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Okay so i decided this board could use a nice one-stop place for all your Music/SFX needs. Okay maybe not all, but a good place to start at the very least. Below i have compiled a list of the most popular sequencers used in making music and their corresponding resources e.g. tutorials and links to demos or the full version (if free). I have also included several links to various sites explaining or teaching about music theory in general. A nice stop for anyone wanting to actually be able to read notes or learn to understand rhythm etc. I've also taken the liberty to gather some info of the best trackers out there as trackers are popular amongs indi game-makers.

Take notice that this list is expandable. If anybody would like to have something added, i would be pleased to do so.

Sequencers

FL Studio *Formerly known as Fruity Loops*

"FL Studio is a digital audio workstation. Music is created by recording and mixing audio and/or MIDI data together to create a song, which can then be saved to the program's native .FLP (Fruity Loops Project) format. Songs can be exported to a Microsoft WAV or MP3 file compatible with most media players."

"FL Studio is a pattern-based music sequencer, which allows the artist to create songs in pieces (patterns) using the Step Sequencer and the Piano Roll view, then merge those pieces together using the Playlist window. The Effects Panel provides access to a wide range of software effects that can be automated for dynamic sweeps, rolling bass lines and texture changes."

Homepage:
http://www.flstudio.com/

Price:
Cheapest edition $49 USD, £25 GBP, €35 EUR
Pro $361 USD, £184 GBP, 260€ EUR

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows

Demo:
FL Studio

Tutorials/Resources:
http://www.warbeats.com - Tutorials, samples *need to register*
http://www.flstudio-tutorials.com - Tutorials
http://www.computermusictutorials.com - Various
FL Studio Wiki

User Comment:
*Here i will add what people think of this sequencer. Learning curve, quality, usability, stability etc. I will not comment on FL Studio as i'm not an active user of this Sequencer. I would like anyone who use FL Studio regularly to please post and explain breifly how the general feeling of the sequencer is.*



Reason

"Reason is a popular music software program developed by Swedish software developers Propellerhead Software. It emulates a rack of hardware synthesizers, samplers, signal processors, sequencers and mixers. Reason can be used either as a complete virtual music studio, or as a collection of virtual instruments to be played live or used with other sequencing software."

Homepage:
http://www.propellerheads.se

Price:
$500 USD, £255 GBP, 360€ EUR

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows
Mac OS X

Demo:
Reason 4 - Microsoft Windows, 92.4mb
Reason 4 - Mac OS, 107mb

Tutorials/Resources:
http://www.reasonstation.net - Tutorials, samples
http://propellerhead-reason.blogspot.com - Tutorials
http://www.kreativsounds.com - Tutorials, various

User Comment:
Not a large learning curve. After a week or two experimenting with the thingy-ma-jigs, i quickly started making one hideous song after another. It packs alot of buttons, levers and virtual cables that will scare most newcomers, but it doesn't take long to figure out the important ones from the not-so-important ones, and get things rolling. Can save in reason's .rns format, midi, wav or aif. It has a nice "publish" feature that you can save your songs with that will make it impossible for anyone else to save or export the songs in any way, only listen and watch how you did it. Because of that, there's alot of published reason source files around the interwebs that you can download to watch how the pros made their songs. Very helpfull if you want to learn some techniques.


Pro Tools

"Pro Tools is a Digital Audio Workstation platform for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows operating systems, developed and manufactured by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, television and post production. Pro Tools has three types of systems; HD, LE, and M-powered. HD is the high-end package and is an integration of hardware and software. The hardware includes an external A/D converter and internal PCI or PCIe audio cards with onboard DSP."

Homepage: http://www.digidesign.com/

Price:
M-Powered ~$149
Too many products for me to reasearch.
Check out the website for further details.

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows
Mac OS X

Demo:
None.....I think.

Tutorials/Resources:
*See homepage*
http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/audio/protools/



Cubase

"Cubase 4 represents the cutting edge in digital audio workstations. Designed for professionals from the ground up, Cubase converges extraordinary sound quality, intuitive handling and a vast range of highly advanced audio and MIDI tools for composition, recording, editing and mixing."

Homepage:
http://www.steinberg.net

Price:
Cubase SE 3 Student version can be bought for $75 USD, £38 GBP, 54€ EUR
Cubase SE 3 regular is $200 USD, £102 GBP, 144€ EUR
Cubase Studio 4 is $500 USD, £255 GBP, 360€ EUR
Cubase 4 is $1.000 USD, £510 GBP, 719€ EUR

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows
Mac OS X

Demo:
Didn't find any

Tutorials/Resources:
http://www.gearwire.com/qa-cubasesx.html - FAQ
http://www.steinbergusers.com/ - Tutorials, various

User Comment:
*empty*



Sonar Cakewalk

"Cakewalk SONAR is a computer program made by Cakewalk for recording, editing, mixing, mastering and outputting music and other audio. It is currently at version 7."

