List of Free or Open Source DAWs, Sequencers, and Hosts for Windows:

[hibidy]

would I just be out of line saying please use the fully functioning unrestricted reaper, but a small amount of time into it and be off to the races?

If you like it it's all of 40 bucks and has great community (not that you can't ask here) and reaper 4 is emiment (for free!)

And why does my computer screen look like a drive in movie Wheres the popcorn and the my date

[spacedad]

false positives?

[Andywanders]

Thanks for taking the time to compile this list. There's quite a few there that I've never seen before and I'm sure others will find this interesting - even useful.



Cheers

[Deathbliss]

OK so I'm back but it will be a while until I have completed the testing of Podium Free, Reaper Free, Macaw and Music Studio Producer. I think that's what I've narrowed down my choices to.

I'm shifting focus to Linux now and will be playing with Ardour and Rosegarden. I managed to get a dual-boot install up and running. I'm using Puppy Studio, and have the ugliest DOS menu in the history of the world, but now I can play around with the Linux side of things. I will provide a complete tutorial and the results of my efforts in another thread.

I learned only one thing from the last two weeks... Never, EVER, re-size a partition you have previously imaged! I don't know about the other backup software out there but Acronis True Image can't restore a backup on anything other then the original partition it was created on!

More later -
- Deathbliss

[Deathbliss]

Bad news on Ardour... I don't know what program the person who recommended this POS is, but the Ardour I have, the Ardour currently released and available on Linux, has no Piano Roll. Any music creation program on any OS without a Piano Roll is garbage to me.

Rosegarden looks an awful lot like Muse on steroids - I forget the name for it it but its one of these programs where you work with a list of sheet music and instruments.

Searching to see if anything else exists on Linux, not holding my breath. Installing things on Linux is a pain in the arse. Reports on Podium Free, the free version of Reaper, and Live Professor later.

You know so far I am seriously discouraged. This has been a lot of work to turn up nothing very good. And this forums just isnt't actove enough for me - I'm not getting the answers I need at my other threads here. So far it's looking like the best solution is to just pirate what I want.

[:x]This whole thing is an old dream of mine. Music has been a part of my life for a long time, and I thought the tools had finally come out which could help me realize my dream. Well they have, but they, with a few exceptions, cost hundreds of dollars. Just like 3DS Max being the best modeller and costing thousands of dollars. I guess if you want anything of any quality, feature set, support, and professional design you have to pay through the nose for it.

I started this thread and this whole stupid quest because I was considering getting FL Studio through less than honest means. I had no intention of using the program for profit. I simply wanted to play with it, try to learn it, and see if I could do anything with it. Chances were pretty strong that I'd try it, use it for a few months, then grow tired of it for some reason or other. But I read their little sttatement at the site and felt sorry for them. I reasoned that I could find something remotely equivalent for free, but I was wrong. I don't blame the coders out there, Microsoft screwed things up with DirectX and all their other APIs. If it's hard to code a game in Windows, it has to be difficult at the very least to code a peice of music creation software. Then you have to have a large community of users who contribute to the program, get the word out so you can get enough donations to run your site, and provide new users with the respources they need to learn the program. It must be a monumntal task, and I appreciate everyone who has unertaken it.[/:x]

Anyhow I have a few more things to do before I can wrap this thing up -
- Deathbliss

[deleted]

DELETED

[pc999]

Bad news on Ardour... I don't know what program the person who recommended this POS is, but the Ardour I have, the Ardour currently released and available on Linux, has no Piano Roll. Any music creation program on any OS without a Piano Roll is garbage to me.

Rosegarden looks an awful lot like Muse on steroids - I forget the name for it it but its one of these programs where you work with a list of sheet music and instruments.

Searching to see if anything else exists on Linux, not holding my breath. Installing things on Linux is a pain in the arse. Reports on Podium Free, the free version of Reaper, and Live Professor later.

