Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

toddyjoe · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 70

I have prepared more dotpups for audio/music/home-recording applications. As before, these have been created with Puppy 1.0.8rc1 to work with ALSA. They should work fine with newer series like the Puppy2 versions. While the dotpups have been tested as working on three computers (including a 400 MHz/128MB laptop), some of the synths require a bigger computer processor to make music without latency or clicks and pops. Many of these programs require or benefit from JACK, so you may want to install the JACK-Qjackctl dotpup I posted a month ago if you do not have JACK. All other operational libraries and requirements besides JACK and ALSA should be included in the dotpups.

(1) Bristol
A quirky modeling synth compiled from source which provides models of several classic organs, electric pianos and synths, including the Rhodes, Hammond, Vox, Moog, Prophet, Juno and more. It comes with the Brighton graphical interface which provides displays and virtual keyboards that are intended to look like the original instruments. I say Bristol is "quirky" for several reasons. One, it has to be run from the command line (which I tried to circumvent a little with the dotpup). Two, the virtual keyboards that come with the different instrument models are poor note controllers. For example, you have to click a key once with your mouse to turn the note on and again to turn it off, which is not practical for playing a song. You are better off connecting a separate controller keyboard like the Virtual Keyboard dotpup to play Bristol instruments. Three, the graphical instrument images are too detailed to use with a less-detailed computer screen resolutions. The images look like big blocks of mushed colors on one of my 800x600x8 screens so aim for a resolution higher than that. If I recall correctly, you must install JACK and have it running to properly start up Bristol.

Smaller binary version - 2.33MB (2.45MB):
http://www.savefile.com/files/5655383

Larger development version with headers/documents - 2.42MB (2.54MB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/8166741

(2) Hexter
Lightweight, graphical DSSI soft-synth based on the famous Yamaha DX-7. It is similar in screen appearance to Whysynth and Xsynth-DSSI. Requires JACK to be installed and running.

Binary version - 232KB (238KB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/9744406

Larger development version with headers/documents - 304KB (312KB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/9887377

(3) MX44
A graphical soft-synth compiled from source which packs a lot of punch into a very tiny package. It does not require JACK and works perfectly fine with or without it. Even better, it works excellent with no latency on old and slow computers. The drawback is it has a large-sized graphical interface that does not fit well on smaller computer screens. Unfortunatley, the interface cannot be resized any smaller due to the number of sliders and controls, so 1024x768 is probably the minimum usable screen size. MX44 also has very few labels or directions for the many controls and has no accompanying documentation. You have to be able to spend plenty of time learning what every control does before you will make the most of MX44.

Binary version - 160KB (164KB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/5380119

(4) KAConnect
Graphical patchbay from the KALSATools package. Works just like the JACK-Qjackctl graphical patchbay for connecting audio inputs and outputs. If you do not have JACK-Qjackctl, KAConnect is a good graphical alternative to the AConnect command-line program that comes with ALSA and Puppy. KAConnect does not require JACK to be installed.

Binary version - 5.57MB (5.85MB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/9064841

(5) QAMix
Graphical standalone mixer from the KALSATools package. Useful for balancing audio output levels between different devices and programs, especially if you do not like the crude ALSAMixer program which comes with Puppy or do not want a full, multi-purpose program like Ardour. Importantly, QAMix can be MIDI-controlled from an external MIDI controller or keyboard. It does not require JACK.

Binary version - 6.76MB (7.10MB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/3986420

(6) QARecord
Graphical audio recorder from the KALSATools package. Great standalone recorder for capturing one track when you are tight on CPU power and cannot run a bigger multi-recorder program. QARecord can be run in both JACK mode (if you have JACK installed and running) and non-JACK mode. For options like JACK mode, check out the options in the Help menu by typing "qarecord -h" or "qarecord --help" at a command line. One glitch worth noting: on a couple of occasions during testing, I needed to reinstall the JACK-Qjackctl dotpup after installing QARecord in order for JACK to start up without errors. The only workaround I found was to build QARecord with only JACK mode and then require JACK to be installed and running to use QARecord. Instead of limiting its usage, I have chosen to build QARecord for JACK and non-JACK modes and simply warn you ahead of time for the few of you who may encounter this glitch and have to reinstall the JACK-Qjackctl dotpup.

Binary version - 6.00MB (6.30MB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/2908495

(6) QMidiArp
Graphical MIDI arpeggiator program from the KALSATools package. Perfect for when you want to turn your single notes into arpeggiating synth sounds. Does not require JACK but you need to be able to patch QMidiArp into your chain of inputs and outputs with a connector program like the JACK-Qjackctl or KAConnect patchbays or AConnect.

Binary version - 6.39MB (6.71MB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/4839862

(7) QMidiControl
A simple graphical MIDI data mapper from the KALSATools package. This lets you map, manage, control and adjust different data parameters for a MIDI soft-synth. It is especially useful if your soft-synth or sampler program -- or your external or virtual MIDI controller -- lacks knobs and sliders to adjust parameters like note velocity, pitch, sensitivity, etc. Nowadays many graphical soft-synths and samplers have their own built-in virtual knobs and sliders to control these parameters, but some older graphical interfaces and command-line soft-synths and samplers do not. QMidiControl does not require JACK.

Binary version - 5.78MB (7.03MB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/7764316

( 8 ) QMidiRoute
Graphical MIDI router from the KALSATools package. QMidiRoute lets you manage and route different MIDI data parameters and sources to different programs. For example, you could send the note pitch data from your MIDI controller to a sampler program to produce actual musical notes and then send the note velocity data from the same MIDI controller to a separate reverb program to control when the reverb kicks in. Pretty neat if you know how to manipulate, sequence and layer MIDI data. Does not require JACK.

Binary version - 6.26MB (6.57MB)
http://www.savefile.com/files/5439336

Have fun, enjoy and please let me know if there are any issues or problems with any of these dotpups. I will be posting dotpups for AmSynth and AlsaModularSynth very soon!