Advertisement

Best midi software

Interested in music production or becoming a DJ, Steve Olson? The community has gathered a number of apps and software that can help you with this hobby or passion of yours. Try these apps and maybe you can be the next Steve Aoki or Zedd!

List of the best apps

1.FL Studio

Paid: $99 Varies by plan
FL Studio is a Digital Audio Workstation developed by Image Line Software BVBA. This software features a multi-track recording, sequencing capabilities, and other music-mixing effects. It also has a customizable virtual keyboard and drum.
  • Website:Not Available
  • Age rating:Not available
  • Category:Not available
  • Publisher:Not available
  • Size:Not available
  • Genre:Not available

    2.Cubase

    Paid: $559.99 Varies by plan

    Cubase is a software that turns your computer into a complete production system for recording, editing and mixing audio and MIDI tracks. Choose between Cubase Elements, Cubase Artist, and Cubase Pro depending on your music creation needs.

    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Liu Cao

      by Liu Cao

      This one is kinda expensive but the work its doing is really good. Editing is really thorough adn the mixer is really powerful.

    • Larry Carlson

      by Larry Carlson

      I've been using Cubase so long now, I can't image using anything else. The interface hasn't changed that much in the last decade, and I can just whip  More

    • Víctor Deumal null

      by Víctor Deumal null

      It's just the best. It keeps the logic of the classic workflows and you can do literally any thing with it, from writing to producing.

    3.Reaper

    Paid: $60 $225

    Reaper is a digital audio production application that offers a full multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing and mastering toolset, as well as an open-sourced compatibility with plugin formats.

    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Ruth Alvarado

      by Ruth Alvarado

      Reaper is so awesome, and the 60 day trial period really allowed me to play around with it and create different tracks using different effects and plu More

    • Virginia Coleman

      by Virginia Coleman

      MIDI audio files are the most simple form of music but it's also the most versatile. I use it all the time to compose music without being bothered by  More

    4.Ableton Live

    Paid: $99 Varies by plan

    Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation (DAW) software program developed by Ableton for Windows and macOS. Released in February 2018, this software won the DJ Award for DJ Software Performance Tool.

    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Philip Grant

      by Philip Grant

      This one is pretty nice, the navigation is fast and the automation is powerful, the only thing that i dont like is its lack of pitch correction tool.

    • Rebecca Walsh

      by Rebecca Walsh

      This software is awesome for helping me create my songs. It comes reloaded with all the sounds I need to make studio quality work

    5.GarageBand

    Free download

    GarageBand is a music making software and app for Mac and iOS respectively. It offers a sound library with software instruments, presets for guitar and voice, and virtual session drummers. Users can access piano and guitar lessons.

    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available

    • Category:Music

    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Gerald Coleman

      by Gerald Coleman

      GarageBand is pretty decent software to use if you're on a Mac. I was able to set up a MIDI controller easily and begin using my electronic instrument More

    • Danielle Ellis

      by Danielle Ellis

      The best thing about GarageBand is the face that it's free! As someone who only does this as a hobby, I'm glad there's a software that's both quality  More

    6.Sonar

    Paid: $49 Varies by plan
    Sonar from Cakewalk is a digital audio workstation used by star producers and musicians for composing, recording, mixing and editing music. Cakewalk offers the possibility of choosing from three versions designed to meet your needs and budget.
    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Karen Sanchez

      by Karen Sanchez

      There are so any options available in this DWS. However, I also found it to be very intuitive and easy to comprehend. It is definitely easy to learn b More

    • by Jean Mason

      This software is great to use for making my music. I had a lot of options to choose from. The layout is easy to learn and get started creating.

    7.djay 2 for iPhone

    Paid: $2.99

    djay 2 lets you convert your iPhone or iPad into a DJ system. You can create your own mixes and add audio effects like Flanger, Echo... The app supports DJ MIDI controllers. 

    • Harold Garrett

      by Harold Garrett

      might be good for DJ programs but not much else

    8.Pianist HD

    with in-app purchases

    Pianist HD is a virtual keyboard that allows you to play music at any speed and without effort. It includes over 128 musical MIDI instruments, more than 12 sampled voices and offers you more than 50.000 songs to play.

    • by Ridhi Sen

      At first, I didn't think this was exactly what I was looking for, because it specifies being a piano app. But it does MIDI versions of every instrument I can think of, as well as voices, and tons of songs. It's a pretty good solution to my query, tho More

    9.Avid Pro Tools

    Paid: $24.92 Varies by plan
    Avid Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation that has up to 128 audio tracks, 512 instrument or MIDI tracks, and over 60 plug-ins users can use to mix and edit audio. It was released by Avid and can be installed on Windows and macOS computers.
    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Sue Yu

      by Sue Yu

      Probably the best MIDI software ever!!! This has the cleanest audio editing workflow that I have tried. There are also track freeze that is really hel More

    • Larry Hopkins

      by Larry Hopkins

      As a current AV editor, this software makes it easy for anyone to play or edit MIDI tracks. The software is very user friendly and has a very small le More

    10.Reason 10

    Paid: $399
    Reason 10 is a digital audio workstation (DAW) music production software developed by Propellerheads which allows users to record, mix, and modify music with built-in collaboration tools and instrumental sounds and effects.
    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Agustín de la Rosa

      by Agustín de la Rosa

      There are no surround or scoring features but there is a wide variation of bundled instruments which is kinda cool.

