submitted 3 months ago by dynamoMaus@feddit.org to c/musicproduction@lemmy.ml

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Hello fedifriends, i found a keyboard in my basement it has a midi port and i would love to start producing music. I do not know where to start. Which Programm would you recommend, which way to connect the keyboard do my linux laptop? What do i need to think about before buying anything? Thanks a lot for every idea!

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[-] GuerillaGorillas@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

I also recommend Reaper, that indefinite free trial got me to buy a license. It’s able to do pretty much anything any other Digital Audio Workstation can and has great VST support.

For hooking up a MIDI instrument to a computer you have a few cheap options. Assuming there’s no USB-out for that keyboard there’s either MIDI->USB adapters (cheap but iffy) or interfaces (more expensive but reliable, I used a MIDI box for a while). Ideally you’d get a full fledged audio interface, but that can be pricey for just messing around.

As for making sounds you have a lot of options! Lots of free virtual instruments out there, though it’s nice to have an all-in-one VST like Xpand!2. The hard part is just learning how to set up connections and plug-ins in whatever DAW you choose, but it’s not that bad.

this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025

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Music and audio production

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