Rui CarmoOne of my pursuits of yore and for ever more (in the sense that I stopped short of joining the Conservatorium when I was a kid and still maintain a somewhat active - if diffuse - interest in it).
Resources
| Category | Date | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Books | 2020 | Fundamentals of Piano Practice | Lots of pracice tips (and tuning of physical pianos) |
| DAWs | 2020 | Non | a lightweight DAW for Linux |
| Waveform Free | free DAW that runs on Linux (including the Raspberry Pi) | ||
| 2022 | Ardour | A cross-platform Open Source DAW that runs on ARM64 | |
| Qtractor | A Linux DAW based on Qt | ||
| Reaper | A cross-platform Open Source DAW that runs on ARM64 | ||
| 2023 | DawDreamer | a Python environment that allows you to host and run VSTs | |
| zrythm | a cross-platform DAW | ||
| DIY | 2023 | picoTracker | An RP2040 hardware tracker (PCB) |
| Editors | 2021 | MuseScore | likely the best open source music score editor out there |
| Environments | 2022 | Glicol | an interesting music language with a Rust audio engine as back-end |
| 2024 | Csound | a music programming language | |
| glicol | a music programming language | ||
| 2025 | Strudel | a music programming language that runs in the browser | |
| 2026 | Extempore | live-coding music environment | |
| SuperCollider | audio synthesis and algorithmic composition platform | ||
| overtone | Clojure environment for SuperCollider | ||
| Sonic Pi | live-coding music environment with its own language | ||
| Hardware | 2023 | PicoADK-Hardware | a RP2040 based Audio Development Kit with 32 Bit Audio Output. |
| 2024 | MicroDexed-touch | ||
| Tulip Creative Computer | A MicroPython-based ESP32 synth and sequencer that also has a desktop simulator | ||
| 2025 | pico-midi-looper | a MIDI looper based on the RP2040 that supports Bluetooth MIDI | |
| Instruments | 2020 | Zebralette | free VST |
| minibit | a VST for chiptune instruments | ||
| Layers | free orchestral music VST | ||
| SunVox | a cross-platform modular synth that includes a tracker | ||
| 2021 | Surge | a pretty popular free VST for Mac, Windows and Linux | |
| PianoBook | Free downloadable EXS24 and Kontakt sampled instruments (mostly pianos) | ||
| 2022 | sfzinstruments | Various public domain instruments in SFZ format | |
| 2023 | GrandOrgue | a sample-based church organ simulator | |
| vmpc-juce | an MPC emulator front-end writte in JUCE | ||
| visualtracker | an open source modular sequencer with graphical user interface based on Pure Data | ||
| Triple Cheese | a free VST synth | ||
| Pendulate | a free VST synth | ||
| 2024 | WaveTracker | a new open source tracker for Windows (and Linux/WINE) that uses wavetable synthesis and sampling | |
| 2025 | OB-Xd | a free VST synth that emulates the Oberheim OB-X | |
| Diapasonix | an interesting RP2350 based instrument | ||
| terpstrakeyboard | a virtual microtonal keyboard webapp | ||
| 2026 | CoPiano | Physically modelled C++17 piano synthesizer that renders notes from a MIDI file or keyboard input, with configurable sympathetic-string and stereo room effects; supports offline rendering and MIDI-file rendering | |
| DSK Overture | orchestral VST instrument | ||
| Libraries | 2023 | popsicle | a Python library that tries to wrap |
| pedalboard | a Python library for working with audio, also with VST support | ||
| webaudiofont | A browser-based GM set of musical instruments | ||
| 2026 | mahler.c | a small C99 library for Western music theory covering intervals, chords, scales, and key signatures with enharmonic correctness | |
| Patches | 2021 | MobileMusic Pro Free Packs | covers multiple iOS apps |
| PatchStorage | Patches and samples for a number of iOS apps, including Moog synths. | ||
| Northern Film Orchestra Orchestral Swells | a set of orchestral samples for Kontakt and DecentSampler | ||
| Resources | 2025 | awesome-strudel | a set of strudel compositions |
| Samples | 2020 | BBC sound effects | copyrighted but free for personal/educational use |
| 2021 | FreeSound | Creative Commons licensed samples and loops | |
| 2023 | sampled | A collection of sampled instruments, loops and impulse responses with open licenses | |
| 2024 | SoundFonts4U | a collection of SoundFonts | |
| Scores | 2020 | El Atril | free sheet music |
| IMSLP | The Petrucci Public Domain Music Library | ||
| The Mayron Cole Piano Method | has a number of simple piano scores for kids | ||
| Mutopia | Free classical and contemporary sheet music | ||
