One 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 | |
| 2020-01 | Waveform Free | free DAW that runs on Linux (including the Raspberry Pi) | |
| Editors | 2021 | MuseScore | likely the best open source music score editor out there |
| Instruments | 2019-12 | Layers | free orchestral music VST |
| 2020 | minibit | a VST for chiptune instruments | |
| SunVox | a cross-platform modular synth that includes a tracker | ||
| 2020-05 | Zebralette | free VST | |
| PianoBook | Free downloadable EXS24 and Kontakt sampled instruments (mostly pianos) | ||
| 2021 | a pretty popular free VST for Mac, Windows and Linux | ||
| Patches | 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 | ||
| Samples | 2020 | BBC sound effects | copyrighted but free for personal/educational use |
| 2021 | FreeSound | Creative Commons licensed samples and loops | |
| Scores | 2019-06 | El Atril | free sheet music |
| Mutopia | Free classical and contemporary sheet music | ||
| 2020 | IMSLP | The Petrucci Public Domain Music Library | |
| The Mayron Cole Piano Method | has a number of simple piano scores for kids | ||
| Sequencers | 2022 | Ossia Score | a sequencer for audio-visual artists, designed to create interactive shows leveraging DMX, OSC, MIDI, etc. |
| Synths | 2020 | Vital | MPE support |
| 2021 | Ensembles | a FluidSynth-based arrangement workstation for Linux | |
| MT-32 Pi | a work-in-progress 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 | ||
| Helm | a free cross-platform software synth that can be used as a VST | ||
| Tools | 2019-06 | Musical Chord Progression Arpeggiator | |
| 2020 | 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 | ||
| Tutorial | 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 |