List of Best music software

This is a list of software for creating, performing, learning, analyzing, researching, broadcasting and editing music. This article only includes software, not services. For streaming services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora, Prime Music, and Spotify, see Comparison of on-demand streaming music services. List of Best music software. For storage, uploading, downloading and streaming of music via the cloud, see Comparison of online music lockers. This list does not include discontinued historic or legacy software, with the exception of trackers that are still supported. For example, the company Ars Nova produces music education software, and its software program Practica Musica has remnants of the historic Palestrina software. Practica will be listed here, but not Palestrina. If a program fits several categories, such as a comprehensive digital audio workstation or a foundation programming language (e.g. Pure Data), listing is limited to its top three categories.

Types of music software

CD ripping software

DJ software

• Cross/CrossDJ
• Deckadance
• djay
• Final Scratch
• Mixxx
• Serato
• Traktor

Digital audio workstation (DAW) software

• Ableton Live
• ACID Pro
• Ampedstudio
• Ardour
• Audacity
• Audiotool
• Bitwig Studio
• Cakewalk by BandLab
• Cubase
• Digital Performer
• FL Studio
• GarageBand
• LMMS
• Logic Pro
• Maschine
• MetaSynth
• Mixcraft
• Nuendo
• Mixbus
• MuLab
• Orion Studio
• Pro Tools
• Qtractor
• REAPER
• Renoise
• Rosegarden
• Samplitude
• Sonic Pi
• Soundtrap
• Studio One
• Waveform
• Zynewave Podium

Computer music software

• ChucK
• Csound
• Director Musices
• List of Generative music software
• JFugue
• Kyma (sound design language)
• Keykit
• Max/MSP
• Pure Data
• Real-time_Cmix
• SuperCollider

Internet, RSS, broadcast music software

• Airtime
• Audicom (First radio automation software—see Radio software)
• Campcaster
• Clickradio
• Juice (aggregator)
• Jamulus (Internet jamming software)
• Moodagent (AI based emotion keyed playlist generator and app)
• Ninjam (Internet jamming software)
• OpenBroadcaster
• Panopto
• RapidFeeds

Lyrics and vocals

• Cantor (music software)
• Rhyme Genie (Algorithms and software for rhyming lyrics)
• SingingCoach

MIDI plug-ins

• Bitcrusher
• Chorus effect
• Delay (audio effect)
• Dither
• Jamstix
• Liquid Rhythm
• MachFive (MOTU Mark of the Unicorn)
• MCDSP (Metropolis Group)
• Midijet pro
• Native Instruments‘s B4, Electrik Piano, Guitar Rig 2
• OrangeVocoder (Prosoniq)
• Producer Factory Pro Bundle (DigiDesign via Avid Audio)
• SoundFont (Integrates synthesized/sampled MIDI files with recorded music)
• Symphonic Instrument (MOTU Mark of the Unicorn)
• TL Space Native Edition (Trillium Labs dist. by DigiDesign via Avid Audio)

Music analysis software

• BeatRoot
• BRP-PACU
• ChucK
• Kyma (sound design language)
• Pure Data (This software also is used in embedded form for real time algorithmic music generation in Spore (2008 video game))
• Platinum Blue Music Intelligence (from Music Xray company)
• Praat
• Sonic Visualiser
• WaveSurfer

Music circuit software

• Arduinome (software circuit platform)
• CPU Sim
• Electric VLSI Design System
• gLogic
• GNU Circuit Analysis Package
• KTechLab
• Linear Technology (a/d, circuit software, and others.)
• List of free electronics circuit simulators
• LTspice
• Micro-Cap
• MIDIbox (software circuit platform)
• Monome (software circuit platform)
• Ngspice
• Oregano (software)
• Quite Universal Circuit Simulator
• SapWin
• SPICE
• Tenori-on (software circuit platform)

Music composing software

• Antescofo
• Director Musices
• Hyperscore
• JFugue
• Keykit
• Kyma (sound design language)
• Magix Music Maker
• Max
• Music Mouse (Algorithmic synth and composer)
• Nodal
• Ocarina
• OpenMusic
• PetSynth
• Progression
• Reaktor (Software creation of nearly every instrument; reverse engineering encouraged)
• Rubato Composer (First composition software based on Category theory)

Music conversion software

• AIMP
• Audacity
• Brasero
• CDex
• Exact Audio Copy
• FFmpeg
• FL Studio
• foobar2000
• FormatFactory
• Freemake Audio Converter
• Free Studio
• fre:ac
• iTunes
• k3b
• MediaCoder
• MediaHuman Audio Converter
• MediaMonkey
• SoX
• VLC Media Player
• Winamp
• WMA Convert
• XMedia Recode

Music education software

• Soundtrap
• EarMaster
• GNU Solfege (ear-training practice exercises)
• Reaktor (software creation of nearly every instrument; reverse engineering encouraged)
• Rocksmith (video game with emphasis on instructional aspects; unique in that controller can be any electric guitar w/ 1/4″ jack)
• Synthesia (video game with piano instruction aspects)
• WaveSurfer (studies of acoustic phonetics)
• Yousician (educational game to learn to play guitar and piano)

