This is a list of notable software for creating, performing, learning, analyzing, researching, broadcasting and editing music. This article only includes software, not services. For streaming services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora, Prime Music, and Spotify, see Comparison of on-demand streaming music services. For storage, uploading, downloading and streaming of music via the cloud, see Comparison of online music lockers. Although this field is only 46 years old, this list does not include discontinued historic or legacy software, with the exception of trackers that are still supported.[1][2] For example, the company Ars Nova produces music education software, and its software program Practica Musica has remnants of the historic Palestrina software. Practica will be listed here, but not Palestrina.[3] If a program fits dozens of categories, such as a comprehensive DAW or a foundation programming language (e.g. Pure Data), listing is limited to its top three categories.
Types of music software
Analog-to-digital conversion software
- MATLAB music software Plug-in (computing)[lower-alpha 1]
- Julia (programming language) (MIT freeware, new, high level dynamic programming language competing with MATLAB and GNU Octave as well as R. All three of these are general dynamic programming platforms, so the many music applications are plugins. In particular, some new Julia plugins are statistical AI platforms ideal for music, for example, ApproxFun, the Julia ChebFun clone).
- SynthFont (a MIDI to WAV converter, Virtual Studio Technology instruments can be used instead of source files)
- ADCPro (Texas Instruments)
- Sound Forge (Vinyl Restoration)[lower-alpha 2]
- Tube Saturator (Wave Arts TS-2 digital analog simulation and conversion software)
- Audacity
- Brasero
- CDex
- Diamond Cut Audio Restoration Tools (Specialty software for old record and gramophone restoration)
- Exact Audio Copy
- FFmpeg
- foobar2000
- FormatFactory
- Freemake Audio Converter
- FreeRIP
- Free Studio
- fre:ac
- iTunes
- k3b
- Linear Technology (a/d, circuit software, and many others. Their SPICE freeware has numerous music plug-ins for music circuit design)
- MediaCoder
- MediaMonkey
- SoX
- VLC Media Player
- Winamp
- WMA Convert
- XMedia Recode
Choir and learn-to-sing software
- This section includes both choir software and learn-to-sing software. For music learning software, see music education software.
Main articles:
Choir and
Vocal coach
Chord Progression software
- ChordPulse
- Cognitone
- Harmony Builder
- Hookpad
- Liquid Notes
- SongFrame
Digital audio workstation (DAW) software
Computer music software
Main article:
Computer music
Instrument simulation software
Internet, RSS, Broadcast Music Software
This section only includes software, not services. For services programs like Spotify, Pandora, Prime Music, etc. see Comparison of on-demand streaming music services. Likewise, list includes music RSS apps, widgets and software, but for a list of actual feeds, see Comparison of feed aggregators. For music broadcast software lists in the cloud, see Content delivery network and Comparison of online music lockers.
Lyrics and Vocals
MIDI plug-ins
Main article:
Audio plug-in
Music analysis software
Music circuit software
Music composing software
Music education software
- EarMaster
- InstrumentChamp (video game for also acoustic guitar, and piano, drum, sax and trumpet; multiplayer)
- MuseScore
- Practica Musica (Part of a family of music education software from Ars Nova)[24]
- Reaktor (software creation of nearly every instrument; reverse engineering encouraged)
- Rocksmith (video game with emphasis on instructional aspects; unique in that controller can be any electric guitar w/ 1/4" jack)
- Synthesia (video game with piano instruction aspects)
- WaveSurfer (studies of acoustic phonetics)
- Yousician (educational game to learn to play guitar and piano)
Music gaming software
Music mathematics software
- Julia (programming language) (MIT freeware, new, high level dynamic programming language competing with R (programming language), MATLAB and GNU Octave. All three of these are general dynamic programming platforms, so the many music applications are plugins. In particular, some new Julia plugins are statistical AI platforms ideal for music, for example, ApproxFun, the Julia ChebFun clone).
