FreePiano is a opensource software that can let you play music with your computer keyboard.
This MIDI synthesizer software download is currently available as version 0.7.2. Compatibility may vary, but generally runs on a Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7 desktop and laptop PC. Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard has been tested for viruses, please refer to the tests on the 'Virus Tests' page. It is published by Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas. Download Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard for free. Virtual MIDI controller for Linux, Windows and OSX. VMPK is a virtual MIDI piano keyboard for Linux, Windows and OSX. Based on Qt and Drumstick the program is a MIDI event generator using the computer's alphanumeric keyboard and the mouse.
Download Freepiano:
Filename | |
freepiano_2.2.2.1_win32.zip | Download |
freepiano_2.2.2.1_win64.zip | Download |
Features of FreePiano:
- Completely free, you do not need to purchase to use all the features.
- Using VSTi, you don’t need to install a virtual MIDI device.
- Support a variety of audio output, including DirectSound, WASAPI and ASIO.
- You can define any key on the keyboard and display functions.
- Multi sets of keyboard layout can be switched anytime during play.
- Export your song to mp4 directly.
2015-05-09 Freepiano 2.2.2
- MID file can be opened directly in freepiano.
- Fix a bug that output type did not save correctly on 64bit version.
- Fix a crash bug when using some VST plugins when exit.
2014-03-14 Freepiano 2.2.1
- Show detailed error when failed to load VST plugin.
- Adds a null audio output.
- Displays note first in muti-bind commands.
- Fixed a bug in LYT key map.
- Fixed a bug that sequence label did not saved in fpm file.
- Adds lots of demo songs.
2014-03-06 Freepiano 2.2
- New ‘Sequence’ command.
- Support both sharp and flat modifier on notes.
- Export ‘mid’ file is now supported.
- New ‘SendKey’ command, smuliates key press to another program.
Adds a preset to control windows default photo viewer pages. - New ‘Menu’ command, activates main menu on keyboard.
- New ‘Release’ value change modifier, restores to current value before any key is released.
Adds a preset to simulate sustain pedal. - New ‘ChannelVolume’ and ‘ChannelPan’ command.
- ‘Pitch’ command now takes a ‘Smooth’ value modifier.
- New ‘Loop’ option on playback setting.
- New ‘Fullscreen when maximized’ option on GUI setting.
- Can reset to default layout in other key signatures (No transpose).
- Random velocity option is now saved.
- Displays subfolders in keymap menu.
- Fixed a bug on input channel select setting.
2013-11-18 Freepiano 2.1.1
- Fixed a bug that ASIO driver can not load.
- Fixed a crash bug when check new version failed.
- Fixed a spelling mistake in config dialog.
2013-11-01 Freepiano 2.1
- New lock mouse command, can use mouse as sustain pedal.
- New Fluidsynth SF2 synthesizer plugin.
- New background mode.
- New Mini mode, displays caption only.
- Change transpose to key signature on piano panel.
- Fixed a bug that MIDI input is not recorded.
- Fixed a bug that select input channel does not work.
- VSTi plug-in compatibility fixes.
2013-09-28 Freepiano 2.0
- New user interface.
- New Execlusive mode when using WASAPI output.
- Supports sync confiuation with ASIO driver.
- Fixed compatibility of VST plug-ins.
- Can change playback time in playback setting.
- New music score can remember notes you played when displayed.
- Adds a metronome.
- New plug-in architecture, you can implement your own exporter.
- Random velocity simulation, can add a random velocity when a key is pressed.
2013-06-27 FreePiano 1.8
- Raw MIDI message support, with ‘MIDI’ command you can send at most 3 hexdigitals as a midi message. all other script commands are nolonger MIDIsignals.
- All script commands works correct with all value operators now, including‘Sync’ and ‘Press’ modifier.
- Supports at most 16 input channels, which are then mapped to 16 MIDI outputMIDI channels.
- Adds a ‘Follow key’ option on input channels, which can control a inputchannel not to follow current key signature.
- Adds a ‘Bank’ option on output channels, which equals midi controller 0.
- Optimized key popup settings dialog and settings dialog.
- Optimized main screen refresh, freepiano uses less GPU now.
- Preset menu now support groups, adds a lot of preset scripts in common use.
- Language can be changed correctly on windows XP.
- Localized script support.
- Keyboard color support, and you can display note names as ‘C D E F G A B’ now.
- A new ‘WAV’ file exportor.
