Linux music software for kids
May 7, 2023 7:53 AM Subscribe
Hi all, my 11yo kid is learning the piano and enjoys noodling, maybe more than learning classical pieces. He also loves any music with strong rhythm. What would be some good software for him to create music? It should be on Linux (Ubuntu-based) and ideally would be easy for beginners.
He plays on a Kawai CA79 electric piano which has midi capabilities so any software which could use this (and any advice on how to set this up, including necessary hardware) is very welcome. Thanks!
Best answer: Reaper plays well with Linux. It's not the most user-friendly DAW but it has the advantage of a free unlimited trial and dirt cheap ($60) personal license.
Part of the problem here is there's a zillion different things y'all may want to do (use softsynths for cool sounds, make beats to accompany, record audio in, arrange/mix/produce tracks, program the computer to play various things for you, etc). So if you can say a little more about what you want to do, you may get better answers.
That's a very nice piano, it can send midi over usb, you may want to look into whether it can send its audio over usb too. If not, you'll need an audio interface to get the sound into the box.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:07 AM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Part of the problem here is there's a zillion different things y'all may want to do (use softsynths for cool sounds, make beats to accompany, record audio in, arrange/mix/produce tracks, program the computer to play various things for you, etc). So if you can say a little more about what you want to do, you may get better answers.
That's a very nice piano, it can send midi over usb, you may want to look into whether it can send its audio over usb too. If not, you'll need an audio interface to get the sound into the box.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:07 AM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: SunVox is a free/cheap tracker and modular synth style DAW. There are also a lot of other odd ball music tools there.
Bitwig is the closest thing to an Ableton style DAW you're going to find for Linux and priced that way.
Bespoke looks like good weird fun and is free.
posted by clockwork at 11:41 AM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Bitwig is the closest thing to an Ableton style DAW you're going to find for Linux and priced that way.
Bespoke looks like good weird fun and is free.
posted by clockwork at 11:41 AM on May 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Be prepared for midi on Linux to be resolutely far too difficult. I am clearly Doing Something Wrong, but the best I've ever managed to get out of a midi keyboard + Ubuntu involves 1+ second latency on keystrokes.
posted by scruss at 1:34 PM on May 7, 2023
posted by scruss at 1:34 PM on May 7, 2023
Happy user of Ubuntu Studio here. I haven't had scruss's latency problems, but have sometimes found midi a bit fiddly. I have a Yamaha portable digital piano (don't remember the model and I'm not at home) and an external midi-USB interface, which you won't need as your piano is more recent than mine.
Usually when I hook up the keyboard to the computer it's to have some synth fun!
I don't do a ton of recording, but use Ardour as a DAW when I do. You might want to check out this Ardour MIDI Masterclass video to get some idea of things that can be done.
posted by inexorably_forward at 6:51 PM on May 7, 2023
Usually when I hook up the keyboard to the computer it's to have some synth fun!
I don't do a ton of recording, but use Ardour as a DAW when I do. You might want to check out this Ardour MIDI Masterclass video to get some idea of things that can be done.
posted by inexorably_forward at 6:51 PM on May 7, 2023
Yeah, sorry scruss but MIDI is basically just a fast serial port. Back in the day it was the first project I built for like $20 most of which was for the box and connectors and a board etching kit. If you're having a 1+ second delay you have something broken in your setup. MIDI is less than a USB mouse or keyboard bitwise banwithwise and 1+ second latency is just broken something or another.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:15 AM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 2:15 AM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
It has been a fat minute since I noodled on the computer with a MIDI keyboard. But a favorite of mine was Denemo, which is actually a notation editor. (I never quite figured out DAWs/digital audio workstations. I think they're overkill for a kid just starting out.) Sounds boring, but it was super easy to pick up since I knew how to read sheet music: just write the sheet music on the computer! Another one is MuseScore, which was required for a music theory class.
Both support MIDI input, although I usually ended up with one hand on the piano keyboard (for pitch) and the other on the computer keyboard (for rhythm). Again, the learning curve was practically zero. I transcribed a lot of my music books so I could hear them. And if I found a MIDI of a song I liked online, it could sometimes be imported into the software for me to rearrange.
According to the piano's manual, you don't need a special cable to use MIDI, just a USB type B. These are often used for printers! You may already have one. Bluetooth MIDI is also an option, but I've never used it. There are MIDI apps on mobile, too, and for those it's probably less fiddly.
posted by squelch at 7:21 AM on May 8, 2023
Both support MIDI input, although I usually ended up with one hand on the piano keyboard (for pitch) and the other on the computer keyboard (for rhythm). Again, the learning curve was practically zero. I transcribed a lot of my music books so I could hear them. And if I found a MIDI of a song I liked online, it could sometimes be imported into the software for me to rearrange.
According to the piano's manual, you don't need a special cable to use MIDI, just a USB type B. These are often used for printers! You may already have one. Bluetooth MIDI is also an option, but I've never used it. There are MIDI apps on mobile, too, and for those it's probably less fiddly.
posted by squelch at 7:21 AM on May 8, 2023
Response by poster: Thank you all for the ideas! I'll try to be more precise, following SaltySalticid's suggestion. I was thinking of:
- make some beats;
- record in some audio and/or midi;
- arrange everything together.
I started writing this and then spent some time following links around. I think for the moment I'll try a few things in parallel:
- things like Sunvox and Bespoke do look like a lot of fun, so see with my son if he enjoys fiddling with that (thanks clockwork);
- install LMMS (thanks Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon) and see if it's not too complex to set it up with the piano, I do have a USB type B cable from a printer (thanks squelch);.
I'll see if I get more suggestions but thank you all again, I've already got lots of things to check out!
posted by anzen-dai-ichi at 5:35 AM on May 9, 2023
- make some beats;
- record in some audio and/or midi;
- arrange everything together.
I started writing this and then spent some time following links around. I think for the moment I'll try a few things in parallel:
- things like Sunvox and Bespoke do look like a lot of fun, so see with my son if he enjoys fiddling with that (thanks clockwork);
- install LMMS (thanks Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon) and see if it's not too complex to set it up with the piano, I do have a USB type B cable from a printer (thanks squelch);.
I'll see if I get more suggestions but thank you all again, I've already got lots of things to check out!
posted by anzen-dai-ichi at 5:35 AM on May 9, 2023
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posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 11:02 AM on May 7, 2023