- Math to music conversion algorithms[21]
- Max (Musimathics software, Pure Data predecessor)[22]
- Mind research software (US inner city project teaching mathematics via Pro Tools music software)[25]
- Music math (v. 4.0 current, Macintosh)[26]
- Musimat (by Gareth Loy)[27]
- Scala, a program for creating and analysing musical scales
- Timbre analysis using Math software. Unlike other more relatively "settled" topics in music, timbre (especially Harmonics), relating to characteristics of different instruments and the human voice, was a more subjective and controversial area of music analysis until recent advances in Fourier analysis (mathematics) allowed objective analysis and descriptions of overtones, envelope, etc. These advances utilize a wide variety of software programs, found in the list of lists at Mathematical software)
Music mining software
Main article:
Data mining
Music mining is a relatively new field of research and application under Music informatics, Data mining and, more generally, Signal processing. Commercially, music mining software is used to select and predict patterns that then enhance suggestions based on previous choices. In research, music mining is similar to data mining as a pattern recognition and sorting / classifying discipline, however, music mining also includes automated music analysis based on underlying mathematical and statistical patterns, extending and augmenting the traditional analysis of harmony, melody, timbre, rhythm, etc. found in Music Analysis (For example, signal processing of radio waves has no subjective emotional component or preference, whereas music mining and processing do, since radio waves cannot be heard by humans, and music frequencies and amplitudes can. This is a controversial and unsettled component of music mining research). Since this field is so new, many of the academic software programs (a majority GNU / freeware)[28] do not yet have wiki articles; see the references and links for examples.[29][30][31]
- Automatic content recognition E.g.:Beatgrid Media (TV an Music Sound identification with SDK for iOS, Android, Java,.Net and end solutions for broadcast ad monitoring and Passive Media Monitoring for Mobile Survey apps), ACRCloud (Supports iOS, Android, Java, Python Sdks for music identification and channel monitoring),
- ThemeFinder.org[19] is web-based software for music mining based on Parsons code
- BurgSys (Third party developer for RapidMiner)[32] Although RapidMiner is commercial, previous releases are available open source as Affero General Public Licenses.
- Greenstone[33]
- Mining Music (MuSort - MuMiner - MathaMusic)[14]
- IMARS (IBM Developer projects)[34]
- jMIR (For Java Music Information Retrieval, Freeware)[35]
- The open source, free statistical software programming language R, from Revolution Analytics, has numerous developmental plugins for both data and music mining[36]
- Julia (programming language) also is now competing with R, as well as able to call it, and most of its plugins.
Music notation software
Main article:
Scorewriter
Music performance/ DJ / VJ software
Main article:
Disc jockey
Music player software
Music research software
- CCRMA Software (Stanford)[42]
- CSSE Research (University of Canterbury)[43]
- Humdrum (Ohio State)[44]
- Interrogation software for qualitative research in music education (Oxford)[45]
- List of music research software tools (MIR project, France, in English)[46]
- ScoreCloud (Notation research)[47]
- Semantic Web (University of London)[48]
- Sketcher (Ubuntu Linux, University of Sheffield freeware)[49]
- SoundSmith (Microsoft, education and research)[50]
- SoundSoftware (University of London)[51]
- TapeUtape (Percussion research)[52]
- Xtrends - Cornerstone (Mining and research, focused on radio hooks)[53]
Music technology, synthesis and o/s software
Music visualization software
- Advanced Visualization Studio (Justin Frankel) (platform: Windows)
- Cthugha (1993, Kevin "Zaph" Burfitt) (platform: DOS)
- Magic Music Visuals (2012-2015, Color & Music, LLC) (platforms: Windows, OS X)
- MilkDrop (2001-2012, Ryan Geiss) reimplemented as projectM (platforms: Windows, Linux, Android)
- Music Animation Machine (1985-2013) visualizes MIDI, rather than waveforms.[54]
- Neon (2004, Jeff Minter and Ivan Zorzin) (platform: Xbox 360)
- Psychedelia, (1984, Jeff Minter), an early "light synthesizer", did not use audio input but was designed to create visualizations in accompaniment to music.
- Pure Data (e.g. visualization of incoming music signals)
- G-Force (2000, Andy O'Meara, SoundSpectrum) (platforms: Windows)
- Virtual Light Machine (1990, Jeff Minter) (platform: Atari Jaguar)
- Visual Music Tone Painter (1992–2004, Stephen Nachmanovitch)[55]
- Vsxu (2003-2014, Vovoid) (platforms: Windows, Linux)
This section is about music orchestration software.
