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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Best Free Music Creation Software

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Last Update: Tue, 03/16/2010 - 18:16 — grf

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Introduction

Hello and welcome to Best Free Music Creation Software. First off, I'm not a tech wizard, I'm just a musician who loves music, guitars and cool technology. I could not tell you what a LumiBatch Object is, nor could I tell you what ST transform and Quantile normalization means, but I can tell you about good freeware to make music with and hey, that's what matters right? Anyway, what I'm going to do is tell you about three applications that I've found and tested and I'm going to review them in terms of: Ease of use, Functionality and Overall Performance, and I will do it in plain English. Each application in this section must be "pick up and playable" without the user needing to install third party hardware drivers or use extra external hardware. These apps do provide a full MIDI working environment, but that's a different topic.

Discussion

A brief explanation of VST plugins

For those who don't know, VST plugins are a modular and almost infinitely variable form of "mini application". They were developed originally by Steinberg for use with their commercial products, but subsequently spawned an entire generation of new software developers, some who design them for money and some who design them for love: these are the ones we're interested in. As with all freeware, there is the good, the bad and the just downright weird, but unlike other apps, there are thousands of VST and VSTi plugins: the only thing I can really compare them to, and loosely at that, are browser plugins.

VST Plugins come in four general categories: Effects (by far the most numerous), Instruments, Utilities and Percussion. It takes time to find the best free plugins, but only because there are so many available. I will provide a link to a very good selection of free VST Plugins, and somewhere in there you will find what you're looking for.

First up: LMMS -Linux Multimedia Studio

LMMS is a free open source MIDI sequencer/composer for Windows and Linux.

Ease of use: When I first ran Linux Multi Media Studio I initially found it a little bewildering. On startup one is faced with what appears to be a battery of complex looking expandable windows, none of which bear any similarity to other applications I have used. Thankfully, LMMS is very well supported by it's own online user community, with forums and wiki style user guides and tutorials. It does not have the raw simplicity of DarkWave or the beautifully presented single window GUI of Temper, but don't be put off by this: once you get going with it, LMMS is a pleasure to use. Of all the apps I have tested since starting this category (and prior to), LMMS took the longest to fathom, and apart from the piano roll editor it is not (in my opinion) intuitive at all, but it's worth taking the time because the rewards are great.

Functionality: Where to start? As a stand alone application, one would be hard pressed to find a more comprehensively full featured and versatile free music creator than this. There are so many instruments and effects to choose from, it's difficult to know where to begin, so I recommend using the LMMS wiki. No inbuilt or plugin recorder is necessary since your music can be saved to wav, should you so choose. LMMS supports .ogg (look it up) and .wav sample files. It supports VST, VSTi and LADSPA (again, look it up) plugins. The onboard Beat/Bassline editor removes the need for a separate drum sequencer and is a very nice touch: LMMS really is a "one stop shop". Maybe somewhat paradoxically, this app is so good I'm finding it hard to know what else to tell you about it except this: YOU NEED TO TRY THIS SOFTWARE!

Performance: As with the other apps reviewed I am initially road testing it on my laptop: I should mention that the laptop has a dual core cpu, three gb of ram and duplex sound capability, so I don't know how any of these apps would perform on an older lower spec laptop. If they don't run well on the laptop, I run them on my desktop pc. Thus far, LMMS hasn't been anywhere near my desktop pc and like Temper, it is ultra stable. Amazing freeware. Until or unless I find a better app, LMMS is king of the castle. A winner.

Next up: Temper from AngryRedPlanet.com.

Temper, the current offering from AngryRedPlanet, is a fully functional MIDI composer / sequencer / recorder.

Ease of use: A very polished product, Temper has undergone a long process of evolution. It is the newest incarnation of Sequitur, and has a very clever and user friendly GUI. I was composing on it in next to no time with no major problems. This application will also host VST's, but only when an ASIO driver is installed on your machine. There are various ways of recording with this app, again depending on your setup. If you get stuck, there is a full online manual which can also be downloaded and integrated into the application help facility. Added to that, there is a forum on the AngryRedPlanet website.

