For an open source music library manager, the strongest matches are ardour/ardour (Ardour is a full-featured open-source digital audio workstation with), lmms/lmms (LMMS is a fully-featured digital audio workstation with MIDI) and stargatedaw/stargate (Stargate is a full-featured digital audio workstation with built-in). audacity/audacity and tenacityteam/tenacity-legacy round out the shortlist. Each is ranked by relevance to your query, popularity and recent activity.
We curate open-source GitHub repositories matching “open source music”. Results are ranked by relevance to your query — pick filters below to narrow, or refine with AI.
Ardour is a digital audio workstation, multitrack audio mixer, and MIDI sequencer. It functions as a non-linear audio editor and a plugin host for running third-party effects and instruments. The system provides specialized capabilities for post-production audio scoring through video frame synchronization, as well as live performance sequencing for triggering clips and patterns in real-time. It also supports tactile mixing via control surface mapping and hardware controller configuration. The software covers a broad range of audio production needs, including multitrack recording, MIDI sequen
Ardour is a full-featured open-source digital audio workstation with multitrack recording, MIDI sequencing, plugin host support (VST, LV2), and cross-platform availability, exactly matching the needs for music composition and editing.
LMMS is a digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer designed for composing, arranging, and mixing music. It functions as a comprehensive production environment that integrates a MIDI sequencer, a sample-based synthesizer, and an audio mixing console. The project distinguishes itself through a versatile synthesis engine that includes additive synthesis, wavetable generation, and emulations of vintage hardware such as NES audio and FM chips. It also serves as a VST plugin host, allowing for the integration of third-party virtual instruments and audio effects via a standardized interface. Be
LMMS is a fully-featured digital audio workstation with MIDI sequencing, plugin hosting (VST), and a mixing console, directly matching the search for open-source music production software with multitrack recording, effects, and cross-platform support.
Innovation-first digital audio workstation (DAW), instrument and effect plugins, wave editor
Stargate is a full-featured digital audio workstation with built-in instruments, effects, a wave editor, and support for sequencing and plugins, making it a strong fit for open-source music production.
Audacity is a cross-platform digital audio workstation and multi-track audio editor. It serves as a comprehensive suite for capturing live audio input, refining sound files through splicing and effects, and mixing multi-track audio files using a non-destructive waveform interface. The project functions as a VST3 plugin host, providing a software environment to load and execute audio effects and virtual instruments for real-time signal processing. It also includes an audio spectrum analyzer for visualizing frequencies and waveforms to identify specific sonic characteristics. The software cove
Audacity is a cross-platform digital audio workstation with multitrack recording, built-in effects, and plugin hosting, making it a strong choice for music editing and production, though it lacks full MIDI sequencing.
THIS REPO IS NOT MAINTAINED ANYMORE. Please see https://codeberg.org/tenacityteam/tenacity for Tenacity, which is maintained.
Tenacity is an open-source audio editor and recorder, a direct fork of Audacity, providing multitrack audio editing, built-in effects, and plugin support—though it lacks dedicated MIDI sequencing, it fits as a digital audio workstation.
MusicFree is a cross-platform audio player that functions as an extensible media aggregator. It consolidates content from multiple disparate online music services into a single interface, allowing users to search and listen to media across various platforms within one application. The application utilizes a plugin-based architecture that relies on modular scripts to integrate third-party streaming services. Users can expand the available music library by importing external configuration files, which define how the player interacts with different media providers and displays metadata. To main
MusicFree is a cross-platform audio player and media aggregator that consolidates streaming services, not a music creation or production tool—so it lacks the multitrack recording, MIDI sequencing, and audio effects needed for composing or editing music.
JUCE is a C++ application framework and cross-platform GUI library used to build desktop and mobile applications. It serves as a development framework for creating audio software and plug-ins compatible with VST, AU, AAX, and LV2 standards. The framework includes a build integration system that uses CMake to manage project configurations and generate native IDE project files. This allows a single C++ codebase to be deployed across multiple operating systems.
JUCE is a C++ development framework for building audio applications and plugins, not a ready-to-use music production tool — it provides the building blocks you would use to create a DAW, not the DAW itself.
nih-plug is an audio plugin SDK and development framework providing a set of tools and traits for processing audio and MIDI data in a real-time safe environment. It functions as a cross-format plugin wrapper, allowing a single implementation to be exported into multiple industry-standard audio plugin formats, including VST, CLAP, and LV2. The project includes a retained-mode GUI framework for creating interactive user interfaces and parameter controls for audio processors. It also provides a real-time audio library that utilizes hardware acceleration and asynchronous task management to mainta
nih-plug is a development framework and SDK for building audio plugins, not an end-user music production application — it helps developers create the tools you'd use in a DAW, rather than being the DAW itself.
This is a real-time voice noise suppression plugin, not a full music production environment—it lacks multitrack recording, MIDI sequencing, and composition features that define the category you're searching for.
MusicFreeDesktop is a plugin-based music player and streaming aggregator that provides a unified interface for searching and playing content from multiple music services. It functions as an extensible media framework, utilizing a protocol-based architecture and a metadata normalization layer to ensure consistent audio streaming and data display across different sources. The application features a customizable desktop interface that supports theme-driven styling and variable-based runtime configuration, allowing users to personalize the appearance and behavior of the software. It includes a st
MusicFreeDesktop is a plugin-based music player and streaming aggregator, not a digital audio workstation or music creation/composition tool — it lacks multitrack recording, MIDI sequencing, and audio effect editing, making it a listening tool rather than production software.
Magenta is a comprehensive toolkit for training, synthesizing, and performing music through neural models and hardware-integrated engines. It functions as a machine learning framework that enables the generation, manipulation, and real-time performance of audio, providing the structural foundations for musical intelligence through hierarchical sequence modeling and symbolic processing. The project distinguishes itself by enabling real-time, low-latency neural audio synthesis that can be integrated directly into professional digital audio workstations. It supports interactive musical jamming a
Magenta is a machine learning framework for generative audio and neural synthesis, not a full music production tool — it lacks multitrack recording, MIDI sequencing, and built-in effects that the search asks for.
BespokeSynth is a modular synthesizer environment that combines a node-based audio graph routing system with a live scripting bridge, enabling real-time patching and control without recompilation. Its architecture integrates a granular synthesis engine, FFT-based spectral processing, a MIDI Polyphonic Expression pipeline, and a Euclidean rhythm generator, all within a freeform workspace designed for live experimentation. The project distinguishes itself through its live coding capabilities, allowing Python scripts to create, modify, and control synthesis parameters at runtime, and its plugin
BespokeSynth is a powerful modular synthesizer environment for real-time patching and sound design, but it does not provide multitrack recording and editing, making it a specialized audio tool rather than a full music production suite.
| Repository | Stars | Language | License | Last push |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ardour/ardour | 5.1K | C++ | NOASSERTION | |
| lmms/lmms | 10K | C++ | GPL-2.0 | |
| stargatedaw/stargate | 852 | Python | GPL-3.0 | |
| audacity/audacity | 17.2K | C++ | NOASSERTION | |
| tenacityteam/tenacity-legacy | 6.6K | C++ | NOASSERTION | |
| maotoumao/musicfree | 23.3K | TypeScript | agpl-3.0 | |
| julianstorer/juce | 8.6K | C++ | NOASSERTION | |
| robbert-vdh/nih-plug | 2.6K | Rust | isc | |
| werman/noise-suppression-for-voice | 6.3K | C++ | gpl-3.0 | |
| maotoumao/musicfreedesktop | 7.9K | TypeScript | agpl-3.0 |