Daniel James interview (LXF 93)

The full text of the Daniel James interview, from the music studio feature, some of which we couldn't fit in the magazine...

Daniel James is the project directory of the audio distro 64 Studio. He set up 64 Studio Ltd to provide development services to hardware OEMs, and support to users in studios. James also runs a Linux-based recording studio near his home on the Isle of Wight.

Linux Format: What's the single biggest requirement for a Linux-based recording studio? Flexibility, stability, routing, recording management, audio latency, quality, speed...?

Daniel James: This goes for any software-based system, but it's reliability. This is more than just stability - the absence of crashes - it means that you can depend on your equipment to do the job it's supposed to do. When you're recording live music, there may never be a second chance to capture a particular performance.

LXF: How many tracks have you been able to record at once?

DJ: On my Opteron systems, I've never come anywhere near the physical limit of the hardware. These days, the limit is usually the number of channels on the audio interface, not the software or the CPU. In theory, using Ardour and an RME MADI card, you should be able to record 64 channels simultaneously - but very few people actually need that capability.

LXF: How many tracks do you manage in a typical project?

DJ: Sixteen is usually plenty for a rock band, even using a complicated mic setup on the drum kit. The mix gets way too dense before I run into any performance problems.

LXF: Do you use software EQ/compression, or outboard gear?

DJ: I mostly use free software LADSPA plugins, because I want to test them and help improve them. The LADSPA plugins cover pretty much all the essential bases, but you usually need to read the documentation to get the most out of them - particularly if you don't understand what they are supposed to do.

I do still use an analog mixing desk, mostly for its flexibility in monitoring, and I sometimes use the EQ on that. Some outboard gear can be genuinely useful, such as a small hardware reverb for headphone monitoring when recording vocals. But if you're on a limited budget, then I think it's better to invest in a collection of good microphones before you consider esoteric outboard hardware.

LXF: Are there any Linux audio effects or processes you'd consider to be professional quality?

DJ: I think this is a misleading question, for three reasons. Firstly, if musicians and the people helping them make records are only considered professional if they are earning a good, regular salary from CD and on-line music sales, then hardly any of them are professionals - including most of the musicians currently touring the country! Making music is a lot like free software development: it's a vocation, and many of the best don't make a penny from it.

Secondly, even the recording engineers who have access to the most expensive outboard equipment sometimes use very simple techniques to get the results they want. So just because an audio tool looks basic, and doesn't have hundreds of features, it doesn't mean that an audio professional wouldn't be able to make use of it. (In fact, proprietary bloatware can be a serious impediment to the creative process.)

Thirdly, there are plenty of professional audio devices on the market which are actually embedded Linux systems - Korg's flagship workstation keyboard, the Oasys, is just one example. Although the application software they run on Linux is usually proprietary, these hardware products prove that there's nothing lacking in the free software platform.

If you're talking strictly about the technical quality of free software audio applications, then several of these use 32-bit samples internally; any higher, and you'd be unlikely to hear the difference. (For reference, normal audio CDs use 16-bit samples.)

Some of the LADSPA effects sound pretty good, and others are buggy, or unstable in real-time use. Like any effects, you need to test them to find your own favourites. It's worth bearing in mind that the best studios use acoustically-tuned rooms, a large collection of vintage instruments and well-honed microphone techniques before they'll even consider using a digital effect - whether free software or proprietary, plugin or outboard.

LXF: How close are Linux-based solutions to their OS X or Windows counterparts?

DJ: In some cases they are identical, because many free software applications are cross-platform. If you mean their proprietary counterparts, then there's not always an exact equivalent available, but there's certainly enough to make music with. In some cases, particularly in the more experimental genres of music, it's proprietary software that lacks equivalent functionality.

LXF: Why would someone choose Linux over a proprietary solution?

DJ: There are many reasons: the ability to study, repair or improve a particular program is useful to those musicians who have the necessary skills, or are prepared to learn. For some people, it's a matter of protecting their personal investment in learning the detailed operation of a program. For example, Logic [Pro, a MIDI sequencer] users on Windows were screwed over when the Windows version of the application was suddenly killed.

For others, it's simply that they can't afford proprietary audio software - it can be seriously expensive, especially for users outside the first world - and they aren't prepared to download a cracked version from a warez site. And finally, because it rocks!

LXF: Is it possible to master a recording using Linux?

DJ: Absolutely. If you're using really old hardware with a slow CPU, you can prepare tracks individually using rendered LADSPA effects, for example in Audacity. If you're lucky enough to have a recent PC, you can master in real time using Jamin.

LXF: Are there adequate tools for compression, dithering and Red Book CD authoring?

DJ: Jamin has a good three-band compressor, as well as a 1,024-band EQ with hand-drawn curves, a lookahead limiter and more. Dithering output can be done in Ardour, Audacity or directly from Jack.

As for exporting audio for Red Book glass mastering, these days most people send WAV files on CD-R to the duplicators, and let them take care of the rest. So the lack of a free software application for putting DDP files on Exabyte tape is not something I've ever heard anyone complain about.

LXF: What's your recommended software/hardware configuration?

DJ: I personally use Ardour, Audacity and Jamin, but if I was making a different kind of music, there are lots of other tools to choose from. Sometimes I use the Amsynth and ZynAddSubFX synths too.

On the hardware side, I would recommend an M-Audio Delta 1010 interface, or an RME HDSP if you can afford it (plus the cost of an ADAT interface, or a digital mixing desk with one). I do like Matrox G550 graphics cards - the 2D output is excellent, and the free X.org driver supports the features on these cards well. I only buy quality RAM and power supplies, and I usually opt for Seagate IDE hard discs, the ones with the quiet fluid bearings.

For a CPU, the Athlon AMD64 X2 is hard to beat on price/performance, and the native 64-bit Linux support for AMD motherboards is generally good. Opterons are better, if you have the budget. The support for Intel64 CPUs and motherboards under Linux doesn't seem to be as mature as for their AMD cousins, but that's to be expected, because AMD have been working directly with the kernel community on x86-64 Linux support for far longer. As for the motherboard, I generally use Asus or Tyan boards, but I'm looking forward to trying a Gigabyte Socket AM2 board, now that they have LinuxBIOS support.

LXF: Do you use a control surface?

DJ: Not at the moment, but now that Ardour has Mackie Control support, I might buy one. It's not strictly necessary to have one, just more comfortable if you do a lot of mixing work.

LXF: Do you think Ubuntu's specialist audio distro Ubuntu Studio will do well and challenge 64 Studio in the future?

DJ: I think it should do well, if for no other reason than just because Ubuntu is popular.

I don't see other distributions as a challenge, except in the sense that if they do something better, then we can learn from it. It would only be fair to point out that we do have a head start of two years of development, plus earlier experience of working on DeMuDi [Debian Multimedia Distribution]. Some other distributions are now using our kernel packages - Musix, for example - and we also have direct input into many of the multimedia applications and their Debian packages, which Ubuntu and its derivatives ultimately use.

LXF: What is it about music recording that's so pleasurable?

DJ: Speaking personally, I love being creative, but most of all, I love working with musicians, most of whom are more talented than me!

LXF: Do you think working with open source adds to the sense of community and collaboration of music making?

DJ: Definitely, although there's a risk that you can become too involved in the development of the tools, and forget to make time for the music itself. Still, a well-written program has a beauty of its own, and the Linux audio community is a lot more welcoming to outsiders than some musical cliques.