Some Kind Of Muffin

Koblo is a free open source “music system” that allows you to record and manipulate audio and also share your projects with others.

Let me get this first bit out of the way. I couldn’t find a tutorial anywhere. I clicked a link on the Koblo website that read “tutorials” and it took me to a page with useful looking phrases like “creating a new project” and “import audio.” Unfortunately that’s all they were, phrases. No links, no tutorials.

To be fare Koblo is still in beta and is a work in progress and much of the site has text like this:

You opens the AUX reck by clicking on the AUX button in the top corner of the track editor, selecting it from the view menu o pressing the "/" shortcut 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ECHO
--------------------------------------------------------------------
• Time: bla. bla. bla....
• Feedback: bla. bla. bla....
• Lo Filt: bla. bla. bla....
• High Filt: bla. bla. bla....

Clearly they need to do some detail work, but no biggie. Free open source software!

I did find out through trial and error that you must first create or load a project before importing audio. The interface to import audio needs a little work. It looks super old school and involved way too much clicking. When importing from my iTunes I was given the choice of importing as stereo or two mono tracks. I went for the latter just to see what would happen. I discovered on accident that if you drag both tracks in not properly lined up you get a delay effect. Lots of fun.

The next thing I tried was the AUX rack, which in my version has K-Echo and K-Verb. I clicked on the arrow next to the track and a drop down appeared with controls for level of each effect. Adjusting the effects themselves, amount of delay etc., takes place in a separate AUX rack window. After that I wanted to see what I could do with one of my Garage Band projects that I had saved as an MP3. I was given the same options of two mono tracks or one stereo track.

One last quick note. There are free demo projects to download that have a bunch of different sounds in them to build up your library. You can also purchase Remix Kits and Plugins to add versatility.

Koblo needs some work, but again it is still in beta and I have only scratched the surface of what it has to offer. I recommend checking it out yourself, especially if you can not afford Garage Band or Pro Tools.

To be continued…

Screen cap

Koblo Screen Cap