For orchestration software as used in information technology, see
Orchestration (computing).
- Antescofo
- Garritan Personal Orchestra (MIDI sampling-sequencing codebase in Aria virtual player)
- IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik Classik Edition (Virtual orchestra)[56]
- IRCAM
- OpenMusic
- Orchidée
- Pizzicato (brand name, not the style of plucking certain string instruments)[57]
- Reaktor (software creation of nearly every instrument)
- Secret Composer[58]
- Vienna Symphonic Orchestra Library Software[59]
Drums and Percussion
Full orchestra
- Reaktor (Software creation of nearly every instrument)
- Reason (software) (also a DAW; instruments are called ReFills)(This software is often paired and integrated with Record)
Guitar
Piano
Pipe organ
- Aeolus (organ simulator) open source pipe organ emulator that uses synthesis rather than sampling.
- Hauptwerk produces audio in response to MIDI signal from attached keyboard or from a MIDI sequencer. Most software organs have only a few organ sounds, such as "Church Organ", "Jazz Organ", etc. A Hauptwerk virtual pipe organ has samples of every note of every included rank (or set) of pipes, and each stop can be programmed individually, allowing the player to use sampled organ stops separately or combine them into an ensemble.[60]
Robotic music software
- Emi (David Cope's Emily Howell predecessor, stands for Experiments in Musical Intelligence, pronounced Emmy)
- Ludwig (AI song arrangement software)[61]
- Melomics (Robotic musicians driven by learning algorithm software. Includes numerous public domain pieces[62]
- OrchExtra (automated production of musicals by adding "robotic" instruments (or software "players") to augment ensembles that have too few orchestra members)[63]
- Z-Machines[64]
Samplers and Sequencers
- Comprehensive List of Spiders (Music software agents, RSS, search and monitoring can be selected in many)[16]
- Electribe
- Emulator X3 (E-MU)
- FeedWind (RSS aggregator app/widget and custom spiders)[17]
- HALion 3 (Steinberg)
- Independence Pro (Yellow Tools)
- Kontakt - all versions (Native Instruments)
- Mach Five 2 (MOTU)
- Melodo
- Morgana (112db)
- Music sequencer (Article includes extensive list)
- Propellerhead (Now included in the DAW Reason (software))
- Rax'N'Trax
- SiteSpider (Software that can search websites for user defined music categories)[18]
- SoundFont (Integrates synthesized/sampled MIDI files with recorded music)
- Structure (Avid)
- The Core Kit (vi-elements)
Soundtrack creation software
Svapnesh bhai
Trackers
Main article:
Music tracker
Name |
Latest update |
License |
OS versions |
File format support |
VST support |
ASIO output |
Windows |
OS X |
Linux |
MID |
MOD |
XM |
IT |
S3M |
Renoise |
2014-04 |
Commercial |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Load |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
OpenMPT |
2015-04 |
BSD |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
SoundTracker (beta) |
2006-02 |
GPL |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
MilkyTracker |
2013-11 |
GPL |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Load |
Load |
No |
Yes |
Buzztrax |
2013-03 |
LGPL |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Load |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
ChibiTracker |
2008-03 |
GPL |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Load |
Yes |
Yes |
Load |
No |
No |
SunVox |
2014-02 |
Freeware |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Load |
Load |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Psycle |
2009-11 |
GPL |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Load |
Yes |
Load |
Load |
Yes |
Yes |
Schism Tracker |
2014-12 |
GPL |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
MadTracker |
2006-02 |
Commercial |
Yes |
No |
No |
Load |
Load |
Yes |
Load |
Load |
Yes |
Yes |
Buze (beta) |
2014-02 |
GPL / BSD |
Yes |
No |
No |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Radium |
2015-05 |
GPL |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Load |
No |
Load XI |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
SVArTracker |
2015-06 |
Commercial |
Yes |
No |
No |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Load |
Yes |
Yes |
Virtual Synthesizer and Studio Software
- Category:Software synthesizers
- Amsynth
- Analog Lab
- ARP 2600 V
- CS-80 V
- Jupiter-8 V
- Matrix12 V
- Mini V
- Minimoog
- Moog Modular V
- Oberheim SEM V
- Prophet V
- Reaktor (Software creation of nearly every instrument; reverse engineering encouraged. Includes a free version with limited features- Reaktor player)
- Reason (software) (Both a DAW and virtual Recording studio)(This software is often paired and integrated with Record)
- Solina V
- Vox Continental V
- Wurlitzer V
- ZynAddSubFX
See also
Notes
- ↑ There are numerous MATLAB plugins for music. For example, although linear-phase bidirectional digital a/d filters are impossible (due to non symmetric impulse responses by recursive filters), MATLAB plugins can create very good digital approximations of analog output, even forward-backward, with a zero phase filter used twice. See Smith, p. 228, Introduction to Digital Filters, ISBN 978-0-9745607-1-7, 2012. Many of these plugins also run on GNU Octave if you don't have access to MATLAB.
