Live electronic music

Synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, step sequencers and plug-ins on a timeline that follows tempo, MIDI clock or timecode vinyl — with visuals and lights in the same project. Free and open-source, on Windows, macOS, Linux and Raspberry Pi.

Download ossia score 3.9.0 Try it in your browser Read the documentation

Free and open-source (GPLv3) · Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi and web browser

ossia score is used for concerts, live electronics and audiovisual performances. A piece can be written precisely in time, improvised around loops and patterns, or anything in between, and the visuals and lights follow the same clock.

What you can do

Instruments included: a multi-format sampler (SF2, GIG, DLS, Hydrogen drum kits), drum machines, an FM synthesizer, a polyphonic granulator, Synthimi, Bytebeat, and Faust physical models (synths, granular).
Patterns and sequencing: step sequencers with accents and slides, 303 and drum pattern libraries, a piano roll, an arpeggiator, MIDI humanize and quantize, and Euclidean rhythms from JavaScript (patternist, arpeggiator).
Tempo everywhere: tempo and time signatures, automation that snaps to the musical grid, bar-locked LFOs, a looper quantized to bars, and a beat tracker (musical features, looper).
Sync: generate or follow MIDI clock and MIDI timecode, follow LTC, and control the timeline with a timecode vinyl on a turntable (MIDI sync, timecode vinyl).
Plug-ins and effects: VST, VST3, CLAP (with sample-accurate automation), LV2 and JSFX hosting; the Airwindows effects, Faust, and built-in compressor, limiter, reverbs, filters and delays (audio plug-ins, audio effects).
Microtonal music with Scala scales and keyboard mappings (scales).
Controllers: MIDI controllers with named knobs and faders, MCU-compatible control surfaces, network MIDI ports provided by the operating system, wind controllers, tablets and gamepads.
Audiovisual: audio-reactive shaders, 3D and video, and DMX lights driven by the music (see video and lighting).

Live music needs, and how ossia score answers them

What you need	How ossia score does it
A piece that is partly written and partly improvised	Fixed sections on the timeline, and loops, scenes and conditions that wait for the performer.
Instruments and effects without buying plug-ins	Synths, drum machines, a sampler, a granulator and hundreds of effects included, plus your own plug-ins.
Playing in sync with other musicians and machines	MIDI clock, MIDI timecode and LTC in and out, and a tempo follower.
Visuals and lights that follow the music	Audio analysis, beat tracking and the same timeline for sound, video and DMX.
A light setup on stage	A laptop, or a Raspberry Pi running the set headless.

See the gallery for concerts and performances made with ossia score.

Download ossia score 3.9.0 Try it in your browser Read the documentation

Free and open-source (GPLv3) · Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi and web browser

More ways to use ossia score

Stage and music

Show control — Cues, scenes and timecode for theatre, concerts and events.
Spatial audio — DBAP, GBAP and trajectories over any loudspeaker layout, up to 1024 channels, and control of spatialisation renderers.
Dance and interactive theatre — Pose detection, depth cameras, sensors and tracking drive sound, video and light, inside cues and scenes.
Contemporary music and live electronics — Interactive scores that wait for the performers, cues from pedals, live processing and spatial sound.

Video and light

Video, mapping and VJing — Video playback, multi-projector mapping, shaders, 3D and NDI, synchronised with sound and light.
DMX lighting and LEDs — Art-Net, sACN and DMX USB with a fixture library, LED pixel mapping, all in sync with sound and video.
Generative art — Shaders, 3D, gaussian splats and live coding, performed live or rendered frame by frame.
Recording and streaming — Cameras, SDI, NDI and SRT in; ProRes or MP4 recording, RTMP streaming and NDI or Spout out.

Spaces and experiences

Interactive installations — Sensors, cameras and tracking, sound and video, running unattended on a PC or a Raspberry Pi.
Museums and exhibitions — Exhibits that run all day without staff, with monitoring, a staff control panel and kiosk apps.
Escape rooms and attractions — Puzzles, props and sensors driving sound, video and lights, with game logic and a game master panel.
Kinetic art and robotics — Motors, pumps and robots written on a timeline, reacting to sensors, in sync with sound, video and lights.

Tools and research

OSC, MIDI and DMX timeline — Automate any OSC, MIDI or DMX parameter on an interactive timeline, with triggers and conditions.
Visual programming — Patch audio, video and interaction with nodes and a timeline, and run your Pure Data patches.
Real-time AI — Pose detection, depth from a webcam, real-time image generation, language models and machine learning by example, run locally.
Protocol bridge — Convert between MIDI, OSC, DMX, MQTT, serial, HTTP and Bluetooth LE, with mapping and filtering, always on.
Research, sonification and biosignals — LSL, HDF5 and CSV data, sonification, biofeedback, and sessions recorded and replayed on a timeline.
Teaching and workshops — One free tool for sound, video, light, sensors and code, on every OS, in the browser and on Raspberry Pi.
Custom apps — Package a project with your own interface as an app for Windows, macOS, Linux or the web.

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