Functionality: Temper works straight out of the box and has over a hundred onboard sounds, so no need to worry about VST's right away. The pattern editor, config panel and sequencer occupy the same window, which makes everything nice and accessible. Sounds can be switched easily, and without VST's the confusion factor is limited: I consider this to be a good thing, at least until you know what you're doing. Effects can be applied, but without VST's you are limited to what's onboard: again, this is not a drawback thanks to the selection of available sounds. The cut and paste facility in the pattern editor is a major time saver, and this extends to cut and paste across different tracks which is a nice feature. I particularly like the graphic note indicator / finder.

Performance: This is so ultra-stable and durable on my laptop, even with several layers of sound, I haven't even tried it on my pc: no need (I will be road testing this app as part of a full suite of freeware recording apps).This is great to play with on a laptop, but for serious use it should be run on a serious machine with a proper sound card and an ASIO driver installed. Excellent freeware. The longer I play with it, the more I like it.

This product is not licensed as freeware, but fear not and I shall tell you what the developer told me:

"Temper's been on hiatus for awhile and I've been debating what to do with the license. I currently think of it as donationware -- you can do anything you like with it, and if you end up using it, I'd appreciate payment."

and goes on to say:

"Buying a license removes the nag screen and gets you a couple of esoteric features that likely no one but me has ever used. If I suddenly found out someone was using it to make commercial music without a license, my reaction would be closer to 'cool' than 'money please'."

Many thanks to Eric Hackborn @ AngryRedPlanet, your generosity is appreciated by all here at Gizmo's.

And Finally: DarkWave Studio, by Daniel Werner @ Experimental Scene.

A VST Plugin requires a VST host, just as a browser plugin requires a browser, and DarkWave Studio ticks that box very nicely: this application is a combined VST Host, Sequencer and Recorder. DarkWave Studio is actually every bit as cool as the name suggests. A very clever, minimalist GUI, neatly separated into three workstations and a recording bay. The first workstation is to dock and configure your plugins: this is the VST Host. The next is the pattern editor: this is where you create the components of your music. Finally, the sequencer, where you assemble the components of your music.

Ease of use: This software is so cleverly designed, it is virtually foolproof. It is a blank canvass on which to create one's masterpiece, not cluttered with a load of bells and whistles one can't even understand. The plugins, however, are as simple or as complex as you want them to be. The help file will get you started.

Functionality: Again, very clever, very easy to use. It did not take me long to figure the tao of DarkWave Studio, and it really is easy to set up and configure, allowing you to install virtual effects racks, keyboards, guitars, percussion: whatever you like. It's best to use a small number (4 or 5) plugins initially, as things can get a little confusing and cluttered, and run them through a virtual mixing desk. The pattern editor is easy to get on with, and even moving from one workstation to another is hassle free due to the tabbed toolbar.

Performance: Supports 64 bit OS but there are limited free 64 bit VST's. Requires a reasonably powerful system for best. I had to use the 32 bit app (for availability of plugins) on a 64 bit OS: The program was a little fragile on my laptop, but usable once the limit was found. This program should be run on a desktop pc with a reasonably good sound card (e.g Soundblaster Audigy): this will enable you to install Steinberg ASIO driver or equivalent, and once correctly configured, you may immerse yourself in the DarkWave Studio and live the dream. Or, you may choose to compose ringtones on your laptop, and since the recorder saves as wav, you can just convert it to .mp3 and away you go. Excellent Freeware. Nicely done.

With a little patience and experimentation, pretty much anyone could be making music or beats with these three applications in a relatively short space of time. To sum up, you don't need a doctorate in ST transform and Quantile normalization to make music with any of these superb free apps, so go to it and enjoy.

A good place for VST plugins and other useful apps: http://www.vstplanet.com/

And another: http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/

A good place for drum samples, amongst other things. http://freewavesamples.com/

A useful resource for music makers: http://www.looknohands.com/

A forum thread is now open for discussion related to free music creation software here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/multimedia/3516-free-musi...