"SONAR creates projects that allow the operator to edit MIDI files, raw audio tracks, and other associated information like lyrics, and to present them in a range of formats including musical scores, editing console, event lists, etc. The operator can also mix the various tracks down into a stereo .WAV format ready to be saved on a CD."

Homepage:
http://www.cakewalk.com/products/sonar/

Price:
Sonar Home Studio 6 - $139 USD, £70 GBP, €100 EUR
Sonar Home Studio 6 XL - $209 USD, £106 GBP, €150 EUR

*XL includes bonus soft-synths and sample libraries.

Pro editions
Sonar 7 Studio Edition - $369 USD, £187 GBP, €265 EUR
Sonar 7 Producer Edition - $619 USD, £314 GBP, €444 EUR

Ûber edition which packs loads of extra plugins and coffee-jokes.
Pro Suite - $1000 USD, £507 GBP, €716 EUR

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows

Demo:
Sonar Cakewalk - 101mb

Tutorials/Resources:
http://sonar.sonarama.com/sonar - Sonar wiki
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=CakewalkSoftware - Sonar youtube channel

User Comment:
*empty*



Garageband

"GarageBand is a software application that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc."

"GarageBand is a miniature digital audio workstation (DAW) which can record and play back multiple tracks of audio. Built in audio filters allow the audio track to be enhanced for recording guitar instruments, etc."

Homepage:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

Price:
100$ USD, £51 GBP, 72€ EUR

Supported OS:
Mac OS X

Demo:
Is there one?

Tutorials/Resources:
http://www.macjams.com/ - Tutorials

User Comment:
*empty*



Logic

"Logic Pro is a Digital Audio Workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Logic Pro is part of Apple's Logic Studio bundle of professional music applications.

A consumer-level version based on the same interface and audio engine but with reduced features, called Logic Express, is also available at a reduced cost."

Homepage:
www.apple.com/logic

Price:
$199 USD for Express
$499 USD for Pro

Supported OS:
Mac OS X

Demo:

Tutorials/Resources:
http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/resources/

User Comment:
*empty*



Ableton Live

"Ableton Live is a loop-based software music sequencer for Macintosh and Windows by Ableton. The latest major release of Live, Version 6, was released in September 2006. Unlike other software sequencers, Live is designed around the notion of being as much an instrument for live performances as a tool for composing and arranging."

Homepage:
http://www.ableton.com/live

Price:
400$ USD for the download version, £204 GBP, 288€ EUR
500$ USD for the physical, £255 GBP, 360€ EUR

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows
Mac OS X

Demo:
Ableton Live - MS version 75.8 MB, MAC version 82.9 MB

TutorialsResources:
http://www.ableton.com/pages/tutorials/home - Tutorials
http://youtube.com/user/Zettt1981 - Tutorials
http://www.teragon.org/wiki - Ableton Live wiki

User Comment:
*Go ahead Junkrock *



Acid

"Sony ACID Pro is a loop-based music sequencer software, originally published by Sonic Foundry, now owned and run by Sony. This software runs on PCs with all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 2000. It is a powerful audio editing tool that can stretch or shrink sound without altering its pitch. ACID Pro currently includes over 20 DirectX audio effects, employs the new Media Manager technology, the Beatmapper tool, and the Chopper tool, as well the ability to mix in 5.1 channel surround."

Homepage:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/step2.asp?DID=551 - Free lite version, 36mb

Price:
Free - Acid Xpress
50$ USD, £25 GBP, 36€ EUR - American Idol Extreme Music Creator
60$ USD, £31 GBP, 43€ EUR - Acid Music Studio
375$ USD, £191 GBP, 270€ EUR - Acid Pro

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows

User Comment:
*empty*



And ofcourse i had to provide a free sequencer for those not wanting to spend a small fortune.
http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~nesson/sequencer.html



Trackers

modplug

"ModPlug Tracker is an audio module tracker for Windows developed by Olivier Lapicque. It was initially developed as a plug-in (called Modplugin) for Internet browsers to allow users to listen to music modules"

"ModPlug Player and ModPlug Tracker later evolved from this plug-in. It is free software, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License."