    • Michelle Arnold

      by Michelle Arnold

      reason 9 is no longer the newest of this type. you can still use it but reason 10 is the newest. seems easy enough to use and might be fun.

    11.vanBasco's Karaoke Player

    Free download

    vanBasco's Karaoke Player is a MIDI and karaoke player that supports .kar, .mid, .midi, and .rmi files. It has a fully customizable Karaoke window where you can change font, colors, number of lines and background image.

    • Website:http://www.vanbasco.com/
    • Age rating:Not available

    • Category:Music

    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Jordan Herrera

      by Jordan Herrera

      vanBasco's Karaoke Player is a very easy to use MIDI player on your system. VanBasco is very customizable and is the solution to your problem when you More

    • Lee Mao

      by Lee Mao

      If you only need a MIDI player then this software will do. You can't do any fancy editing on it, though.

    12.Piano Tutor for iPad

    Paid: $2.99 with in-app purchases

    Piano Tutor for iPad is a paid app that is intended to be used by piano students or beginners that want to get started with a virtual piano. The app also features four fun games and a midi keyboard.

    • Website:http://www.smileyapps.com

    • Age rating:4+

    • Category:Music,Education

    • Publisher:SmileyApps, LLC

    • Size:31.72 MB

    • Genre:Not available
    • James Berry

      by James Berry

      Piano Tutor is a great app for the kids who have an interest in music and piano. But I was expecting to see a more complicated MIDI software instead of a just toy for kids.

    13.Reaper 5

    Paid: $225

    REAPER 5 is a digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software developed by Cockos. It was first released on August 23, 2006. It is available for Microsoft Windows and macOS.

    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • Janet Wagner

      by Janet Wagner

      Reaper offers a lot of interesting scripting and video options as well as API functions. In the newest version, you can compose and edit MIDI as music More

    • Carl Kim

      by Carl Kim

      Reaper 5 is a neat little set that adds some creativity to any music studio. it's not a cheap software by any means, but I do think it's worth the pay More

    14.Sweet MIDI Player

    with in-app purchases

    Sweet MIDI Player is an app that lets you modify and listen to MIDI files. It also has a mixer-like interface where users can do things like changing the tempo, transposing, muting specific channels and so on. It's available for iOS devices.

    • Terry Young

      by Terry Young

      This is a nice app for auditioning many kinds of MIDI files. If you're working on a project at home, and run out of time, you can use this app to make More

    • Brian Cox

      by Brian Cox

      Shame that this is an app. I would have loved to download this on my PC because I haven't heard an app that play MIDI files better than this app.

    15.Walk Band

    with in-app purchases

    Walk Band is a music app for Android devices. You can play piano, bass, guitar, and drums. The app, also, allows you to add sound plugins, mix tracks and support an external midi keyboard.

    • Bryan Miller

      by Bryan Miller

      Awesome! A lot of fun I installed it and began playing around immediately. I'm not sure what else to do to try and make music but it was cool just to play with.

    16.ACID Pro 365

    Paid: $9.99 Varies by plan

    ACID Pro 365 is a digital audio workstation (DAW) software platform which features 16 analog synths, techno beats and other instruments, vintage compressors, 9 GB of built-in ACID loops, and other analog audio tools.

    • Website:Not Available
    • Age rating:Not available
    • Category:Not available
    • Publisher:Not available
    • Size:Not available
    • Genre:Not available
    • William Davidson

      by William Davidson

      Acid really is a very very decent MIDI DAW I am using for the past 3 years

    WHAT'S THE MEANING

    MIDI is an acronym that stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It's a protocol used for exchanging musical information between musical instruments. It records notes, from pitch, to length, and even to vibratos. but it cannot record sound waves, so MIDI data are much smaller than other sound files.

    DID YOU KNOW?

    Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer. They specialize in electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. Ikutaro Kakehashi founded it in Osaka on April 18, 1972. He came up with the idea to create a standard language for musical information. This to use in interchanging data between musical instruments from different manufacturers. In 1981, he shared his idea with Oberheim Electronics owner Tom Oberheim. Oberheim then proposed it to Sequential Circuits president Dave Smith. The three then met with other musical instruments manufacturers Yamaha, Korg, and Kawai. They discussed the idea of developing Roland's Digital Control Bus.

    Within 12 months, the companies announced they developed the MIDI. It was only in the 1983 Winter NAMM that the first MIDI connection showcased to the public. This was when Smith played a Prophet 600 and Roland JP-6. Today, MIDI files are editable using free MIDI software like GarageBand or AmpliTube. Some other more robust choices like Cubase and FL Studio are available too. Steinberg's Cubase, in particular, as being one of the best MIDI editors. This is thanks to the efforts of Kakehashi and Smith. They were both awarded Technical Grammy Awards in 2013 for their roles in the birth of the MIDI.

    Advertisement