To the casual observer, I look like a stereotypical computer geek, and it is true that I do know my way around computers. However, I really am a geek of all trades. I have a multitude of geeky levels, and one such level is music. Nine years of piano lessons and two of choir will do that to you!
Now, music is fun, and computers are fun…what happens when the two are fused is something I could spend a whole lot of time on. There are a lot of music enthusiasts who are computer geeks…hence the plethora of projects out there for working with music on the computer.
Continue reading to see a couple awesome and free music-centric programs available!
Lilypond
Lilypond is a music notation program, available for Windows, Mac, and any flavor of Linux. The entire goal of the project is to produce results that compare with a hand-engraved piece of music, as opposed to the ugly grid-based output of competitors. The input to Lilypond is a simple text file, and the output is a PDF, and if desired, a MIDI file. Lilypond isn’t a graphical program; rather, it is a command-line tool that does its job and quits. There are many tools available to work with Lilypond–ones that make entering notes as easy as working with Finale PrintMusic, as well as specially-designed text editors to work with the Lilypond text notation. However, all you really need is a text editor (Notepad or GEdit work beautifully), Lilypond, and a PDF viewer. In-depth tutorials are available on the Lilypond Documentation site.
OpenMPT
While Lilypond is a music notation software, OpenMPT (formerly ModPlug Tracker) is what is referred to as a tracker. Basically, it is a player piano. This program is in the same class as Fruity Loops. You create instruments based on short audio clips, and then you write music for the instruments to play. This software is much like what artists like DNA-Groove and Anamanaguchi (CollegeHumor feature) use. In fact, you could probably use it to construct music similar to most pop music, because that’s what a lot of the artists are using now. OpenMPT is available only for Windows, but it runs flawlessly under WINE.