- ↑ For a more general list of conversion software, see List of audio conversion software. Vinyl restoration (as well as audio cassette conversion software) is a specific type of conversion that involves analog to digital as well as file formatting software (converting old vinyl records to digital file formats), which includes multiple steps, including both DAWs and A/D filters. A tutorial can be found on CNET.
- ↑ VJ performance software is highly diverse, many applications are developed by VJs themselves specifically to suit their own performance style. Graphical programming environments such as Max/MSP/Jitter, vvvv, Isadora, Pure Data and Touch Designer have developed to facilitate rapid development of such custom software without needing years of coding experience.
References
- ↑ "Short History of Computer Music". UCSC.edu. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ↑ "The 14 pieces of software that shaped modern music". FactMag.com. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ↑ Walter B. Hewlett, Computing in Musicology, 1990, p. 112, Stanford Music Lab, Menlo Park, CA. Ars Nova (educational music software company, not music style) is at Ars Nova Software
- ↑ Free Sourceforge Canta download
- ↑ ChoralNet music software list for Choir directors
- ↑ Choir Pro website and Virtual Ensemble
- ↑ eMedia learn to sing software website
- ↑ Singing Coach website
- ↑ Syphonic Choirs website
- ↑ Choir and learn to sing website
- ↑ Voices Complete website
- ↑ Voxos specifications at Sweetwater
- ↑ FL Studio 12 Accessed October 27, 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 "Welcome to Shader Joe's Studios". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ↑ Rosegarden free Linux DAW website
- 1 2 "List of User-Agents (Spiders, Robots, Browser)". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- 1 2 FeedWind download/html code site
- 1 2 Trellian. "Trellian Software - Site Spider Web Crawling and Search Software". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- 1 2 ThemeFinder.org site
- 1 2 BTVSolo Software website
- 1 2 Math to music algorithms
- 1 2 3 Online history of Max
- ↑ Temper website at ARP
- ↑ Ars Nova company link
- ↑ Mind research YouTube collection of secondary news report citations
- ↑ Music Math 4.0 Specifications at Hitsquad
- ↑ Musimathics website, freeware download
- ↑ "A Survey of Music Data Mining". FIU.edu. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
- ↑ Alexander Lerch, An Introduction to Audio content analysis; applications in signal processing and Music Informatics, Wiley, 2012, ISBN 978-1118266823; Software lists are on pp. 201-206, including SDKs, although not indexed
- ↑ Meinard Müller, Information Retrieval for Music and Motion, Springer, 2007, ISBN 978-3540740476
- ↑ Tao Li, Music Data Mining, CRC Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1439835524; p.68, a list of music mining software /references, is available on Google books at List of music mining academic software
- ↑ "Image Analysis Software for RapidMiner - BurgSys". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ↑ PDF on music informatics aspects of Greenstone software library
- ↑ "IBM Multimedia Analysis and Retrieval System (IMARS) - IBM". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ↑ "Overview". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ↑ "RDataMining.com: R and Data Mining". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ↑ Myriad website
- ↑ From the article, this also is a DAW.
