Using the Music Program "Rosegarden" on Linux
Using the Music Program "Rosegarden" on Linux
Date: 2025-03-04 (04.03.2025)
There's strictly no warranty for the correctness of this text. You use any of the information provided here at your own risk. I can not be held responsible, if you damage your system by using any of the information provided her.
Before we begin, I have to admit, I completely underestimated Rosegarden for many years. It is much better than I thought, in fact it is awesome.
"Rosegarden" is a music program for Linux. It has a midi-sequencer for larger compositions like songs, but it can also process and mix multiple audio tracks. So today, Rosegarden is a small "DAW", a "Digital Audio Workstation".
Rosegarden is a bit smaller and also older than most other programs of this kind on Linux. But this also has advantages, for example is the more traditional user interface more suitable for monitors of a reasonable size.
On Linux, Rosegarden uses the alsa-system for midi, and the jack-system for audio. In my opinion, that's the optimal choice.
Rosegarden supports LADSPA audio effects and DSSI software instruments.
It doesn't support the more modern standards like LV2 and "VST for Linux" directly. But as Rosegarden uses "jack", it can be connected to stand-alone programs that generate sound, and the audio output can be recorded back into Rosegarden. For example, by connecting Rosegarden to the plugin-host "carla", plugins in the more modern formats can be controlled and recorded by Rosegarden.
Today, these connections are made using "pipewire-jack", and its program "qpwgraph".
In the document, the technical terms of Rosegarden are underlined. Further on in the document, there's a little encyclopedia about these terms.
The following chapters, that are marked with "[First steps]" deal with the first things to learn and setup, when trying to get started with Rosegarden. Right at the beginning, some of these topics may be a little difficult to understand, but after these first steps have been taken, things will get easier.
Rosegarden uses "alsa" for midi, and "jack" for audio, which on my system (OpenSuSE Leap 15.6) is controlled by PipeWire. The connections of Rosegarden should be checked in "qpwgraph".
When you start Rosegarden for the first time, you see the main window, which is also called "arrangement window". A vertical list of 16 midi tracks and several more audio tracks is shown to the right.
On the first track, a socalled "segment" has already been created. This segment has been labeled "Acoustic Grand Piano". Segments contain the data of the composition.
Here's a screenshot of Rosegarden's user interface with pointers to notable elements. When these elements are mentioned lateron in the document, you can go back to this image to find their locations in the user interface:
By default, the mouse cursor is set to the "selection tool" (F2).
A new segment can be created by pressing F3 to change the mouse cursor to the "drawing tool", and then clicking on a track.
The size of the segment can be changed by pressing F6 to change the mouse cursor to the "length changing tool", and then dragging the segment with the mouse. Afterwards, the cursor can be changed back to the (default) "selection tool" by pressing F2.
Double-clicking on a segment on a midi-track opens the window of the midi editor.
Most music applications show a "piano roll window" as the default midi editor. Rosegarden has such a window, which is called the "matrix editor".
But the default setting of Rosegarden is to show the "notation editor" (for musical notes) instead. This is probably not, what you want, but don't worry, this settings can easily be changed:
Select in the menu:
Editing / Options / General / Behaviour / Double-click opens part in
and change the setting to
Open in Matrix Editor
After that, the "piano roll window" (= the "matrix editor") opens, when double-clicking on a segment on a midi-track.
By default, the key combination for starting and stopping playback is "Ctrl + Enter". This is a very weird setting. I recommend, redefining it to the "Space" key. This can be done by selecting "Edit / Keyboard Shortcuts" in the menu, and by using the window that opens then. Look for the shortcut "Start Playing / Stop Playing", and set it to "Space".
The user has to take care of to where the midi output of the midi tracks is sent (and from where the midi tracks get their input).
In Rosegarden, there are two different locations to control this that are used in combination:
The first location is the "midi-device manager window". Here, "named midi outputs" of the program can be defined, which are then connected to known midi devices outside of the program.
The second location controls the midi output per track. Here, one of the "named midi outputs" (that were defined in the first location) can be selected, so that the midi output is then sent to the corresponding device. That way, for example "track 1" can send its midi output to a different midi device than "track 2".
Let me explain once again in more detail:
About the first location: In general, the available midi devices are managed in the "midi-device manager window". It can be opened by selecting "Studio / Manage Midi Devices" in the menu (or by clicking on its special icon in the main window, as shown in the screenshot earlier in the document). In the section "Midi input" of the window, your midi keyboard should be covered (otherwise you should check in "qpwgraph", if the hardware is properly connected).
