Is it possible to mix multiple songs with LMMS?

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Hello, i have no clue of how music is made. However, i wanna try myself mixing my favorite songs together with sound effects, samples, smooth transitions. Is it possible to do with LMMS? Or should i look for a different piece of software? Thanks.
gepron1x wrote:
Sun Apr 17, 2022 4:41 pm
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i have no clue of how music is made.
Perhaps my LMMS rookie-guide can interest you? Link in signature

However, i wanna try myself mixing my favorite songs together with sound effects, samples, smooth transitions. Is it possible to do with LMMS? Or should i look for a different piece of software? Thanks.
Yes that is possible.
First you need to record your favourite music in a loss-less formate, for the best quality, so not mp3!
Use either wave or ogg-forbis.
Then you load that soundfile into LMMS as a Sample-track
You can watch this video where Sample-tracks are used:

Then you add anything you like inside song-editor, and both your sample-track and everything you have added will play together.
Thanks for pointing me to the right direction. i'll check both guides.
Soo, i put all of my songs on a single sample track line?
Each track in a separate track, because you want to mix them.
LMMS' sample handling isn't that powerful. While the DAW itself is great, we don't have many specialized sample track tools. Everything will have to be done manually, and in some cases may not be possible.
Monospace wrote:
Mon Apr 18, 2022 3:44 am
LMMS sample handling isn't that powerful. While the DAW itself is great, we don't have many specialized sample track tools. Everything will have to be done manually, and in some cases may not be possible.
Tell me one thing you can't do with LMMS, (really, tell me) and I will try to make it happen. (and release it as a tutorial if you want)

I would say the same some years ago, but if you understand LMMS you will see that is not true.
The first instrument Plugin AudioFileProcessor is a sample manager in its purest form.
With that, you can Cut a sample, set a start and finish, reverse, loop a section, change the pitch by using different root notes, add effects, EQ, use the audio to change another track, etc... a lot can be done just with this plugin.

But if you prefer to use audio tracks, you can also duplicate the sample, cut different sections, clone the track and apply different effects on each one, and everything else that the plugin does, with the exception, that the effects will apply to the whole track, and not at the sample level.

LMMS can't record samples(for now), but it's very good to handle samples, you just have to know exactly what you want to do.
I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm saying doing is convoluted. Anyone can recreate any sound with a notepad app and a good idea of the file structure of WAVs. My analogy is overexaggerated, but that's what working with the sample editor feels like.
I'm not denying anything is possible. LMMS is designed in a way unlike a lot of other "simple" and "powerful" DAWs, where, if something's not possible directly, the not-so-straightforward way to do it is accessible. And this, is a very high praise.
AFP is built primarily for sample-based instruments, and while it can be used as a long sample manager, I certainly wouldn't prefer it to the sample track, which actually shows the waveform and is built, well, for sample tracks rather than sampled instruments.
But try to split samples directly without LMMS 1.3 alpha on anywhere that isn't a quantization marker. Try to change its bpm. Try to split it into three different parts. (Yes, this can be done, respectively, by changing tempo till something lands right, by adding a certain VST effect, by doing, as you said, "duplicate the sample, cut different sections, clone the track and apply different effects on each one, and everything else that the plugin does, with the exception, that the effects will apply to the whole track, and not at the sample level.")
Most other daws can do "duplicate the sample, cut different sections, clone the track and apply different effects on each one, and everything else that the plugin does, with the exception, that the effects will apply to the whole track, and not at the sample level." with a simple right click on the sample track, and hitting "split".
It's not LMMS that is good at handling samples. What LMMS is, is giving you the user the option to do something, no matter how convoluted the way, and it's the user who is "good at handling samples" if they have the patience.

I am not trying to pick an argument of some sort, or insult LMMS' sample handling capabilities. Even I am sure, that I can do a lot of things with LMMS, handle split by combining delay effects, etc etc. Neither am I saying LMMS' sample handling capabilities are bad.
In fact, imo, I believe that despite the lack of options, LMMS is built in such a way that I have a lot of power over the sample anyways and so a lot of this is still possible. Even having used LMMS for only about two years, and actually getting familiar with its features for one year, I know anything and everything is possible. I don't doubt you can do anything with LMMS; hey, even I'll testify.

