Previously Openbox config now migrated to XFCE desktop environment for wider audience*, more comfortable work flow** and easer development. RecBox goal is not only to add easier system configuration for audio recording, mixing and mastering but merging both worlds: “Studio” distribution and operating system for daily use unleashing full potential of Linux based operating system for audio engineering.
Wider audience
It’s not about better popularity for the project, it’s for wider popularity of Linux in the musicians world.
Comfortable work flow
While I was playing with the window manager I’ve noticed one thing. Combination of window manager and some parts of desktop environment have own cons, sure it can be trimmed in resources much more than in full desktop environment if you’re motivated enough, but you lose some smoothness of GUI applications, and you need to configure things in more archaic way. It’s not a biggie for CLI software or even at all, but not everyone likes “power user” kind stuff. So there is a compromise of a few megabytes more.
Digression
For big projects, and I mean big projects you’ll need more horsepower anyway, and a bare-boned window manager will not help you in this case. You can only move border a bit further which can be done with RecBox tools.
Where is the trick?
With Work Flow you have the ability to set separate system configurations for Daily and Studio work, and switch between them by one click. Needed services, autostart and audio configuration can be set in Settings via GUI. Just choose which one you’ll need.
Note that your session will be as heavy as you set it. XFCE session is set to give optimal experience, but if you add more fireworks, docks, conky etc RecBox tools will not make CPU and RAM usage magically disappear.
Philosophical aspect
RecBox is made not to be the best ever made “Studio” like OS. One of the main ideas is to give opportunity for users with older hardware to create more advanced projects and help musicians to save money for better hardware for recording and/or be own music producers. Even if you prefer to leave album production for professionals there are many things you need to learn if you want to save stress for your bandmates and yourself and made the whole process faster and comfortable for everyone. There is no other way than take business in own hands and learn how things works. Spoiler: “10 things you need to know” videos on YT doesn’t help you much.
From last month things changed a bit, mostly visually but there are some small bug fixes and improvements as well. First what you’ll notice is consistent theming and new right click menu made with jgmenu (screenshots in main post are up to date | If somehow links are reverted to old ones, fresh ones you can find here). Obmenu is still available if you don’t like new one. Description of how to change it back is in How Recbox works which is in updating process. I thought I’ll run away from writing for a good time but I didn’t run far.
Because of swapping obmenu to custom jgmenu, part of options was moved to Side Menu and it works same as in Main and Side Menus. Which is very similar to how menu applets work in GNOME. Description how to replace font icons with regular icons can be found in How RecBox worls.
Meanwhile, I’ve updated a bit Bass, Guitar and AVL Drums tutorials plus uploaded bass one on LBRY (preview is only available from browser version).
September was pretty good even if I didn’t have much time to work on RecBox. Major improvement is manipulating options in rc.xml file. Before it was pretty easy to break config file when removing or adding new stuff but I figured out how to script it in better way. It’s not perfect yet but I’ll improve it soon (description can be found in How Recbox works > Config Files).
Other stuff it’s rather cosmetic and for the eye, but they change overall experience. At least for me. I guess
queue of lines in xc.xml file now is not important. Scripts which changes options in config file was improved
Calendar, RecBox Documentation and RecBox Center now use Flat Remix icons in task bar instead of generic ones
volume and brightness widget icon now don’t display in taskbar
user now can add name of screenshot (scrot) thanks to Zenity widget
RecBox Colors was improved (in general) and now have support for changing right-click menu color scheme. Spoiler: I’m working on global themes (with dark mode support). Matcha Aliz, Azul and Sea.
I’ve added links to the most important playlists from Produce Like A Pro. Channel name is a bit silly imo but it’s a true gold mine, whatever music genre you prefer.
How RecBox works is up to date, but still requires some work because RB changed a lot from the last time I updated PDF.
Hi folks!
