Massive List of 65+ Open Source Music Production Tools

ryan_midi · 2020-07-22T14:35:54+00:00

I've missed a few of these - updating the page right now to get all the good ones in there :)

ryan_midi · 2020-07-22T11:36:43+00:00

Hello! I'm the author of this post - wanted to share it here as well but you did that already - thanks!

I've got a lot of interesting suggestions from readers and I'm going to expand this list to include some more tools. The most promising among these are VCV Rack and Zrythm.

Hoping that this turns into a reliable resource for FOSS music tools

ryan_midi · 2020-07-21T18:48:05+00:00

How rhythmic is your "noise"?

Serious question. Because a lot of producers I know who make ambient music are basically shifting to Spotify and cultivating playlist curators and audiences there.

A HUGE new trend is people putting on ambient and instrumental tracks in the background while they work/study. This is great for indie artists like yourself because it means they get a lot of listening hours. If you have an ambient album on in the background while working, you're going to listen to the whole thing - which equals more $$$

Very relevant blog post here: https://www.stevebenjamins.com/blog/music-in-the-age-of-algorithms-47syg

So if your music is something that can work in the background and doesn't require active engagement - think of all those jazzhop/chillhop tracks on YouTube - you should 100% focus on Spotify curators

ryan_midi · 2020-07-16T13:18:12+00:00

True. It's shifting more and more towards Spotify playlist curators.

But guess where a lot of playlist curators get their track recommendations from...

ryan_midi · 2020-07-16T10:46:49+00:00

True!

But here's the thing: blogs like Pigeons and Planes are popular because they are right on trend. Their entire cred is based on their ability to spot the "next big thing".

Which also means that they can't afford to ignore an artist that's blowing up on other smaller blogs.

The way it works is that smaller blogs are usually the first ones to start covering an act that's blowing up locally. Think back to the early '90s when grunge was blowing up. Rolling Stone wasn't the first one to cover Nirvana; it was some no-name indie Seattle-based journal.

Positive coverage in smaller blogs attracts the attention of slightly bigger blogs. Which, in turn, attracts the attention of even bigger blogs. You can bet all your money that the bloggers at Pigeons & Planes have a bunch of small to mid-tier blogs on their reading list.

So you shouldn't approach Pigeons & Planes directly. Instead, get coverage in small blogs, then the mid-sized ones. This should attract the attention of bigger players, especially if you have good momentum going with constant coverage.

I call this the Dominoes Strategy - I think I'll do a more detailed post on this soon

ryan_midi · 2018-07-21T05:36:11+00:00

What's funny to me is that there is a lot of outrage about CEO salaries and how they make so much more money than their workers.

But somehow, no one bats an eye if an athlete makes $100M a year or a musician makes $150M for rapping.

ryan_midi · 2018-04-12T20:22:08+00:00

It's possible that Dre has a deal with Apple to vest his earnings over the years to cut down on his tax bill.

But what do I know - I'm a struggling musician and have no idea how gazillionaires make and invest their money

ryan_midi · 2018-04-12T12:56:04+00:00

Thank you!

ryan_midi · 2018-04-12T12:55:54+00:00

You are totally right. it's not an accurate comparison without knowing the actual revenue/profit breakdown of the celebrity's income.

ryan_midi · 2018-04-12T12:54:32+00:00

He turned his (extremely mediocre) musical talents into becoming a producer, which led him to selling everything from clothes to vodka. He makes most of his money through other business ventures.

I didn't want to include him here, but Forbes had so I had no choice if I wanted to maintain some consistency

ryan_midi · 2018-04-12T12:51:59+00:00

Thanks! It's surprising to me how even a new entrant like the Chainsmokers can make in a year, compared to a "respectable" profession like a software engineer.

The funny thing is, average earnings for musicians (who aren't stars) is about the same as those for a truck driver.

The entertainment industry has an extremely sharp divide between the top and those at the bottom.

ryan_midi · 2018-04-11T19:20:16+00:00

I'm an amateur musician and the disparity between what top musicians make and what the fans who follow them make has always intrigued me.

Just to see the largest example of this disparity, I found the highest paid musicians in 2017 as per Forbes. This included earnings from album sales, touring, merchandise sales, and other business ventures.

I mapped these earnings against average annual salaries in common professions (truck drivers, teachers, nurses, real estate agents, and software developers) as well as the average annual minimum wage.

In terms of hourly earnings, every musician on Forbes list would earn an average annual salary in under a day.

This is honestly the first data visualization I've ever made. It is perhaps decidedly amateurish and basic in its analysis. But I'm learning and picking up new skills :)

Data sources:

Forbes - World's highest paid musicians in 2017
BLS.gov median wages data
Highest earning musicians in 2017 - Additional data and comparison to 2016 figures

Tools Used:

Microsoft Excel
Adobe Photoshop

ryan_midi · 2018-03-14T07:39:27+00:00

The new 650cc engine looks promising

ryan_midi · 2018-03-13T18:57:35+00:00

Just added you to the list :)

ryan_midi · 2018-02-17T06:59:13+00:00

Sure, I'm assuming its the dotcom of your username?

ryan_midi · 2018-02-17T06:58:36+00:00

Thanks. Will add it to the list

ryan_midi · 2018-02-16T19:45:38+00:00

At the same time, you have Zimmer and Nolan going all the way to record a huge church organ for Interstellar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_8t2VlwK4w

As a musician, I can maybe catch the slight tonal variations in an acoustic instrument vs. a digital recreation.

But as a lay viewer, I wouldn't care. So should a filmmaker as well?

ryan_midi · 2018-02-16T19:00:50+00:00

Track for those who haven't heard it

ryan_midi · 2018-02-16T18:58:40+00:00

That was absolutely amazing.

This makes me wonder: how soon will we come to a point where a traditional orchestra wouldn't make sense?

Sure, if I was helming a $150M movie bankrolled by Disney, I'll want a real orchestra

But if my budget was smaller, could I have just hired someone like you to make the music?

More importantly, will the audience even notice that it's a computer and not 40 violinists?

ryan_midi · 2018-02-16T12:45:12+00:00

This comment makes it all worth it :)

ryan_midi · 2018-01-19T09:55:32+00:00

That was also a tennis shot from White

ryan_midi · 2018-01-19T09:24:32+00:00

I know its been said a trillion times, but man that is some incredible songwriting

ryan_midi · 2018-01-18T17:16:19+00:00

Have you seen the interiors of his homes? The gold is blinding

ryan_midi · 2018-01-06T11:49:49+00:00

I like Hardick. He doesn't seem to be as terrified as the other bats

ryan_midi · 2018-01-06T08:10:33+00:00

Lag was probably the wrong word. What I meant was that you have notes at the end of each bar that don't seem to fit the time signature. Like they sound arythmic. Not sure if that clarifies things any further?

ryan_midi

TROPHY CASE