Bitwig and audio

Issues & Assistance
1

Hello,

Sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in, but I thought maybe another Garuda user would have the answer. Am new to Linux and also MIDI (any music production for that matter) Im trying to get my MIDI keyboard to work in Bitwig but no matter what I do. I can not get sound other than something that sounds like interference or something when I have stereo selected in output on HW instrument. Ive tried AlSA, jack, pulseaudio and pipewire. My mpk mini 3 registers as I can see on bitwig when i press a screen. So im just not sure what im doing. anyone have advice, and sorry if this was wrong to post this question here.

thanks.

System:
  Kernel: 6.2.12-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen root=UUID=36a36245-4e04-4029-b20b-bf2e6b78da60
    rw rootflags=subvol=@ quiet quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
    loglevel=3 ibt=off
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.9 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux
    base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: ROG Strix G533ZX_G533ZX v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: G533ZX v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC.
    v: G533ZX.324 date: 02/21/2023
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 70.8 Wh (83.0%) condition: 85.3/90.0 Wh (94.7%) volts: 16.4 min: 15.9
    model: AS3GWYF3KC GA50358 type: Unknown serial: <filter> status: not charging
CPU:
  Info: model: 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H bits: 64 type: MST AMCP arch: Alder Lake gen: core 12
    level: v3 note: check built: 2021+ process: Intel 7 (10nm ESF) family: 6 model-id: 0x9A (154)
    stepping: 3 microcode: 0x429
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 14 mt: 6 tpc: 2 st: 8 threads: 20 smt: enabled cache: L1: 1.2 MiB
    desc: d-8x32 KiB, 6x48 KiB; i-6x32 KiB, 8x64 KiB L2: 11.5 MiB desc: 6x1.2 MiB, 2x2 MiB L3: 24 MiB
    desc: 1x24 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2420 high: 4460 min/max: 400/4900:5000:3800 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: performance cores: 1: 401 2: 622 3: 574 4: 2900 5: 2755 6: 394 7: 1440 8: 401 9: 3977
    10: 4379 11: 4460 12: 2900 13: 2900 14: 2900 15: 2900 16: 2900 17: 2900 18: 2900 19: 2900
    20: 2900 bogomips: 116736
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-P Integrated Graphics vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel
    arch: Gen-12.2 process: Intel 10nm built: 2021-22+ ports: active: none empty: DP-1,DP-2
    bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:46a6 class-ID: 0380
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA103M [GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia
    v: 530.41.03 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 530.xx+ status: current (as of 2023-03)
    arch: Ampere code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:2420 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.8 with: Xwayland v: 23.1.1 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: nouveau alternate: fbdev,intel,nv,vesa dri: iris
    gpu: i915,nvidia display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 191 s-size: 340x191mm (13.39x7.52") s-diag: 390mm (15.35")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 res: 2560x1440 dpi: 191 size: 340x190mm (13.39x7.48") diag: 389mm (15.33")
    modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 530.41.03 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
    bus-ID: 3-2:2 v: kernel chip-ID: 09e8:0050 alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl class-ID: 0103
    bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:51c8 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:01:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:2288 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: AKAI Professional M.I. MPK mini Play mk3 type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
  API: ALSA v: k6.2.12-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.70 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: off 2: wireplumber
    status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-P PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3
    chip-ID: 8086:51f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000
    bus-ID: 0000:2c:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp44s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-10:5 chip-ID: 8087:0033 class-ID: e001
  Report: b
t-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd v: 0.6 port: N/A
    bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:467f rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 55.21 GiB (5.8%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Micron model: 3400 MTFDKBA1T0TFH size: 953.87 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: P7MA001 temp: 38.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%) used: 55.21 GiB (5.8%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%) used: 576 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%) used: 55.21 GiB (5.8%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%) used: 55.21 GiB (5.8%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%) used: 55.21 GiB (5.8%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 31.01 GiB used: 1.8 MiB (0.0%) priority: 100 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: N/A mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 44 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2200
Info:
  Processes: 397 Uptime: 23m wakeups: 2 Memory: 31.01 GiB used: 2.99 GiB (9.6%) Init: systemd
  v: 253 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.1 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1877
  libs: 522 tools: octopi,paru Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.16-release inxi: 3.3.26
Garuda (2.6.16-1):
  System install date:     2023-04-22
  Last full system update: 2023-04-24 ↻
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-dkms
  Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
  Failed units:
2

Can you describe your method for adding the keyboard?

This article indicates you need to add the keyboard in the settings menu:

1. Open the Settings menu and select Controllers.

2. Click the Add drop-down menu, select your controller, then close the Settings menu. If your device isn’t listed, select Generic MIDI Keyboard.

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3

Amigo, hang in there and let's start with configuring the system for pipewire. Easiest and best to use the garuda tool for this -- garuda assistant. If you have trouble getting this to run from within your desktop environment, pull up a command terminal and type:

sudo -E garuda-assistant

and give your password. Click on the 'system components' tab. In the upper left area labeled 'audio', uncheck everything except: 1. 'Pipewire Support' 2. 'user in realtime group'. Then go down almost to the bottom left and uncheck 'Pulseaudio-bluetooth...'. Click Apply at the bottom right.

Close garuda-assistant. logout and reboot the computer. Login and open the volume control in your desktop environment. I apologize for making you do this -- I have to do it everytime I boot or reboot before I fire up Bitwig Studio because the sound driver for my device does not properly initialize the audio interfaces and so I get no sound unless I do this. Lower the volume to like 70%. Click the mute icon. Then unclick the mute icon and bring the volume all the way up to 100%. Close the volume control.

Disconnect your MIDI keyboard then open Bitwig Studio. Go to settings, click on audio. At the top, for 'Driver model' select 'Pipewire'. Then immediately below it, to the right of the panel, click 'NEW'. Make no changes, except to Block size, dragging the blue line indicator to the extreme right. Below it, you should see '2048 samples ...'
This setting is for testing purposes. When we get audio working, then I will show you how to tune this setting to balance latency versus buffer overruns that cause audio dropouts.

Verify that you see something that looks reasonable under 'Output Busses' at the bottom of the panel.

Close settings and create a new project. Click '+' to add a new track, and in the panel that appears, at the top right of the panel click on 'samples' and pick a sample to add as a track. Then click the play button. Hopefully you get sound.

If so, open up settings, click on 'controllers' , and delete the controller for your MIDI keyboard. Under 'controllers' you should now only see 'add controller' . Avoid clicking on that yet instead now plug in your MIDI keyboard. Click on 'Add controller' and select your keyboard. Then on the right side of the keyboard panel you will see a symbol that looks like a circle with 5 dots at the top which represents the historic MIDI plug. Click the very top option menu and make sure you select '.... DAW OUT' . Below it, select '...MIDI OUT' Then immediately below this, on the third option select '...DAW IN', and finally 'MIDI IN'. Close settings.

Add new track, click on the top right 'Presets', pick an instrument and add it to your project. Now play the keyboard. Do you hear anything at all. Are there still audio dropouts.

Email me at xorxecor@gmail.com. Visit my soundcloud if you like: Stream d.zuM.B. music | Listen to songs, albums, playlists for free on SoundCloud

F.

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