Csound AlternativesMusic Production Apps like Csound

Csound is described as 'Sound design, music synthesd signal processing system, providing facilities for composition and performance over a wide range of platforms. It is not restricted to any style of music, having been used for many years in the creation of classical, pop, techno' and is a music production app in the audio & music category. There are more than 10 alternatives to Csound for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Windows, Linux, Web-based and Self-Hosted apps. The best Csound alternative is Pure Data, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Csound are SuperCollider, Max/MSP, Sonic Pi and Tidal Cycles.

Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Csound alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Pure Data icon
     40 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing. It is the third major branch of the family of patcher programming languages known as Max (Max/FTS, ISPW Max, Max/MSP, jMax, etc.

    46 Pure Data alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
    • Pure Data is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Csound.

    • Pure Data is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Csound.

    • Pure Data is Free and Open SourceCsound is also Free and Open Source
    • Pure Data is LightweightCsound is not according to our users
  2. SuperCollider icon
     16 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    SuperCollider is a platform for audio synthesis and algorithmic composition, used by musicians, artists, and researchers working with sound. It consists of:

    36 SuperCollider alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  3. Max/MSP icon
     22 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Interactive visual programming environment for music, audio, and media

    In use for over twenty years by performers, composers, artists, scientists, teachers, and students, Max is the way to make your computer do things that reflect your individual ideas and dreams.

    Max gives yo.

    44 Max/MSP alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
    • Max/MSP is the most popular commercial alternative to Csound.

    • Max/MSP is Paid and ProprietaryCsound is Free and Open Source
  4. Sonic Pi icon
     13 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Soinc Pi is a live-coding audio software. Learn to code creatively by composing, improvising or performing in an incredible range of styles from classical through to algorave.

    17 Sonic Pi alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Raspberry Pi
     
  5. Tidal Cycles icon
     1 like
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    A free/open source live coding environment for algorithmic patterns, written in Haskell. Tidal is using SuperCollider, another open-source software, for synthesis and MIDI.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  6. Faust icon
     4 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Faust (Functional Audio Stream) is a functional programming language for sound synthesis and audio processing with a strong focus on the design of synthesizers, musical instruments, audio effects, etc. Faust targets high-performance signal processing applications and audio...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
    • Faust is the most popular Web-based & Self-Hosted alternative to Csound.

    • Faust is Free and Open SourceCsound is also Free and Open Source
  7. ChucK icon
     6 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    ChucK is a programming language for real-time sound synthesis and music creation. ChucK presents a unique time-based, concurrent programming model that's precise and expressive (we call this strongly-timed), dynamic control rates, and the ability to add and modify code...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  8. Cmajor icon
     1 like
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    The programming language for writing fast, portable audio software. C-family language designed specifically for writing DSP signal processing code.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  9. Overtone icon
     4 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Overtone is an open source audio environment designed to explore new musical ideas from synthesis and sampling to instrument building, live-coding and collaborative jamming. We combine the powerful SuperCollider audio engine, with Clojure, a state of-the-art lisp, to create an...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  10. PraxisLIVE icon
     3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    PraxisLIVE is an open-source, visual programming environment. Experiment with and create projects using a visual patching system coupled with the power of programming in Java, Processing and GLSL.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  11. Shoebot icon
     5 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Shoebot is a pure Python graphics robot: It takes a Python script as input, which describes a drawing process, and outputs a graphic in a common open standard format (SVG, PDF, PostScript, or PNG). It has a simple text editor GUI, and scripts can describe their own GUIs for...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  12. ORCA icon
     5 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Orca is an Esoteric Programming Language and live-coding environment for musical experimentation. In Orca, each letter of the alphabet is an operation, lowercase letters operate on bang, uppercase letters operate each frame.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
12 of 17 Csound alternatives