Code can serve a lot of purposes and sectors, and music is one of them. While musicians worldwide are creating new melodies and songs, there are also numerous coders building and maintaining different open-source software tools designed to help them. From notation software for composing sheet music to advanced synthesizers and samplers for creating unique sounds, a lot of these apps are available for free.

It's important to consider that, as widely used by musicians as they are, these tools often rely solely on donations to keep them running. Kivach, an Obyte-based platform that facilitates cascading donations in cryptocurrencies, can significantly aid these developers by providing them with an additional source of funding. Anyone can donate to any GitHub repository this way, even if recipients don’t have a wallet from the beginning. Besides, once received, coders can distribute the funds automatically across any other repositories they want to share the donations with.

This time, we’ll check some tools for musicians available for free on GitHub. If you find them useful or interesting, remember that you can donate them some coins via Kivach.

Philip's Music Writer

Philip's Music Writer (PMW), created by Philip Hazel and released in 1988, is a versatile tool designed for music notation. This software allows users to compose and print high-quality sheet music using simple text commands. Imagine writing music as if you were typing on a typewriter, where your input is transformed into professional-looking scores. PMW has been helping musicians and composers create beautiful music notation for decades.

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* \ *It supports a wide variety of musical symbols, making it suitable for both simple melodies and complex compositions, and it handles multiple staves, different clefs, and intricate rhythms with ease. Additionally, it offers options for lyrics, chords, and various musical expressions, ensuring that your compositions look polished and professional.

As an open-source project, PMW is free to use and relies on contributions and donations from its user community for ongoing development and maintenance. Platforms like Kivach can be instrumental in supporting PMW by enabling developers to receive crypto donations from users worldwide, ensuring the project's sustainability and continued improvement. They can be found there as philiphazel/pmw.

Hydrogen

Released in 2001 and developed by Alessandro Cominu (Comix), this is a drum machine software that’s perfect for anyone interested in creating and experimenting with drum patterns. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned musician, Hydrogen offers an easy-to-use and customizable platform for composing high-quality drum tracks.

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One of the main features of Hydrogen is its pattern-based sequencer, which lets you build complex rhythms by layering different drum sounds. The software supports multiple layers for each instrument, allowing for dynamic and realistic sound variations. Additionally, it offers advanced features like time-stretching, pitch adjustment, and support for different time signatures, making it a powerful tool for creating intricate drum patterns.

Anyone can download and use Hydrogen for free, while the project thrives on contributions and donations from its user community. This model ensures that the software remains accessible to everyone while continuing to improve and expand. If you want to send them some crypto funds, they appear on Kivach as hydrogen-music/hydrogen.

SuperCollider

Created by James McCartney and first released in 1996, this one is a powerful platform for audio synthesis (generating sound electronically) and algorithmic composition (use of computer algorithms to automatically create music). Designed to be highly flexible and extensible, SuperCollider is widely used by musicians, artists, and researchers to create complex sounds and musical compositions through code.

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***The program includes a highly efficient real-time audio synthesis engine and an expressive programming language for creating and manipulating sound. It also allows users to design custom synthesis algorithms, process audio in real time, and build interactive performances. With its extensive library of built-in unit generators (UGens) for synthesis, signal processing, and analysis, it provides a rich environment for sound experimentation. Additionally, it supports multi-channel audio, MIDI, and OSC (Open Sound Control), making it suitable for a wide range of applications in music and sound art.

SuperCollider is free to use and relies on contributions from its community for development and maintenance. Funding sources include donations in fiat from users through Liberapay and PayPal, but you can send them some cryptocurrencies via Kivach. They appear there as supercollider/supercollider.

Sonic Pi

Did you know that it’s possible to play the code as you would play a guitar or a piano? It’s called live coding: the practice of writing and modifying code in real-time, often during a performance, to create music or visuals on the fly. Anyone can create music with code by using specialized software that translates code into musical sounds, and that’s exactly what Sonic Pi does.

Created by Sam Aaron and released in 2012, this live coding environment allows users to write simple code to produce complex sounds and musical compositions. The software includes a rich set of built-in sounds, samples, and effects, so you can experiment with various musical elements right away. The code can be modified and heard in real time, and the platform offers a comprehensive tutorial and extensive documentation to guide new users through the basics of coding and music theory.

Sonic Pi is available for free to everyone, but the team accepts fiat donations via Patreon and GitHub Sponsors. To send them some cryptocurrencies, you can find them on Kivach as sonic-pi-net/sonic-pi.

Vocaluxe

Singing also fits on our list, and you can do it with Vocaluxe while having some fun with it. Originally released around 2011 by Stephan Sundermann, this singing game has garnered support from a community of developers and contributors who continue to enhance its features to this day. Vocaluxe is ideal for users looking to practice singing skills or host karaoke parties with friends, offering a range of functionalities for both casual and serious vocalists.

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The software supports various input methods, such as microphones and game controllers. It also provides real-time pitch detection and scoring, helping users improve their singing accuracy and performance. Vocaluxe counts with a wide selection of songs, plus the ability to import additional tracks; and it includes options for multiplayer mode, allowing up to six players to participate and compete between themselves.

If you try it and enjoy it, remember that, as free software, Vocaluxe is relying only on its community for ongoing development, maintenance, and addition of new features. You can send its team some coins via Kivach, where they appear as vocaluxe/vocaluxe.

Claiming a Donation on Kivach

When you donate to a GitHub repository that hasn't set up anything on Kivach yet, your contribution is securely stored on an Autonomous Agent on the decentralized Obyte network, ensuring it remains untouched until the repository owner claims it.

For developers who discover donations made to their repositories, claiming these funds is a simple process. Begin by adding your repository to the platform, and then downloading the Obyte wallet. Then, you’ll need to complete a free GitHub attestation using the GitHub Attestation bot found in the Obyte Bot Store within the wallet.

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This attestation links your GitHub account securely. Once linked, you can set up distribution rules for how the funds will be shared, if you choose to distribute them among other repositories (optionally). And that’s it!

If you want to explore more free and open-source software available for donations via Kivach, don’t go without checking out our previous chapters.

• 5 Open-source Projects You Can Support With Kivach — and Cryptocurrencies
• 5 Open-source Projects You Can Support with Kivach and Cryptos, Episode III
• 5 Open-Source Projects You Can Donate to via Kivach, Episode IV: Privacy Tools
• 5 Open-source Blogging and Writing Tools to Donate to via Kivach (Ep V)
• 5 Open-Source Tools You Can Donate to via Kivach, Episode VI: Decentralized Services
• 5 Open-Source Projects to Donate via Kivach, Episode VII: Games to Play for Free!
• 5 Cybersecurity Tools to Use for Free and Donate to Via Kivach
• 5 Free Data Recovery and Backup Projects to Donate to Via Kivach
• 5 Open-Source Learning Software Projects to Donate Via Kivach
• 5 Open-Source Research Tools to Support via Kivach

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