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Kiwisonic on Linux

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Kiwisonic manual

Kiwisonic on Linux

Kiwisonic runs on Linux as well as Windows. The melody tools, sequencer, mixer, built-in instruments and effects all work the same way. This page covers what is specific to Linux: what your system needs, how to get sound out, where to put your plugins, and the few things that behave differently.

Linux support is new. The audio engine, instruments and effects are fully working. One area is still being finalised, opening a third-party VST3 plugin's own editor window, described under known limitations. Everything else behaves as the rest of this manual describes.

What you need

A 64-bit Linux desktop. Ubuntu 22.04 or newer, Debian 12, or a recent Fedora or Arch all work. A reasonably current distribution matters, because the app needs glibc 2.35 or newer.

An audio system: ALSA, PipeWire or PulseAudio. Most current desktops ship PipeWire, which Kiwisonic talks to through its ALSA compatibility layer, with no extra setup.

A graphical desktop, either X11 or Wayland with Xwayland. Kiwisonic is a desktop application with a window, not a command-line tool.

You do not need to install .NET separately. The Linux build is self-contained and brings its own runtime.

Setup

1. Install the system libraries

The audio engine relies on a small set of standard system libraries for sound, fonts and windowing. Install them once.

Ubuntu and Debian:

sudo apt-get install \
    libasound2 libx11-6 libxext6 libxinerama1 libxrandr2 \
    libxcursor1 libxcomposite1 libfreetype6 libfontconfig1 libgl1

Fedora:

sudo dnf install alsa-lib libX11 libXext libXinerama libXrandr \
    libXcursor libXcomposite freetype fontconfig mesa-libGL

These are runtime libraries, and most desktops already have all or most of them.

2. Install LAME for MP3 export, if you want it

Kiwisonic can always export to WAV. To also export MP3, install the system LAME encoder:

sudo apt-get install libmp3lame0      # Ubuntu and Debian
sudo dnf install lame-libs            # Fedora

Without it, WAV export still works and only MP3 export is unavailable.

3. Get Kiwisonic

The Linux build ships as a self-contained tarball. Download it from the Kiwisonic website, unpack it anywhere you like, and run the app directly:

tar -xzf Kiwisonic-linux-x64-<version>.tar.gz -C ~/kiwisonic
cd ~/kiwisonic
./Kiwisonic.UI

The tarball already contains the .NET runtime and the native engine libraries, which sit next to the app and are picked up automatically. Beyond the system libraries in step 1, there is nothing else to install.

There is no package or AppImage yet. The tarball is the supported way to run Kiwisonic on Linux.

Getting sound out

Kiwisonic opens your default audio output when it starts. If you hear nothing, or you want a different device such as a USB interface, open the audio settings and look at the output device list.

On a PipeWire or PulseAudio system you will usually see a single default entry that follows whatever your desktop is set to, and choosing it routes Kiwisonic wherever your system sound goes.

If you use JACK for low-latency work, start the JACK server first. Kiwisonic's ALSA output bridges to it the same way other audio applications do.

VST3 plugins

Kiwisonic scans the standard Linux VST3 locations: ~/.vst3 for plugins installed just for you, and /usr/lib/vst3 and /usr/local/lib/vst3 for system-wide installs.

Put your plugins in one of those folders, then run a plugin scan from the instrument browser. What it finds appears in the catalog alongside the built-in instruments.

Use Linux builds of your plugins. Windows plugin files will not load here.

Known limitations

Opening a plugin's own editor window is still being finalised. The plugin loads and plays normally, so you can pick it as an instrument and it makes sound, but its custom editor may not open or behave correctly yet. Kiwisonic's own instrument and effect controls are unaffected.

MP3 export depends on the system LAME library, from setup step 2. WAV export always works.

Troubleshooting

No sound. Check the output device in audio settings. On PipeWire, confirm other applications play sound, then pick the default device in Kiwisonic.

The app will not start and complains about a missing library. Re-run the install command in setup step 1. One of the system libraries is missing.

A plugin does not appear after scanning. Confirm it is a Linux build and that it sits in one of the folders above, then rescan.

MP3 export fails. Install the LAME library from setup step 2 and try again.