Linux: It Sounds Good to Me

Greetings to all readers of the Linux Journal Web site, and welcome to the first installment of a new monthly column about Linux audio software. For those of you who have been following developments in the Linux audio world, it should come as no surprise that a column such as this one has arrived. But for those of you who are thinking “Linux audio? What in the world could that be about?”, you'll find the answers here.

Before starting this month's article, I want to take a moment and introduce myself. I've been using Linux since late 1995, I'm the maintainer of the Linux Sound and Music Software pages on the Web, and I'm the author The Book of Linux Music and Sound (published by the No Starch Press). I've also published a few dozen articles on the Web and in hard-copy (all on Linux audio-related topics); I occasionally lecture in the US and Europe; and I'm currently involved with documentation for the AGNULA project (more about that later). I'm also a professional musician (guitarist/singer/composer), performing and teaching in and around my home of Findlay, Ohio, in the US. When I'm not working in any of those activities, I usually can be found in the company of my beloved Ivy Maria, doing things like cooking, watching movies, practicing Italian or taking walks in the northwest Ohio countryside. Oh, and I'm an avid t'ai chi player and amateur Latinist.

Okay, on to the reasons for this column. I intend to report on various activities and developments in the rapidly evolving world of Linux audio. To most normal users perhaps the term audio software simply means programs to play MP3 and Ogg files or applications that necessarily have something to do with audio, such as CD and DVD players. Although I'll certainly write about such software, I'll also present views of work being done in such fields as MIDI software, telephony, network audio, digital DJing, professional sound recording and many others. I hope you enjoy the column, and I invite all readers to write to me with comments and suggestions.

Out of all my involvements with Linux audio, perhaps my greatest source of pride is to have been a founding member of the Linux Audio Development group. I should make it very clear to my readers that I'm no coder: I have an amateur's knowledge of C, Lisp and Tcl/Tk, but I've never written a substantial audio application, nor do I plan to. However, since my first days in Linux I've been in direct contact with developers of such applications, often in the combined roles of bug-hunter and beta-tester. Since 1996 I've made the acquaintance of almost every developer working on Linux audio software. In 1998, a group of developers and users decided to declare themselves the official Linux Audio Development (LAD) group. At that time the group included about a dozen members, but by December 2003 the group's membership list has grown to more than 600 participants and lurkers.

So what do LAD people discuss ? Well, in its Aims and Ideas section, the original charter states:

A list such as LAD necessarily maintains a rather high technical bias, but I must emphasize that it is open to anyone who wishes to subscribe and contribute. Some LAD members are among the most significant developers of Linux audio software, including Paul Davis (Ardour, JACK), Kai Vehmanen (ecasound), Fernando Pablo Lopez-Lezcano (PlanetCCRMA), Richard Bown and Chris Cannam (Rosegarden), Werner Schweer (MusE) and many others. You'll meet some of them and learn more about their projects during the existence of this column. I also must note that although the levels of discussion often are quite high, the participants are cordial and friendly--though they can bite back if bitten. It is to be expected on such a list that strong differences of opinion occasionally appear, but it is a testament to the participants' dedication to the goals of LAD that any serious ad hominem attacks or flame-fests are diffused quickly.

Incidentally, the LAD charter also states that most driver-related discussions and hardware installation questions are not within the scope of the mail list. See the LAD home site (listed below) for directions to more appropriate forums.

To give you some idea of what is talked about on the LAD list, here's a sampling of topics from November 2003 traffic:

Juicy stuff, to be sure, and typical of the postings for any given month. By the way, as you can see there is constant and varied discussion regarding LADSPA (the Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API) and JACK (the JACK Audio Connection Kit), two of the most important community development projects for Linux audio. I'll be covering both in later articles, but you can learn more about them on your own by consulting the Resources at the end of this column.

So, that's a little bit about LAD. Whether you're a seasoned developer looking for an entrance point into the world of Linux audio programming or a complete newbie to programming anything in Linux, the LAD list is an excellent forum for your involvement.

In the natural course of such things, the original LAD list eventually became a bit overcrowded with developers discussing the technicalities of their various projects and users who needed more non-technical advice and encouragement. After some discussion it was decided to split off a new group; thus was born the Linux Audio Users (LAU) group. Obviously this group is targeted at the normal user of Linux audio software, as a look at some of last month's topics indicates:

As you can see, the discussions on LAU are focused on presenting and resolving user-land problems with Linux audio applications. Message types also include exclamations of joy/pain over available (or unavailable) software, as well as general questions regarding kernel preparation and distribution-specific issues. As on the LAD list, discussion usually is civil and on-topic, although strong statements and opinions are not absent here either. I recommend joining the LAU list to any users who have a need for a decent audio system under Linux, whether for composing, editing or simply playing your music.