- New update notification.
- Fixed a bug that notes will lower an octave when copy group key maps.
2013-05-24 FreePiano 1.7
- Play settings page, can change midi output channel and voice.
- New Set1 and Set10 modifier, can change value by mask 1 or 10.
- Adds a transpose command which can transpose notes on each channel.
Adds two presets that sharp on left or right hand. - Force bindings scripts on popup-menu use selected key.
Make it easy to copy key scripts without modify key name. - Optimized script display, easier to find which param is channel.
- Change ‘increase, decrease’ group to ‘add, insert, delete’ group.
- Transparency of main window can be changed in GUI settings.
- Adds playback speed in audio settings page.
- Fixed a bug that keymap editor will eat the last character.
- Fixed a bug that freepiano uses C5 as middle C.
- Fixed a bug that song recorded wrong group when starting group is not 0.
- Fixed a bug that volume is not used when exporting MP4.
2013-2-6 FreePiano 1.6
- New popup key modify menu, with quick script edit.
- Adds fixed-doh display mode.
- Adds keyboard animation, can be changed in gui settings.
- Adds a ‘Sync’ modifier on controller command, combined use with other modifiers.
For example ‘SyncPress’ will do a ‘Press’ control after playing next note. - Fixed a bug that keyboard map script editor still has a length limit.
2013-1-28 FreePiano 1.5.2
Midi Keyboard Download
- Fixed a bug that some configuration can not be saved.
- The length of keyboard map script now has no limit.
- Adds a ‘Press’ modifier on Controller command,
which can temporary change controller value then change it back after 20ms.
2013-1-21 FreePiano 1.5.1
- Fixed a bug that freepiano 1.5 can not run on windows XP.
2013-1-14 FreePiano 1.5
- Multiply MIDI input device and remap of midi input channel is now supported.
- MIDI output is now as instruments and can be selected in instrument menu.
- Change keyboard hook method to make anti-virus software happy.
- MIDI input velocity no longer adjusted by key velocity option.
- Fixed a bug that preset controllers menu not clear previous key mapping.
- Fixed a bug that noteoff not handled for some midi keyboard.
- Fixed a bug that keyup bind did not work.
2012-10-16 FreePiano 1.4.1
- When using MIDI keyboard, you can also use KEY, VELOCITY and OCTSHIFT on the main screen.
- Adds a option that can display original key or transcribed key.
2012-10-8 FreePiano 1.4
- Fixed language mistake on song info page.
- Fixed a bug that negative number can not be loaded correctly in config files.
- Maximum key groups increased to 255.
- Current key group is now displayed on main interface.
- Localization on main interface.
- “DelayKeyup” command change during playing will affect notes current playing.
Acts more like Sustain pedal now. - Allows more than one command mapped to a single key.
2012-4-25 FreePiano 1.3
- Fixed a bug that volume and output buffer size can’t be saved.
- Fixed a bug that unable to read midi controller message.
- Adds English language support.
- Adds Chinese key label support.
- Main volume can changed up to 200%.
- Keyboard map for FlashPiano layout is changed to display key names.
- Adds MP4 video file export.
2011-6-26 FreePiano 1.2
- Fixed a bug that midi events not recorded.
- Fixed a bug that mapping some controls to some key may not work.
- Fixed a but that program crashes when loading some VST plugin.
- New extension for MIDI controller message, Add, Sub, Flip can be used in MIDI controller message.
- New extension for MIDI program change message, same as controller message.
- Programs, controller values can be save to group settings.
2011-5-26 FreePiano 1.1
- Fixed noise may occur when playing.
- Fixed VST plugin path save error.
- Fixed high CPU usage bug when minimized.
- Fixed set channel BUG in the right-click menu.
- Optimized keymap GUI.
- Adds play speed control.
- Adds disable windows-key function.
- Adds setting groups, setting group can be changed anytime.
- Adds copy paste support for keymap.
- Adds disable resize window option.
- Adds drag-drop support for config and song files.
2011-05-19 FreePiano 1.0
- New user interface.
- Supports for record and playback, supports reading LYT file format.
- Adds some status display.
- Adds record and playback button at main interface.
I received an email from a blog reader who had recently bought a MIDI keyboard so they could start practicing a bit of piano at home.
My previous blog posts on MIDI keyboards had all said something along the lines of “plug in your MIDI device and open up you DAW software to play”. But what if you don’t want to purchase any expensive software for writing and producing whole musical tracks? What if you just want some free software for practicing piano or messing around?
