Open Source for Artist Workshop and the DIY Music Industry: Interview with an Open Source engineer

Indyish went looking for someone really comfortable with open source recording tools to help us throw a cool Indyish workshop for POP, and we lucked out when we found Mathieu Johnson. Mathieu is a young artsy DIY guy with extensive open source experience, and a great ability to talk about what he does. He founded Coop-Muisque.net with some friends, and we’re delighted to link up with them in our ongoing quest to sustain and foster networks for independence. Though the fact that LULU.com is joining us is probably the bigger deal- they’re huge and important and coop-musique.net is just getting started- we’re equally happy to have them both on the bill. Top down, bottom up and sideways- if it helps indyish artists, it’s all good.

Check out this interview where Mathieu talks about how he got started with linux and with audio recording in general, and lists the cool free software he makes use of in his studio- and then go wipe out your old computer and get geeking! just kidding. sort of.

Indyish: what kind of set up would you say you have- sound recording studio?
sound engineering? production? do you specialize?

Mathieu: I would say I have a recording studio, that I am a sound engineer and that I do production for various projects.

I don’t like to consider myself as having any particular specialization, though, I’d have to say that I have a natural talent with mic placement wich is definitely an asset to any audio project.

Indyish: what is all this awesome stuff in your basement?

Mathieu: It’s a collection of multiple things. I started with a really small setup six years ago: a small 16bit sound card, a really cheap mic preamp and a dollar store mic. Then, it quickly grew into a huge pile of rack processors, effect units, converters. From patchbays to amplifiers to big studio consoles, I wanted to learn everything there was about audio. I ended up buying and selling a lot of gear that didn’t suit my needs once I learned their proper use. So the awesome stuff is really an endless ongoing process of finding the perfect gear to do everything I need. The main problem is that everytime I discover new possibilities, I end up needing some new “toys”. Right now, I’m looking at some video stuff to be able to properly do post-prod work. Sound for shorts or full length movies, or even dubs for TV.

Indyish: what do you do, because it seems like you do a lot. like, you also build stuff, eh?

Mathieu: Yes, this is right. I build speakers, amplifiers, preamps, mixers, headphone amps, guitar and bass amps and cabs, PAs, effect processing. You name it, I can do it. I’m working on building flight cases for every sort of instrument and equipment. This kind of stuff shouldn’t cost what they charge in music stores, and that’s mainly why I build all these things. Also, I can do custom designs, for those who need to have a unique touch to their music equipement. Like I said, I’m also a recording engineer. This means that I do the sound recordings, I mix them and I can also do the masterings. I’m also a webmaster/programmer making websites with open source technologies and programming languages. I also do visual arts projects on my spare time….well, if it ever happens that I have spare time…

Indyish: what operating system are you running?

Mathieu: I’m switching back and forth pretty often. Its a good way to keep a fresh and positive view on computer operating systems.

But, to answer your question, right now, I’m running the 64bit version of a Linux distribution called 64 studio. I’m also verry fond of Ubuntu. I don’t mind running on the KDE desktop environment, though I’m more used to Gnome and lately, I’ve found a new love for XFCE. I’ll probably use the Enlightenment 17 desktop environment once a stable release will be out. I’ve tried a bunch of distributions: demudi, ubuntu, 64 studio, slackware, elive, freebsd, gentoo, fedora core. Everyone has its little differences, you really need to try them out to know if you like them or not.

Indyish: what softwares are you using to do all this stuff?

Mathieu: I have a range of software for different applications, but the main part of my work is done using Jack (the multimedia sync and virtual patchbay for linux (and now MacOSX), plugged into Ardour (a multitrack editor for linux (also available for MacOSX).
Then I add a drum machine called Hydrogen to the mix. If I have mastering to do I’ll also open Jamin’ to do the finishing touches.
There’s also a bunch of programs for sound synthesis, like: pure data (pd), seq 24, zynaddsubfx, amsynth, horgan and ams. Although, I don’t get to use those as much as I’d like. I also rarely use midi sequencer software, (for lack or recording sessions requiring midi) but I enjoy using Muse and Rosegarden when the occasion pops up. There’s obviously more but this is a good start to do pretty much all I need as of yet.
I also have some applications for electronics: Geda is a schematic design application and pcb is a printed circuit board design software.
I like to use VI whenever I program or design websites.

Indyish:did you switch to linux from something else and if so, how hard was it to switch to linux and how did you do it?

