USB MIDI controllers & making music with Ubuntu

If you own an external USB MIDI controller (keyboard) or plan to buy one, you may be interested in how these things work with Ubuntu. Usually they  are shipped with a CD that contains a Windows/Mac drivers & some music-making applications. Therefore it is common to see a note on their box that one needs Windows/Mac to use the instrument. No doubt this may discourage Ubuntu users from buying such controller, but is Linux really a not supported platform?

And, by the way, how to setup a working set of music applications, that will allow one to compose & perform music (regardless of whether you have an external keyboard or not)?

Classroom sessions for Ubuntu Accomplishments contributors

So you’ve always wanted to contribute to Ubuntu Accomplishments, but never knew where to get started? If you are interested in either programming, writing documentation for users, providing a new trophy or dealing with translations, make sure to attend the upcoming event! Next week, Ubuntu Accomplishment developers will share all their secret knowledge, and explain how this all works – from the source code & core logic, to user experience and docs.  This is a great chance to get involved!

The classes, divided into several separate sessions according to different ways you can contribute, will take place on Tue 7th Aug 2012 from 6pm to 9pm UTC, and the following day, Wed 8th Aug 2012, 6pm to 8pm UTC. This event will take form of a live videocast, we will be telling you stories, and you will be asking us questions :) We will describe how the system works, how to contribute, in which areas you will be most helpful, and provide a detailed guide on how to get involved.

More details and exact schedule can be found under this link.