Guitarix Doesn't Work

[efflux]

Hi. first post here.

This looks like a cool distribution. Thanks.

First problem I have is that Guitarix doesn't work. If I try to start from command I get Illegal instruction. I'm not sure I want to use Guitarix even although I'm a guitarist because I have outboard gear but there is a convolution reverb isn't there?

[GMaq]

Hi efflux, glad you're here.

What CPU is on the system that Guitarix doesn't launch on? I have just noticed this bug on an older Dell Optiplex I have AV installed on, it is the only system I have with a single core Pentium 4, the rest are multiple core or Vbox installs (on which Guitarix works perfectly) so I'd be interested in knowing if your system has the same CPU. The fact it is an illegal instruction would imply that Guitarix is not complying with a particular CPU instruction set (ie SSE, MMX etc.). Unfortunately this also affects JC_GUI which is a standalone version of the Jconvolver frontend also developed by the Guitarix guys.

[GMaq]

Hi,

I've sent an email to 'brummer' the Guitarix dev, hopefully he can shed some light on the issue when he has time to look into it.

[efflux]

Hi.

Yes, it's a PIV 3.0 Ghz hyperthreading CPU.

I'm not upgrading this system because it's good despite it's age. Abit IC7-G motherboard which is clearly a great board.

I may eventually get a new computer but it will be graphics that drives that rather than audio. All I want to do is track and mix some audio and MIDI with a few effects. The PIV machine is fine for that. I can run a convolution reverb without problems.

Is there any other other way of using Convolution in native Linux software? I know I can install Windows VSTs and on my other Linux system I have Voxengo Convolution reverb plugin. It works fine but I've yet to test VSTs on AVLinux. I will be doing so.

This is not vital to me though. I've actually gone back to hardware a lot.

[efflux]

I have another Linux system here. Exact same MB and CPU unfortunately but on that system I have everything set up as I want. Ubuntu. However AVLinux is clearly a better option. On Ubuntu I have this:

http://rakarrack.sourceforge.net/

I remember having to compile it (I think). Things like this are of course why having a dedicated multimedia distribution is a huge help. Rackarrack sounded pretty good. I'm going to go back and give it another test but I obviously can't compare it to Guitarix.

I've got outboard gear for this kind of stuff but it's just a thought.

Also, for anyone playing guitar through effects, it can be cool on Linux to hook outboard hardware into the Ardour mixer via spdif. You should be able to get very low latency on a new system if not using spdif but you can always monitor through your sound interface anyway. Lexicon have recently brought out plugins of their reverbs. This means the hardware will drop in price for second hand. Also, if you have good converters on your audio interface, they will be better than the ones on cheaper Lexicons but the effects are not that different from higher end Lexicons, just less editable. Lexicon reverb is superb but the plugins are colossally expensive and only reverb.

[efflux]

Here is another cool app. This is for creating impulses. It's a Windows app but no problems under Wine. It's simple. No communication with audio hardware anyway. This is the downside though, you have to create the impulses then test them in your plugin:

http://www.voxengo.com/product/imodeler/

[linuxdsp]

On the general subject of guitar effects - I confess I can't remember if these are installed as part of A/V linux (sorry GMaq, I'll get the A/V Linux install sorted out on my test machine soon...) but I have some virtual stomp box effects on my website at

http://www.linuxdsp.co.uk/download/guitar_fx/index.html

They're free to download, although if anyone wants to donate to the site that would be good (and very much appreciated) - they're JACK client applications so you can hook them up into a virtual pedal-board (I use the JP1 patchbay, also on my site and in A/V Linux) and they can be MIDI controlled (bypass switch) so you can switch them in and out of the chain using a MIDI controller if necessary.

Just thought it might be worth mentioning.

[GMaq]

OK,

I put up alternate packages for both Guitarix and Jc_Gui that were built on the P4 System in question and seem to work OK on it, hopefully that solves the issue for others as well for the time being. Find the packages here:

http://www.bandshed.net/debian/

[plutek]

hi efflux -- yes, i also use the voxengo impulse modeler under wine. that, plus jconv, have been my primary reverb solution for years now.

it'd be nice to see a linux impulse simulator!

cheers!
.pltk.

[efflux]

Thanks Glen. I will test this now.

By the way, I'm not suggesting plugins are no good by mentioning Lexicon here but Lexicon have a character that is all there own. Superb reverbs. I wish the new VSTs were Linux native as well but that ain't going to happen, sadly. You also need an iLok and the plugs cost a fortune.

I also have valve gear here, in particular a Thermionics Culture Vulture, Fender Twin and an old all valve Revox G36 reel to reel (awesome thing). So distortion and valve warmth is quite sorted.

I have tried the LinuxDSP briefly and they seem very good. Channel processing effects like EQs are especially useful in software because you will need a few of them at once whereas one great Lex reverb box hooked in digitally is fine.

I've yet to really explore all the Linux plugins.

[efflux]

Guitarix now works but not the JConv part. When I try to start it I get:

Sorry, jconv startup failed ... giving up!

and then I can't load an impulse. In terminal I see:

Wave view expose  ***  nofile cannot be exposed

However, I like the Reverb plugin simply called Stereo Reverb.

UPDATE:

It all works. There seemed to be a problem with where the impulse files were then I still couldn't start jconv but for some reason it now works. I'll get back here after some more testing.

[efflux]

It all works great now.

Thanks Glen. Much appreciated. Another small donation went your way for sorting this. It's not much but a start. I know donations will be low to start with.

As for non convolution reverbs. I'm working on that with various mixer and plugin set ups. I have a cheap Lex but It's still hooked into spdif - good for comparison purposes. Reverbs could be a whole other thread.

