Recommendations for freeware PC music composition software?

August 16, 2008 2:02 AM

Soundtrackers and music composition software - OctaMED for today?

Back in the day I used to mess around on my Commodore Amiga composing tracks using OctaMED.

Haven't used anything like it since I got my first PC back in 1995 but I'm quite keen to start playing around with music again...

I'm sure music composition software has moved on leaps and bounds in the last 13 years, and I wondered if anyone has any recommendations for freeware that serves the same purpose for today's PC?

Thanks!

posted by inbetweener to media & arts (8 comments total)

Fasttracker 2 and Impulse Tracker were the last hurrah of DOS trackers, and were actually last updated within the last ten years. So if you can source a DOS box and a Gravis Ultrasound (swoon), do it up right.

Briefly, there were a couple upstarts in the shape of ModPllug and MadTracker for Windows 95/98, but they were buggy, as I recall. It looks like MadTracker is still kicking around, with VST/Rewire support no less.

Around the time DOS was dying and dragging the two best trackers along with it, Buzz Tracker came out, which was awesome. it combined GUI-based tracking with Max/MSP-lite functionality of dragging sound sources -> effects. At the time, there was no Reaktor or anything like that, and it was truly inspiring. I'm glad to say that's still around , too.

But above all, I'd say the sprit of demoscene-style tracking, with all sorts of crazy sounding modern shit on tap, is best carried into this century by Fruity Loops/FL Studio.
posted by tremspeed at 2:32 AM on August 16, 2008

To use Frasttracker 2, you don't need a DOS box, you just need DosBox. It's the best option for old-school tracking.

Modplug Tracker is quite usable, supports loads of formats, and can use VST plugins.

Buzz takes the tracker paradigm to a new level; at the core it's a modular synth, where you put down various components (generators, effects), connect them up with "wires", then control every attribute of the generators and effects in a tracker-style interface. I'm in love with it at the moment.
posted by Jimbob at 4:05 AM on August 16, 2008

I've never used it, but there's a Windows port-thing of OctaMED in the shape of MEDsoundstudio.

This was found in the list of Windows trackers on Wikipedia.

I also have to give a shout out to the superb Nitrotracker that can be found on the Nintendo DS. Definitely worth giving a go if you have the hardware available.
posted by Magnakai at 4:09 AM on August 16, 2008

Fruity Loops all the way. I used to spend hours making tracks on Octamed and when I got back into it, Fruity Loops was definitely the most similar experience (only without trying to cram everything into the tiniest space possible!).

This time the tracker goes sideways instead of upwards and each instrument is a track on its own (the luxury!). Other than that you still make tunes by stringing together blocks that you can reuse whenever you like in the song just like Octamed. Only better. SO much better!

Thanks for bringing back memories. I made some kick ass tunes in Octamed.
posted by merocet at 5:49 AM on August 16, 2008

Nthing Buzz, I played around with that for a while before I had a MIDI controller.
Also renoise is not freeware but it is a really solid tracker and it's a lot cheaper than any other DAW software (50 euros I think).
posted by azarbayejani at 6:42 AM on August 16, 2008

My goodness - Renoise all the way! A fantastic tracker which supports so many features, VST's, VSTi's... it has an excellent community and really is the best tracker I've ever used. They regularly release updates, the software itself I've yet to find a bug with, it's never crashed on me - and the tutorials and support are excellent, plus it is cheap to buy.

You're sure to love it if you loved tracking back in the day. :)
posted by rc55 at 7:08 AM on August 16, 2008

btw - just noticed you said freeware - the free version does not do WAV exports (but you can always record it externally in Audacity), and does have an occasional nag screen, but it provides pretty much everything you need to get started.
posted by rc55 at 7:09 AM on August 16, 2008

I swear by Buzz. I use it for studio work and, recently, live performance. It's a tracker interface, with the added flexibility of a completely modular signal routing environment, and a host of plugins (instruments, effects, and "peer" controllers) that are unique and odd and irreplaceable.

Development of Buzz hit a brick wall when the original source was lost almost a decade ago, though people kept building new plugins, hacks and addons for it, keeping it reasonably robust. However, development has started again, working from an older back up of the source code. I haven't tried the latest updates, but many new features are being added that make Buzz even more powerful and modern.
posted by cathodeheart at 2:48 PM on August 16, 2008