Complete newbie: How do I add instruments?

Getting Stuff Done How do I .... ?
#1

Hi,
Please forgive my ignorance, I know zero to nothing about music creation
but my teenage son just got a Roland A49 as an Xmas present and
we are trying to figure out how to use it with Ardour on Ubuntu.

Currently we got the basics working, ie… he presses a key and sound comes out.
But how/where do we get actual instruments?

We’re willing to pay for instrument packs, no problem, but we have no idea where to start.
Especially me, I am a music dummy, my son on the other hand, he gets it.

Since we do not allow our children to use Windows or other closed source software
I forced my son to use Ardour instead of LMStudio.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

#2

There are a huge number of free “instruments” by loading a soundfount. These are pre-recorded samples of various instruments. There are also software based synthesizers, and a number of them are also free.

here are some posts:

There are a number of videos showing howing to hookup soundfonts with a sample payer (software synth), as well as software synthesizers of all sorts.

Nice that you are teaching your children about FOSS

#3

As a beginner I would suggest using the General MIDI Synth plugin which should already be installed with Ardour. It’s also a pretty good learning tool. This gives you a ton of basic good sounding basic instruments to chose from. Or if you want to use a downloaded soundfont, you load the ACE Fluid Synth plugin which allows you to load whatever soundfont of your choosing.

#4

Hello,
for free and easy-to-install synthesizers on Linux, there’s Zynaddsubfx or Helm, but I prefer Surge XT. There’s also Setbfree for a Hammond keyboard.

There are also the free synths from u-he which are great (Podolski, Zebralette). There’s also Vital or its open-source version, Vitalium.

That’s a good starting point… the next step would be to install Wine, which opens up a whole range of free VST instruments that run on Windows.

#5

most of those may be “free” but only a part also “open source” which the OP seems to care about.
Also, IMVHO there are plenty open-source apps and plugins, be it synths, soundfont/multisample format, or sample players, to start from, without adding extra complexity and deal with windows-native stuff running in not-an-emulator…

Next question is if plain Ubuntu is a good choice for audio work on linux… I’d rather look at AV-Linux and/or multimedia-centered “spins” or derivates like KXStudio, UbuntuStudio, GeekosDaw etc., there are a bunch to choose from and try out, as the basic set-up for having a smooth experience is mostly done already…

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#6

I hadn’t read the initial post properly, which prohibited software that wasn’t open source…

#7

My project LogicalArdour would be great for you.(Assuming you’re in Linux)

#8

You can start here: Recommended plugins – Ardour tutorial

Depending on your platform (e.g. Linux vs Windows/macOS) and needs, you should be able to access commercial sample libraries by Native Instruments, Spitfire, etc.

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#9
  1. Go to the Mixer
  2. Find the Processor Box
  3. Add General Midi Synth
    There you can select instruments.

If you later want to get fancy, use sfizz. :slight_smile:

#10

Exactly, as I mentioned in post#3.
Yes! Sfizz is great too! I use it as much if not more than LinuxSampler these days. So much easier to use.

#11

I remember being a beginner and being overwhelmed by the user interface of Ardour (or Pro Tools or …).
That’s the reason why I added very simple steps; I wouldn’t have found where to put the plugin and be very frustrated. Hopefully it helped a bit.

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