How to add audio effects to your voice in Linux with PipeWire and Carla [SICK TUTORIAL]

[@unfa00]

I'm already back to full health, this was recorded a couple weeks before publishing :) Thank you for your care!

[@gmt-yt]

That was sick indeed! You have an awesome sounding sick voice especially with that proximity effect. But tbh I suspect it's not great for your vocal health to make videos while sick and don't really recommend it.

[@hammerheadcorvette4]

Can you cover Helvum soon? Thanks for your work

[@unfa00]

@@hammerheadcorvette4 I've tried it very briefly but didn't understand what it was supposed to do, so I guess I'll need to revisit it sometime. I have also heard it's not as feature-complete as pipewire-media-session.

[@hammerheadcorvette4]

@@unfa00 and pipewire-media-sessions is replaced by wireplumber. . . I guess, Catia or Helvum it is for me then. Thanks for your hard work btw !

[@unfa00]

@@hammerheadcorvette4 Ah, I guess I've mixed up Helvum and Wireplumber :D I haven't gone into these 3rd party tools fro PipeWire yet.

[@unfa00]

I've just realized an error in editing. Oh well. I'll never eliminate those I guess.

[@geussepe]

Thank you so much for bringing all these videos about audio processing to us in GNU/Linux. I also hope that you're doing better. Keep up the good work!

[@xenoidaltu601]

Unfa sounds like those radio station hosts who try so hard to sound romantic! 😂

[@slendi9623]

Homies really like it in vc

[@alexvass]

Thanks

[@unfa00]

Thank you!

[@lynic-0091]

Oh man this tool is bloody awesome

[@SuedwestlichtMusic]

I had fun using the am pitchshifter in a conference call.

[@unfa00]

Awesome :D

[@ALPHONSO_NANOOK]

Can Carla be used as Pulseeffects to process all audio outputs through a Compressor and an EQ., I yust want to boost and eq all outputs going in the master output!??

[@willbe3043]

Be careful with that, I don't think you're supposed to talk so much while sick. That said, this is something I've wanted for a while and couldn't get a clear answer on, so thank you very much :)

[@unfa00]

No worries, I was sure to not overdrive myself :)

[@ВикторЛ-щ2т]

Great! How can I get high-quality voice anonymization on Carla?

[@braindeadbzh]

Cool stuff. I wonder if one could emulate a GoXLR with Carla and a midi controller.

[@dedr4m]

With midi control, this looks a little bit more flexible than my SoundBlaster Live 5.1 built-in DSP.... also wish Linux/distros had some UX for making/managing/etc the DSP of the card, would be a great combo of card's DSP and PipeWire to get quite some effects (8x ASIO ports are supported on the SoundBlaster EMU10K1 so I could have a MIC go through that, and have other sounds go through PipeWire, not played with the 10K2 Audigy I got yet)

[@yacoignorante]

Spectacular! Thank you very much.

[@HamnaHam]

Hey Unfa. Thanks for your excellent tutes. Just curious, have you moved from using Jack to Pipewire?Hope you're feeling better.

[@Zeioth]

What could be the reason if I only see Capture, Playback, and Carla on the Patchbay? For example, if I open OBS it's not displayed. SOLUTION: open any program that requires jack as, "pw-jack program_name", for example, "pw-jack qjackctl" or "pw-jack carla".

[@unfa00]

On Arch-based systems you can also install pipewire-jack-dropin which will make *all* JACK applications use PipeWire instead by default.

[@NicosLeben]

I don't know what my problem with Carla is. But at first I only see "Audio Input", "Audio Output", "Midi input" and "Midi Output". Nothing else. I have to switch to the menu "Canvas" and enable "Show external". Now I see all my real audio devices, the Midi bridge, Firefox, Bitwig Studio and also a node named "Carla". It seems that the single Carla-Node represents the internal canvas and I have to switch constantly between the internal and external canvas to connect things together which seems a bit tedious. Is there anything I make wrong here? Is there a setting inside of Carla which I have to change to make it look like your Carla setup? Btw I also don't have the button "Add JACK Application..." My Carla version is 2.4.1

[@brylie]

Under "Configure Carla", go to "Engine" and then change "Process mode" to "Continuous rack" and restart Carla.

