---
title: "Ubuntu Studio for Recording Studios"
id: "9448"
type: "page"
slug: "ubuntu-studio-for-recording-studios"
published_at: "2026-10-09T01:34:14+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-10-09T01:50:31+00:00"
url: "https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-recording-studios/"
markdown_url: "https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-recording-studios.md"
excerpt: "A recording studio, whether it’s a commercial facility, a school, a rehearsal-room project, or a home studio that takes on clients, needs software that is dependable, affordable to roll out across several rooms, and flexible enough to handle everything from..."
---

*Photo: Iconicarecordings, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
, via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iconica_Vegas_Recording_Studio,_Control_Room.jpg)*

A recording studio, whether it’s a commercial facility, a school, a rehearsal-room project, or a home studio that takes on clients, needs software that is dependable, affordable to roll out across several rooms, and flexible enough to handle everything from a solo vocal take to a full band tracking session. Ubuntu Studio brings together the recording, mixing, and delivery tools a studio needs, with no per-seat licensing.

## Tracking sessions

- **Ardour** is the center of the studio: unlimited audio and MIDI tracks, comping, punch in/out, flexible monitoring, automation, and mixing on a single timeline.
- **Qtractor** is a quick, lightweight alternative for MIDI-heavy tracking.
- **Audacity** is handy for quick edits, restoration, and file preparation between sessions.
- **Ubuntu Studio Audio Configuration** sets up your interface, sample rate, and buffer size from a simple menu. USB and class-compliant interfaces work out of the box; Focusrite Scarlett and Clarett (through Scarlett GUI) and FireWire devices (through FFADO) are supported, too.
- **Real-time tuning** is built in: a low-latency PipeWire/JACK configuration with real-time priorities, plus **rtirq**, so you can track at small buffer sizes without drop-outs.

## Monitoring and routing

- **Patchance, Helvum, and QjackCtl** give you a visual patch bay for routing microphones, outboard gear, monitors, and cue mixes.
- **JACK Mixer, Meterbridge, and Zita-Mu1** provide monitoring, metering, and stereo monitor control.
- **ALSA Mixer tools** (QasMixer, QasHctl) expose every hardware control, and **Zita-ajbridge** lets you combine extra interfaces for more inputs.
- **MCPdisp** supports control surfaces that use the Mackie Control Protocol.
- **Ray Session** saves every application, patch, and setting for a client’s session, so you can recall the whole project later.

## Sound shaping

Ubuntu Studio’s audio plugin collection gives engineers a complete rack of processors for tracking and mixing:

- **Compressors, limiters, gates, and expanders** from LSP, x42, ZAM, and others.
- **Equalizers** such as EQ10Q, the FIL plugins, and LSP’s parametric EQ.
- **Reverbs and spaces** including Dragonfly Reverb and Zita-Rev1, and **JConvolver** for convolution reverb with your own impulse responses.
- **Pitch and tuning tools** such as Autotalent and Rubber Band.
- **Instruments and drum replacements:** DrumGizmo, Hydrogen, AVL Drums, Geonkick, and many synthesizers, pianos, and organs for adding to a mix.
- **Carla** hosts all of these plugins, and VST plugins as well, in a rack you can reuse across sessions.

## Beyond the session

- **Remote collaboration:** **JackTrip** carries high-quality, low-latency audio over the Internet, so musicians in different places can perform together in real time.
- **Sync to picture:** **xjadeo** and **Kdenlive** support working to picture, from sound design to video editing, and **FFmpeg** and **VLC** handle nearly every format a client may send.
- **Scoring and lead sheets:** **MuseScore** is on hand when a client needs charts or a transcription.
- **Delivery:** **Kid3** tags the finished files, **cdrdao** and **K3b** burn CDs and DVDs, and **IDJC** can stream or broadcast.
- **Office tools:** **LibreOffice** and **Thunderbird** come installed for session notes, invoices, and email.

*Photo: Marco Tucconi, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
, via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ARC_Studio_Control_Room_(side_view_2).jpg)*

## Why studios choose Ubuntu Studio

- **No per-seat cost.** Equip every room, rehearsal space, and classroom with the same full software set.
- **Reliable by design.** Long-Term Support releases stay supported for three years, so a studio can avoid unplanned changes in the middle of a project.
- **Same workflow everywhere.** Install the Ubuntu Studio audio workflows on any Ubuntu desktop with the **Ubuntu Studio Installer**, and keep your studio machines consistent.
- **Open formats and open source.** Your clients’ sessions are never locked into a vendor’s format or subscription.

## Get started

1. [Download Ubuntu Studio](https://ubuntustudio.org/download) and install it on your studio computers.
2. Use **Ubuntu Studio Audio Configuration** to select your interface.
3. Open Ardour, create a session from a template, and arm your first track.

*See also: [Audio Engineers](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-audio-engineers/)
 · [Musicians](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-musicians/)
 · [Video Production](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-video-production/)
 · [Houses of Worship](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-houses-of-worship/)*