[dello]

Hi all and thanks for this beautiful distribution!

I still get "Illegal instruction" here with the alternate version of Jcgui and the guitarix 0.06.0. My cpu is a AMD Athlon XP 2400+.

[GMaq]

Hi dello, or perhaps hello dello,

Hmmm this is a weird issue that obviously relates to however Guitarix/JC_gui is developed or how it detects Instruction Sets at compile time. First of all I would strongly suggest visiting the Guitarix forum and making them aware of this issue. Unfortunately I do not personally have any AMD hardware to build or test on right now.

The most direct suggested fix would be to compile Guitarix on your own machine and see how that works, If you are not comfortable with compiling don't worry, Guitarix and JC_Gui are developed on Debian Linux and Brummer (the dev) has most conveniently included a Debian packaging script in the source code and AV Linux comes stock with all the required dependencies to build it.

**EDIT** As of Guitarix 0.7 an additional dependency of libzita-convolver-dev is required, it is available in Synaptic so before following the steps below install it from the Synaptic package Manager.

Here's the drill:

1. Go to the Guitarix site and download the source code from sourceforge, http://sourceforge.net/projects/guitarix/files/
2. If you don't already have a folder to build software create a folder in your home called "Build" or something else you want
3. Copy the Guitarix source to your Build folder, then right click on it and "Extract Here"
4. Open the extracted Guitarix folder and from the "Tools" menu in PCManFM file manager select "Open terminal here"
5. In the opened terminal type 'dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b' (don't use the quotations)
6. The package script will start and build a Guitarix package that will end up in the "Build" folder where you extracted the source code
7. Install the new package using Gdebi like you would install any Deb. Hopefully it will work being built locally on your own CPU architecture.

[dello]

I compiled guitarix and Jc_gui and installed the generated package as GMaq said. I had some little trouble with guitarix however I received support here:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/phpbb/guitarix/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22&p=110#p110.
I have no more the "Illegal instruction" and I can use the applications, thanks.

[GMaq]

dello,

Thanks for sharing that info, I got an email from brummer today explaining how to build architecture independent Debs, I wasn't aware of exactly what the problem was, but now I understand and will fix the latest JC_gui and Guitarix packages and build them independent from now on. I will post a message when the fixed packages are up.

For people who don't have issues with the Guitarix/JC_gui packages there is no reason to change.

[GMaq]

OK,

Architecture independent packages are up: http://www.bandshed.net/debian/

Please let me know if there are issues.

[efflux]

I still had a couple of problems with Guitarix. My main reason for wanting this was reverb.

However.

I've been doing endless reverb shoot outs on windows and Mac. There are some new reverbs now which are excellent. Unfortunately I had issues trying to run one in FST which is a superb reverb called EOS.

Lexicon have ruled for a long time with reverbs and they released some plugins. They are great but I've found other immensely cheaper reverbs that do the job.

I'm going to try to set up some LADSPA reverbs using various methods of utilising more than one plugin to see what I can do.

During all the testing I have been doing I have concluded that convolution reverb is too static and it saps CPU as well. Algorithmic reverbs are more musical and they have improved hugely recently as plugins.

[linuxdsp]

There is a linuxDSP reverb included with AV linux - this is a JACK application so you can patch it in to any other applications, and its also available in LV2 form on my website: http://www.linuxdsp.co.uk
(though it does cost a small amount).  It may not be what you need, but its an algorithmic reverb that's intended to be a good general purpose 'plate' style reverb whithout using too much CPU and a lot of people seem to like it.

[efflux]

Hi Linuxdsp.

I tried your reverb but I'm really a lot more interested in your EQs or compression. I have just not got around to really testing them out. I have gone back to Mac running Ardour Mixbus. As you will know, this has eqs and compression and the way this is integrated into the UI is very cool. However, this does not mean I will only be using those. I'm trying to get a setup that allows me to use and support open source and Linux without having to leave everything behind. So I am using AVLinux sometimes and I intend to use it for some Windows apps.

If I could install Linux on my Macbook and have absolutely everything I want then that would be fantastic because it's quite a powerful computer but sadly this migration can't be done all of a sudden.

I can use your plugins as LADSPA on OSX can't I?

[efflux]

OK. I see that you don't mention LADSPA on your site.

My problem was that my desktop computer was too slow and I wanted a quiet computer. This meant a laptop was ideal and powerful enough. A second hand Macbook was the obvious answer because I knew I could run Mixbus but I could also run AUs that I still need to use. These AUs VST versions have not all worked in FST and of course are not inside the DAW (I could have lived with this part). I also have an SSD drive in this Macbook. Performance is superb. A crucial factor was using the computer exactly like a hardware unit - very low latency.

Of course I could install Linux on the Macbook but I am entering into a period of a lot of recording soon. I want one system where everything works. I do not want to have to stop to solve a problem. I have Linux on a desktop but also on a little slate PC. This slate PC is quickly becoming a MIDI machine for my hardware using Qtractor so I am crossing over slowly.

In the case of plugins, the only system that is fast enough to monitor through with absolutely no latency issues is the Macbook.

I am a guitarist and I don't like post processing some effects. I play through effects live. I have hardware effects but when it comes to reverb I do want that after recording so I can tweak it along with eqs and compression for mixing.

One reverb I would love to have working on FST is this one:

http://www.audiodamage.com/effects/product.php?pid=AD023

Unfortunately it doesn't work (at the moment). This is an AWESOME reverb and only $49.

[efflux]

By the way, music is part of what I do which dictates certain computer set ups. I do graphics stuff and that has almost all migrated to Linux now.

This means that at some stage in the future I will probably build a super powered Linux desktop for graphics because there is never power for graphics. I may be able to use AVLinux for that.