A compatibility pack for Calf Plugins to work in Ardour 8.6

Hi, many users are facing problems to load Calf Plugins ui, sometimes even doesn’t load because the GTK used in Calf is not so updated, seeking on the internet and testing in my own machines I found a solution to load Calf Plugins LV2 with the gui installing a package made by falkTX from KXSTUDIO project, the package name is lv2-gtk-ui-bridge that exposes old LV2 GTK2/3 plugins as LV2 X11 ui,
I istalled the KXSTUDIO version of CALF LV2 and the v2-gtk-ui-bridge_0.1-1kxstudio1_amd64.deb manually(not by PPA) in Ubuntu 24.04lts.
Note: The Packages are .deb files, If some users want to install on a different distro, use the proper dpkg commands.
The Calf Plugins link: https://launchpad.net/~kxstudio-debian/+archive/ubuntu/plugins/+sourcepub/10546479/+listing-archive-extra
The lv2-gtk-ui-bridge link: https://launchpad.net/~kxstudio-debian/+archive/ubuntu/plugins/+sourcepub/16130390/+listing-archive-extra

1 Like

I haven’t used a Calf plugin for at least 6 years, but I sympathize and mean that I can understand why so many (?) people like it. They have beautiful and intuitive GUIs and do IMO often sound great, despite phase problems and other known issues - if it sounds good, then it’s good, no matter what. I think that the GTK2 issue and slow maintenance (?) are the biggest problems, which is enough for me to avoid them, but I’m missing the Invada plugins.

When theory and what you like are pitted against each other, I think what you like often wins. Just think about the vinyl posting that came up elsewhere here some weeks ago. Vinyl does have that nasty rumble and the sound of bacon being fried all over the place and way lower dynamic range than CDs, but many people love the sound of vinyl and even cassette tapes, it does something with it that is pleasing for many people ears, that said, I prefer CDs, studio and live sound.

Like it or not, things like v2-gtk-ui-bridge and wine bridges are needed for many applications in the Linux world.

2 Likes

Yup, works fine for me. (Invada, too) Thanks
(Still had a vintage delay in my effect bus section, which I used with the generic control so far)

1 Like

All I can say is a big thanks on this! Honestly, I like the Calf Fluidsynth better than the Ace Fluidsynth, and that’s exactly because of the UI. I like that it feels like something older! Heck, when I was originally recording music back in the early 90s I was using real hardware, a 4-track Tascam reel-to-reel, a mixing board, an Alesis drum-machine, an Ensoniq Mirage and things like a BSR equalizer. a MIDIVERB and a DD4-AX delay. Twisting knobs and interacting with things in this manner is something to me and the interfaces of the Calf plug-ins are very much in line with that.

1 Like

Unfortunately, no, it didn’t work on my laptop running Ardour 8.6 and the computer in the living room is running Ardour 8.2. Unless I was supposed to compile it? But I didn’t see any instructions to. Anyone who can elaborate on this?

You need to uninstall the Calf plugins that came with your linux distribution ej. Ubuntu etc. and install the binary in the link described above, also the lv2-gtk-ui-bridge, you can install them with the package installer “gdebi” if you don’t have it installed open terminal and type without brackets “sudo apt install gdebi” press enter, and enter your password,then open the downloaded packages with gdebi and install, other way you can install these the downloaded packages is to put both packages in a folder, assign whatever name to that folder, open that folder in terminal and type “sudo dpkg -i *.deb” when installed type “sudo apt install -f” to install the dependencies associated with Calf Plugins KXSTUDIO version.

laughs at himself Actually, Edrick, I figured out my problem! I didn’t pay attention and downloaded the .tar file! I should have realized when I couldn’t make it executable! I do have gdebi installed on both machines. Live and learn! Thanks for your input though!

1 Like

Try Fluida, also if I remember well both X-sfzeo and Sfizz may be used to load soundfount,

On my machine (laptop) it took some seconds for the GUI window to open.
So being patient might - or might not - help.

BTW: I did not re-install Calf plugins.

1 Like

Hi all

by migrating to Kubuntu 24.04.1 calf no longer works on Ardor 8.6. (yet ok with kxstudio in Kubuntu 22.04) impossible to reinstall kx studio using the .deb directly (dependency problem). Same with the GDEBI method.
On the other hand, as Edrick Blade indicates: create a folder, copy the .deb bridge and calf from kx-studio into it and execute in a terminal first sudo dpkg -i *.deb then sudo apt install -f works perfectly.
Thanks Edrick

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.