I think that Ardour is supposed to get Piano Roll in the next version, which IIRC should be here soon. Check in their forums.

http://www.ardour.org/node/3880

BTW you do have Qtracktor for Linux too

http://qtractor.sourceforge.net/qtractor-index.html

Anyway that is the problem with Linux, there is small investment on serious app for more professional and no power users.

Maybe with the new Ubuntu app store that will change.

But for normal tasks Linux still beat Windows every way, either price/look/speed/ease of use, maybe even functionality.

If I had my DAW on Linux I dont know if even games would keep me on Windows.

You know so far I am seriously discouraged. This has been a lot of work to turn up nothing very good. And this forums just isnt't actove enough for me - I'm not getting the answers I need at my other threads here. So far it's looking like the best solution is to just pirate what I want.

[:x]This whole thing is an old dream of mine. Music has been a part of my life for a long time, and I thought the tools had finally come out which could help me realize my dream. Well they have, but they, with a few exceptions, cost hundreds of dollars. Just like 3DS Max being the best modeller and costing thousands of dollars. I guess if you want anything of any quality, feature set, support, and professional design you have to pay through the nose for it.

I started this thread and this whole stupid quest because I was considering getting FL Studio through less than honest means. I had no intention of using the program for profit. I simply wanted to play with it, try to learn it, and see if I could do anything with it. Chances were pretty strong that I'd try it, use it for a few months, then grow tired of it for some reason or other. But I read their little sttatement at the site and felt sorry for them. I reasoned that I could find something remotely equivalent for free, but I was wrong. I don't blame the coders out there, Microsoft screwed things up with DirectX and all their other APIs. If it's hard to code a game in Windows, it has to be difficult at the very least to code a peice of music creation software. Then you have to have a large community of users who contribute to the program, get the word out so you can get enough donations to run your site, and provide new users with the respources they need to learn the program. It must be a monumntal task, and I appreciate everyone who has unertaken it.[/:x]

Anyhow I have a few more things to do before I can wrap this thing up -
- Deathbliss

Developing a full DAW takes a lot of resources, quite a few people working full time to do it.

That is one of the reasons why many of them cost so much. In the high end you really start to get what you pay for (eg like Gimp vs Photoshop, or Corel vs Inkscape, but there is always company like serif).

But you have cheaper ones (Podium, Reaper, EnergyXT, Mutools, Orion) or Lite/LE Versions of almost everything else (ableton Live, Sonar, Cubase....).

If you can someday buy any of them it will feel like well spent money.

Or at least try to commit yourself to buy them in the future

[skipscada]

Why bother?

[spacedad]

i wanted to do a bit of video,so i bought vegas 9 cheap version for about 25 quid.
it doesn't have a feature set like premier,or whatever,i can't do super hd blueray shit,
but if i'd got a big 3000 dollar program,it would have been to complex for me.
vegas is nice and easy for a beginner and gets decent results.
i too tried all the freeware video editors,some of which are good for certain things,but in the end i took peoples advice and i'm getting along with it fine.

[ZooTooK]

You know so far I am seriously discouraged. This has been a lot of work to turn up nothing very good. And this forums just isnt't actove enough for me - I'm not getting the answers I need at my other threads here. So far it's looking like the best solution is to just pirate what I want.

Not only do you want advanced software for free - you want other to look it up for you...

You are aware of the database here at KvR?

http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php?mode=re ... =1&rpp=100

If you buy the magazine Computer Music you get a bunch of software including some versions of Energy XT, Muzys and Mulab. You're not getting it for free as you have to pay for the mag.

There's also a very useful demo version of Renoise http://www.renoise.com/download/renoise/ Now Renoise hasn't a piano roll being a tracker.

IMO your best option is spending $40 on Reaper. Everything else you need in addition you can find for free (synths, FX, loops, samples etc). Using the database here at KvR will help you find what you need.

[trimph1]

You know so far I am seriously discouraged. This has been a lot of work to turn up nothing very good. And this forums just isnt't actove enough for me - I'm not getting the answers I need at my other threads here. So far it's looking like the best solution is to just pirate what I want.