Homepage:
http://www.modplug.com/

Price:
$Free USD, it's also free in £ and € for your convenience.

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows



Jeskola Buzz

"Jeskola Buzz is a proprietary modular software music studio environment centered around a modular plugin-based machine view and a multiple pattern sequencer tracker (as opposed to a single pattern sequencer tracker). The long term future of the program is uncertain because the original sources have been lost. Nevertheless, it remains interesting historically since many applications have been derived from or inspired by the concepts, interfaces, and formats of Buzz, the "Buzz clones"."

Homepage:
http://www.buzzmachines.com/ *This site didn't work for me*

Price:
$Free USD, it's also free in £ and € for your convenience.

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows

Tutorials/Resources:
http://wiki.buzzmusic.de/index.php/Links_to_other_resources - Resources
http://wiki.buzzmusic.de - Wiki



MadTracker

"MadTracker is a tracker software for Microsoft Windows. It came out in 1998, and has evolved into a 64 tracks controlling, fully automatable, sample-based, and advanced FX next-generation tracker with VST, ASIO and ReWire support. The author of the program, Yannick Delwiche, has been working on MadTracker ever since, improving it with both originally unique elements for trackers (such as automation, synchronized samples, drums patterns and a built-in chat client). It runs under every version of Windows. Current work on MadTracker focuses mainly on preparing MadTracker 3 and occasional feature-updates for version 2."

Homepage:
http://www.madtracker.org

Price:
$Free USD, it's also free in £ and € for your convenience.

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows

Tutorials/Resources:
You'll find some on it's homepage



Renoise

"Renoise is a contemporary digital audio workstation (DAW) based upon the heritage and development of tracker software. Its primary use is the composition of music using samples (in WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, MP3 format), MIDI sequencing of VSTi soft synths. The main differentiation of Renoise from other music software is the characteristic vertical timeline sequencer used by tracking software, as opposed to the more popular horizontal timeline sequencers."

"Unlike major corporate software development, the Renoise development team work with the Renoise user community online to pool ideas for new features as well as work on bug testing. Given its relatively smaller user base, the sense of collective ownership from this community is strong."

Homepage:
http://www.renoise.com

Price:
$77 USD, 37£ GBP, 50€ EUR

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows
Mac OS X

Demo:
Renoise Windows - MS 10mb
Renoise Mac OS X - Mac 16mb

TutorialsResources:
http://tutorials.renoise.com/ - Tutorials



Psycle

"Psycle is a program to make music on PC computers. Based on the layout of old tracker softwares (the vertical timeline sequencer) but featuring up-to-date features like VST compatibility and 96Khz / 32bit wav rendering, Psycle is a complete music production solution."

"Psycle is an open source program, and was released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The Psycledelics website is the starting point of all things about Psycle, like development status, Q/A, current versions, source code and a discussion board."

Homepage:
http://psycle.pastnotecut.org

Price:
Free

Supported OS:
Microsoft Windows

Tutorials/Resources:
May find some on it's site, it was too slow for me.



Music Theory

I will not go into this subject myself, mainly because i know terribly little. I will however provide some links to some healthy sites i've come across.

http://www.musictheory.net/ - A quality site dedicated to the teachings of the basics of music theory.
http://www.musictheory.halifax.ns.ca/lessons.html - A collection of lessons in basic music theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory - Wikipedia's Music Theory article. Explains very well what it's all about.
http://www.gregjonesmusic.com/intro.htm - Greg's Music Theory Page

*You will also find some relevant links in the wikipedia article.


Handy Apps

CDex

With this free and handy application, you can convert your Wav's to Mp3's and vice versa.

CDex

Audacity

Audacity can import mp3,wav,aiff,ogg, and flac. You can export them to any of those formats aswell. Which alone makes it very handy. You can apply different effects to sounds and even split them into pieces amongs many other things. Audacity is free and a great overall sound-editing tool.

Audacity
Tutorials



Terms

Sequencer = A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage electronic music

Synthesizer = A Synthesizer is generally any kind of electronic musical instrument, or electronic device capable of producing or manipulating audio tones, such as musical notes, through audio signal processing.

MIDI = "Musical Instrument Digital Interface" is an industry-standard protocol that enables electronic musical instruments, computers and other equipment to communicate, control and synchronize with each other.

VST = Steinberg's Virtual Studio Technology and its acronym VST refer to an interface standard for connecting audio synthesizer and effect plugins to audio editors and hard-disk recording systems and also giving the plugins a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for easy manipulation. VST and similar technologies allow the replacement of traditional recording studio hardware with software counterparts. Thousands of plugins exist, making VST the most widespread audio plugin architecture.

