linuxsampler(1)

📦 version 2.5.0, in arch rolling

💅 linuxsampler(1) — the manual, but make it make sense ✨

okay so bestie, this is the manual page for linuxsampler, a modular, streaming capable sampler. It's giving backend server energy, and I'm literally obsessed. Strap in, we're going through every single option together, no skips, periodt. 🎀

💖 NAME

linuxsampler — a modular, streaming capable sampler. yes bestie, the name is the whole vibe. 🔥

✨ SYNOPSIS

linuxsampler [OPTIONS]

that's it. that's the whole synopsis. iconic. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION

okay so LinuxSampler is a modular, streaming capable sampler. currently it supports the sampler formats Gigasampler/GigaStudio (.gig), SoundFont v2 (.sf2) and SFZ v2 (.sfz). no cap, it's fluent in all your fave sound files. 🦋

the sampler is designed as a backend, like a server-style console application. so you're gonna need a frontend application like QSampler or JSampler/Fantasia, which give you a graphical user interface (GUI) to control the sampler and manage your sampler sessions conveniently. honestly, so convenient. 😭

if you prefer, you can also control the sampler from the command line instead — for example by using the lscp(1) shell application shipped with LinuxSampler, which provides LSCP aware color highlighting, auto completion and more. yes the command line is also serving. since the LSCP network interface is based on a human readable text protocol, you can also send LSCP commands by any other means to the sampler, e.g. by using telnet(1) or netcat(1). you can find examples and detailed informations about LinuxSampler's network protocol (LSCP) on http://linuxsampler.org/documentation.html#lscp_spec. go read it bestie, it's giving documentation. 📚

various audio and MIDI driver systems are supported, like ALSA (audio & MIDI), JACK (audio & MIDI), ASIO, CoreAudio, CoreMIDI, Arts, MidiShare and MME. so many options, i know. LinuxSampler can also be run as virtual instrument plugin. the following instrument plugin formats are currently supported: AudioUnit (AU), DSSI, LV2 and VST. you can also load effect plugins into the sampler — currently only the LADSPA plugin format is supported for sampler internal effects. slay. 💜

if you are using sounds in the Gigasampler/GigaStudio format, then you may also want to install the graphical instrument editor application called gigedit, which can directly be launched by LinuxSampler, allowing to edit instruments in real-time (changes immediately being audible, without needing to reload the sound files in the sampler). real-time editing? we love to see it. 🎀

✨ OPTIONS ✨

okay here we go, all the flags, every single one, no skipping. 💅

  • --exec-after-init — executes the provided shell command(s) after initialization of application completed. you may use this to automatically restore a previous sampler session on startup, i.e. by sending a previously stored LSCP file via netcat(1) to the sampler. lowkey genius for auto-restore vibes. 🔥
  • --help — print command line help and exit. the classic. we all know her. 💁‍♀️
  • --version — print version information and exit. tell me who you are bestie. 🦋
  • --profile — okay so this option is currently not supported anymore, since the respective profiling code is currently broken. but for the historical record, the original behavior was: output benchmark messages on the console. this reflects the current efficiency as abstract BogoVoice count which is something like a theoretical limit of the amount of voices which can be rendered in the given scenario. it does not include all aspects of the sampler, that's why this value is usually higher than what you really can achieve on your box. also note that this value is as well dependant on what instrument patch you are using and what you are playing. for a compact synthesis core benchmark, independent from drivers and instrument files, you might want to use the one coming with the sampler's source files instead (directory benchmarks of the source files). sad it's broken, but the lore remains. 💀
  • --no-tune — disable assembly optimizations. usually the sampler will detect CPU specific features like MMX and SSE at runtime and use an appropriate assembly optimized code in that case. with that switch you can disable this feature and force the sampler to skip the assembly optimizations at runtime. for when you want it raw. 🙈
  • --statistics — output voice and disk stream count periodically on the console. numbers go brrr on your terminal. 🍓
  • --lscp-addr IPADDRESS — defines IP address on which the LSCP server should listen to (default: any). you decide where she listens. 🌸
  • --lscp-port NUMBER — defines TCP port on which the LSCP server should listen to (default: 8888). the sacred number, but you can change it if you must. 👑
  • --create-instruments-db [FILE] — creates a database file with the given filename which can be used by the sampler's instruments database system to maintain the user's collection of instrument libraries. when this argument is given, the sampler will just create the instruments DB file and exit. if the optional file argument is omitted, then a default location for the instrument DB file is used instead. make the database, then dip. 💨
  • --instruments-db-location FILE — overrides the location of the database file, which the sampler shall use for its instruments database system (default: /var/lib/linuxsampler/instruments.db). the path, the myth, the legend. 🔥

🌈 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

the vibes your shell can set before launching. 💖

  • LINUXSAMPLER_PLUGIN_DIR — allows to override the directory where LinuxSampler shall look for instrument editor plugins. tell her where to find her friends. 🫶
  • LADSPA_PATH — allows to override the directory where LinuxSampler shall look for LADSPA effect plugins. multiple paths may be given, separated by colon (":") character on POSIX systems (i.e. Linux and Mac), or separated by semi-colon (";") character on Windows systems. know your separators bestie. ⭐

👀 SEE ALSO

like i said, the friends and neighbors:

go say hi to them too. 💅

🙈 BUGS

report bugs to http://bugs.linuxsampler.org. don't suffer in silence, tell the devs. 😭

👑 Author

Written by Christian Schoenebeck <cuse@users.sf.net>. a whole legend. 💜

okay that's the whole page bestie, you ate that reading. this was linuxsampler version 2.5.0 from 13 Jun 2017, and honestly, it still serves. go make some music, periodt. 🎀✨🔥

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