So following that I set out to find the best FREE MIDI keyboard software out there on each of the most common platforms Windows, Mac/ Apple and Android so you can plug in your MIDI keyboard and start playing straight away. This article summarises what I found.
But first, some context:
How does MIDI Work?
First things first, I always find it useful to briefly explain how MIDI works. If you, like me, came from playing a traditional acoustic instrument such as a piano or guitar, the world of MIDI and digital music production may be a little confusing. If you already know how it works feel free to skip this section!
MIDI is a digital signal, basically a series of 1s and 0s that allows different electronic devices to communicate with one another (I know, it sounds very dystopian!). This code communicates all manner of things from the note pressed, to how hard it is pressed and when it is released.
This is different to traditional instruments that produce an audio signal you can hear either straight away for acoustic instruments or through an amplifier for electric ones.
With a MIDI keyboard or other MIDI device not producing an audio signal, it needs to be plugged into another device which can convert the code into something we can hear. In the modern era this is usually a laptop or computer.
Modern MIDI devices pretty much always plug in and communicate via a USB connection. But simply connecting the device isn’t enough. The computer will receive the code but to produce a sound it will need software of some sort.
That is where I hope this article will help.
Best Free Midi Keyboard Options – Windows
1) Piano Time for Windows 10
Piano time is a nice option if you simply want to plug in and play the piano.
It is an “app” but that doesn’t mean you need a tablet or phone to use it. Windows is changing to become more similar to Apple in the way they present software creating less of a disconnect between computers, tablets and phones. This means if you have Windows 10, you can now head to the Microsoft store and download apps to your computer.
There are paid apps in the windows store but as with the Apple and Android “stores” that you may be more familiar with on your phones and tablets, many of the apps are free to download and use.
Ease of Use
Piano time is really easy to plug in and get going. I plugged in my Novation Impulse MIDI keyboard and it instantly recognized it without me having to go into the settings.
Features
Piano time is meant to be simple and for mimicking the sound of a piano. For this reason, you can’t really adjust the sound. You won’t find different instrument sounds, reverb or delay for example. But this might be a good thing if all you want to do is play the piano.
You can record and save clips of what you are playing which is a nice feature, and this allows you to record one part, play it back and then play something else over the top. Handy if you are doing a bit of songwriting. However, be warned, on the free version these clips will only remain in place whilst the program is open, to save or export the tracks you record as MP3 files you will have to pay a small fee to upgrade.
It comes pre-loaded with a few very basic tracks for you to play along with, think Amazing Grace or Mary Had a Little Lamb. The keys will light up and show you how to play along and you can slow it down or speed it up to suit. Perhaps this is most suitable for the absolute beginner or for a child learning the piano. Also useful for anyone using this to learn the piano are a few basic scale exercises you can play along with.
Other features include a metronome that can be adjusted. I did find the clicking a bit annoying but it does the job.
As with most pieces of MIDI software, you can use your computer keyboard to play if you don’t own a MIDI keyboard. I would not recommend this as it is very hard to do, but Piano Time does have a feature called “key mapping” which will show the corresponding keyboard letters above the relevant keys to help you play.
Sound and Performance
I found the sound to be ok. A nice bit of sustain and reverb make it sound quite realistic. However, the lower notes can sound a bit quiet compared to the higher notes and chords don’t sound that great. This is annoying if you are trying to play notes with the left and right hand, as the right hand notes tend to drown out those of the left.
This can be frustrating as a quick ‘stacatto’ press of a key isn’t any different from when you hold it down. This makes notes merge together when you don’t want them to or not ring out for as long as you might have hoped.
For me, the app had virtually no latency (time between pressing a key and hearing the sound). This is partly due to the app, but will also be due to your computer. If you are trying to use it with a computer or laptop that doesn’t have much RAM or has a slow processor then this may not be the case. If you are experiencing MIDI delay check out this article.
Other people have noted that when adverts load it can cause the app to crash. This did happen to me once which was a pain. You can get rid of the ads by paying just a small fee so this might be worth doing if you are having this issue.
2) Piano 10 for Windows 10
Piano 10 is very similar in many ways to Piano Time. It is available for download from the Windows app store on any windows device.
Ease of Use
I plugged my keyboard in and it didn’t work straight away this time. The menus in the app are also not the easiest to find with a series of symbol buttons to press, so I had to do a bit of random clicking to find out how to do it.
