Free Music Maker

[-TC-]

Ive been searching for a free music maker, and all the ones i find seem to be editors where you just import a file then add effects. Im looking for something similar to GarageBand that works with windows. When i say similar, i mean with the ready made beats etc and just drag and drop. I've tried ejay, and its not quite what im looking for.

Any help would be greatly appretiated.

 

Oh, by the way, i have checked previous posts on these forums, and still havent found what im looking for.

 

Thanks

 

 

Edit -- I dont mind if the music maker isn't free, just let me know the price

[Tunesy]

You might want to take a look at Band-in-a-Box from pgmusic.com. It's not free. Great product. It's quite deep and has a learning curve, but you can generate some nice stuff out of it with very little work. It's helpful if you know some music theory, but not at all necessary. There are a few posts on it here that a search should turn up.

[Godfrey]

Im looking  for something similar to GarageBand that works with windows. When i say similar, i mean with the ready made beats etc and just drag and drop.

Are you looking for something along the lines of Acid Music Studio and/or Cakewalk Plasma?

[J. Baker]

Here's a couple of free ones.

Go to http://www.kvr-vst.com to look for free vst plug-ins.

 

http://www.pcpages.com/deltasp2002/

http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/index.php

[-TC-]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Ill check them all out

[-TC-]

Godfrey - Acid Music Studio looks like just the thing, not too sure about Cakewalk Plasma though.

 

J. Baker - I quite like the look of Krystal Audio Engine. I'll take a closer look at the other 2 aswell.

 

Tunesy - I like the look of band in a box, but it looks like you need to know what the different notes look like and meen. Mabey im wrong ?

 

Thanks for the replies guys

[Tunesy]

"Tunesy - I like the look of band in a box, but it looks like you need to know what the different notes look like and meen. Mabey im wrong ?"

 

No. No need to read any musical notation at all. Those tools are there for people who want them, though. You know how people in 3d joke about a "make dragon" button? Well, BiaB really does have a 'make music' button Just pick some settings from lists, check boxes, etc (no need to think. Just pick something) and click "play". With experimentation you'll generate some nice sounding stuff even if just by accident. You could actually learn a lot about music just by playing around with BiaB if you wanted to. I don't think most people buy it for that purpose, though. It comes with a good tutorial disc as well as a pretty good manual. I've been playing instruments and reading music for 35 years, but it would be my favorite 'fun' music app even if I hadn't. A google search will yield reviews from some people with no music experience or training if you'd like to see some opinions from that perspective.

[-TC-]

Thanks for all that info on Band in a Box Tunsey.

Im gonna download a trial version and see how i get on with that.

[MarkusAralius382]

Sweet I never even thought that there would be freeware audio programs, thanks alot for those two programs J.Baker

[J. Baker]

Sweet I never even thought that there would be freeware audio programs, thanks alot for those two programs J.Baker

No problem.

 

As for a free wave editor (which is also good for recording voices).

http://nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html

 

I myself use the following two programs but they're not freeware.

http://www.synapse-audio.com/

http://www.acondigital.com/index_english.html

[MarkusAralius382]

I have a question, what are the plugins at www.kvr-vst.com for. I dont really understand that website.

[J. Baker]

A vst plug-in can be an instrument or effect. Look at the screenshot below. You'll see I have a vst there called "Slayer". This instrument creates guitar sounds. If I click the "EDIT" button on this instrument (Slayer), it opens the piano editor. In the piano editor, I can create notes where ever I want and as long as I want in order to make sound with the instrument. This should give you a pretty good idea of what they do now. As for effects, same as instruments but you apply effects to an instrument or to the entire song.

 

As you learn more you'll find you can use "midi controllers" which are like pianos hooked up to your computer. These enable you to control your vsts without having to use the piano editor with your mouse.

[MarkusAralius382]

Oh ok, I was just wondering though do you need a certain program for the plugin to work on or is it more of its own program?

[jamagica]

For music I use Fruity loops (www.fruityloops.com), which is 99 dollars. That's pretty good. If you're the type of person that works on the computer all day, download the trial. It lasts forever, but the only thing is you can't save PROJECTS but you can export the Mp3 song you've created. I use the trial myself. If you'd like I'll post up some of my work

[J. Baker]

Oh ok, I was just wondering though do you need a certain program for the plugin to work on or is it more of its own program?

Any program (host) that can except vst or directx plug-ins.

[-TC-]

Im downloading a trial of Fruityloops as i type i'm glad the trial lasts forever and you can still export the song. Thanks for pointing that one out jamagica.

 

If you'd like I'll post up some of my work

 

Please do

[MarkusAralius382]

Ya I also Downloaded the Fruity loops Trial version. What I do is make one riff at a time and export them individually so i can later combine them together and edit my song. Anyways I agree with TC, please put up some of your work Jamagica!

[zacktaich]

I'm surprised audacity hasn't been mentioned.

