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 | Non | a lightweight DAW for Linux |
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| 2020-01 | Waveform Free | free DAW that runs on Linux (including the Raspberry Pi) |
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| 2022 | Ardour | A cross-platform Open Source DAW that runs on ARM64 |
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| Qtractor | A Linux DAW based on Qt |
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| Reaper | A cross-platform Open Source DAW that runs on ARM64 |
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| 2023 | DawDreamer | a Python environment that allows you to host and run VSTs |
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| zrythm | a cross-platform DAW |
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| DIY | picoTracker | An RP2040 hardware tracker (PCB) |
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| 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 |
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| glicol | |||
| 2025 | Strudel | a music programming language that runs in the browser |
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| 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 |
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| 2025 | pico-midi-looper | a MIDI looper based on the RP2040 that supports Bluetooth MIDI |
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| Instruments | 2019-12 | Layers | free orchestral music VST |
| 2020 | minibit | a VST for chiptune instruments |
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| SunVox | a cross-platform modular synth that includes a tracker |
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| 2020-05 | Zebralette | free VST |
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| PianoBook | Free downloadable EXS24 and Kontakt sampled instruments (mostly pianos) |
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| 2021 | Surge | a pretty popular free VST for Mac, Windows and Linux |
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| 2022 | sfzinstruments | Various public domain instruments in SFZ format |
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| 2023 | GrandOrgue | a sample-based church organ simulator |
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| vmpc-juce | an MPC emulator front-end writte in JUCE |
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| visualtracker | an open source modular sequencer with graphical user interface based on Pure Data |
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| Triple Cheese | a free VST synth |
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| Pendulate | |||
| 2024 | WaveTracker | a new open source tracker for Windows (and Linux/WINE) that uses wavetable synthesis and sampling |
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| 2025 | OB-Xd | a free VST synth that emulates the Oberheim OB-X |
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| terpstrakeyboard | a virtual microtonal keyboard webapp |
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| Libraries | 2023 | popsicle | a Python library that tries to wrap |
| pedalboard | a Python library for working with audio, also with VST support |
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| webaudiofont | A browser-based GM set of musical instruments |
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| Patches | 2021 | MobileMusic Pro Free Packs | covers multiple iOS apps |
| PatchStorage | Patches and samples for a number of iOS apps, including Moog synths. |
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| Northern Film Orchestra Orchestral Swells | a set of orchestral samples for Kontakt and DecentSampler |
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| Samples | 2020 | BBC sound effects | copyrighted but free for personal/educational use |
| 2021 | FreeSound | Creative Commons licensed samples and loops |
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| 2023 | sampled | A collection of sampled instruments, loops and impulse responses with open licenses |
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| 2024 | SoundFonts4U | a collection of SoundFonts |
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| Scores | 2019-06 | El Atril | free sheet music |
| Mutopia | Free classical and contemporary sheet music |
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| 2020 | IMSLP | The Petrucci Public Domain Music Library |
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| The Mayron Cole Piano Method | has a number of simple piano scores for kids |
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| 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 |
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| 2024 | seq24 | A family of minimalist MIDI sequencers |
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| Synths | 2020 | Vital | MPE support |
| 2021 | Ensembles | a FluidSynth-based arrangement workstation for Linux |
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| MT-32 Pi | a baremetal MIDI synthesizer for the Raspberry Pi 3 or above, based on Munt, FluidSynth and Circle. |
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| Bespoke Synth | a cross-platform software modular synthesizer with a node-based UI |
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| 2022 | MicroDexed | Dexed for the Teensy 3.x/4.x microcontroller |
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| MicroDexed-touch | Dexed for the Teensy 4.x microcontroller, with a touchscreen UI, a sequencer and a tracker |
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| MiniDexed | Dexed running on baremetal Raspberry Pi |
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| teensy-juno | a Teensy 3.x/4.x-based polyphonic synthesiser, modeled after the Juno 106 |
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| sfizz | A sample based VST instrument that takes SFZ files |
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| Helm | a free cross-platform software synth that can be used as a VST |
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| 2024 | Cardinal | a plugin based on VCVRack |
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| Tools | 2019-06 | Musical Chord Progression Arpeggiator | |
| 2020 | NeuralDX7 | a neural network that generates DX7 sysex patches |
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| ADLplug | a VST that provides a number of FM synth plugins to emulate YMF26XX chips |
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| RNNoise VST | no builds for macOS |
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| stochas | a plugin/VST for stochastic pattern generation |
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| Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard | useful for monitoring device or as a source image for video overlays |
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| Blue Cat Freeware Plugins | a set of free VST/AUs for both Mac and Windows, including a frequency analyzer |
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| 2021 | alda | a text-based programming language for music composition |
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| Elk Audio OS | A Linux distro with a low-latency kernel and Raspberry Pi support for audio HATs |
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| nanostudio-2-sample | SFZ to Obsidian patch converter |
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| pianoplayer | a fingering generator for sheet music |
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| 2022 | JJazzLab-X | Automatic backing track generator |
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| 2024 | Patchbox OS | a Raspberry Pi OS for audio projects |
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| midihum | MIDI humanisation with machine learning |
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| 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 |
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| furnace | another modern tracker for macOS, Linux and Windows |
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| 2023 | nitrotracker | A Fasttracker II style tracker for the Nintendo DS |
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| bintracker | a cross-platform chiptune music tracker written in Chicken Scheme |
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| PLEBTracker | a terminal-based tracker |
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| furnace | a multi-system chiptune tracker |
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| 2024 | LittleGPTracker | a fork of the original LGPT |
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| 2025 | nitroustracker | a Fasttracker II-style tracker for the Nintendo DS |
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| 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 |