This month I have some good news and some bad news and maybe I’ll start from bad one. Openbox version development is now suspended. Good news is I will improve scripts from time to time, so you don’t need to migrate anywhere, I will not add new things only, which is not a big issue because the environment is pretty complete. Another thing is new versions of RecBox will be made on XFCE, you can decide if it is bad or good news. However, first tests tells that CPU and RAM usage will be very similar to Openbox and whole setup will be much simpler and less confusing. The First version based on XFCE will arrive in 2021 but I can’t tell which month exactly. I need to rewrite everything for a new setup, so it will take a while but it will be not that painful all in all because a big part of stuff will be managed differently with DE help.
New stuff from November:
global themes
Matcha Sea
Matcha Aliz
Matcha Azul
fix Network Menu display when Wi-Fi is disabled and no VPN configuration
add restart dunst to Settings Menu
Rofi screen-shot menu improved and moved to rb-screenshot.sh
add Edit Menu to Tools menu. Sub menu contains items to edit:
Carla menu
Info menu
Instrument FX
Jack Connections
Mixer
Notes
Shortcuts
Software
Tools
Window
Announcements items (stable, testing unstable) moved to sub menu Announcements in Software menu
change menu font improvement and command change
lid control script improvement, instead of typing password in terminal, policy authentication window will pop-up
fix logout in side menu
-panel menus, side menu and main menu now will follow button position without manual configuration (position_mode = ipc) and now there is only one config file for all panel menus
fix Backup and Update
other changes
All in all regular XFCE users will benefited from environment swap, because things like Dark Mode or Global Themes can be easily installed on non RexBox XFCE setups. 2021 looks to be exciting!
After a month of playing with XFCE I need to say that it’s better than I thought will be. First days I was a bit like a child in a haze, but now I feel pretty comfortable using DE tools and scripting. While working on Openbox version I learned a bit, so XFCE will be much “smarter”. For example system configuration will be fully automated and don’t require user intervention. User only need to mark options which want to use.
From visual aspect all stuff will be stored into Side Menu and Whisker Menu which take the role of Rofi menu. Spoiler alert, font icons are changing while enabling night light and dark mode, plus color scheme of side menu is changing automatically without using separate config files and manual configuration. Magic
At the moment desktop looks like this (Dark Mode On)
Hi folks!
We reached to February, so it’s time for monthly spam
Pretty big chunk of January I spent on working at Work Flow script and its starting to look pretty good. List of items from autostart is generating on the fly (Session and Startup), so it will contain apps installed by user, and it doesn’t matter it is full or minimal installation. Probably (I didn’t test it yet) will be possible to use Work Flow at least on MATE and probably on GNOME. I’ve read somewhere that autostart works same on them, so there is chance that WF will be pretty versatile.
At least for now list of services is fixed and contain those which disabling don’t result with black screen. Listing all will be too confusing for new users I think, even for me. So at least at the moment we’ll go with curated list. If there will be any suggestions later, it will be no problem for me to add new one I’ve almost forgotten. Except setting up CPU scalling there will be governor choice, so everything will be in one place
Audio configuration don’t exist, but I have nifty plan for it, and done some tests
From the other cool stuff, I’ve finished shortcuts list which is dynamically generated.
Desktop tweaking are on finish, and not much stuff left to do, so I’m near to final shape.
Aw, and I’m working on tutorial for voice recording, mixing and mastering. I’m in half of work and maybe will be finished to the next monthly spam.