[@NicosLeben]

@@brylie Thanks. I will give it a try if I am on my PC again.

[@stephanusbitter7528]

Hello. Much good and understandable explained. I've already watched some of your videos. With the connections, latencies, Focusrite, etc. T The question is, how do I get the devices in there? For example at Catia? How do I get the symbols for headphones, volume control, or the "Scarlet 2i2 Camera" in your video in there? In other videos, the VLC player or other players are symbolically displayed... Catia is empty for me... How does it get there the devices, programs in there? If I don't have them, I can't make connections They have the Calf Deesser in there...how does it all get in there? I haven't found a video of how to get all these devices in or out..greetings

[@abcdw]

I did pw-jack carla, but it doesn't show chromium or other sources and sinks except my mic and speakers. Do anyone know how to deal with it? Would appreaciate any links to documentation or tutorials.

[@unfa00]

You probably need to install pipewire-pulse and start it's service to have PipeWire replace PulseAudio in your system. Otherwise it's not gonna work.

[@dbmusicz]

Hey Andrew, have you managed to fix this? Same isse (I'm haunting you at this point :P)

[@abcdw]

@@dbmusicz No. It's not very urgent for me, so I didn't spent a lot of time on it, but there is a good chance that newer carla and pipewire versions will fix the issue. The packages in Guix repository are quite outdated. You can update them locally and test it, and if it helps send the patches (: I plan to do the same, but will be quite busy the next few weeks and probably won't have time to debug this problem.

[@dbmusicz]

@@abcdw My last comment got deleted. I submitted a patch for Carla 2.4.1 in Guix and it got applied yesterday/today. You can check it out.

[@abcdw]

@@dbmusicz Thank you very much for doing it. It works. I changed Engine > Audio driver to JACK and Process mode to multiple clients. Now I see chromium, mpv, all my mics and it seems working, didn't check any fancy plugins, but attaching/detaching channels works flawlessly.

[@hedgegod8644]

Where can i download a good plugin to change voice, change pitch for example? All plugin i have are made to edit music

[@unfa00]

Well, the plug-ins useful for music are often useful for voice as well. What plug-ins have you tried? One of my favourite pitchshifters are MaPitchshift. Autotalent has formant correction, so it can sound more natural on voices, but I usually utilize that to make things sound even weirder ;) BTW, you may want to join my community chat, there's lots of people who can help you when I'm not available :) chat.unfa.xyz

[@DanielClear2]

Hey Unfa! I would like to know how to eliminate white noise from my microphone input. It's a generic mobo Realtek chip. I use a modified Realtek driver to enable a hidden filter that works amazingly on Windows (plus some ReaPlugs via Equalizer APO), but don't have such option on Linux. It is currently completely holding me back on switching to Linux because using Discord with that white noise is basically a pain for the other end. I can switch to any distro with any audio configuration system as long as I eliminate this issue.

[@unfa00]

Hey! I've made a video about open-source noise removal plug-ins. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpauqnqldtKVfKc You could use Noise Repellent with Carla the same way I used it here. Not sure if it'd manage to get your audio to sound acceptable. I am sure it'd also be possible to set something like that up to be running by default. If you need help - join my community chat! chat.unfa.xyz

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

There ar many noise gate and filter plugins for Linux. Since you are obviously unfamiliar with the concept, you should do some more research on audio processing in general, as there's a lot you can do for sound quality alone, and should understand basic concepts, so you know what you are dealing with when problems arise.

[@guilhermehubner1991]

Since I migrated to pipewire I am not being able to see the inputs/outputs os my interface (scarlet 4i4) properly. Any advices on that? Also what do I need to install to see the pulseaudio sink stuff on pipewire? I cannot install pulseaudio-jack because it conflicts with pipewire

[@yannoslemanos]

Could you redirect the sound of the mic with the plug-in to a video game please ?

[@unfa00]

Sure! You could use Carla to manage the connections on both JACK/PulseAudio and PipeWire setups.

[@yannoslemanos]

@@unfa00 thank you!