Tracker = Tracker is the generic term for a class of software music sequencers which, in their purest form, allow the user to arrange sound samples stepwise on a timeline across several monophonic channels. A tracker's interface is primarily numeric; notes are entered via the alphanumeric keys of the computer keyboard, while parameters, effects and so forth are entered in hexadecimal. A complete song consists of several small multi-channel patterns chained together via a master list.

*quotes and terms taken from wikipedia.


Happy composing!

I've used Jazz++, although it seems to have dissapeared off the internet... I used it for a long time before I got FL Studio. It's completely free, clean and simple, easy for a newbie to use. If you can still find a download.

I can't say that I've tried it, but I've also heard of Anvil Studio. I believe it's also free:

[/href]http://www.anvilstudio.com/

Also, if you're are able to look into something more pricey, take a peak at ACID:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/acidfamily.asp

Very useful Grandma, I'm looking at those links now. Cheers dude dudey mc dude dude

@ Benji

Okay i added the Acid Family to the list. I didn't add Anvil Studio's sequencer though as i felt midi was too dated, and i don't believe many here is still produce (or want to produce) midi's anymore. Ofcourse i could add a couple of midi sequencers to the list if it turns out i'm wrong and there's still plenty who's interested in them.

Edit: I found Jazz++ here, but it's open source and only open source. It appears we have to compile it.

@ Seppuku Arts

Thanks, trying to keep it as non-biased as i can.

We don't want people arguing which is the best one, they all have their strenghts and weaknesses, like we all do.

There's two main versions of Sonar different in price and functionality, and each has varying price levels within that based on what you want in the package.

First is Sonar Home Studio.
Sonar Home Studio 6 - $139
Sonar Home Studio 6 XL - $209
The software is identical, XL just includes bonus soft-synths and sample libraries (Boost 11 Peak Limiter, Dimension LE, Garritan Pocket Orchestra, Session Drummer 2).

Then there's the professional edition of Sonar.
Sonar 7 Studio Edition - $369
Sonar 7 Producer Edition - $619
Each pricier version naturally comes with more capabilities and tons of virtual instruments to play with. There's too many to list here, but I provided links to the product pages.

[EDIT]There's also $700+ packages with monstrous amounts of everyone's and your mother's plugins called Sonar Power Studio and such.

^Thanks, added.

Edit:

@ everyone

Let me know if you find any errors. Be that in prices, links or typos even.

Bumpz0rz

Are we going to let this die? I spent alot of time on it.

Minor update: I added the "handy apps" section were we could put our...well, handy apps. Right now there's just CDex on the list. With CDex you can convert your Wav's to Mp3's and vice versa. Handy, and it's free.

Agreed that this should not die. There are tons of great things here! Thanks, Grandma

How about Audacity Grandma?

Audacity Website:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Tutorials:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/tutorials/

Price: Free

Audacity isn't a tracker or sequencer, but i won't deny it a place in the "handy apps" section for it's vast sound editing possibilities.

@ Jeku

Thanks

I know Sonar is already on the list but... I feel that it needs a comment. So... I just wanna say that I've been using Sonar Producer 5 and I like it because it's easy to control all midi effects, audio effects, audio tracks, mixing and the interface is customizable. Also, it can use Fruity Loops, Gigastudio, etc., as "Basically" Plug-ins using a feature called RE-WIRE. Not to mention it comes with the PANTHEON Reverb which is one of the best reverbs in the world. Sonar works AWSOME for me.

Great selection of reading about production etc...

http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

I think someone should check Guitar Pro. It's a program for creating and reading tabulatures, but if I can remember it also has a feature called RSE (real sound engine) that plays using guitar sounds, not only MIDI (saves tabulatures in many formats, but soun only in wave) allows to create tracks for: guitars, bass guitars, drums)

There is a music making tool known as Sequel, there is a trial for 15 days that you can prolong it for another 15 days.
I suggest begginers use it, its good fun.

You forgot Logic Express and Logic Pro and yet you mentioned GarageBand! Then again I can't imagine it to be too popular here, being that this forum is mainly Windows.

Logic Express is $199 USD not sure about it in Sterling or Euro
Logic Studio is $499 USD " "

[href]www.apple.com/logic[/href]

I don't think there are any demos...

Cheers,
Christian

Yes.

I'm payed off by GarageBand to advertise them exlusively, silencing any competitors. Also, i've never heard of this......Logic Pro, so you must be a crazy person. Go away crazy person.

I wish I was paid off by someone.