Muito feliz com a iniciativa. Não sou programador, mas há aproximadamente 1 ano tenho trabalhado com o Manjaro como estação de mixagem e apresentações ao vivo. Por isso, gostaria de contribuir com o pouco que venho aprendendo. Testei diversas distros e, não sei por qual motivo, o Manjaro foi o que melhor me atendeu. Meu notebook não é top, mas também não é ruim, é um Asus i5 de 3ª geração com 6gb de RAM, e uso uma Behringher UMC404HD. Com o CARLA, consigo colocar vários instrumentos para tocar ao vivo com banda (guitarra, baixo e violão com Tonelib-gfx / Bateria eletrônica - Shelter STD36 - através de soundfonts pelo próprio CARLA / Teclado - Roland GO PIANO - soundfonts também pelo CARLA) com poucos xruns, nunca houve grandes problemas nas apresentações. No entanto, vejo um potencial grande no seu trabalho. Tenho me baseado nas dicas do UNFA (youtube) em um vídeo que ensina como configurar o Manjaro como estação de audio. Se quiser pode me contactar, se eu puder ajudar ficarei muito grato.
Hi @silvabaral
I didn’t see unfa’s setup, but it should be very similar or the same except pipewire (not sure if he still uses it as an audio server). All hail Arch Wiki Anyway I’m happy you like my Frankenstein and will to help. I don’t have concrete questions now, but I’ll text you today’s evening or tomorrow
This month I don’t have much to share due to lack of time, but… there is a small progress, like I’ve discovered that desktop environment configuration didn’t work however it has added value, because I’ve changed a bit of behavior of desktop environment and shortcuts. For now, I only fixed the panel (I hope. I didn’t test it yet but this time I make changes in fresh XFCE installation under virtualbox.), but changes arrive soon.
In February, I mostly played with smaller things like automation of config file creation for tools, Side Menu and Panel content. In Openbox version the panel had plenty of menus, but they were pretty useless at least for me, so this time I’ve decided to make everything more compact. For most used programs there will be one menu near Side Menu which probably will be filled with Cadence and other KXStudio Applications and other software will be in Whisker menu under custom categories.
At that point workflow tool is under stagnation, I need to re-think few things and implement automatic config file creation for services and system audio tweaks. I’m not sure yet, but probably I separate workflow script to a few smaller ones.
It looks like that’s all this month, have a good day! Regards.
March wasn’t bad, but could be better. I had almost two weeks off because of health issues with maxillary sinus, but the rest of the month was pretty good.
Despite all bumps we are closer than farther. Yay!
There is not much progress as new lines of code this time, but… I have cool news instead. First, I finally managed workflow tool structure, from config files to scripts and GUI. Second, translation will be available (at the moment everything is in English)! Side Menu will be the tricky one, but GUI (Zenity) and terminal outputs for tools can be translated pretty easily
( If workflow GUI looks confusing, no worries I’ll write the guide as well )
May was pretty good, I’ve start with creating icons for tools and rest of the month I was working on Workflow Settings UIs. Mostly rewriting everything, but I think I’m on a good track. Finally. Every menu with checkbox will now use loops, which will make code shorter and faster than abusing if statements all along Support for translations is added, but I need to look how it works in Manjaro Architect, because I made it in guerrilla style. However, it’s working
I thought it will be easy-peasy, but it’s much complexed than I thought at beginning. Maybe if I actually know what I’m doing instead of constantly improvising and learning on the fly, whole thing will be already finished
Work on Workflow tool, is slowly coming to the end. Currently, I’ve started rewriting system tweaks configuration, and finished Settings UI. Desktop and services configuration are done as well. In the meantime, I’m adding translation support to the rest of the tools, plus some improvements when I learn something new. Aww, I’ve made an Icon for Daily Mode, nothing special but at least icon’s set is ready
Cross your fingers, so I don’t need to leave my basement and finish the rest of the stuff quickly
As I thought, the whole month I spent on writing system tweaks configuration and guess what, didn’t finished it yet. I guess someone didn’t keep their fingers crossed
Meanwhile, fixed some errors and improve something, but don’t remember what exactly. Probably Check for Updates script. I fell in limbo or something, everything looks the same
For everyone waiting for Work Flow, bored with waiting. Heads up, after I put everything together, I’ll push it to a separate repository, so you don’t need to wait for RecBox
Hello folks, I had nothing to share last month, so I decided to don’t post anything like “It’s almost ready, blah blah blah”. At that moment I finished testing Workflow under VM, and I have some documentation draft. Not gonna lie, it was an endurance test, but I happily survived.
