So I just ditched Windows, but then realized that my music production stuff (mostly REAPER and a few free VSTs) are all Windows/Mac only.
Audio on Linux is fun (as in, pain). JACK seems to be really flexible but is a pain to set up correctly.

Any of you use Linux for music production? Any advice?

I'm using Elementary. Essentially, I need:
1. A good DAW for recording, minimal MIDI.
2. A good sampler.
3. Standard plugin suite - reverb, eq, filters, compressors, delays, etc. I'm not too choosy.
4. Basic synths (I'll be happy with a simple saw/square wave generator, but the more the merrier).

How's Ardour? Compiling it from source right now.

REAPER on Wine doesn't run well for me, so that's out. And they don't have a native Linux version yet.

(no Bitwig, please, I'm not ready to pay $300 or whatever right now)

Subscribing. I installed Tracktion a fee days ago but haven't played around with it yet. Want to get into music production on Linux myself as well!

Also tried to compile ardour but that failed too badly

I argue that this is like trying to game on Linux.

Sure, it's possible in some aspects, yet in the long run you might be better of to get a Mac or Windows PC for certain software instead of crawling through subpar alternatives.

Instead of forcing your workflow to require Linux, rather ask yourself what tools you want to be using and decide your OS / platform for that.

What did you use before on Windows? My friend used to use FL Studio on Windows now he runs it on Wine and all the VSTs work and stuff

@linuxxx Yeah, I failed too. Gave up :D

UPDATE:
Installing stuff is pretty easy if you have a Debian-derived distro. KXStudio (which is also a distro, check it out) has repositories which contain just about everything you need for audio on Linux, including Ardour and LMMS.
Here's how you add the repo:
http://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/Repo...

I installed all the audio-related meta-packages (collections of packages), got a ton of software and plugins which I'm still going through.

For configuring JACK, this may help:
http://libremusicproduction.com/art...

You may have issues with memory limitions in Ardour (it'll complain), make sure you've added your user to the audio group. If that's not there in your distro, you'll have to configure those limits yourself (this also prevents a bunch of other problems with Ardour).

WARNING: I read somewhere (not confirmed though) that this can bork your distro's upgrade process. Please research before trying.

My experience so far:
JACK is seriously awesome. The ability to route anything anywhere can be a bit intimidating at first but it's really, really flexible. Ardour uses JACK to handle routing, big ++.

Ardour is actually pretty nice. Not as polished as REAPER, but it does everything I need from a DAW and hasn't crashed yet. Once I wrapped my head around routing, I was able to connection my interface and record stuff without any problems.

MIDI is a bit barebones, but MuseScore was installed too, gonna check it out.
Hydrogen is a really good drum machine. No complaints so far.

It's not the best for electronic music though, there's LMMS for that. I haven't tried that yet. I like Ardour's workflow, it's pretty old-school straightforward, like REAPER and Cubase.

The plugins that come in the meta-packages are pretty good, they do the job without much fuss. Again, routing them can be a headache, make sure you know how to use Qjackctl and/or Catia to handle JACK routing.

So far, awesome!

@Seshpenguin REAPER, mostly. Like I said above, I'm not much of an electronic music guy, I like my mics and guitars and stuff :p

I love FL Studio for when I am doing electronic, though. It's what got me into making music. And the synths that come with FL are just extraordinary (Sytrus and Harmor <3)

Nice to hear FL works on Wine, thanks.

@k0pernikus I agree, but (for me):

1. I'm really enjoying Ardour, it seems to be pretty good for my workflow (happy coincidence!)

2. Some people have to try Linux audio otherwise it'll die off. Can't let that happen. If I end up really liking Ardour I might even contribute to it.

But yeah. In general, one shouldn't let technology dictate art.

@RememberMe Thanks for mentioning Hydrogen as I'll be producing electronic music :)

@k0pernikus I get your point but some people have their reasons for using certain operating systems :). I've got mine for only using Linux (personally, not professionally)

@linuxxx you'll want Hydrogen (drum machine), drumgizmo (drum sampler), linuxsampler with Fantasia or Qsampler, MusE (MIDI editor/workstation), Carla Patchbay, Catia to route JACK, LMMS as your main workstation, amsynth, and some more stuff I haven't explored yet. MusE and LMMS especially.
Helm is a good synth, Dexed is a brilliant Yamaha DX7 style FM synth.

@RememberMe Thank you! You seem to know quite a lot about this!

@linuxxx Hah, I'm an expert at sounding like an expert :p

Jokes aside though, I've been at this for a while now, I'm trying to up my skills so that I can compose semi-professionally, for people who make short-films and stuff. If this works out it'll be great, I love both music and tech so it's an ideal combination!