I am simply saying, that, having used other software like Reaper and Audacity, it takes an unnecessary amount of complexity to do some things where other DAWs offer a better option. For example, where in LMMS you might want to switch to LMMS 1.3 alpha, mess around with BPM till you chop your audio just right, use the cut tool, or just chop the files beforehand into multiple pieces and re-import and align, all of this can be done with a simple Right click and "Split at cursor" in most other DAWs. Where a lot of other DAWs have an Invert Phase button (it may seem like this button is present for all tracks, but don't be fooled, it only changes audio and not actual data of synth), LMMS you need to import a stereo matrix and pull the knobs backwards.
Where most other DAWs have abilities like changing tempo of audio without changing pitch, or vice-versa, LMMS cannot do this yet.
Everything you want to do, has to be done through OTHER tools rather than straightforward buttons for a single simple purpose.
While the DAW itself, like I said,
is great, we don't have many [/i]specialized[/i] sample (track) tools.
Everything, I reiterate,
will have to be done manually, and in some cases may not be possible.
You've said,
LMMS can't record samples(for now), but it's very good to handle samples, you just have to know exactly what you want to do.
For other DAWs, you don't need to know exactly what to do, just have a vague idea of what some terms mean. You don't need to spend months in that DAW to figure out that you can split audio by playing with delay, that you can invert phase through a tool called Stereo Matrix that exists under that scary FX tab and drag the knob back when it isn't entirely clear and only implied what the reverse direction does. Because there is a button on right click that says "split," because there is a button that says "invert phase," etc.
In contrast to other DAWS, LMMS is amazing with the fact you don't need that much documentation reference or help, when using it. It is better than most other DAWs I've seen. But sample track... you don't find the same kind of intuitive simplicity. You need to spend thirty seconds on things it takes a moment. It's difficult to keep track of what is going on everywhere because everything is hidden beneath a bunch of automation that doesn't quite describe what it does, and pitch shifting works in a "strange" fast way. The only pro of using LMMS for audio editing, is that it is non-destructive.
But for all practical needs and purposes, if you are trying to mix songs together, LMMS doesn't have many sample track tools and everything will need to be done manually if it's even possible. You would be better off using Reaper (although, if you want to use it for anything other than "evaluation/trial" purposes you need to purchase it), or Audacity (If you're happy with destructive audio editing). Or pre-split your sample tracks and do whatever non-effect changes elsewhere, and import into LMMS for effect applying (I still am very partial to LMMS, especially for effects. When I had to complete an audio editing project, I used Audacity for splitting before editing with LMMS.)
Oof... this turned into a rant. I would like to apologize. I don't want to argue. This is what it appears to be to me. When people say LMMS isn't great with samples, they have reason. LMMS is great in general and this greatness extends itself to allow me to work with samples.
Monospace wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:44 am
Oof... this turned into a rant. I would like to apologize. I don't want to argue. This is what it appears to be to me. When people say LMMS isn't great with samples, they have reason. LMMS is great in general and this greatness extends itself to allow me to work with samples.
I totally understand you.
Yes, I would also enjoy having a lot of Ableton-like tools in LMMS, but if you want my honest opinion. I don't feel limited anymore because of that.
Yes, there is a long way to make it more user-friendly Maybe someday there will be shortcuts to allow users to get default FX racks, known effects stacks, beat generators, anything you could ever think of, but at the end of the day, LMMS is completely free, and you should always take advantage of what your tool allows you to create.

Most of my samples are done with Audacity.
Right now I also own a professional hardware sampler which I love to use for recording and editing, but like any other tool, I am taking a LOT of time just to learn it. and by a LOT, I mean, A LOT.

My advice for you, if you enjoy making music (not just with LMMS), is to forget any frustrations about how hard it is to make any particular effect. Look up how to create some FX, create your own processes, and enjoy the happy accidents.