Who is multi8it?
I’m a father, husband, student and (you probably already guessed it) computer geek. One of my big interests is Linux and open source software. Thus my intention with this project is to create music using only open source tools and releasing it under a Creative Commons licence.
The Music
As I mentioned above, the music is released under a Creative Commons license, more specifically the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license. This gives you the right to copy and redistribute the music, as well as remix it. However, it also means that you agree to give credit where credit is due, that you don’t use my music for profit, and lastly if you remix or otherwise use my music in your own works, your work should be released under the same license.
The tools
So what kind of tools am I using? Here I’ll give a full list of everything I use to create my music, including links. Since I just started, this list will be short. Hopefully, new tools will make it to this list with time.
- LMMS - Linux MultiMedia Studio: This is where I do the bulk of my work. A nice Open Source alternative to sofware like FL Studio.
- SoundConverter: I use this for converting the wave fille from LMMS into an mp3 file. Sadly mp3 is a closed format, and sadly tumblr doesn’t support uploading anything other than mp3’s. As soon as I find a host I will put up download links for ogg files.
- EasyTAG: I use this to make sure the tags for the mp3 and ogg files so you get the right artist and title in your media player. All for your convenience :)
- MilkyTracker: This is a tracker program for 8 bit sweetness. It takes some getting used to if you come from standard music editors since the concept is quite different.
- GIMP: When ever I need to edit images, GIMP is my editor of choice. For example, the lovely header is made with GIMP.
- Kdenlive: For getting stuff on YouTube. It’s powerful, but my computer is not. Some trixing is required to prevent crashes due to low RAM.
Hardware is listed last, because right now, it’s the least important. Everything I do can be achieved with really low budget hardware, so I don’t want anyone to think too much if this parameter.
- Computer. At the moment I do all my work on a laptop. It's a Toshiba with a Core i5 2.3 GHz processor, 4 GB DDR2 RAM, 500GB HDD and integrated Intel graphics - nothing fancy. As soon as I got it I liberated it from Windows and installed Fedora 15. Before that I had an MSI Wind U123 netbook with 1.66 GHz processor and 1GB RAM, wich most producers would laugh at. My point in mentioning this is that I mainly focus on finding good, free and open software. If you just have a bit of patience, you'd be surprised at what you can accomplish with underpowered hardware.
- Yamaha Audiogram 6 USB digital audio interface. This one has been with me since before I made the switch to Linux. It really helps me to have knobs to turn when adjusting input volume and stuff like that. Also, having all the jacks for mics and instruments where you can reach them is really nice.
- ADK A-51 condenser microphone. This is a budget microphone, but a really nice one! Highly recommended.
- Roland FP-2 digital piano. I use this for doodling and MIDI input. I will probably try to get hold of a dedicated MIDI keyboard with assignable knobs and sliders, since the Roland (which isn’t primarily built for MIDI) has none.
- Crappy headset. Yeah, you heard me. A crappy headset. Not even proper headphones. A good set is high up on my wish list.