Not only do you want advanced software for free - you want other to look it up for you...

You are aware of the database here at KvR?

http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php?mode=re ... =1&rpp=100

Wow. Lots of crabbiness and bellyaching on this thread...

I'm surprised the "stupid cat" pix haven't showed up yet...

That being said...the database here is a good one for that...might be a good place to start...

[deleted]

DELETED

[trimph1]

I can see an IBTL soon----

[tibah]

You're coming here, mentioning numerous times what an important thread you're about to make, ending up with speaking of pirating? Weird twist of mind.

If you can't get along with using a free host that's fine. They all limited and have some missing features sometimes but you can get your head around producing for free, using free instruments and effects too. There are still pretty cheap hosts like the full version of Podium, Reaper and some lighter version of others. Sonar X1 is just about to be released, which will have also an essential version for 99$. I own Cubase, but also just the essential version which doesn't cost the price of the full version.

If you really would be into music, you would also not even think about pirating and appreciate what developers put into software and support them, that's how I see it. KVR is one of the best forums I know, so you can think that your thread wasn't much appreciated here, however with your last comment you made sure that no one will appreciate more output from you.

[Deathbliss]

OK. In the first place I do not condone or support piracy.

Secondly let me ask you a question... Should an artist be forced not to paint simply because he can't afford brushes, paints, and a canvas? Somebody put a lot of work and money into making those supplies. Certainly they should be paid. But can you honestly say that the needs of the artist must be ignored simply because he can't afford to pursue his creative path?

This is an integral flaw especially in American society. People need things, from simple things like food and clothing to advanced things like replacement hearts and artificial limbs. Yet there are millions of people who can't afford to buy what they need. People who are hard workers, who struggle to support themselves and their families, but who just never have enough money. Our country wastes its resources, and it's particularly harsh to artists. Ever meet a wealthy one?

Thirdly with a few exceptions the software companies, especially the big ones, who have been making audio tools have been doing so for 10 years or more. The price has gone up from that time. For the initial effort, their initial code, they have made back every penny they spent. All these companies are receiving now, outside of what they pay to their employees and for advertising, is pure profit. I'm not about to go feeling sorry for the crew behind FL Studio (for example) because I know all the work that has been put into the program has been paid off, probably 10x over.

Last but not least the community is ignoring their responsibility. Sure making a DAW takes a lot of time and effort. But there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of coders out there, who would be more than willing to make a fully functional professional DAW for free as long as the community using their product supported them. I don't mean just by donations. Video tutorials, written tutorials, suggestions, bug reports, feature requests, positive support - good, useful feedback of all kinds will keep a program alive and healthy for years. Where's the community behind RaxNTrax, Macaw, and these other excellent free programs I found?

These are the things I think about - the questions I ask. They are only my opinions. I have put a tremendous amount of effort here to find a legally free solution to my particular need - the brushes, paints, and canvas I require. I have not given up just yet. My statement regarding piracy was a man that has looked down the road and is not seeing any other solution. It is not of someone on a vessel on the sea somewhere pointing a cannon at some poor defenseless merchant ship. I still have a handful of free, and free version, software to play with. I'm pretty flexible, and will try to use any brush that does what I need.

But what am I supposed to do if the free software available to me does not have the features I need? What if it is too hard to learn, and there are no really good tutorials to teach me? What if they are counter-intuitive to use, taking far too much effort and time to create a simple song? What should I do then? These questions, to my mind, are far more important than, "What if I can't afford it?"

All this said Reaper, FL Studio and I think Podium - the personal use versions - are all sub $100.00 programs and if somehow I manage to earn the money to pay for one of them I will certainly do so. I definitely want to support software creators who give reasonable prices for their programs. And whatever program I buy I will support and become an active member in the community.

Now we've gotten off topic here so I suggest we get back on...
- Deathbliss