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This list of free software for audio lists notable free software for use by sound engineers, audio producers, and those involved in sound recording and reproduction.
Contents |
Audio analysis
- See also: Spectrum analyzer
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praat | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL | |||
| WaveSurfer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Permissive free software | |||
| Japa | (site) | Yes | for equalization of sound systems and other similar uses |
Converters
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MediaCoder | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Audio & video. Batch mode. Uses Windows codecs. | Mozilla Public License | |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Audio & video. | GPL | |
| WinLAME | Michael Fink | No | No | No | Yes | Easy interface. | GNU |
| BonkEnc | Robert Kausch | No | No | No | Yes | GPL |
Modular systems
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jMax | Yes | no longer supported | LGPL | ||||
| SynFactory | No | No | No | Yes | GPL | ||
| aRts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | GPL |
Platforms
Various projects have formed to integrate the existing free software audio packages.
| Name | Creator | Description | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Studio | Linux distribution | various | ||
| dyne:bolic | Linux distribution | various | ||
| AGNULA | Linux distribution | |||
| Musix | Linux distribution | various | ||
| 64 Studio | Linux distribution | |||
| Planet CCRMA | set of packages (in RPM format) |
Programming languages
Many computer music programming languages are implemented in free software.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Csound | LGPL | ||||||
| SuperCollider | GPL | ||||||
| ChucK | GPL | ||||||
| Nyquist | |||||||
| Pure Data |
Radio broadcasting
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SomaPlayer | Yes | No | No | radio broadcasting scheduler automation | ||
| Campcaster | Yes | No | No |
Recording and editing
The following packages are digital audio editors.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardour | Paul Davis | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | multi-track audio recorder |
| Audacity | Dominic Mazzoni | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Audiobook Cutter Free Edition | No | No | No | Yes | MP3 audiobook splitter | |
| Ecasound | Yes | Yes | No | audio recorder | ||
| Freecycle | Yes | No | No | beat slicer | ||
| Jokosher | Jokosher community | Yes | No | No | multi-track audio editor | |
| LMMS | Tobias Doerffel | Yes | Yes as of 0.4.0 with Qt4 | Yes as of 0.4.0 with Qt4 | Intended as a replacement for Cubase-like software (DAW) | |
| Mp3splt | Yes | Yes | Yes | splits MP3 and Vorbis files without decoding (see mp3splt-gtk and libmp3splt) | ||
| MusE | Yes | No | No | MIDI sequencer | ||
| Qtractor | Yes | No | No | A non-destructive multi-track audio and MIDI Workstation (DAW) | ||
| ReZound | Davy Durham | Yes | No | No | No | Graphical audio file editor |
| Rosegarden | Yes | No | No | MIDI sequencer and multi-track recorder | ||
| SoX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | command-line multi-track audio editor/processor | |
| Sweep | Conrad Parker | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| WaveSurfer | Centre for Speech Technology at KTH | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Softsynths
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZynAddSubFX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mac OS X version is limited |
Streaming
These programs are for use with streaming audio.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icecast | Yes | Yes | Yes | a broadcast server, serves audio signals to clients over the HTTP protocol | ||
| PeerCast | Yes | Yes | Yes | a peercasting tool | ||
| Firefly Media Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | streams music to DAAP clients like iTunes and Rhythmbox | ||
| VideoLAN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | media and server programs for video and audio streaming |
Technologies
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) | Yes | a sound card management system in the Linux kernel | ||||
| DSSI | Yes | a plugin architecture for software synthesizers | ||||
| GStreamer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | a graph-based multimedia framework | |
| JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK) | Yes | a sound server | ||||
| Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API (LADSPA) | Yes | a plugin architecture for digital signal processing | ||||
| Open Sound System | Yes | Yes | a standard interface for making and capturing sound in Unix operating systems | |||
| PulseAudio | Yes | a sound server |
Trackers
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buzztard | Yes | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Buzz clone | |
| CheeseTracker | Yes | Yes | No | Impulse Tracker clone | ||
| MilkyTracker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also runs on various other platforms including but not limited to Windows Mobile, Playstation and AmigaOS 4. | |
| ModPlug Tracker | No | No | No | Yes | released as free software in 2004 | |
| Psycle | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | a tracker combined with modular capabilities | |
| SoundTracker | Fast Tracker clone |
Other
| Name | Creator | Linux? | Mac OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| abc notation | ||||||
| Gnaural. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Binaural beat and pink noise generator | |
| Hydrogen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | an advanced drum machine | |
| libsndfile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | library for reading and writing many sound formats |
