While doing some more research on VST plugins I came across an alternative way of running native Linux VSTs in LMMS ( rather than using WINE ). It’s not very well publicised in my opinion and I found it via an incomplete LMMS wiki page.
How to add plugins/instruments to LMMS? I am trying to add a Electronic Piano instrument to LMMS, but I am having trouble. Even when I try to open it in the program it doesn't make any sound or noise.
The key piece of software is called Carla which is written and maintained by Filipe Coelho as part of the KXStudio Linux distribution. Carla is open source and can be found on GitHub.
Carla has two modes of operation, as described by the LMMS wiki page:
- In the Carla Rack instrument, loaded plugins will show up in a virtual rack as units with control buttons and VU-meters. The internal midi and audio routing is fixed in this mode, and goes from top to bottom.
- In the Carla Patchbay instrument, plugins are loaded as units with inputs and outputs onto a canvas. Midi and audio can be routed anywhere to anywhere giving an enormous flexibility to this mode. Rack mode view is also available in the Patchbay instrument.
But note that if you’re using ALSA like I do then only Rack mode is available so Carla Patchbay is not discussed further in this post. However it does look quite powerful.
Installation
You can obviously build from source from GitHub but the KXStudio site also has some of its own repositories with instructions on how to install on various flavours of Linux. I added this repository to my installation using the instructions on that page then installed Carla with:
Usage
Plugins For Lmms
Once Carla is installed then running LMMS will show two extra instrument plugin options as shown on the left.
Dragging the Carla Rack to the Song Editor and double clicking it brings up its Settings window. Clicking on “Show GUI” then brings up the Carla rack control.
Lmms How To Add Vst Plugins Chrome
Native Linux VSTs ( usually .so files ) are loaded using the file navigator pane and the controls for the loaded VSTs are shown on the right. Clicking the cog icon on each entry then brings up the same UI as for the Windows VST version.
Conclusion
Installing the Dexed VST was probably easier this way than using the normal Wine based VST support in LMMS. However there are not many native Linux VSTs available but then again not all Windows VSTs work under Wine 🙂
For me, if there’s a Linux version available then I think that it will be more reliable to use it with Carla. If a Linux version is not available then you’re at the mercy of the Wine compatibility.
Anyways most of the tuts I have seen, are pretty old, and tell LMMS newbies like me, to put the VST's in LMMS plug ins folder.
But in this video.....'How to use VST plug ins to make Indian instrumental sound loops for free.' I noticed the tutorial guy had his VSTs in a Desktop folder.
My question is, could I Make a custom folder for my Indian Dreams Vst and others etc. and put it anywhere, on my Notebook and link LMMS to it in the settings menu?
Or do I have to put the Indian Dreams Vst and others etc, in the same LMMS plug ins folder, where all the default LMMS plug in stuff is, so I wouldn't confuse myself and have to switch back and forth?
After writing this confusing scenario, I'm just 'Beaned.' ( Thats my slang by the way. Original huh?)
I'm using LMMS 64 Bit on Windows 7 64 bit.
Hope you guys can help. Bye.