Mathieu: I started using computers a long time ago, back in the i386 days. All I had was ms-dos, and later moved to windows 3.1. I then got on to windows 95, then 98 and eventually windows XP. I also followed a similar evolution on machintosh, though I didn’t have a mac machine at home. Some friends and family members had them and let me toy around a little.
As you can see, I have been a windows user pretty much my whole life untill I got so sick of having to reinstall every 3 months to keep my system at the performance level I needed to do audio work. I used to have to reboot twice during a recording session. It was unbearable. So I tried linux. I actually had already tried it a while back, but didn’t get very far since it didn’t detect my video card and I got stuck in a BASH CLI (Bourn Again SHell Command Line Interface) without any clue on what to do (or any other running computer to find info on the web). I installed ubuntu and it worked right out of the box. And I loved it!

I had to learn a couple commands, the INs and OUTs of a Linux OS, but in 3 months I was already wondering why I ever worked on a windows machine.
The web is the best place for information about linux equivalents of windows software and how-to’s to get things working (like a dual-head display and a studio sound card).
I guess that moving to linux required a little effort, but once I knew my way around this new OS, I couldn’t look back.

Ha!, I’ve actually reinstalled windows after a while using linux just to compare and it was so horrible, it lasted a big 30mins on my computer untill I put linux back on.

Indyish: what hardware are you using, and how necessary would you say they are for the average user?

Mathieu: I’m using a very simple system, computer wise. Its based on a AMD athlon 64 3000+ and an ASUS motherboard I got real cheap (it has onboard everything…or almost). I do have a big 1gig of ram wich is nice to have to run a lot of tracks and software. And having a second hard drive for audio files is a must have I believe. Obviously my RME digiface does most of the audio work (thats my sound card). I’ve also aded a matrox video card to get dual head on linux.
This really is a low end system by today’s standards but I can get more tracks than is sometimes necessary while running a couple other applications simultaneously.

Someone could get even better results using the new dual core CPUs and adding more ram, at the price they are right now, its the right choice.

I could probably benefit from a raid system to backup recording sessions instead of burning everything to dvd, but right now, good raid systems are too expensive, and dvd-r prices are going down.

Indyish: what would you recommend as a good starting point for the average user interested in sound?

Mathieu: Get the equipment you can afford and read a lot: books are a great way to learn more about audio, online forums are also a great source for finding help or suggestions. Obviously all this will never equal trying things out. If you can have a “blank” system to try out all the possibilities, and I mean, anything and everything without fear of breaking someting or loosing data, that is when you will actually learn a lot. Of course, having a good ear is usefull. Oh, did I talk about patience? Don’t try to learn everything all at once, you will make mistakes at first but the more you make some while trying out, the less you might make them later on.

Indyish:what got you interested in doing this?

Mathieu: The love for music. Simple as that. I love music, and all kinds, actually I love sound, from the tictac of a watch to the wind blow of a hurricane: I love it. Recording is my way to share this with everybody, I guess.

But what really got me into doing this is while I was trying to make a band with some friends and we couldn’t hear one of the guitars so I started thinking about how we could put a mic up to his amp and all listen to him through headphones….it sort of stumbled into recording the whole band…. a couple years later, I’m still doing it, but the band is long gone…

Indyish: and how long have you been at it?

Mathieu: Well, it all started six years ago, but I’ve, obviously, been listening to music for a lot longer than that.

Indyish: can you actually record and produce and entire album from your basement?

Mathieu: Yes I can, and I sure have. Most of my recent projects were demo’s and EP’s, though. I’ve done a really simple overdub for an educational movie, too, but somehow never saw the finished DVD-video product.

Indyish: what is coop-musique.net?

Mathieu: www.coop-musique.net is the website to a co-operative I started with some friends. We started small but are constantly growing.
We offer services to help musicians produce their music. Whether it be recording, mixing, mastering or duplication of your cd: we have it. We also do distribution through our website. And soon we will offer a complete line of speakers, amplifiers, and other equipment that we will be doing. A lot of other projects are coming. We’ve got show booking services and we organise events like big partys and so on. We should be able to offer t-shirt printings for bands and solo acts, and anything that is usualy for sale at a merch table at shows. Since it is a co-operative, members have control over the administration of the co-op. Therefore, prices can be set by the members making them as low as possible.

The website is not yet complete, but work is being done on it, right now. (an english version will soon be availlable)

Interested musicians can join online, it costs 10$ to become a member. If you wish to leave, your money will be reimbursed, making it safe to “try”.
I will also carry membership request forms with me at the workshop so interested musicians can fill them and pay in cash (instead of through paypal).

Indyish:why do a free workshop with indyish.com, lulu.com and POP?

Mathieu: I think its important to inform people of the power and possibilities of open source software freely availlable and how it can help them acheive their musical venture.
Being one of the first in quebec to have a fully open-source software studio means I have to spread the “news”: tell everyone else that they can stop suffering on Windoze and enjoy a fully customise-able OS with many great and most of the time better alternatives to windows software!