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hpr_transcripts/hpr0670.txt

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+Episode: 670
+Title: HPR0670: Linux - A Jazz Musician's Viewpoint
+Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0670/hpr0670.mp3
+Transcribed: 2025-10-08 00:39:38
+
+---
+
+.
+Welcome to Hucka Public Radio. This is Tony Denton, also sometimes known as
+Barryman with my first podcast in which I outline my experience as a jazz
+musician using Linux.
+I've been using Linux for about eight years now, although it's only within the
+last three or so years that I've gone virtually to 100 percent Linux. My
+experience as a jazz musician, however, goes much further back, having clocked
+up just over 50 years of playing now. First, a bit of history. I start into
+the world of computing began in 1982 with a BBC Microcomputer. The BBC
+Micro had its own operating system and used a special form of basic. It was
+quite innovative for the time in that you could add an expansion board, piggybacked
+to the motherboard to take pre-recorded ROM chips with a variety of software
+programs that could be bought. I supplemented that machine a year or so later
+with an old X Business machine made in 1977 by real-time computer systems of
+crew in the UK. This machine had Gary Kildall's CPM operating system. Does
+anybody out there remember CPM? And the input and output to the machine was by
+means of four seven-inch floppy disks, one for the operating system, one for the
+application, and two for the data. These two machines, which I still have, served
+me very well until about 1988 when I ventured into the world of the PC and with
+hindsight became a reluctant Microsoft operating system user. The next
+does not so years so me using the PC mainly for educational material and for
+musical composition and arrangements for use in my playing. I used two main
+pieces of software for the music, Sibelius and Band-In-A-Box, with the
+occasional use of sound forage, cue bass and finale. I also delivered a web
+designing and used Macromedia Dreamweaver. Sibelius, Band-In-A-Box and Dreamweaver
+were the essentials then as far as I was concerned. I first became aware of
+Linux as we moved into the new millennium and I began to read up as much as I
+could find out about it. I suppose it was around 2003 that I downloaded my first
+proper distro sous-illinux and I wound up with six CDs to do the install. How
+things have come on since that time. Linux has not had a particularly good press
+over the years and most of this originated from the days when Linux was seen to
+be quote difficult and quote. There has been a great sea change since then, modern
+distros offer close to the full solution and certainly do supply everything the
+average user would need. The press hasn't kept up with that progress, however, and we
+still hear reports of retailers telling customers that Linux is quote difficult
+and quote and to avoid it at all costs.
+Well for the next three to four years after installing Susie I tried most of the
+available distros. Damn small Linux, Mandriva, Fedora, Debium, I even spelled a
+fruitless weekend trying to install Slackware. All were interesting in their own
+way but I wasn't able to make too much use in those early days. I was aware of
+wine as a solution to using Windows-based software and after installing early
+copies of Sibelius, Band-In-A-Box and Dreamweaver, I had some limited success. I
+stuck with it though, believing in the concept of free and open source solutions
+until I discovered Ubuntu 606. Dapper Drake had a range of applications that
+suited me and it used the GNOME desktop which felt comfortable. That clinched
+it for me, I decided to stick with Ubuntu. I installed it on my two
+desktops and laptop although I still felt it necessary to maintain the laptop
+as a dual boot machine with Windows XP to give me that comfort feeling. I quickly
+found that I began increasingly to use Linux for all my work only very rarely
+using the Windows petition. I briefly tried virtual box initially with not too
+much success. My solution for my essential applications was to continue to use
+wine. That took care of all my day-to-day requirements. I currently use Ubuntu
+1010 on all my machines and have ditched the dual boot Microsoft Windows
+petition for good. As I still need access to my essential software though, I
+decided to look again at using virtual machine. The recent Hacker Public Radio
+podcast by ARFAB, HBR0618, on installing XP in a virtual box, gave me the
+inspiration to make them move and to give virtual box another try. Following
+ARFAB's tutorial, I installed virtual box on all my machines and everything went
+smoothly. I now run my essential software in virtual box on my desktop and
+laptops. My present setup comprises the two desktops previously mentioned, one
+is my daily workhorse and the other an experimental machine where I can try out
+various things before making them permanent. I used two laptops, a big 17-inch
+Sony vial for the heavy music-related activity and an ASUS triple EPC for
+casual stuff, including some recording when I get around to it. That's where I am
+up to date.
+As a practical musician, I need to practice regularly using a variety of
+improvisation techniques and patterns with scales and arpeggios. I make good
+use of band in a box as a practice aid and to provide suitable backings for
+songs, technical exercises and particularly improvisation practice. Most of the
+tunes that come supplied with band in a box are not too much used to me and I
+almost always have to either rewrite the chords or import new ones and then
+select a different backing style to get anywhere near what I need for my
+purposes. I maintain my practice material in a separate folder and I place all
+my regular practice pieces including backings for scales and arpeggios into
+that folder. Most backing tracks take the form of a simple piano-based drums
+rhythm section and the following audio clip demonstrates the kind of thing I
+mean.
+Up until a few months I was teaching weekend music class to local music centre. The
+students and I had about a dozen of them at any one time were all at
+various stages of ability and played different instruments clarinet, saxophone
+and flute. I used backing tracks prepared in band in a box and exported them to
+a WAV or MP3 file to support each musical instrument in a musical ensemble. By
+using the band in a box output with Sibelius I could prepare a score and pass
+and tell of the parts of the different abilities within the group. Sibelius
+itself also has an export function that produces output for burning to CD. So I
+often write a piano part in Sibelius to accompany the solo part or ensemble
+and I have collected quite a series of these accompaniments on CDs which
+give me the added flexibility in my teaching. I am aware of current developments
+within the Linux community in support of the musical requirement. For example
+Rose Garden for MIDI and Lilipon for score writing. But I feel that there is a
+way to go yet to get the input and output to be more intuitive. I feel that
+the learning curve is still too great at the moment to be able to say to my
+colleagues yes Linux is now the complete solution.
+In my next podcast I'll explain how I record audio and how I use my Linux
+setup to support my other activities. My website and blog can be found at
+www.medenton.com and I own Twitter as Tony Denton. My identity can name is
+Barryman and I am occasionally found on IOC also as Barryman.
+Thank you for listening to HACCLE public radio. HPR is sponsored by Kero.net so head on over to