A button saying “general MIDI” brings up a menu when clicked where you should be able to turn MIDI support on and then select your MIDI keyboard from the list.
So once you figure out what each button symbol means it isn’t too hard to use.
Features
Different to Piano Time, Piano 10 has a few different effects and amazingly 126 different sounds for you to chose from. Including reverb, sustain and echo but unfortunately only one of these can be turned on at once.
An auto-chords function is pretty cool and is a great way to help learn different chords and chord types as the keys of the chords light up whilst you play.
As with piano time you can record short clips of yourself playing. You can save these clips but only as .xscore files to re-open in Piano 10 another time.
A metronome is also included with adjustable bpm.
Sound and performance
When testing the default piano sound it was ok, but pressing the keys too lightly meant no sound was played. So if you are trying to practice playing softly you may find this frustrating.
However, when the sustain effect is turned on I thought it sounded much more realistic and it felt nice to play.
Although it is cool having 126 different sounds to choose from, be warned, most of them sound pretty terrible. Fun to mess around with but you would never want to use them in a performance.
Probably the most annoying thing about Piano 10 is the fact you can’t change the key size or get more keys to show on the screen. Can you use a macbook for gaming. The whole keyboard will still play but you won’t see all the keys light up on screen.
Being a free app it also has a banner with ads at the top but these are fairly standard and don’t really interfere with the usability.
3) MidiEditor
If you want something a bit more advanced which will allow you to edit and export your MIDI tracks then MIDI Editor is free software that is a great introduction to some more advanced techniques.
Ease of Use
In terms of downloading and installing things are fairly simple. However, unlike the previous two options, this is a more traditional piece of software that you download from a website rather than the Windows App Store.
Once downloaded the settings are easy to find and here you can select your MIDI device and connect.
You should then hear a basic piano sound.
So in terms of getting a sound, it is fairly simple. However, if you are not familiar with MIDI you may find the software slightly confusing due to the more advanced features it has….
Features
The screen shows what is known as a ‘piano roll’. This is something to get familiar with if you plan on using MIDI in production.
As you play on your MIDI keyboard and press record you will see lines appear on the screen. This is a visualization of the digital code for each note. You can see it shows which note was played, how long for and other parameters such as velocity (how hard you played that note).
This is what separates digital MIDI data from a traditional audio recording. It is stored as a series of numbers (note, note length, etc) and then a sound is ‘overlayed’ on top of that. So you could play the original notes with a piano sound but then change that to strings or a flute for example.
Features such as quantize, which automatically moves mistimed notes onto the correct beat are cool to mess around with.
Sound and performance
As a basic free introduction to MIDI editing software, MidiEditor does a pretty good job.
There are a couple of things that frustrated me though.
For example, when you record a track you can’t see the notes appearing on the screen, you have to wait till you have finished recording and then they will appear. This just felt weird compared to the MIDI input I’m used to in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
There are also no other built-in sounds to test apart from the piano and I couldn’t find a way to import my own sounds either. Perhaps I’m expecting too much from free software.
Best Free Midi Keyboard Software on Mac (and Apple devices)
1) Garageband
Garageband has to be my favorite of all the free music making software available. I’ve written entire songs on the bus using this software on my iPad and have been happier with the sound than some tracks I spent weeks on in the studio!
It comes pre-installed on most Apple products but if not it can be downloaded from the app store for free.
Ease of Use
Garageband is quite a bit more advanced than some of the simple piano apps already mentioned in this article.
It is the closest you are going to get to proper a DAW without having to pay. A DAW is a Digital Audio Workstation. It is where all song artists create songs by piecing together tracks. There are many different ones with different people having different preferences. But if you are new to the music recording world then Garageband is a great place to start.
For this reason, it has massive potential but it does make it a bit confusing for the beginner. For example, when I connected my keyboard, it didn’t work straight away. I had to navigate to preferences and select my device and I also had to change the output so I could hear the sound.
It is a similar process when connecting to an iPad, however, you will have to buy a USB to lightning adapter (such as this one).
All that said it is still very easy to get started in comparison to most DAWs which can be very overwhelming. There are plenty of great videos on Youtube to help you if you get lost.
Features
This is where Garageband excels over the other simpler apps. The possibilities are almost limitless.
You can choose from hundreds of pre-loaded MIDI sounds. There are pre-made drum loops to add in and play along to. Then when you want to add even more sounds or effects you can download free ‘plug-ins.
