Linux music composition software and a versatile keyboard?

[Grench]

So - I have teenage twins who are both into composing music. They're asking for a computer based music composition setup for their upcoming birthday. They both play piano and multiple other instruments. Their favorite composers are Grieg and Waterflame (if that helps add perspective).

At school they will be taking a one semester class that uses GarageBand on macs. At home, I have everything running on Linux and would rather not drop a Mac into the mix if I can at all avoid it.

I have done a bit of searching for Linux GarageBand alternatives - a few pop up but there is pretty limited information out there. Photoshop is to Gimp as GarageBand is to ???

So - what are the alternatives? Do the alternatives really stack up to what Apple has with Garage Band?

To complete the setup, I'm also wanting to get them a quality keyboard. It would need to be a relatively versatile one and cover MIDI, composition and stage performance duties. It will need to be a workhorse, and at least modestly portable. My budget isn't unlimited, but it isn't meager either. I realize I'm probably looking at a couple of thousand dollars for this component - but for a music layman it's a pretty confusing space.

So, we have several artists of varying mediums who participate in the forums here. I'm a tech guy looking for artistic (music creation) technology advice. Does anyone have some experiences that the can share to assist?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ible]

I've used LMMS a bit, which is like an FL studio, though apparently with some effort you can get FL studio to run on Linux (haven't tried it, though). LMMS is decent, I used it to create these songs:
(I'm happy to share some of these source files, too, I think I have them hanging around somewhere.)

I used FL studio (for contrast), to write these:
So FL studio has a bit more features/fanciness, but I'm sure you can do very similar things with LMMS after a while.

I also have a Korg MicroKey board, which is ok for doing MIDI stuff (can use it with LMMS for example). I wouldn't recommend it for performance, though I may try to hook it up to the Pyra for a portable KeyTar .

[edit]
oh, and Grieg is also one of my favorites .

 

[Caine]

I've played around a bit with Rosegarden in the past. It is more focused on editing sheet music but it can do some basic midi composition.
I have no idea how it really compares to GarageBand as I have no experience with that one. It seems to be a different emphasis.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

https://musescore.org/

 

[ZXDunny]

I'm one of the developers of FL Studio. Before we started work on the native mac port, we used crossover to wrap the windows version, and I'm maintaining a winebottle of the same. On OSX, FL 12.2 runs really, really well (including windows VSTs) in WINE, so the same is likely true of Linux.

It's also one of the cheaper (non-free) DAWs out there.

There's also BitWig, which has a native Linux version but isn't quite as flexible or comprehensive as FL Studio.

 

[LineOf7s]

I can't help but feel that Ardour is generally regarded as the premiere Linux DAW, even ranking #16 in the Music Radar "20 Best DAW Software" survey recently held. Now, that's hardly scientific, but it's in esteemed company.

Personally I use FL Studio (on Windows) which is fantastic, but it's nice to have a choice and Ardour is a very very professional piece of kit.

PS: When I discovered recently that ZXDunny was an FL Studio developer the resulting collision of my GP2X/Pandora/Pyra world and my FL Studio world was a cataclysm from which I'm yet to recover.

 

[canseco]

The most easy to learn alternative i know for Linux is Qtractor, an Audio/Midi sequencer with DAW features, like support for DSSI, LADSPA, LV2 and VST Linux plugins.

But it's better to use distros like KXStudio, AVLinux or Ubuntu Studio, already preconfigured to work out of the box and with a lot of preinstalled programs and plugins to try.

If you need more info, you could ask at https://linuxmusicians.com/ or http://libremusicproduction.com/ for more alternatives.

 

[erico]

I don´t know much about music soft on linux but latest ok portable keyboard I saw was the yamaha reface cp, I like it a lot but never messed with one. You can probably use it as a controller to.
here is tha thing:
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/synthesizers/reface/reface_cp/

There are 3 other models too, but I like this one best.

 

[Kev2442]

You might be interested in AVLinux, the forums could also be of great help. Of course, there's also GearSlutz where you can find a bit of advice.
I agree on FL Studio being great for learning, but also being a good pro DAW. Numerous well-known musicians use it, but some of them only compose on it, and use stuff like Pro Tools to properly mix the final tune.

What I would say is : don't neglect your audio flow. You can find pretty good audio interfaces like the Roland UA-55 Quad-Capture, they come at a fair price considering their capabilities. And this one has MIDI in and out.
Plus, invest in at least a good studio headset, the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X are pretty nice but you might want something a little more neutral. Sometimes, you want your song to sound bad on a revealing device, so that you know it is and can correct it.
Depending on what they want to play, you can select gear accordingly. Recording voice ? Shure's SM58 is cheap and robust, used by many on stage for years, and they're quite capable studio mics. Recording instruments ? Then the Shure SM57 is a great deal too.
For the MIDI keyboard, you might want to know if they plan on a full synth or just a master keyboard. If it's just gonna be plugged into a PC, even on stage, then you can find good USB keys like my Line6 Mobile Keys 49.

These are all some of my stuff, except for the mics. I recommend them because I own them and when I chose'em, they were at a great value over price ratio. Of course it's not a guaranteed perfect choice, but for home studios and enthusiast learners, these were a good start.
May I add that hardware and DAWs won't make everything just right. If they're not gonna record everything themselves, you may want a few sampled VSTi. But this is pro stuff, and big quality comes at a big price. Some free/open VSTi are available, but don't expect them to sound marvelous for the most.

I think that's all I've got for now. Hope it can be of help.