If you create new "Midi outputs" in the corresponding section of the window, you should see the new outputs in "qpwgraph". So you can connect Rosegarden to other midi devices.
About the second location: To the left of the tracks is a large column, which is called the "special parameters column" (see the screenshot earlier in the document). It contains the settings per track. So you can select there, where each track sends its midi output (and from where it gets its midi input). So in the "midi-device manager window" the midi devices that are known to the program in general are managed, while in the "special parameters column" the controls are managed, where each track sends its midi output (and from where it gets its midi input).
The "special parameters column" can only handle such devices that are configured in the "midi-device manager window", and are therefore known by the program in general.
The "special parameters column" is quite large and easily gets in the way. Fortunately, it can be toggled on and of with the key "p". When you toggle it off, Rosegarden already looks more like you'd expect it from the track view of a music program.
Ok, now you know, how to create segments. You have reasonable settings for opening the midi editor and for starting and stopping playback. And you know, how to set the midi inputs and outputs.
These first chapters were quite challenging, I guess, but when you made it to here, you've already taken most of the needed steps to make good use of Rosegarden.
Setting a loop-range is an essential technique for writing music in a software program.
Let's try to create such a "range":
Alternatively to pressing the right mouse button while dragging the mouse to create a range, the left mouse button in combination with the Shift-key can be pressed.
It seems, the range is only looped, when played. Recording doesn't seem to trigger the loop, but goes on forever. Maybe I just haven't figured out yet, how to make Rosegarden loop in a range during recording.
At least you can play a range in a loop, and edit in additional events to the segment with the mouse in the matrix editor while the music is playing in the loop.
A loop range can also be created between two markers. See the chapter about markers, how this can be done.
To the left of the track's title, there are three socalled "track-lamps": A light blue one, a yellow one, and a green one. The track's midi output is only active, when the light blue lamp is on. In the icon bar, there are icons for switching all blue lamps of all tracks on and off.
So if you press keys on your midi keyboard (while the midi keyboard is configured for midi input and a midi output is configured), and you still don't hear any sound, check, if the blue lamp of the selected track is activated.
The yellow lamp turns recording of midi-input on and off.
The green lamp puts the track in "solo-mode". That means, only the track's output is active then, the outputs of the other tracks aren't.
As soon, as you're arranging your first real song, you'll switch these track-lamps on and off very often, so after a while you'll get used to their functionality.
Somehow, it's essential, to work with such a program with keyboard control. By default, the following keys are available in Rosegarden:
| Start Playing / Stop Playing | Ctrl+Enter |
| Stop Playing | Insert |
| Move to beginning of track | Home-key (Position 1) |
| Move to end of track | End-key |
| Move forward by a bar | Page Down |
| Move backwards by a bar | Page Up |
| Set quick marker at playback cursor position | Ctrl+Shift+m |
| Go to quick marker | Ctrl+m |
| Raise/lower selected notes by one | Up/Down |
| Raise/lower selected notes by one octave | Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down |
| Quantize | = |
| Open Note Edit window | Enter (or double-click on a track) |
| Close Note Edit window | Ctrl+w |
| Select Notes Tool | F2 |
| Insert Notes Tool | F3 |
| Delete Notes Tool | F4 |
| Move Notes Tool | F5 |
| Change Note Length Tool | F6 |
| Change Note Velocity Tool | F7 |
| Toggle "Special Parameters" column on/off | p |
| Toggle Transport Field on/off | t |
In the menu in "Edit / Keyborad Shortcuts", many keyboard shortcuts can be redifined.
Especially the key combination for starting and stopping playing ("Ctr+Enter" by default) annoyed me. So I defined "Start Playing / Stop Playing" as "Space". I also defined "Quantize" as "q".
The settings are stored in the file "/home/user/.config/rosegardenmusic/Rosegarden.conf".
The part in this file to create these setting looks like this:
[UserShortcuts] matrix.rc%3Ainsert_0_high0= matrix.rc%3Aquantize0=Q notation.rc%3Ainsert_0_high0= notation.rc%3Aquantize0=Q rosegardenmainwindow.rc%3Aplay0=Space rosegardenmainwindow.rc%3Aplay1=Enter rosegardenmainwindow.rc%3Aplay2=Media Play rosegardenmainwindow.rc%3Aplay3=Ctrl+Return rosegardenmainwindow.rc%3Aquantize_selection0=Q rosegardenmainwindow.rc%3Arecordtoggle0= segmenttool.rc%3Aquantize_selection0=Q
Regarding the other key combinations, you should probably get familiar with the default ones mentioned above. Especially the ones about the "quick marker" ("Ctrl+Shift+m" to set it, "Ctrl+m" to move to it) are important for moving around in the composition.