Because it is a DAW you can layer up multiple tracks, MIDI or Audio to create full songs and there are great built-in features such as EQ and compression so you can even try your hand at mixing!
Sound and Performance
The pre-loaded sounds do sound quite robotic and it is hard to compose a full song that will sound professional using just the MIDI samples. That does, of course, depend on your genre, for some electronic music you can do a pretty good job.
This may not bother you if you just want to practice the piano.
The performance is pretty good, I rarely ever experience any latency when playing. This is dependent on your laptop age and spec.
2) Pianu.com
This option technically applies to Windows too but I couldn’t find another free app on the Apple app store that wasn’t either terrible or tried to give me a virus.
So Pianu.com is actually a web-based MIDI keyboard and is a great option if you don’t want to mess around downloading software and just want to get playing right away.
Ease of Use
This software is so simple to use (at least it was for me anyway!) Just head to pianu.com/keyboard-page and there you will see a big yellow button that says “Detect My Keyboard”. Press this and you will see the following screen.
Midi Keyboard 1 0 3 download free. full
You are then ready to start playing
Features
Pianu is not very complex and won’t give you all the features of Garageband. But many people have written to me to say they don’t want something as complicated as that and just want to play some piano. For this it is perfect.
What Pianu is really meant for though is learning the piano. For this it has lots of built-in lessons, starting with the absolute basics and building you up from there. What I like most is you can play along with a lot of contemporary songs (Coldplay, Taylor Swift etc.) rather than the usual Ode to Joy or Amazing Grace which you get on most apps.
Sound and Performance
You would never want to use this piano for recordings or live performances, but it sounds fine for learning. The one annoying thing is the notes don’t fully ring out and eventually just stop suddenly. But this is a minor issue when you are just practicing.
For a web-based application I expected performance to be dodgy, but it really wasn’t. In fact I would say I noticed less latency than many other apps and my laptop fan was whirring away.
Best Free Midi Keyboard Software on Android
Yes, that’s right, these days you don’t even need a computer to use a MIDI device. You can now plug your MIDI keyboard directly into your phone or tablet and use that to create music.
I bought this simple USB C to USB adapter for under $10 and it allows me to play my 49 key MIDI keyboard through my phone.
Midi Keyboard Studio Free
As with the other devices mentioned above, you will need to download some software (an app) to do this and there are plenty of great free options to choose from.
1) Perfect Piano
Ease of Use
You may already know how to connect your android device to a MIDI keyboard, but if you don’t it is very simple (you can find out in this step by step guide).
Once plugged in the Perfect Piano app should automatically detect that a MIDI keyboard is connected and it should work straight away without you having to mess around with any setup! A real bonus for those who just want to plug in and play.
Features
The app has a keyboard that is set as default to a piano sound. Picture instruments sort n rename pro 2 0 8. But additionally, you get the choice of many more from strings to synths and loads of additional free sounds to download.
There is a sustain button to create the effect of using a piano pedal and you can record your efforts either in MIDI format or in audio format.
The app has some nice additional features such as ‘learn to play’. Where you can play along as notes descend on the screen, very similar to guitar hero (if you remember that game) except you are actually learning a real instrument.
Sound and Performance
With my android phone (which is a few years old now) I had no noticeable lag which amazed me. I’ve experienced many issues with MIDI latency using computers and laptops over the years. I can’t guarantee you won’t have issues but if your phone is newer than mine I’m sure it will be fine!
The sounds are really quite impressive. The piano does have that programmed sound but no more so than most other MIDI pianos out there. The synths and strings are great fun to mess around too.
I like how you can adjust the number of keys on the screen. A feature often lacking from many mobile MIDI apps.
Concluding Remarks
Nowadays there are plenty of free MIDI apps and software programs to choose from. The key thing is to ask yourself, what do I need the software to do? If it is to simply practice piano or mess about then stick to something simple. But if you think you might want to create full tracks or use more advanced techniques there is probably something out there for you too.
Once you are ready to progress the best option is to move to a DAW of your choice. I personally use Ableton Live which is particularly good for MIDI. But there are loads of others to choose from. My suggestion would be to download a free trial, watch a few ‘how-to’ videos and see which one you find best.
![Midi keyboard free Midi keyboard free](https://imag.malavida.com/mvimgbig/download-fs/virtual-midi-controller-11454-4.jpg)
The possibilities of music production using MIDI are pretty endless!