 

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

 

-Unlimited audio tracks (I'm quite sure, I haven't run into a limit yet)

-Wonderful Interface

-Many Built in Effects (including Noise Removal)

When I say many, I mean many. You can do so many things with this editor.

-Accepts VST plugins (and most any type, although you need a plugin to download the plugins).

-Completely free

[MarkusAralius382]

Ok here is a simple song that I made using Fruity Loops trial version. I'm thinking of using it in an animation that i'll make once I get Animation Master! The songs pretty rough so far but its my first song so take it easy. I'm open to any comments or suggestions towards what you think should be changed.

 

Cheers!

 

ps.

i'm probably going to change the drum beat near the end.

 

Ok........... well i'm not sure how I attach the file now..I browsed selected my song and click submit post but it doesnt seem to have the attachment.. please help me figure this out

[Vong]

If you were interested in ACID, try the free ACID Express... I think it's limited to 10 tracks internally. http://www.acidplanet.com/ there's a link at the bottom. PC only.

[-TC-]

MarkusAralius382 - Some sections of this forum dont let you attach things. You can try puting it in the WIP section or have a read of the post about posting up things in the forum, not sure what the link is but have a look in Forum Support. If i find the link, i'll post it up.

 

Vong - Thanks for that link.

[MarkusAralius382]

Ok TC, I tried to attach the file in the WIP forum section but it still wouldnt work. Its not over 1meg but could it just not accept mp3's?

[zacktaich]

try zipping it up, then attach it

[MarkusAralius382]

Yay it worked!

 

Ok here is a simple song that I made using Fruity Loops trial version. I'm thinking of using it in an animation that i'll make once I get Animation Master! The songs pretty rough so far but its my first song so take it easy. I'm open to any comments or suggestions towards what you think should be changed.

 

Cheers!

 

ps.

i'm probably going to change the drum beat near the end.

Piano_and_Guitar.zip

[-TC-]

Glad you got it sorted.

 

Thats a nice tune, i like it.

Better than anything i've done so far, im still readin through the pdf maual.

[MarkusAralius382]

Thanks alot for that compliment -TC-! ya i'm trying to add a violin section in there but I'm having trouble getting the right violin sound. Ah well i'll figure it out eventually, at this rate i'll have a whole bunch of songs for animations ready before i'll finally get AM! Its supposed to be here in another week or so

[Tunesy]

Here are a couple MIDI examples generated with Biab. I left them in that format for the small file size. Note that sound quality will be limited to your systems MIDI capabilities. I think windows media player will play them unassisted, but some intruments will sound pretty bad.

 

These were not customized at all. I invested 5 or 6 mouse clicks total to create each. Biab has pretty good AI. The second tune is just to show that Biab can do mood music...well, ok, dentist music The melody it generated isn't bad, though. I imagine there would be a lot of times when you wouldn't want your music to be too dominant in a film. I allowed the software to generate a solo right on top of the melody in the 2nd chorus in both cases, which isn't really good practice, but ok for this purpose.

Zipped_Biab_Samples.zip

[MarkusAralius382]

Not bad Tunesy, I still prefer creating songs from scratch because you get to choose exactly how your song should sound!, (even though it takes a lot longer). That does sound like dentist or elevator music Great stuff none the less.

[Tunesy]

"I still prefer creating songs from scratch"

 

Me, too . My only purpose was to show that a beginner with no knowledge of music could generate the previous examples and use them with no copyright issues. I don't use BiaB that way, but it's nice to know that it's an option. My most common routine with it is for accompaniment. I'll enter a progression and melody of my own and have the app generate the five band parts. Then I mute the part I feel like playing. On other forums a common refrain is that people "use it for ideas".

[itsjustme]

Just to throw out a few other tools (they're all free)...

 

Audacity

Skale Tracker

Synthedit

Stomper

Psycle

[MarkusAralius382]

wow thanks itsjustme! Skale Tracker and Psycle both look pretty good, i'll have to try them out

[entity]

There is a freeware composer out there if you are interested...

 

http://www.anvilstudio.com/

 

Anvil Studio has a simple interface and you can import the midi files into fruityloops and use the hearty soundfonts they supply with it for a great sound. I've been experimenting a lot with this. There are many free soundfont sites out there.

 

In fruityloops you have to right click on the imported midi tracks and create SF tracks, then copy your midi track and paste in a SF track, then load a soundfont. It's not the easiest way... but I don't have the money right now to buy a fully operating program... so I just port midi files between freeware programs and use each ones best capabilties. I know fruityloops has mostly everything in the trial version but sometimes it's nice to see the "notation"... and have the ability to score a continuous track beyond the looping points. I guess that's a matter of choice.

 

I've included a sample. Sorry for posting so late.

Midi_Songs.zip

[-TC-]

That looks pretty cool, thanks for sharing, and nice samples too

Dont wory about posting late, this topic could go on forever as more people find more music makers they could post here and this could become a big list.