.
His other noteworthy remark was that synthesizers are a more expensive way to reach an end that could be reached with heavy investment in soft synths. He said they're a fraction of the cost and often better, at least for while you're learning.
What do you think? Should I hang up this project until I reach a point where I can re-enter the closed-source proprietary software universe?
Thanks.