And, if we’re being honest, there’s a near endless supply of free virtual instruments, DAWs, and apps you can take advantage of. So, if for whatever reason the above isn’t enough, you can always go looking for more. But the app does indeed support standard MIDI protocol, which means you can connect your MIDI keyboard through USB to start experimenting with the app.

Piano Time | Revel Software

The latest version of MuseScore is a free, open-source application, and the most significant change they’ve made is with the appearance of the sheet music itself, which is more professional than ever. Digital keyboards, for example, usually have internal sounds as well as MIDI compatibility. They are more versatile than MIDI only keyboards, but they are also more expensive. With the included samples and loops, anyone could combine them in their own unique ways, and create their own beats. Fun! The MIDI keyboard can be an exciting discovery for some, especially when they realized it can be used to trigger any virtual instrument installed in their DAW. Best Free Midi Keyboard Software, Final Thoughts Revontulet Soft Inc’s Perfect Piano has been described as an “intelligent piano simulator” for Android phones and tablets.The advantages of a MIDI keyboard are that they are generally cheaper, more portable, and give you the flexibility of composing, songwriting, sequencing, and making beats anywhere, assuming you have your laptop with you (with DAW software installed). If that wasn’t enough, GarageBand has built-in lessons for piano and guitar, so if you’re looking to become a better musician and instrumentalist, or don’t know your way around a MIDI keyboard yet, you can take advantage of these. That’s why we figured the MiniSpillage Compact Drum Synthesizer wouldn’t be a bad addition to this list. It just so happens that Waveform also has an amazing synth called 4OSC built right into it. It might not look like much from the outside, but it can produce a lot of different classic synth sounds, making it highly versatile. It also has multiple presets you can choose from, if you need a little inspiration, or don’t know how to dial in your own synth sounds.

Virtual Piano - Online Piano Keyboard | OnlinePianist Virtual Piano - Online Piano Keyboard | OnlinePianist

But let’s not forget – you can also make drumbeats using your MIDI controller. Sure, it forces you to think a little differently about your keyboard and work on your rhythm, but that’s not a bad thing at all, is it? Though simple and easy to use, MiniSpillage is also powerful. You might just be amazed at how many sounds you can create using this seemingly streamlined drum synth. Of course, it works great for general usage too – songwriting, jamming, sequencing, composing, scoring, and even practice.

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This one is a recent discovery for us, though it’s entirely possible you’ve come across Prism Audio’s Atmos Piano before. Each LABS instrument also requires 500 MB of hard drive space, if not double or quadruple that amount. MPC Beats comes bundled with 2 GB worth of sample, loop, and built-in virtual instrument plugin content, which means you won’t necessarily need to hunt down additional plugins and content to begin enjoying the process of making amazing beats. These virtual instruments “stay in their lane,” as it were, and though not configurable to the nth degree as some virtual instruments are, what they do, they do exceptionally well. We’ve already covered Surge in multiple guides (and raved about it), so we won’t be going over all its features again. Suffice it to say, Surge is so versatile that you could create entire projects with it (without the need of relying on another synth – hardware, software, or otherwise).