[@andx4024]

i will not use jack alsa pipe. i stay on alsa

[@69500chris]

Hello and thank you for this video! I think it would be interesting to make a tutorial for adding effects to the voice with Ardour and Pipewire . A French viewer 😉

[@danielcooper5698]

Do you know how to use a voice disguising software to connect to OBS Studio, to then stream to youtube? (in linux)

[@unfa00]

If you mean: how to make your voice sound different, then yes. If you mean: how to make your voice sound like someone else, then no :)

[@danielcooper5698]

@@unfa00 Thank you!

[@reelsmad6247]

Can I use it for OBS?

[@unfa00]

I am using Carla to process audio before it is being sent to OBS. In OBS you can create a JACK audio source, and Carla can send audio to that. If you run OBS in a script, give it a few seconds and then start Carla loading a preset you can have that work automatically. This is how my video capture/streaming setup works.

[@buneco89]

Unfa could you help me? I'm starting Carla through 'pw-jack carla', all my audio devices appear, but when I add the plugin and connect it to some device, some time later the connection disappears, as if I had closed the program and opened again, breaking the call, would you know something to resolve this? since when I use it with pulseaudio it doesn't. Thank you very much in advance.

[@unfa00]

What Linux distribution are you using? On Arch-based ones like Manjaro or EndeavorOS there's a package called "pipewire-jack-dropin" which makes it so the system's libjack is instead pointing towards PipeWire's version making all JACK applications talk to PipeWire. Maybe that'd solve your problem?

[@buneco89]

@@unfa00 I'm using Manjaro, this package you said "pipewire-jack-dropi" I already installed, as I suggest the PipeWire Arch Wiki, but even so the problem remains.

[@unfa00]

@@buneco89 That is strange. Have you contacted the PipeWire and/or Carla developers? I wonder if locking down the PW-JACK buffer size would help.

[@brylie]

How did you get Carla (with PipeWire) to show the Chromium input? I've installed PipeWire and verified it is enabled. However, my browser does not appear in the Carla Patchbay.

[@unfa00]

You need to also install pipewire-pulse, pipewire-jack and pipewire-jack-dropin.

[@brylie]

@@unfa00 I tried installing pipewire-jack and pipewire-jack-dropin but got "unable to locate package" errors on Ubuntu 21.10.

[@unfa00]

@@brylie Hmm. I don't know what are the exact names for the packages on Ubuntu. What I listed will work for Arch Linux, Manjaro and the like. Let me check...

[@dsasda-cz5uq]

did you find how to solve it? i'm trying do it on Fedora 38@@brylie

[@germona]

Unfa, if i understand this correctly, could i plug my guitar into the MAudio soundcard, route it then to a plugin, then to the input of Ardour, and from Ardour to the speaker system without latency? Thanks for a reply. Jean

[@unfa00]

The latency highly depends on your system configuration. Wiz default pipe wire configuration you may have too much latency to comfortably play an instrument with effects. BTW, have you heard of Guitarix? :)

[@germona]

@@unfa00 yes, but i dont like it. I am trying to make my lap steel guitar sound as good as possible before the input of the sound card and then add a little bit of EQ and/or compressor/limiter, but in real time, if possible. I have the manjaro setup like in one of your video's and i am still very happy with it. I am afraid to install pipewire on my manjaro so i have tried the fedora 35 live, but dont like that either. So maybe the best for me is to wait until manjaro has the option to be installed with pipewire. Anyway thanks for the reply.

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

@@unfa00 Guitarix is great!

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

@@germona Rout it to Ardour, and use a plugin from within Ardour! You should always record tracks dry (without effects), as once in a mix you can still tweak any effects. If you record tracks wet, there's no fixing them. If you want to do that because you can't hear the effects in Ardour through the speakers, then it's because you are monitoring the interface (your MAudio Card), not Ardour. That can be set in Ardour when creating a new session: Unfa has a video on Ardour configuration. Also, you may want to play through an amp and mic it. If you have a direct box (get one if you don't), you can and should use it to split your guitar signal to go into the amp, and into the second input of your interface, and record both simultaneously on two separate tracks; The miced amp and the dry instrument. That way, if the miced sound isn't right, you can run the dry track from Ardour to a line out of the interface, from there into the amp, and you can move the mic and/or tweak the controls to fix the sound, and re-record the track without having to play it all over again. That's called "Re-amping".

