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Live Coding Languages & Tools
20 toolsPattern languages and performance environments — and what to switch to when one stops fitting.
ChucKStrongly-timed language for real-time synthesis and on-the-fly (live…EstuaryBrowser platform for collaborative, networked live coding across multiple…ExtemporeLive-coding environment pairing a Scheme interpreter with xtlang, a typed…FeedforwardAn ncurses terminal editor for TidalCycles with built-in pattern…FoxDotPython live-coding environment over SuperCollider for making music with…GlicolGraph-oriented live coding language and audio DSP engine in Rust, running…GwionStrongly-timed, ChucK-inspired programming language: small, fast…ixi langA SuperCollider 'parasite' language merging code and an active graphical…MercuryMinimal, human-readable language for algorithmic electronic music live…OrcaEsoteric live-coding sequencer where each letter is an operation; sends…OvertoneClojure toolkit for programmable, collaborative music built on the…PunctualBrowser language for live coding audio and visuals as signal-processor…RenardoModernized FoxDot fork for live coding music in Python on top of…SardinePython live coding environment for algorave, driving MIDI, OSC and…Sonic PiCode-based musical instrument for live coding music; popular for education…StrudelWeb-based live-coding environment; a faithful JavaScript port of…SuperColliderReal-time synthesis server plus the sclang language for algorithmic…TidalCyclesHaskell pattern language for live coding algorithmic music; a cornerstone…TroopReal-time collaborative editor for group live coding in one shared document.VortexPython port of the TidalCycles pattern language, sending events to…
Composition & Notation Tools
18 toolsNotation formats, score toolkits and composition languages.
abcjsRenders ABC-notation text into SVG sheet music with optional MIDI playback…AbjadPython API for building LilyPond files to produce publication-quality music…AldaText-based music composition language; write and play back scores from your…Bosca Ceoil: The Blue AlbumBeginner-friendly step-sequencer music maker; a modern Godot port of Bosca…FrescobaldiPowerful, lightweight text editor/IDE for LilyPond music engraving with…isobarPython library for expressing and manipulating musical patterns for…LilyPondText-based music engraving program that produces publication-quality sheet…MelroseInteractive Go tool for programming melodies as expressions and playing…mingusMusic-theory package for notes, scales, chords, progressions, and MIDI…MuseScoreFull-featured free music-notation and composition app with a QML/JavaScript…music21Toolkit for computer-aided musicology and symbolic-music analysis and…MusPyToolkit for symbolic music: convert between MIDI/MusicXML/ABC and load ML…PartituraPython package for handling symbolic music: MusicXML, MIDI, Humdrum kern…SCAMPComputer-assisted composition framework hubbing playback and notation from…TeoriaLightweight JavaScript library for classical and jazz music theory: notes…TonalFunctional music-theory library for notes, intervals, chords, scales and…VerovioFast, portable library for engraving MEI music scores to SVG, with…VexFlowTypeScript library for rendering music notation and guitar tablature in the…
Synthesis & DSP Tools
21 toolsSynthesis engines, DSP libraries and audio programming languages.
AudioLazyReal-time expressive DSP package for Python built on lazy streams, filters…CabbageFramework to wrap Csound code into VST/AU audio plugins and standalone…CsoundVeteran sound-and-music computing system for synthesis and DSP via…Elementary AudioDeclarative JavaScript library for digital audio signal processing…FaustFunctional DSP language that compiles to C++, WebAssembly, plugins and many…FlockingJavaScript audio synthesis framework using declarative JSON specs, aimed at…Gibberish.jsFast JavaScript DSP library that generates JIT-optimized, sample-accurate…JUCECross-platform C++ framework for building audio apps and VST/AU/AAX/LV2…Max/MSPVisual patching environment; scriptable via the js object, gen~ DSP…NyquistLisp/SAL language for sound synthesis and algorithmic composition; also…PedalboardFast Python library for audio effects and VST3/AU plugin hosting, built on…Pure DataVisual dataflow environment for real-time synthesis, audio processing and…pydubHigh-level Python library for simple audio editing: slice, concatenate…pyoPython module written in C for building real-time audio signal-processing…python-sounddevicePlay and record NumPy audio arrays via PortAudio, with blocking and…RTcmixReal-time descendant of Cmix: a C-based synthesis engine driven by Minc…SoundFileRead and write WAV/FLAC/OGG and other formats via libsndfile, returning…STK (Synthesis ToolKit)C++ class library of synthesis and DSP building blocks (oscillators…SupriyaPython API for the SuperCollider synthesis server: build synths, patterns…ThrenoscopeA live-coding instrument for spatial microtonal drones over long durations.ZzFXSub-1KB zero-dependency synth that generates game sound effects from a list…
MIDI Libraries & Tools
9 toolsReading, writing and routing MIDI, from byte-level libraries to high-level helpers.