Music gaming software

• Beat Saber
• Crypt of the NecroDancer
• osu!
• Music Tech
• Rocksmith (Video game with some instructional aspects; unique in that controller can be almost any electric guitar)

Music mathematics software

• Canorus
• Capella
• Denemo
• Dorico
• Encore
• ENT (for typeset mensural notation)
• Finale
• Forte
• Frescobaldi
• Gregorio (for Neumes)
• Guitar Pro
• Igor Engraver
• Impro-Visor
• jEdit plugin
• LilyPond
• MagicScore
• Mozart
• Mus2
• MusEdit
• MuseScore
• Music Write
• MusiCAD
• MusicEase
• Musink
• MusiXTeX
• NoteEdit
• Noteflight
• Notation Composer
• NoteWorthy Composer
• NOTION
• Overture (Includes VST hosting as well as being a scorewriter)
• Philip’s Music Writer (PMW)
• Power Tab Editor
• Progression
• Rosegarden
• SCORE
• ScoreCloud
• Sibelius (Division of Avid Technology since 8/2006. Avid also sells the Pro Tools DAW)
• SmartScore (Focus on Music OCR)
• TuxGuitar

Music research software

• ScoreCloud (Notation research)

Music technology, synthesis and o/s software

• Category:Music software plugin architectures
• Comparison of audio synthesis environments
• DirectMusic
• Moodagent (AI based emotion keyed playlist generator and app)
• Music information retrieval
• Software effect processor
• Sound Recorder (Windows)
• Impromptu (programming environment)
• Keykit
• Max (software)
• SynthFont (a MIDI to WAV converter– Virtual Studio Technology instruments can be used instead of source files)

Music visualization software

• Advanced Visualization Studio (Justin Frankel) (platform: Windows)
• Cthugha (1993, Kevin “Zaph” Burfitt) (platform: DOS)
• Magic Music Visuals (since 2012, Color & Music, LLC) (platforms: Windows, OS X)
• MilkDrop (2001-2012, Ryan Geiss) reimplemented as projectM (platforms: Windows, Linux, Android)
• Neon (2004, Jeff Minter and Ivan Zorzin) (platform: Xbox 360)
• Psychedelia, (1984, Jeff Minter), an early “light synthesizer”, did not use audio input but was designed to create visualizations in accompaniment to music.
• Pure Data (e.g. visualization of incoming music signals)
• Virtual Light Machine (1990, Jeff Minter) (platform: Atari Jaguar)
• Visual Music Tone Painter (1992–2004)

Orchestration software

• Antescofo
• IRCAM
• OpenMusic
• Orchidée

Drums and percussion

• Liquid Rhythm
• Radiodrum

Guitar

• Guitar Rig
• Progression (software)

Piano

Pipe organ

• Hauptwerk produces audio in response to MIDI signal from attached keyboard or from a MIDI sequence

Automatic composition software

• Experiments in Musical Intelligence

Samplers and sequencers

• Electribe
• Music sequencer (Article includes extensive list)
• Propellerhead
• SoundFont (Integrates synthesized/sampled MIDI files with recorded music)

Soundtrack creation software

• Anvil Studio
• Ensoniq PARIS
• FL Studio
• FL Studio Mobile
• Mixcraft
• Pro Tools
• Sound Forge
• Soundtrap
• SpectraLayers
• WaveLab

Trackers

Historical tracker software:

• Ultimate Soundtracker (Amiga, 1987)
• NoiseTracker (Amiga, 1989)
• OctaMED (Amiga, 1989)
• ScreamTracker (PC, 1994)
• FastTracker 2 (PC, 1994)
• Impulse Tracker (PC, 1995)
• Renoise
• OpenMPT
• SoundTracker
• MilkyTracker
• Buzztrax
• Psycle

Virtual Studio Technology hosting software

• Ableton Live
• ACID Pro
• Adobe Audition
• Adobe Premiere Elements
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Acoustica Mixcraft
• Ardour (open source)
• Audacity (open source, Windows, Linux and Mac platforms only^[8])
• AudioMulch
• Band-in-a-Box
• Bidule
• Cakewalk by BandLab
• Deckadance
• Digital Performer (version 8 or higher)
• FL Studio
• GoldWave
• Jeskola Buzz
• LMMS (open source)
• Logic Pro
• Max MSP
• ModPlug Tracker
• MultitrackStudio
• n-Track Studio
• NOTION
• Psycle (open source)
• REAPER
• Reason
• Renoise
• Samplitude
• Sony Acid Pro
• Sony Sound Forge
• Sony Vegas
• Soundtrap
• Steinberg Cubase
• Steinberg Nuendo
• Studio One
• Steinberg Wavelab
• Traktor
• Vocaloid
• WavePad Audio Editor
• Podium

Virtual synthesizer and studio software

• Amsynth
• Minimoog
• Reaktor (software creation of instrument)
• Reason (DAW and virtual recording studio, integrated with Record)
• ZynAddSubFX

Wave editors

• Audition
• Audacity
• Goldwave
• Sound Forge
• WavePad Audio Editor