From cool stuff I’ve managed, autostart item list is updating while opening menu, and it’s a full list same you can find in Session and Startup. Previously, it was only created from .config/autostart/ directory.
I’ll give it a try for a few days to see how it’s working on real hardware because in VM I couldn’t check if setting up Bluetooth service and fetching CPU scaling status is working properly. Default settings are pretty much random for now, but setting it up will be pretty much no hassle. More time I rather spend on docs. GUI is created from Zenity widgets, so it not necessarily will be obvious to everyone what is going on.
Separate repo is already created in RecBox group, but just for sure will be better to wait until I create separate post for Workflow in Contributions/Software and link it here.
Remember to read README and Documentation first, before installation, to avoid potential issues.
As I mentioned in README, Plasma and GNOME requires some testing from users which knows those DE’s better.
in Plasma, startup menu responds ok, but I’m not sure if it doesn’t mess something in Systemd services submenu etc.
I mean, Workflow will change system setup, but Plasma Settings manager (don’t remember how it’s called exactly) will show something different.
in GNOME everything looks fine, but Startup menu don’t respond to Desktop setup in Workflow Settings. When you disable app from autostart, GNOME will show it anyway in the startup menu. I don’t know it is because VM, or it requires special treating. However, this app will not start after login.
I was thinking about one more item in settings where you can mark do you want to set and use all three (Desktop, SystemD services and System Tweaks) options or only two. And if there will be issues with other DE’s just block configuration and system setup to the point when it will be working fine.
Plus, it can be useful for those who only want to tweak the system and don’t want to mess with autostart.
I only tested XFCE, MATE, Plasma and GNOME. Don’t know how it’s working in other DE’s. Budgie probably have the same issues with Startup menu as GNOME. In MATE everything works fine.
If you like to help with translation to other languages, in Documentation you’will find description how you can do it
I’ll write about overall project progress and my romance with GTK and C in a new post after new year.
After a long and unfair battle with GTK and C in December, I’m finally on track. I thought it will be easier because I have some experience with shell scripting combined with Zenity widgets, but… it’s a different pair of shoes. Maybe it would be a smooth start if I’ll start from GTK3 with Glade help, but I started from GTK4, however it wasn’t waste of time because I learned something overall. For example, how to use documentation
No worries, I don’t switch to GTK completely and start to rewriting everything to GTK3 leaving tools in unfinished state.
After last year of work on project, I’ve got into conclusion that on present state, working on “Studio” spin doesn’t have much sense when I’m working on program which tweaks system back and forth and the goal is to don’t restrict to any desktop environments. So the idea of Manjaro spin is dropped, and I’ll focus only on tools. Btw, some time ago @djamayaofficial created this topic, and I like the idea of having GUI for switching pipewire settings on the fly, so it’s added to my TODO. Which means after I rearrange GitLab repository, I’ll migrate from this topic to RecBox ToolKit (or something like that) in Software category which will be more appropriate.
Except programming stuff, I’ve spent some time with DrumGizmo, and oh boy, it’s amazing. If you’re planing recording drums in the future, this is very close to mixing a real drum kit. I’m planing to write a guide for it soon, and one for creating keyboards for ultra beginners. I’ve played a bit on piano in the past, so it will be more like creating background for guitars than the masterpiece you can hear for example in Nightwish.
Looks like it’s everything for now. I link everything when I move all tools to its own repositories and create new topic.
Anyway I’m happy you like my Frankenstein and will to help. I don’t have concrete questions now, but I’ll text you today’s evening or tomorrow 
however it has added value, because I’ve changed a bit of behavior of desktop environment and shortcuts. For now, I only fixed the panel (I hope. I didn’t test it yet but this time I make changes in fresh XFCE installation under virtualbox.), but changes arrive soon.