[@ralphmiranda2077]

My kid wants to try changing her voice, I don't do audio work, trying to follow this and hit a wall at trying to search for Aether plugin-nothing comes up in the search. 🤔 Thanks again

[@Satscape]

Get well soon...oh, you did. Good job! An idea for next time... write a song in the style of Barry White (see the music in the 1970s for more details) 😀

[@eprpop]

Hi Unfa! No matter what buffer size i set in Pipewire i have delay for realtime voice.

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

Use headphones, and turn off your speakers, your mic may be picking up sound from the speakers! If it's not that, you need a lower buffer to get rid of delay, but can only go as low as your system will allow without causing x-runs (Cutouts and crackling noises), you need to find the just right spot. Finally check if whatever software you are using has a delay on it, because many programs, even for voice, have a built in delay feature.

[@Rand0081]

Am I the only one who got Carla to be painfully slow? The plugin list opens after 10 seconds, then other 10 seconds to make any plugin appear in the rack, and if I click GUI, guess what? 10 seconds to get the plugin GUI to open. Not accounting for the random SIGSEV crashes. Happens with clean Jack and Pipewire.

[@unfa00]

That's unusual. Could it be that the disk reads are bottlenecking it? Do the crashes happen on JACK as much as on PipeWire? Have you reported this to falkTX on GitHub?

[@Rand0081]

@@unfa00 nvm, I had redundant plugin search paths in carla configuration. The slowdown was caused by heavy spam in the logs tab. As for crashes, I need to gather more occourences befor reporting.

[@kartoffelbaer1]

great! :)

[@realsifocopypaste]

i stick with jack audio pro server and kx studio repo ( cadenced carla ,audio plugin) in debian testing / sparky linux kde plasma semi rolling :) i use cadence and carla for my audio effetct plugin like viper audio in android phone :) my carla temple pulse jack sing - calft mutiband compressor - lsp grraphic equalizer 32x stereo - dragonfly hall reverb - calf bass enhancer - audio gain (stereo) - system playback :) system caputre - noise supressor for voice (stereo) - lsp grraphic equalizer 32x - dragonfly hall reverb - pulse jack source

[@rossbrawley]

My Carla doesn't have ether....

[@unfa00]

Do you mean "Aether"? It's a plug-in. You need to install it separately.

[@hermannpaschulke1583]

For me, carla segfaults a lot when I use it with pipewire and pulseaudio clients.

[@unfa00]

That's probably because PipeWire adjusts the buffer size (called "quantum") and Carla can't take it. The PW developers are working on fixing this problem. For now I can advice you to use jack.conf PipeWire file to set a reasonable quantum (512?) and lock it down. It should stop Carla (and Ardour) from excessive crashing.

[@hermannpaschulke1583]

@@unfa00 Thanks, I'll try it!

[@CossuttaDario]

Roses are red and violets are blue.. wait.. it's always been midi and audio ports!

[@danvideo2948]

Too many crash with Ardour, I stay with jack for now.. :|

[@unfa00]

Yeah, I had to go back to JACK myself for that same reason.

[@reread2549]

Unfa get well please

[@unfa00]

Thanks! No worries, I'm already back to normal - this was recorded a few weeks ago :)

[@mikoma1002]

Now Calf Vocoder, Vital and mic input. C:

[@unfa00]

Go ahead!

[@martincastellano89]

i need a video of this for a noob haha

[@teenux]

I also meet this situation kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKWwhH-hpNF8iqc in RaySession when using pipewire. But if i restart RaySession, it will be OK. And this will not happend in helvum(another connect software).

[@igorgiuseppe1862]

i used to do voice mixing on jack, it was a bit troublesome to setup and my machine was not fast enough to do it without some distortion, in some cases it was impossible to hear what i said, in others it was just cool. it made me sound like darth vader or if i swallow like helium gass wich was kinda of exactly what i was looking for. i hope the setup get easier with pipewire, easy but as powerfull as it was with jack rack, my main issue with jack is that sometimes i wast not able to get audio on some aplications (eg: one version of firefox worked then the update broken, then i fixed and it broken again stuff like that) i wanted to build an realtime kernel to avoid the distortion, but that is beyond my knowledge or what my willpower/free time allow me to do, another option would be to have an sound card =p but maybe with piperwire i wont need anymore.

[@andx4024]

it sounds not like you