If you click on the ruler above the tracks, you set the playback cursor to the mouse position. If "Ctrl" is pressed additionally, the playback cursor is moved to the next musical bar.
In the icon toolbar above the tracks, there's a horizontal "Zoom"-drawbar, which lets you zoom the view of the tracks according to your needs.
The view can also be zoomed by pressing "Ctrl" and moving the mouse wheel up or down.
After selecting a track in the arrangement window (by clicking on it), you can move it up or down by pressing "Shift + Up", respectively "Shift + Down". This function is also shown in the "Track"-menu.
Segments are parts that are shown on the tracks in the main window. They contain the musical data, that is on midi-tracks, they contain midi data, and on audio-tracks, they contain audio data.
Segments are automatically created, when something is recorded. Or they can be drawn with the drawing tool (key F3) and then resized with the resizing tool (key F6).
The label of a segment can be changed by clicking on it once, and then selecting "Segment / Rename" in the menu.
Double-clicking on a segment opens an editing window. For a segment on a midi-track this should be the "matrix editor", as mentioned above.
When using the selection tool (which is the default tool, key F2), it is possible to click on segments and move them around. When pressing "Control" while moving, they are copied. (Note: This mechanism also works for notes in the matrix editor.)
There can be several segments in the same time period on the same track.
Segments can be joined together by selecting them and then pressing "Ctrl+j" (or by selecting "Segment / Join" from the menu).
They can be split by using the separation tool (key F7).
Segments can be moved around by dragging them with the left mouse button, while the selection tool is active. Moving them that way is snapped to a grid. If even more precise positioning of a segment is required, the function "Segment / Set start time" in the menu can be used. When selecting this function, a window opens, where the segment's starting time can be set, either by bar, by beat, or even by seconds and milliseconds. This function is for example useful, if a lag that happened during recording, has to be compensated.
The "special parameters column" is shown on the left of the tracks in the arrangement window. If it is in your way, you can toggle it on and off using the key, that is set to "p" by default.
The column is used to select the midi output of each midi track. This works in combination with the "midi-devices manager window" ("Studio/Manage Midi Devices").
If changes in the "midi-devices manager window" have been made, you sometimes have to reselect the midi output in the "special parameters column" to make the changes take effect in the tracks.
A single quick marker can be set with "Composition / Set Quick Marker at Playback Position" (key Ctrl+Shift+m"). You can move the playback cursor to the quick marker by using "Ctrl+m".
An ordinary marker can be set at the position of the playback cursor with "Shift + m". The playback cursor can be moved around with "PageDown" (forward by a bar) and "PageUp" (backwards by a bar). So a way to set a marker, would be to move the playback cursor to the wanted position, and then pressing "Shift + m" to set the marker.
Then, the term "new marker" appears in the number region above the ruler. Double-clicking on the letters opens the window to manage markers. Alternatively, the function "Composition / Manage Markers" (key-combination "Ctrl + k") can be used to open that window.
In this window, the new marker is listed. Double-clicking on it in the list opens another window, where a different name can be given to the marker. Clicking just once on the marker in the list, moves the playback cursor to the marker's position.
The key combinations "Ctrl + ." and "Ctrl + ," move the playback cursor around between the positions of several markers.
A range (to loop) can be set between two markers by pressing "Shift" and clicking between the markers in the number region above the ruler.
The tempo of the piece can be set in "Composition / Add Tempo Change". There can be tempo changes inside a piece, which can be defined there.
But if your piece has only one tempo, that needs to be changed, this can also be set there.
The end of the tracks can be defined in "Composition / Change Start and End of the Composition". It's quite useful to limit the horizontal view of the tracks to the space that is actually needed.
Rosegarden's piano roll window is actually quite beautiful. It is quite possible, to identify the exact positions of the notes.
For zooming the notes' view horizontally and vertically, there's an icon with depictions of scrolling wheels in the down-right corner of the matrix editor. To zoom horizontally, you can also press "Control" while rolling the mouse-wheel.
You can just use the tools on the keys F2 to F7 and start editing using the mouse.
You can also record midi notes from a midi keyboard. Step recording is also possible.
When the selection tool is active, you can press the left mouse button and move the mouse around to draw a rectangle that is used to select multiple notes.