- 1 2 TablEdit download site
- ↑ Paul Spinrad, The VJ Book, 2005, feralhouse, ISBN 1-932595-09-0
- ↑ "Pioneer to Spin Off DJ Audio Unit to KKR". Reuters. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ↑ CCRMA Software download site
- ↑ CSSE Website
- ↑ Humdrum website
- ↑ Qualitative Research Software Article and Site-- Music Education Research
- ↑ Music research software list
- ↑ ScoreCloud website
- ↑ Music Software and Semantic web article
- ↑ Sketcher Download site
- ↑ SoundSmith website at Microsoft Research
- ↑ Soundsoftware website and downloads
- ↑ Percussion software tutorial
- ↑ Cornerstone website
- ↑ Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities (1992). Computing in musicology, Volume 8. ISBN 978-0-936943-06-0.
- ↑ "Intelligence, new visions of artificial intelligence in practice" 11. Association for Computing Machinery. 2000.
- ↑ IK Multimedia Orchestration website
- ↑ Pizzicato software review
- ↑ Secret Composer Website
- ↑ Vienna Software Website
- ↑ Thomas Wichmann, The Hauptwerk Computer Program, Review in "The American Organist" 2004 July
- ↑ Ludwig description and download site
- ↑ Melomics downloads and examples
- ↑ Online video demo of OrchExtra
- ↑ Z machines CNN News Article
- ↑ VST plug-ins
External links
- Top 10 DAWs ranked
- Free Sonicvisualiser open source download
- AC Toolbox, Algorithmic Composition Toolbox, a free software tool for algorithmic composition.
- AISings an online service that automatically generates new music influenced by MIDI files selected by the user
- BreathCube A vocal algorithmic music generation engine (Windows file)
- Buddha Orchestra Windows and Ubuntu freeware that converts outlines of objects found in images to MIDI and OSC events.
- cgMusic is a free, extensible algorithmic composition program that can create tonal music in various styles. MIDI and MP3 samples are available on the website.
- QGen2 an algorithmic composition program written by Alexey Arkhipenko (Rhaos project)
- Fractal Tune Smithy an algorithmic composition program written by Robert Walker - see also Tune Smithy
- Fractal Music Composer by Michael Frame, Ginger Booth, and Harlan Brothers (Java)
- Harmony Improvisator, a VST plugin that composes with the rules of classical harmonic theory
- Intermorphic Noatikl, Noatikl is an algorithmic / trans-generative creativity system for Mac and Windows with VST, AU unit plugins, and is successor to Koan.
- Intermorphic Mixtikl, Mixtikl is a 12 track generative music lab with integrated Noatikl algorithmic engine for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and Windows with web browser, VST and AU unit plugins.
- Lexikon-Sonate for computer-controlled piano by Karlheinz Essl (freeware for MacOS)
- MaestroGenesis MaestroGenesis is a freely available tool developed by the Evolutionary Complexity Research Group that helps amateur musicians compose and generate musical ideas.
- Musical Algorithms An interactive exploration of the relationship between music and mathematical formulas funded by the Northwest Academic Computing Consortium, project directed by Jonathan N. Middleton.
- Strasheela, a composition system that uses constraint programming and supports highly complex rule-based music theories (e.g. harmony).
- WolframTones, an algorithmic composer based on 1-dimensional cellular automata.
- Impromptu - A programming environment for real-time algorithmic composition.
- MusiNum Software to make music using number patterns.
- SoundHelix A free Java framework for algorithmic random music composition based on constrained random generation (CRG). Plays generated music on MIDI devices in real-time and can write MIDI files.
- RGB MusicLab Image data into a music. (MacOS and Windows)
- Easy Music Composer Easy Music Composer is a tool that makes music easily.
- Computoser – An online service that generates algorithmic music with no human input.
- Melomics – Online browser and API to adapt multiple genres, tempos, and dynamics for the one of the world's largest repositories of music.
- Scripthica – A web environment for learning, listening, sharing and creating algorithmic computer music.
- SVArTracker - Impulse Tracker like DAW with VST support
|
---|
| People | | |
---|
| Programs and instruments | |
---|
| Places | |
---|
| Techniques | |
---|
| Compositions | |
---|
|
|
---|
| People | | |
---|
| Compositions | |
---|
| Techniques | |
---|
| Instruments | |
---|
| Inactive organizations | |
---|
| Active organizations | |
---|
|