One of the reasons Bidule looked so compelling to me has to do with FX Teleport. Currently if you are using a Mac computer you have to use a Windows server and Windows process farms. In some of the /Virtual Intrument/ mags they were saying that you can install some sort of host in the server and stream from you host computer to the server. I was thinking about how flexible I would want that host to be and this is exactly what I was thinking about. Something to break out of the usual. I want my software to do more for me than hardware.
This actually reminds me of something else. With a setup like this I am not sure it matters what platform your host is on. Are you catching were I am going with this? Linux, Windows, Mac with the appropriate hardware your server and the farm computers could be a constant that your host platform and DAW utilizes.
First, FX Teleport 2 is due for release probably somewhere around the same time frame as Leopard. That will allow Mac host with Mac farms, Mac host with PC farms, or PC host with PC farms, but apparently not PC host with Mac farms.
But with for now FX Teleport is PC only. The most streamlined system would be to have a PC running a VST compatible host etc. Then attach your farm computers. But in one of the /Virtual Instruments/ magazine articles they spoke of a way to run a Mac host with FX Teleport. Article title: /Studio Farms/ by Jesse White. This method seems to me to be most flexible to me.
Here are the components:
Host machineGigabit network
File server computerFarm computers
The Server will have to be a beast of a computer because it will hold all of your samples and plugins. The fascinating thing about this method is that any plugin can be instantiated on any of the farms and thesamples (where needed) are streamed from the server! Also even if your DAW doesn't support VST instruments and plugins you can stream MIDI and audio from the host to the file server. So you have a VST compatible host on the file server with as much flexibility as possible in terms of combining and using instruments and effects. Once you have created your preferred effects this will be your constant.
If you use a Mac, utilizing bootcamp you can run Window, Mac, or Linux and now your effects and instrument farm is completely host agnostic. I doesn't matter if you use Tracktion, Ardour, Rosegarden, LogicPro, ProTools. The other intriguing things is that you can use UAD, PowerCore, etc as long as they are installed on the file server.
In some cases you can send the MIDI, and KVM over the network from host to fileserver.
Recording For Free is a free resource for recordists of all levels. We believe that you can benefit in at least some way from the huge amount of free and extrememly low-cost recording gear available, regardless if you are a full-time, big-budget engineer or simply a student who fiddles with software a few hours a month. There are enough tools available that a beginner can, for example, learn what the controls do on an average compressor without ruining anything, while a pro might want to use a free reverb just for it's sound, not the free price.
There are several categories that this site will try to cover:
- Open Source Windows software
- Freeware for Windows
- Freeware for Macintosh
- Free Linux audio software
- Full free Linux audio distributions
- Low-cost hardware
A word about Open Source Software
We understand that with Open Source software their is a lot of focus on it's ethics and philosophy, but in the context of this blog we will focus on the simple truth that it is free to use, as in "I am under no legal obligation to pay for downloading and using it." The fact that it is also free in the sense of "free to be disassembled, improved upon or otherwise modified, and redistributed" (my paraphrase) is surely icing on the cake, but will not be our focus here. This site is mainly about making music for free and/or cheap, and that is how Open Source Software fits into our needs here.
Other like-minded sites, our vision
I also understand that there are numerous well-done and long-standing websites about these subjects, but my frustration has been that I have not found a site that covers it all. There are plenty of Linux audio sites, sites that include some good lists of Windows and Mac audio freeware, and a whole slew that talk about recording gear in general, but hopefully I will be the first to offer a "one stop shop" for any information that you may need to make recordings for free and/or cheap.
At first this blog will primarily consist of a directory of links to free and low-cost resources, making finally a simple endeavor to find and download what you need, regardless of where it might be on the web. The next phase, as time permits, will be more of a traditional blog with somewhat regular posts from myself and other users of recording gear. I hope to have a lot of how-to's, tips & tricks, tutorials, etc. to help make the vast amount of free resources easier to dive into. That's been one of the primary issues keeping from going even deeper into many tools, and I hope to make it easier for others.
Be sure to bookmark us and frequent back whenever you need to find some free software or other information. Eventually you'll want to stop by every day to see our new posts!
Tim