what is THE Gimp/ Blender of Music Composition???

okay.. this is something i never know..
im sure you guys know what it is.

what is THE GIMP / Blender .... but of music composition software??

i mean, they are free to use, and, actually i really prefer gimp and blender over their alternatives quite alot... lol mainly because its the ones ive become good at...

but what is the best music composition software thats free, and the best??
or at least one or the other ... i have no idea, theres so many, id have to try so many before id find the right one...

i guess it depends huh... well, im looking for computer generated music... because i have no instrument talent, but ive messed around alot with different composition softwares, and taken a class before in HS.
(lol i was the only A+ in the class heheh) .. but i know that program is surely outdated, and it was like $200+
, thanks!

 

I use Presonus Studio One and it's really awesome, they have a free version you can download from...
http://www.presonus.com/products/studio-one/download

Obviously if you want more features you can upgrade but it's really cool software.

 

REAPER! I didn't use it till this past year, but I love it.
http://www.reaper.fm/

Technically there is a purchasable license if your a nice guy and can afford the 60$ (make under 20,000 a year) after the 60 day trial. They will never enforce it on you though, they don't think that way. The "WinRar" style license. If you make more than 20,000 then it's 225.

 

+1

if you want to do chiptunes, milkytracker

 

Presonus free, is not suitable for the midi/tracker workflow use. Presonus, althoug it's very good, is more geared towards audio based recording, than anything else. (although Presonus, in some way offers midi, it's very very basic in features, still)

Anyway..
here is a list of other tools for computer based music (midi/tracker alike).
Classification:
- midi/audio workflow: where you are supposed to acutally play the music (midi/audio recording), for midi you are suppose to use a midi controller keyboard or midi synthesizer/keyboard
- tracker/piano roll workflow: where you create music by dragging "tones" on a grid, callled a piano roll, and visually create music, instead of playing. no midi keyboard required.


It depends on what you want to accomplish now, or in the near future (always be on the lookout of future needs).


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Anyway some free music creation tools (midi/audio/tracker):

note: i don't know any windows/OSX DAW's that are free... listed are Linux based.

LMMS (tracker based, FL Studio like)

Rosegarden (pure midi workflow)

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some cheap/ semi cheap Tracker/Midi suites, which means starter/beginner/lite versions of the big toys(see further down the list) These "cheap" versions can offer you a great starting point:

Reaper (approx 60USD), midi/audio workflow orientated (piano roll is present), quite feature rich, low resource use. Is known for an " odd" interface/workflow. Good quality.

Fruity edition of FL studio (approx 99USD) (good tracker/piano roll orientated software, used quite alot among non instrument players.)

Cubase Elements 7 (approx 99USD) (lite editon of Cubase 7, not 7.5, yet only stripped in features not quality, more midi (elements/artist version has only midi in)/audio orientated workflow, than piano roll comping, piano roll is present)

Live intro (approx 100 USD) (lite version of live 9 midi/audio/tracker orientated DAW, (good quality)

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high end DAW's (higher priced, ofcourse):

Logic Pro X (10) (approx 170USD, OSX ONLY) Apple's current answer to Cubase (6/7), very high quality, used in many big productions/studios. (As musician,, i have used Logic Pro (9) for quite some time)

Cubase 7.5 (approx 500USD) Big brother of Cubase Elements has everything most studios need, very high quality, used in many big production/studios. (As musician, I currently use this myself.)

Protools 11 (approx 600USD) (Still) heavily used DAW by big studios, mainly used for mixing/mastering, but can also do midi (hence less advanced as logic or cubase)

live 9 (approx 400 USD) good quality DAW, mainly designed for live (hence the name) performances, popular by EDM artists.

though there are many many many more... these are the most known in the industry.


NOTE: besides a DAW, you needs sound sources too (e.g. sampled instruments, synths etc) Although many listed DAW's do have these included (in one way or another, quality differs though), it might not be enough for your needs. So keep in mind, you might need to invest in some of those virtual instruments aswel. (there are some very good free ones, but commercial ones tend to be better in general)

E.g. i have bought several virtual instruments, to expand my sound library. (e.g. M1/Wavestation legacy, VSL special editon vol 1(plus), synthmaster, rapture etc etc)

 

Renoise.

