Processing loops and more with Giada
Mean Music Machine

Giada is a small piece of musical software that can be used in many ways. Mainly designed for working with loops, Giada also can be used as a drum machine or be flexibly integrated into your workflow, thanks to VST and MIDI support.
Giada adheres to the recipe of a simple interface and minimal system load with maximum benefits. This concept is apparent when you start the program for the first time. What you see is basically a gray box with a few controls – an interface that looks quite different from many other music programs. Once you become more comfortable with Giada, however, you will learn to appreciate this functionality.
Installation
Giada [1] does not just provide software for Linux users; it also offers finished packages to Windows and Mac users. Under Linux, you'll find ready-made packages for the DEB system, including Ubuntu and others, in both 32- and 64-bit variants. The developers refer to the 64-bit variant as experimental; unfortunately, it does tend to freeze and crash. Other Linux distributions must make do with an installation from the source code, which is also provided. I even checked the usual RPM resources, where I mainly found older versions of Giada whose use I cannot recommend.
First Sounds
After you launch Giada, you will see the gray box mentioned above along with other boxes and symbols. To load the first sound, press Add new channel and then click Sample channel; otherwise, you create a MIDI channel for corresponding signals. A rudimentary file dialog appears and you can open the desired audio file. You will want to use an uncompressed format such as .wav
or .aiff
; .mp3
files do not work. Before you start to import the next sounds/loops, you can test the new sound and the connection to the sound system. To do this, play the sound and click on the leftmost square next to the sound – or channel, to use Giada-speak.
The First Beat
Above the channels is a bar with boxes, four by default, which represent individual beats in each measure. Above that is the control panel with the Play/Pause button and the Reverse button, which resets the playback position to the first beat. The circle is for recording events, and the dot is for audio recording (Figure 1). If you enable event recording and start playing, you can use the first button next to a channel to assign the start time for a loop to the individual beats. In this way, you can create an initial rough sequence.

Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
News
-
Another New Linux Laptop has Arrived
Slimbook has released a monster of a Linux gaming laptop.
-
Mozilla VPN Now Available for Linux
The promised subscription-based VPN service from Mozilla is now available for the Linux platform.
-
Wayland and New App Menu Coming to KDE
The 2021 roadmap for the KDE desktop environment includes some exciting features and improvements.
-
Deepin 20.1 has Arrived
Debian-based Deepin 20.1 has been released with some interesting new features.
-
CloudLinux Commits Over 1 Million Dollars to CentOS Replacement
An open source, drop-in replacement for CentOS is on its way.
-
Linux Mint 20.1 Beta has Been Released
The first beta of Linux Mint, Ulyssa, is now available for downloading.
-
Manjaro Linux 20.2 has Been Unleashed
The latest iteration of Manjaro Linux has been released with a few interesting new features.
-
Patreon Project Looks to Bring Linux to Apple Silicon
Developer Hector Martin has created a patreon page to fund his work on developing a port of Linux for Apple Silicon Macs.
-
A New Chrome OS-Like Ubuntu Remix is Now Available
Ubuntu Web looks to be your Chrome OS alternative.
-
System76 Refreshes the Galago Pro Laptop
Linux hardware maker has revamped one of their most popular laptops.