Cheers,
Christian

Logic Studio is pretty sweet. You can use Rewire to place Reason right into the software--- cool

Good audio editing doesn't have to come at a high price
==========================================================
Wavosaur-"Wavosaur is a free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing, processing and recording sounds, wav and mp3files. Wavosaur has all the features to edit audio (cut, copy, paste, etc.) produce music loops, analyze, record, batch convert.
Wavosaur supports VST plugins, ASIO driver, multichannel wav files, real time effect processing.
The program has no installer and doesn't write in the registry. Use it as a free mp3 editor, for mastering, sound design. The Wavosaur freeware audio editor works on Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows Vista."

Price: Free
==========================================================
MU.TOOLS-"MU.LAB is a state of the art, ultra-light music application, designed to compose & perform music of different styles and flavors.

MU.LAB does not have a complex feature set, in which you can get lost.

At the contrary, MU.LAB is an easy yet rock-solid musical tool.

It's our intention to extent MU.LAB's functionalities in the future, but never by compromising on easiness or quality.

Regularly visit mutools.com to check for new and improved versions of MU.LAB!

MU.LAB's core feature set:

* Audio Recording & Playback
* MIDI Recording & Playback
* Flexible Composition & Sequence Editing
* Supports Audio and MIDI VST Plugins
* Powerful Audio and MIDI Plugin Routing (up to 100% modular if you want)
* Integrated MuSynth: Powerful Modular Sound Engine
* Integrated MUX: Powerful Modular Audio/MIDI Effect Engine
* Integrated Audio Effects:
o MuVerb: Very Nice Sounding Reverb
o Stereo Echo: Very Versatile Stereo Echo
o Multi Mode Filter: Very Versatile Audio Filter
o And many more MUX patches!
* Audio Engine using 32 bit floats, all usable samplerates
* Sample Accurate Sequencing
* Multi Undo/Redo
* Available for OSX (Universal Binary) and Windows"

Price: Free
==========================================================
Music Studio Producer-" Music Studio Producer is free MIDI sequencer, DAW which can host VST(i), supports ASIO. Music Studio Producer has a great number of functions for every music scene, such as composition, arrangement, recording, mixing and mastering.

MIDI sequencer-
You can create music with various ways such as real-time recording, step recording and editing with just using a mouse! You can edit music just as you want by using four kinds of windows ; Track, Piano Roll, Score Roll, Event List and Mixer.

Audio-
For example, you can mix an acoustic guitar and a vocal for MIDI data. Furthermore, you can use an effect for these sounds. Music Studio Independence has most functions for CD production ; multiplex recording, effect, mixture and mastering."

Price: Free
==========================================================
Rosegarden-"Rosegarden is a well-rounded audio and MIDI sequencer, score editor, and general-purpose music composition and editing environment.

Rosegarden is an easy-to-learn, attractive application that runs on Linux, ideal for composers, musicians, music students, and small studio or home recording environments. "

Price: Free
==========================================================
-Dan

I have a few more up my sleeve, but I'll wait a bit later

Thanks!

I'm sure this will be helpful to the non-millionaires.

Pro Tools Anyone? That is what I use. I started with Cakewalk but since the music industry only uses Pro Tools, I had to learn it. Once you get use to it is is a great program. You can also get M-Powered from around $149. Well worth the money.

Indie

Ok, updated the list. However, I think pro tools is a little too pro for this mostly hobby focused community.

ACID music studio is awesome. I only just found this board. Maybe I should whip up a few tracks and give 'em away

Reaper of Cockos Incorporated is a very good alternative to Acid. It has the advantage of being more successful on midi and be lighter. He agreed to run on USB key. The non-commercial license is $50. There is a fully functional demo (30 days of use) on their site:

http://www.cockos.com/reaper/

Personally I use it in conjunction with Acid Pro 6, Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9.

I've been using GoldWave to edit sound effects for years.

http://www.goldwave.com

I never upgraded from the free trial version, and never needed it. It has a variety of effects, such as time dilation and pitch modifiers, and you can easily cut segments out of larger sounds. It supports a wide variety of sound files.

If you want to buy it, it's ~$50.

Med SoundStudio

This is what I used to create the music that's in the Game Creators Store (under Nickydude). It's a tracker based program that alows you to use vst plugins.

SFXR is a decent sound effects generator i found a while back and forgot to post about until Programador hispano reminded me of it in the DBPro forum HERE. while the interface is a bit clunky, it can produce some good effects and should prove useful to many. and, best of all, it's FREE

here, have a squiggle

updated url 04/09/11