 

MilyTracker + Audacity.

 

I use a mix of:

Anvil Studio - Used for writing MIDI music.
SynthFont - Renders MIDI to Ogg Vorbis or MP3 using 'soundfonts'.
Audacity - Post-Production of the generated audio

 

if you mean open source then ardour and audacity, if you mean on linux supported apps, bitwig an upcoming hyped daw.
reaper is great, its free to use with unlimited trial and really low cost/fair pricing. you can always go the route of using lsdj for lowbit chiptunes and try out a great vst called genny(sega genesis vst) by superjoebob, you can even rip out instruments from .vgm(format to store video game music from sega genesis). there is milkytracker, as someone above stated. Another awesome way to do it is to get a voice recorder and get samples of any sounds you can find in RL, from tire squeals, to pennies, and try and make music from it.

 

garage band

 

What?
I've tried many DAW's and making trance/psy is one of my hobbies, I've found Presonus to be excellent for composing tracks/midi.

It's funny how you mention Cubase later in your post as good for midi/tracking as its workflow/UI is nearly identical to tthat of Presonus.

 

Mixcraft isn't free but it is awesome and cheap.

http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft-home/index.htm

 

You need to read in context. I said: "it's more geared towards....." and "in some way offer midi, it's very very basic in features"
And if you add the context, it means simply what the daw is geared towards (in term of focus point), that doesn't mean it is not possible.
(but it's not matured enough in that field when comparing it to the competition)

As for cubase (elements), it has in comparison very advanced midi functionalit (i keep saying presonus, but it's studio one, since presonus is the brand not the product).
This is a hard fact (features), also it is what many midi focussed composers acknowledges.
for that matter, Logic has far better midi functionality too.

I also stated in the cubase elements description: "more midi (elements/artist version has only midi in)/audio orientated workflow, than piano roll comping". I did not say it's, as you state, good for midi/tracker comping. It's good for midi comping.. (slight difference).
So it might be less suited for the OP, since he is seeking for a tracker/piano roll geared DAW in essense.
I also did not say that studio one is a bad product, far from it. But as the things stand now, studio one has a lot to grow in the midi department still.
(and that is not bad at all, since it's relatively a new product, compared to e.g. Logic (even in the c-lab/emagic days before apple) or Cubase.)
I think that within a few years from now, Studio One will be matured enough (in the midi department) to be on par or close to, with the top DAW's (again in midi terms).

To conclude: Studio One is a good product, it can do midi, but it's not the focal point of the product. Audio is it's focal point.
For Midi (in terms of functionality) there are better choices (e.g. logic Pro, Cubase, etc)

note: Neither of the three mentioned DAW's is focussed (in workflow, features, etc) for tracker use, again you can do it, but if you dive a bit deeper in the typical tracker needs, you will see some shortcomings. Although it varies betweeen them in how less suited they are.

Secondly, if the OP happen to like studio one, by all means, use it.
It's the tool that should work for you, not against you. I always say.
My list is just a general starting point, based on experiences from others and from myself (and hard features).

Note: Presonus took elements from different DAW's (GUI wise) and have put in the best of those in Studio one. So it's logical there are some Cubase/Logic Pro GUI things inside Studio one. Hence some devvers where employees at Steinberg before starting cooperative development with presonus and their own devhouse kristal labs to create studio one.
However, Cubase and Studio one are different tools with different main uses, so to speak.


and no offense ment

 

I think we're confusing the crap out of the OP.

At the end of the day he wants something he can easily make music in, I've used a few DAW's and I found Studio One to be one of the most natural/intuitive workflows

Reason probably has the most user friendly UI, but it costs a bit of money.

Best bang for the buck, definately Studio One.

 

@ CaoMengde777

LMMS

If you need any help, I'm always on the Lmms Forums.
My name on the LMMS forum is BrandyStarbrite too.
You'll get plenty of help from us LMMS users.
I recommend downloading the LMMS 0.4.13 version.
It works better than the LMMS 0.4.15.

According to the LMMS developers, a new version has already been announced and is going to be released soon.
Probably much sooner than we think.

Best thing about LMMS is that it's 100% free.
Hope that helps.
Enjoy!!