Good luck for your productions :) Hope you have fun.

@RememberMe Ah awesome and thanks!

The hardest part for me will be the kicks as those are one of the most essential parts in my favourite music genre and I want them to be energetic and raw and that'll be a challenge haha

@linuxxx
You probably already know this, but just in case: you could try layering multiple kick samples and EQ-ing each sample into its own range so that they don't clash (watch out for phase issues!). You can make very nice kicks with a lot of character that way.

Compressors are also vital, properly configuring attack/release and gain reeeallly makes it punch through (do remember to let it "breathe" though, compressors can easily destroy character). And you could sidechain the compressors (if any) on leads/pads/arps/etc. to the kick track, so when the kick plays all the other track volumes get reduced slightly, automatically. Sounds absolutely massive and also helps settle other tracks (like leads) into the mix.

And if it's a dance music thing don't forget to add sub-bass to the kick (or you could remove it and claim artistic freedom :p)

@RememberMe I'm going for the sub genre rawstyle of the 'main' genre hardstyle.

Example of the stuffs I'd like to make (you might be able to give me advice?): Act of Rage ft D-Sturb - Let the games begin (you probably won't like it by the way)

@linuxxx
First listen: hmm, not bad.
Second listen: holy shit.
Third listen: Jesus that sound design!
Fourth listen: CLICK CLICK BOOYEAH!

Wow. This is cool stuff. Got any more?

I don't know if I can offer much advice here, but let me try.
These people really know their synths. I heard plenty of LFOs, bloody great envelopes, all sorts of parameter automation. I know how to do most of it in Serum (brilliant synth), but creative usage of simple(r) software synths like Helm can also do most of this, but you'll need to be a synth pro (or a dedicated knob fiddler). Make sure you know your LFOs and envelopes. Overdriven saw waves + white noise gives a nice raw sound.

There's a lot of compressor usage in this track, I can hear sidechaining in the "chorus" (I believe that's how they get the snap-and-pad effect), and that "snap" really needs a compressor to get the sound. The kicks have this nice rough top end, they don't seem to be using a very high compression ratio. Or there's another synth playing the rough top with the kick. Shouldn't be too hard to make. For a demo you could take a deadmau5-type kick and add a bit of noise to the top, that'll should work.

Slight shot in the dark here, but I think they are using a transient designer to get those sharp attacks. Transient designers allow you to change how "fast" the sound's volume moves, say, for adding extra snap to drums (low attack) or spacing out drums for ambient (high attack).

This is beyond me, though, I'm nowhere that good at electronic music. I could be completely wrong about all of this. Most of my advice is very general, sorry.

I really think this requires a fairly sophisticated DAW, like Ableton Live or FL Studio, because there's a lot going on. I don't think LMMS can compete with them just yet. I could be wrong though.

Since you're into this stuff, watch Deadmau5's Masterclass (you could get it for free somewhere on the net, but officially I don't condone piracy :p), he shows all the stuff I mention. It'll help you get a base on all this.

@RememberMe Oh damn let me think!
Radical Redemption - Brutal 6.0
High Voltage ft Radical Redemption - Nasty Bitch
Chain Reaction - Answers (Adaro remix)
D-Sturb - Legacy and High Power and of course Marked For Death (his kicks and synths OMG)
Regain - Push it to the limit

Just have to think a little if you like some of these!

Really though, ANYTHING by D-Sturb.

@RememberMe No, thank you!

@linuxxx Awesome! Thank you!
Today is a good day, new music!

@RememberMe Let me know what you think of the music! I can also give you some more euphoric/melodic songs if you'd like? Tomorrow, when I wake up though :P

@linuxxx found this while YouTube-hopping, thought you might like it:
Headhunterz ft. Malukah - Reignite
https://youtu.be/XeQmloZgDew

Also, damn, sorry for not responding, I legitly forgot. This stuff is good! If you have any more songs that you could recommend, that'd be awesome.

@RememberMe Deffo haha! Although I'm more into the raw stuff myself, I have many more great songs! I'll share some after work :D

@RememberMe Sorry for the late response, some of my current favourites:

Regain ft Apexx - Now we Pray
Regain - Xorcism
MYST - Before You Go
Two-Sixty - Drop It
Two-Sixty - big shaq remix of something, YouTube it ;)
Krowdexx - Get Paid
Krowdexx - anything by then actually
Cyber - A New World
Endymion - Welcome To The Darkness (this one hits home)

@linuxxx awesome, thanks! Will listen.