Hydrogen is an
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
drum machine created by Alessandro Cominu, an
Italian programmer who goes by the pseudonym Comix. Its main goal is to provide professional yet simple and intuitive pattern-based drum programming.
Hydrogen was originally developed for
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
, and later ported to
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
. Support for
Microsoft Windows seemed to have been abandoned, since the last build dated to 2006 for 4 years. However, a Windows port exists since the 0.9.6 version, and it is now in
beta stage. The
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows User (computing), users to Human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through graphical icon (comp ...
for the application uses
Qt library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
, and all code is released under
GPL-2.0-or-later.
Features
These are some of the features of Hydrogen:
* Pattern-based
sequencer, with unlimited number of patterns and ability to chain patterns into a song.
* 192 ticks per whole note with individual level per event and variable pattern length.
* Unlimited instrument tracks with volume, mute, solo, pan capabilities.
* Multi-layer support for instruments (up to 16 samples for each instrument).
* Sample Editor, with basic cut and loop functions.
* Time-stretch and pitch functions.
* Time-line with variable tempo.
* Single and stacked pattern mode.
* Ability to import/export song files.
* Support for
LADSPA
LADSPA is an acronym for Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API. It is an application programming interface (API) standard for handling audio filters and audio signal processing effects, licensed under LGPL-2.1-or-later. It was originally d ...
effects.
* Real-time slide control for swing.
* Option to slightly randomize velocity, time, pitch and swing functions to give a more "human" playback.
* Multiple patterns playing at once.
* Various Drumkits available to download (Rock, Jazz, Electric, Percussions...), plus support to create a custom drumkit.
See also
*
Free audio software
*
Linux audio software
The following is an incomplete list of Linux audio software.
Audio players
GStreamer-based
* Amarok is a free music player for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. Multiple backends are supported (xine, helix and NMM).
* Banshee is ...
References
External links
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*
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Software drum machines
Free audio editors
Free music software
Digital audio editors for Linux
Free software programmed in C++
Audio editing software that uses Qt
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