html-midi-playerWeb components (, ) for playing and visualizing MIDI files on a page.MIDIUtilPure-Python library for programmatically creating and writing multi-track…MidiWriterJSTypeScript library for programmatically building and exporting multi-track…MidoLibrary for working with MIDI messages, ports, and files via convenient…pretty_midiUtility library for handling MIDI data intuitively for analysis and MIR…pyFluidSynthPython bindings for FluidSynth to render MIDI notes through SoundFont…python-rtmidiPython binding to the RtMidi C++ library for real-time MIDI input and…ScribbletuneWrite musical patterns as JS strings and export them to MIDI files or play…WebMidi.jsFriendly wrapper over the Web MIDI API for sending and receiving MIDI in…
Audio Analysis Libraries
10 toolsFeature extraction, pitch tracking and music information retrieval.
aubioC library with Python bindings for onset, pitch, beat and tempo detection.Basic PitchLightweight neural audio-to-MIDI converter with polyphonic note and…CREPECNN-based monophonic pitch (f0) tracker with state-of-the-art accuracy.EssentiaC++ library with Python bindings for audio analysis and music description…FluCoMaToolkit bringing signal decomposition, audio descriptors and ML to Max…librosaPython package for music and audio analysis: feature extraction, beat…madmomPython MIR library with neural-network models for beat, downbeat and onset…thebeatPython package for generating, visualizing and analyzing rhythms and…torchaudioPyTorch's audio library: I/O, datasets, and transforms (spectrograms, MFCC)…wavesurfer.jsRenders interactive audio waveforms with playback, regions, spectrogram and…
ML & Generative Audio Tools
19 toolsGenerative models, source separation and neural synthesis.
ACE-StepFast open-source music-generation foundation model producing full tracks…AmphionOpen-source toolkit for reproducible audio, music and speech generation…AudioCraft (MusicGen)Meta's PyTorch library for audio generation, home of the MusicGen…AudioGenMeta’s text-to-sound model for environmental audio and sound effects…AudioLDM 2Latent diffusion model generating speech, sound effects and music from text…BarkTransformer text-to-audio model generating speech, music, sound effects and…DDSPDifferentiable Digital Signal Processing: DSP modules (oscillators…DemucsState-of-the-art deep-learning music source separation (vocals, drums…Fréchet Audio DistanceReference implementation of FAD and CLAP score for evaluating generated…MagentaGoogle research project using ML (TensorFlow) to generate music, art, and…Magenta RealTimeGoogle’s open-weights model for real-time music generation, streaming live…MAGNeTMeta’s non-autoregressive masked transformer for text-to-music and…note-seqSerializable NoteSequence representation and utilities from Google Magenta…RAVEIRCAM's Realtime Audio Variational autoEncoder for fast, high-quality…RiffusionGenerates music by diffusing spectrogram images — the original open-source…SpleeterDeezer's pretrained source-separation library (2/4/5 stems) built on…Stable Audio OpenOpen text-to-audio diffusion model for generating short instrumentals…stable-audio-toolsStability AI’s training and fine-tuning toolkit for their audio generation…YuEOpen foundation model that turns lyrics into full songs — vocals and…
Web Audio Libraries
4 toolsBrowser audio frameworks and visualisation.
GibberBrowser-based live coding environment combining music synthesis and…NexusUIJavaScript toolkit of Web Audio UI widgets (dials, sliders, pads) for…p5.soundp5.js add-on bringing the Processing approach to Web Audio: playback…Tone.jsWeb Audio framework for making interactive music in the browser, with…
DAW & Host Scripting APIs
5 toolsScripting and extension APIs for hosts and DAWs.
Ardour (Lua scripting)Lua 5.3 scripting to automate editing, add real-time DSP/MIDI processors…Bitwig Studio Extension APIJava API for writing Bitwig Studio controller extensions to integrate…FL Studio MIDI Scripting APIBuilt-in Python API to script MIDI controllers and drive FL Studio…gibberwockyLive-code sequencing and modulation into Ableton Live and Max from a…ReaScriptScript REAPER in Lua, Python, or EEL2 to build macros and full extensions…
Trackers & Modular Synths
6 toolsTrackers, modular environments and virtual rack systems.
Bespoke SynthFree open-source modular software synth/DAW with live-patchable modules and…CardinalSelf-contained open-source VCV Rack fork shipped as a VST/CLAP/LV2/AU…FurnaceThe biggest multi-system chiptune tracker, emulating dozens of vintage…Renoise (Lua Scripting API)Lua scripting API for the Renoise tracker to build tools, menu entries…SunVoxSmall, fast modular synthesizer with a pattern-based tracker sequencer for…VCV RackOpen-source virtual Eurorack modular synthesizer host; modules developed in…