Orfeo is a free, open-source desktop app that turns MIDI files into an interactive piano lesson: notes fall onto a virtual keyboard in real time, keys light up as they play, and you can slow down, loop, transpose, and explore any passage at your own pace. Real-time chord detection, hand-coloured keys, interactive chord and scale explorers, a full mixer, and per-note editing — with a piano roll that looks like it was built this decade.
Category Archives: MIDI
FamiTracker ~ Freeware Famicom Music Tracker
FamiTracker is a free Windows tracker for producing music for the NES/Famicom-systems. The interface is based on MadTracker and should be easy to use if you’ve been using trackers before.
One of the features is NSF-file exporting. That allows music created in this tracker to be played on the real hardware, or even for use in your own NES-applications.
Some other features:
- Full real-time emulation of all channels
- Internal PCM to DPCM-sample converter
- MIDI input devices are supported
- NTSC & PAL modes are both supported
famitracker.com
www.reddit.com/r/famitracker
en.namu.wiki/w/FamiTracker
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NeoBleeper ~ PC Speaker Music Maker
NeoBleeper is the world’s first AI-enabled tune creation software using the system speaker (aka PC Speaker) on the motherboard, inspired by the Bleeper Music Maker software that Robbi-985 (aka SomethingUnreal) developed around late 2007-early 2008 but abandoned in 2011 due to the fact that beeps were directed to the default sound device instead of the system speaker on the motherboard in newer Windows versions. NeoBleeper provides a more stable music making experience by solving the problem of system beeps being directed to the default sound device instead of the system speaker on the motherboard in newer Windows versions by accessing the physical port of the system speaker.
github.com/GeniusPilot2016/NeoBleeper
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SoundCraft ~ Avid Pro Tools Reimplementation
Recording, editing and mixing audio; an open-source, clean-room reimplementation of Avid Pro Tools, rebuilt in pure Rust.
A complete digital audio workstation that runs natively on macOS, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and in the browser. Multitrack editing, a full mixer with plugins, sends and automation, MIDI, recording and bouncing, and every action scriptable from the command line or by an AI agent.
github.com/storytold/soundcraft
sourceforge.net/projects/soundcraft.mirror
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thinksynth ~ Modular Synth & Algorthmic Composition
thinksynth builds sounds out of a graph of DSP nodes — oscillators, filters, envelopes, delays and arithmetic — described in a small language and rendered in real time. Patches assign those graphs to MIDI channels, so one instrument can layer several voices.
Every node is a plugin, and the set that ships covers subtractive and FM synthesis, resonators, waveshaping and a range of filters. New ones are ordinary shared libraries dropped into the plugin directory.
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ShinRonin ~ Modular Filter & Delay
ShinRonin is a ground-up rebuild of Ronin, one of the earliest plugins we ever shipped, first released in 2003. The original paired two delay lines with a set of morphing filters and two fully patchable routing matrices, and it earned a cult following for the strange feedback networks and self-oscillating textures you could build inside it. Twenty years on, we have rebuilt it for modern systems, kept the architecture that made it worth remembering, and released it for free.
Two independent delay lines, each with tempo sync, reverse, looping, and feedback, feed a pair of morphing multimode filters that sweep continuously from notch through lowpass, bandpass, and highpass. There is saturation, two LFOs, and an envelope follower. Everything connects through two on-board matrices: a signal matrix that routes any audio source to any destination, and a modulation matrix that wires the LFOs, envelope, and incoming MIDI to nearly any parameter. It is happy doing clean stereo delays and gentle filtering, but the real fun starts when you patch a feedback loop and let it misbehave.
www.audiodamage.com/pages/shin-ronin
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SC55-CLAP ~ Nuked SC-55 CLAP Plugin
Nuked SC-55 CLAP is a CLAP audio plug-in built upon J.C. Moyer’s fork of nukeykt’s Nuked-SC55, an emulation of the Roland SC-55 Sound Canvas MIDI module.
Unlike the original Nuked-SC55, this version has no graphical user interface. It reacts to MIDI messages like an external MIDI module and is intended for retro gaming, hobby music, and research.
The plug-in supports ROM versions from several original SC-55 models, including the SC-55 v1.00 through v2.00 and SC-55mk2 v1.01. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The project is based on the original MAME license, which includes restrictions on commercial use, including commercial music production and inclusion in commercial software packages.
The project describes its purpose as helping preserve DOS gaming history while providing historically accurate SC-55 sound through a modern CLAP plug-in.
