LMMS explained

LMMS (formerly Linux MultiMedia Studio^[5]) is a digital audio workstation application program. It allows music to be produced by arranging samples, synthesizing sounds, entering notes via computer keyboard or mouse (or other pointing device) or by playing on a MIDI keyboard, and combining the features of trackers and sequencers. It is free and open source software, written in Qt and released under GPL-2.0-or-later.

System requirements

LMMS is available for multiple operating systems, including Linux, OpenBSD, macOS, and Windows. It requires a 1.5 GHz CPU, 1 GB of RAM and a two-channel sound card.^[6]

Program features

LMMS accepts soundfonts and GUS patches, and it supports the Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API (LADSPA) and LV2 (only master branch, since 24.05.2020). It can use VST plug-ins on Win32, Win64, or Wine32. The nightly versions support LinuxVST. Currently MacOS doesn't support them.^{[7] [8]}

It can import Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) and Hydrogen files and can read and write customized presets and themes.^[9]

Audio can be exported in the WAV, FLAC, Ogg and MP3 file formats.^[10]

Projects can be saved in the compressed MMPZ file format or the uncompressed MMP file format.^[11]

Editors

• Song Editor – for arranging instruments, samples, groups of notes, automation, and more
• Beat+Bassline Editor – for quickly sequencing rhythms
• FX Mixer – for sending multiple audio inputs through groups of effects and sending them to other mixer channels, infinite channels are supported
• Piano Roll – edit patterns and melodies
• Automation Editor – move almost any knob or widget over the course of the song

Audio plug-ins

LMMS includes a variety of audio plug-ins that can be drag-and-dropped onto instrument tracks in the Song Editor and Beat+Bassline Editor.

Synthesizer plugins:

• BitInvader – single-oscillator synthesis
• FreeBoy – emulator of Game Boy audio processing unit (APU)
• Kicker – drum synthesizer
• LB302 – imitation of the Roland TB-303
• Mallets – tuneful percussion synthesizer
• Monstro – 3-oscillator synthesizer with modulation matrix
• Nescaline – NES-like synthesizer
• OpulenZ – 2-operator FM synthesizer
• Organic – organ-like synthesizer
• sfxr – port of Tomas Petterson's sfxr generator
• SID – emulator of the Commodore 64 chips
• TripleOscillator – 3-oscillator synthesizer with 5 modulation modes
• Vibed – vibrating string modeler
• Watsyn – 4-oscillator synthesizer with 4 modulation modes
• Xpressive – mathematical expression parser synthesizer (only in alpha)
• ZynAddSubFX

Other plugins

• AudioFileProcessor (AFP) – basic sampler with trimming and looping capabilities
• Carla Patchbay and Carla Rack – implementation of Carla access through a plugin (only in alpha)
• GIG Player – libgig-based GigaSampler/GigaStudio instrument file player
• PatMan – GUS patch player
• SlicerT – slicer with tempo detection (only in nightly)
• Sf2 Player – a Fluidsynth-based SoundFont player
• VeSTige – interface for VST2 plugins

Standards

• Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
• SoundFont (SF2)
• Virtual Studio Technology (VST)
• Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API (LADSPA)
• LV2 (only master branch, since 24.05.2020)
• Gravis Ultrasound (GUS) patches
• GigaStudio/GigaSampler instrument files
• JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK)
• ZynAddSubFX

Audio output examples

See also

• List of music software
• List of Linux audio software
• Comparison of free software for audio
• Multitrack recording
• Comparison of multitrack recording software

References

• Tobias Doerffel. December 2005. Making Music with Linux Multimedia Studio. Linux Magazine. 61. 58–60. 2009-03-30.
• Dave Phillips . 2008-10-01 . State of the Art: Linux Audio 2008, Part II . . 2009-03-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090207073421/http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/10201 . 7 February 2009 . dead.

External links

• LMMS website

Notes and References

1. Web site: LMMS Alternatives and Similar Software - AlternativeTo.net. AlternativeTo. 31 March 2016. 1 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160401213025/http://alternativeto.net/software/lmms---linux-multimedia-studio/. live.
2. Web site: Debian -- Details of package lmms in buster . . 24 November 2019.
3. Web site: LMMS – Currently supported languages. GitHub. 21 June 2017. 6 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220406072109/https://github.com/LMMS/lmms/wiki/Creating-a-localization#currently-supported-languages. live.
4. Web site: LMMS License. 2 June 2021. lmms.io. 2 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214928/https://docs.lmms.io/user-manual/8-legal/8.1-license. live.
5. Web site: 2020 . 7.1 Glossary . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20250404050456/https://docs.lmms.io/user-manual/resources/glossary . 4 Apr 2025 . 30 May 2025 . LMMS User manual.
6. Web site: 7 May 2024 . Installation . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240429003908/https://docs.lmms.io/user-manual/getting-started/installation . 29 April 2024 . 7 May 2024 . LMMS • Documentation.
7. Web site: VeSTige - LMMS Wiki. lmms.io. 25 May 2018. 25 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180525204910/https://lmms.io/wiki/index.php?title=VeSTige. live.
8. Web site: LMMS – Linux MultiMedia Studio. 17 May 2011. SourceForge. 11 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110511001123/http://lmms.sourceforge.net/. live.
9. Web site: Dave Phillips. LMMS: The Linux MultiMedia Studio. Linux Journal. 31 March 2016. 17 August 2009. 19 August 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090819070625/https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/introducing-lmms-linux-multimedia-studio. live.
10. Web site: LMMS Sound Editing Software. Software Insider. 31 March 2011.
11. Web site: lmms.io/utils.php function read_project. Github. 3 August 2017.