| Sequencers | 2022 | Ossia Score | a sequencer for audio-visual artists, designed to create interactive shows leveraging DMX, OSC, MIDI, etc. |
| 2023 | Midinous | a node-based MIDI sequencer for generative music | |
| 2024 | seq24 | A family of minimalist MIDI sequencers | |
| Synths | 2020 | Vital | MPE support |
| 2021 | Ensembles | a FluidSynth-based arrangement workstation for Linux | |
| MT-32 Pi | a baremetal MIDI synthesizer for the Raspberry Pi 3 or above, based on Munt, FluidSynth and Circle. | ||
| Bespoke Synth | a cross-platform software modular synthesizer with a node-based UI | ||
| 2022 | MicroDexed | Dexed for the Teensy 3.x/4.x microcontroller | |
| MicroDexed-touch | Dexed for the Teensy 4.x microcontroller, with a touchscreen UI, a sequencer and a tracker | ||
| MiniDexed | Dexed running on baremetal Raspberry Pi | ||
| teensy-juno | a Teensy 3.x/4.x-based polyphonic synthesiser, modeled after the Juno 106 | ||
| sfizz | A sample based VST instrument that takes SFZ files | ||
| Helm | a free cross-platform software synth that can be used as a VST | ||
| 2024 | Cardinal | a plugin based on VCVRack | |
| 2025 | Amy | a music synthesizer library for microcontrollers | |
| 2026 | Bristol | set of synthesizer emulators spanning old-school analogue instruments | |
| VCVRack | Eurorack synthesizer emulator with free and commercial modules | ||
| Brume | a 24-voice multi-part synthesizer for Raspberry Pi CM5 with touchscreen UI, USB audio, MIDI, and Lua scripting | ||
| synthv1 | old-school all-digital 4-oscillator subtractive polyphonic synthesizer | ||
| Podolski | straightforward analogue-style software synthesizer | ||
| Tyrell N6 | free software synthesizer | ||
| Tools | 2020 | Musical Chord Progression Arpeggiator | |
| NeuralDX7 | a neural network that generates DX7 sysex patches | ||
| ADLplug | a VST that provides a number of FM synth plugins to emulate YMF26XX chips | ||
| RNNoise VST | no builds for macOS | ||
| stochas | a plugin/VST for stochastic pattern generation | ||
| Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard | useful for monitoring device or as a source image for video overlays | ||
| Blue Cat Freeware Plugins | a set of free VST/AUs for both Mac and Windows, including a frequency analyzer | ||
| 2021 | alda | a text-based programming language for music composition | |
| Elk Audio OS | A Linux distro with a low-latency kernel and Raspberry Pi support for audio HATs | ||
| nanostudio-2-sample | SFZ to Obsidian patch converter | ||
| pianoplayer | a fingering generator for sheet music | ||
| 2022 | JJazzLab-X | Automatic backing track generator | |
| 2024 | Patchbox OS | a Raspberry Pi OS for audio projects | |
| midihum | MIDI humanisation with machine learning | ||
| 2025 | norns.el | an Emacs interface for developing on the Monome Norns | |
| 2026 | miditui | Interactive terminal DAW with mouse-enabled piano roll/timeline, per-track mute/solo controls, insert-mode composing, soundfont playback via rustysynth, autosave, and WAV export. | |
| op1r — OP-1 R246 firmware patcher | Browser-based patcher and custom firmware for the original Teenage Engineering OP-1 R246, adding synth and effects engines, sequencers, sample editors and other features; requires the user’s own R246 firmware image | ||
| StemDeck | local Demucs-based stem separation app with waveform editing, playback, mixing, and exports | ||
| signal-bloom | a low-latency guitar effects studio with an AI-assisted pedalboard | ||
| hundekraft OP-1 Firmware Workshop | Browser-based workshop for hundekraft custom firmware on the original Teenage Engineering OP-1; builds patched R246 firmware with selectable Kennel plugins and matching presets locally in the browser | ||
| Trackers | 2022 | deflemask | another tracker, also available for iOS and Android. Has very little MIDI capability and no Audio Unit support. |
| schismtracker | a reimplementation of Impulse Tracker | ||
| furnace | another modern tracker for macOS, Linux and Windows | ||
| 2023 | nitrotracker | A Fasttracker II style tracker for the Nintendo DS | |
| bintracker | a cross-platform chiptune music tracker written in Chicken Scheme | ||
| PLEBTracker | a terminal-based tracker | ||
| furnace | a multi-system chiptune tracker | ||
| 2024 | LittleGPTracker | a fork of the original LGPT | |
| 2025 | nitroustracker | a Fasttracker II-style tracker for the Nintendo DS | |
| Tutorial | 2021 | Learning Music | One of Ableton’s great online tutorials on the basics of electronic music |
| Learning Synths | Another Ableton online tutorials on the basics of electronic music |