Note: The plug-in requires ROM dumps from the original hardware; the ROMs are not included with the project.
github.com/johnnovak/Nuked-SC55-CLAP
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RackForge ~ Playable Musical Instrument Host
RackForge is a cross-platform instrument and live-performance host. Connect a MIDI keyboard, choose an instrument, combine sounds into Racks, organize a show into Songs and Setlists, and play without building a DAW session first.
RackForge uses the same musical model on Windows, Linux, Android, and Raspberry Pi. Portable
.rfplugininstruments bring their sound and interface with them, while RackForge owns the audio, MIDI, routing, presets, and live performance workflow.RackForge
v0.1.xis a public preview. It is ready to explore and play, but native packages are not yet production-signed.
github.com/kalexis1994/rackforge
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acidcat ~ Audio File Forensics
A pure-Python inspector, editor, and forensic tool for audio files and synth/DAW presets: read the metadata, decode the format structure byte by byte, flag anomalies, repair broken containers, and identify how a file was made.
Reads BPM, key, duration, tags, and format info from WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC, OGG, Opus, M4A, MIDI, and Serum presets. Also structurally decodes Bitwig (.bwpreset/.bwclip), Native Instruments (Massive/Absynth/Kontakt/NKS/KORE), Vital, NCW, SoundFont (SF2/SF3), tracker modules (MOD/XM/IT), MP4, VST FXP, ReCycle RX2, and RMID containers via
inspect. Beyond reading:repairandvalidatefix and check container structure (stale sizes, offset tables, counts, pad bytes) without touching a byte of audio, andauditgives a forensic verdict (structure, integrity, hidden data, and the writing tool). One pure-Python dependency (mutagen); the nativeinspectwalkers need nothing. Optional librosa analysis for BPM/key detection and ML feature extraction.Also ships per-library SQLite indexes (
acidcat index) tracked in a small global registry, plus an MCP server (acidcat-mcp) so an LLM can query your whole collection across libraries by bpm, key, tags, or full-text.
github.com/hed0rah/acidcat
github.com/hed0rah/acidcat-playground
www.databurn.org
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WhatChord ~ Realtime Chord Identification
WhatChord is an interactive chord identification, key detection, and harmony exploration app. Identify voicings from live Bluetooth or USB MIDI input or manual note entry, follow the key as you play, then explore chords, scales, keyboard patterns, and harmonic context. It is optimized for speed, accuracy, and musician-expected naming, favoring stable, conventional interpretations over simple note-matching.
whatchord.earthmanmuons.com
github.com/EarthmanMuons/whatchord
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Chord Cadenza ~ MIDI Chord Player
This app helps you to play and improvise chords whilst a MIDI file or audio source is being played. It does this by updating a rolling display to map the chord notes to a piano keyboard. It can also dynamically assign notes or chords to keys on a MIDI or PC keyboard.
Synchronisation is achieved automatically from a MIDI file. An audio file (e.g. MP3) can be synchronised and saved using the program.
Chords and major/minor keys can be extracted from the MIDI file using a configurable tool that analyses the MIDI file. Chords, keys, and time signatures can also be created or updated manually – this allows you to play along with an audio source without requiring a MIDI file.
The program contains a sequencer-style display that can be used to control the volume, panning, muting, solo’ing and patching of the tracks of the MIDI file.
Audio can be rendered with the program’s builtin synthesizer (using SoundFonts), or an external synthesizer.
Features:
- Extract keys and chords from a MIDI file.
- MIDI sequencer with track display and control.
- Output to built-in synthesizer or MIDI out port.
- ASIO and non-ASIO sound cards supported.
- Play with MIDI or PC keyboard.
- Display chords on a piano roll to facilitate playing and improvisation.
chordcadenza.org
sourceforge.net/projects/chord-cadenza
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Drum Machine ~ Create & Play Drum Beats
Drum Machine is a modern and intuitive application for creating, playing, and managing drum patterns. Perfect for musicians, producers, and anyone interested in rhythm creation, this application provides a simple interface for drum pattern programming. Have fun!
Features:
- Intuitive grid-based pattern editor with infinite pages
- Custom samples: Add your own drum sounds with MIDI note mapping
- Adjustable BPM control
- Volume control for overall mix
- Save and load patterns
- Multiple drum sounds including kick, snare, hi-hat, and more
- Audio and MIDI export with support for WAV, FLAC, Ogg, MP3, and MIDI formats
- Metadata support for embedding artist name, song title, and cover art
- Keyboard shortcuts for quick access to all functions
apps.gnome.org/DrumMachine
github.com/revisto/drum-machine
