Music

Make Music with these Sublime Open Source Tools

Last Updated on May 26, 2022

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Linux is an attractive platform for professional audio production. It is an extremely stable operating system that has good support for audio hardware. Using a Linux machine as the focus of your recording setup opens a world of possibilities for an affordable price.

Software that creates music can often be expensive. The heavyweight Cubase, Apple LogicPro, FL Studio, Adobe Audition, and Sony ACID Pro are all impressive software music production environments. Unfortunately, they cost hundreds of dollars and are released under a proprietary software license. Fortunately, there is a good range of open source software that lets you produce professional quality recordings.

Here is our pick of the best Linux software for musicians. With a good background in music, talent, and patience, coupled with open source software you can be truly creative and innovative.

To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 21 sublime open source music creation tools. Hopefully, there will be something of interest here for anyone who wants to kickstart a music career.

Now, let’s explore the 21 music tools at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, screenshots, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.

Make Music
ArdourRecord, edit and mix with this digital audio workstation
LMMSDigital audio workstation
Pure DataReal-time computer music software package resembling Max
SuperColliderReal time audio synthesis programming language
LinuxSamplerProfessional grade software audio sampler
CeciliaCSound-based graphical environment for music
HydrogenAdvanced drum machine
MusEMIDI/audio sequencer
MixxxAdvanced DJ software
AudacityMulti-track audio editor and recorder
QtractorAudio/MIDI multi-track sequencer
RosegardenSophisticated MIDI (and audio) sequencer and notation editor
SoundgrainGraphical interface to control granular sound synthesis
GuitarixVirtual guitar amplifier
ZynAddSubFXPowerful realtime, multi-timbral software synthesizer
GiadaHardcore audio tool for DJs, live performers and electronic musicians
RakarrackMulti-effects processor emulating a guitar effects pedalboard
YoshimiSoftware synthesizer
JAMinJACK Audio Connection Kit Audio Mastering interface
LilyPondProduce musical scores that are engraved with traditional layout rules
MuseScoreGraphical WYSIWYG music score typesetter
Best Free and Open Source SoftwareRead our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software.

The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk.

There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more.