======Qtractor======

[[http://qtractor.sourceforge.net|Qtractor]] is a professional-grade, meat-and-potatoes digital audio workstation: it features all the //must-have// features that you would expect from a pro DAW, excellent MIDI sequencing framework, and is actively developed in a sensible and stable fashion. It is written by the developer of [[synths#fluidsynth|Qsynth]], [[samplv1|Samplv1]], [[synths#synthv1|Synthv1]], and the JACK front-end that is so ubiquitous that it //is// JACK to many users: [[qjackctl|QJackCtl]].


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===== Strengths [Weaknesses] =====
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**Familiar**

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If you are a flexible and proficient DAW user, Qtractor will be familiar enough to you to pick up in a week or two. After you customise the keyboard shortcuts and make a few UI tweaks, you're a pro in under a month.
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**Powerful**

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Heaps of features, with more appearing each version. Thanks to the communication that the developer has with his user base, the new features are useful and sensible, not just programmer-centric experiments.
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**MIDI**

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Qtractor can handle both audio and MIDI, but its MIDI features are noticeably strong.
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===== Weaknesses [Strengths] =====
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**Complex**

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If you are new to professional DAWs, Qtractor may at first seem complex.
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**MIDI**

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If you are an //audio// engineer and have no interest in MIDI sequencing, Qtractor may be too MIDI-centric for you.
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**JACK**

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Qtractor is a JACK-dependent application, meaning that it can render complex audio routing that could confuse new users.
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===== Install =====

The version of Qtractor made available by SlackBuild.org and other sites can lag behind the latest release. If you're just testing Qtractor, that's fine, but if you use Qtractor on a daily basis then it's worth getting the latest release for ony bug fixes or new features. 

Qtractor can be installed from [[http://slackbuilds.org]].

The latest release can be obtained from [[http://qtractor.sourceforge.net|Qtractor]]; [[slackbuilds#versionmod|update the VERSION string]] in the SlackBuild and install.

[{{ qtractor1.jpg?666 | Qtractor has great support for both MIDI and audio. }}]

/*********
port 
http://straightedgelinux.com/blog/howto/qtractor/index.html
and
http://straightedgelinux.com/blog/howto/qtractor/howto_qmidi.html
here as a quickstart.
**********/

===== Documentation =====

The user manual for Qtractor was written by the same author(s) who write Slackermedia. Instead of re-printing the manual here, grab the manual directly from [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/qtractor/files/qtractor/docs/]].

Also available by the same author is a quick start guide written for [[http://www.linuxidentity.com/us/down/articles/Fedora_15_making_music_US.pdf|Linux Identity Magazine]] (the article was written for Fedora Linux, but using Qtractor is the same).


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**See Also** \\
[[ardour|Ardour]] \\
[[muse|MusE]] \\
[[rosegarden|Rosegarden]] \\
[[seq24|Seq24]] \\
[[non|Non]]
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<wrap fa>[[qjackctl|R]]</wrap> <wrap fa>[[start|S]]</wrap> <wrap fa>[[render|Q]]</wrap>
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