After the notes are selected, you can click with the left mouse button on them, and move them around.
Notice, that Rosegarden shows a small red horizontal line in the upright depiction of a keyboard on the left side of the window, to indicate the pitch of the notes you're currently working with.
Pressing "Control" while moving notes has the effect, that the notes are copied. So this mechanism works for notes in the matrix editor as well as for segments in the arrangement window.
Double-clicking on a single note opens a small event-edit window, in which properties of the note can be set. Especially the velocity of the note can be defined here. So it's not necessary to open the event list editor to change the velocity of notes.
Other midi data than note-on, note-off and velocity has to be edited in the "event list editor". Different types of midi events like pitch, program change or system exclusive data can be viewed and edited.
Options for the metronome, like which instrument (or midi-output) to use for its sound, can be set in "Studio / Manage Metronome".
You can activate or deactivate it for recording and playback there too.
Most Rosegarden terms used in this document are the official ones, such as "range" or "quick marker" for example. As I use a German version of Rosegarden, I translated some terms back to English, or in rare cases created my own ("midi-devices manager window" and "special parameters column"). But most terms are the official ones.
| arrangement | The representation of the musical piece in the program. |
| arrangement window | The program's main window, which shows the tracks. |
| drawing tool | Can be used to create segments in the arrangement window. Key F3. |
| event-edit window | Opens by double-clicking on a note. Especially, the velocity of a note can be set here. |
| event list editor | Can be used to edit other midi events than note on/off. Key e. |
| main window | Contains the "arrangement window". |
| marker | A named position in the musical piece. |
| matrix editor | Piano-roll view of the notes of a segment. The notes are edited here. |
| midi-device manager window | Manages the midi-devices that are known ot the program. |
| notation editor | Can be used to edit musical notation of notes. Not used that often in midi sequencing. |
| playback cursor | Defines, where playback starts. |
| quick marker | Sets a quick jump-point on the time-line. Key "Ctrl+Shift+m" to set a quick marker, key "Ctrl+m" to set the playback cursor to the quick marker's position. |
| range | Defines a range that is looped during playback. |
| resizing tool | Can be used to change the size of segments or the lenghts of notes. Key F6. |
| selection tool | The default cursor tool. Key F2. |
| segment | Part of the tracks. Shown in the arrangement window. |
| separation tool | Can be used to split segments. Key F7. |
| special parameters column | Shown on the left of the tracks in the arrangement window. Defines midi in- and output per track. Key p to toggle on/off. |
| track | One of several horizontal lines in the arrangement window, that represents what an instrument plays within the arrangement. |
| track-lamp, green | Sets track to "solo-mode", when lit. |
| track-lamp, light blue | Sets track to "active", when lit. |
| track-lamp, yellow | Sets recording (midi- or audio-recording, depending on the type of the track) on a track to "active", when lit. |
| zoom-drawbar | Is shown in the icon-bar above the arrangement-window. Can be used to zoom the view of the arrangement horizontally. |
The default-arrangement already has some prepared audio tracks, starting with track number 17.
When selecting the menu item "Manage Audio-Files" in the "File"-menu, a special window opens. This window has its own menu, where audio-files can be imported from the hard disk into the project.
By using drag-and-drop, imported audio files can be transferred from the audio manager window into audio tracks in the arrangement window.
Here, the ordinary Rosegarden tools (like for example the separation tool, F7) can be applied to audio segments.
The audio segments can also be dragged onto other audio tracks.
Similar to the midi tracks, the "special parameters column" holds the settings of an audio track.
Rosegarden creates midi- and audio-connections in "jack" (pipewire-jack), which can be viewed in "qpwgraph". These inputs and outputs can be used to connect Rosegarden to external programs such as the virtual drum machine "Hydrogen", the virtual synth "ZynAddSubFx" ("Zyn" for short) or the plugin host "carla" (which can host modern commercial plugins like "U-He Diva" or "TAL UNO-LX").
Rosegarden can for example send midi data to "Zyn", and "Zyn" can send back its audio output to Rosegarden, where it can be recorded directly into an audio track.
That way, you can get basically the same result as using a VST instrument plugin, but by using external stand-alone programs instead.
Of course, that way it would also be possible to connect Rosegarden to an external hardware device. If the hardware device is Linux-compatible, and if it is connected to the computer (by USB in most cases), its virtual connections will show up in "qpwgraph", and can be connected to Rosegarden's in- and outputs there.
When trying to record into an audio track, don't forget to activate the yellow track-lamp for recording (as explained above for midi tracks).