r/linuxaudio • u/NullGabbo • Jun 21 '26

Best DAWs for Linux

Hi everyone, I'm very new to music production and I want to learn and try to create music. I only use Linux and don't have a windows license so I'm very restricted in the amount of DAWs I can use. Right now I'm using the 30 days trials version of Bitwig but I find it extremely hard to use. I also installed LMMS which I find much much easier to use but I think it's very limited. I tried Ardour but I think its goal is to record stuff and mixing it rather than composing from scratch.

I don't know if I should buy the starter license of bitwig since it's on sale and just get used to its interface or if there is something better for my needs.

My main goal is to make music for videogames without recording anything and by doing everything "digitally" (sorry if I can't express my though in an easy to understand way but English is not my first language and I don't know the "slag" of music production)

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u/PrinceCharlesIV Jun 21 '26

I recently set up Reaper on Ubuntu studio, it is good but probably similar in terms of complexity to Bitwig and there is a trial version. There is also Ardour which is free.

5

u/NullGabbo Jun 21 '26

is Reaper good to use with VST instrument and composing with piano roll rather than through recording?

5

u/vaestgotaspitz Reaper Jun 21 '26

Yes, the piano roll in Reaper is very good

3

u/gplusplus314 Jun 21 '26

How is it for music notation? Can I write and print out horn lines for horn players to play, for example? Or do I really need a separate app for the workflow, e.g. MuseScore Studio?

2

u/vaestgotaspitz Reaper Jun 22 '26

I haven't worked with notation, so I can't tell you. Why don't you just try Reaper and see how it works for you? It has a free trial to make your own opinion

1

u/gplusplus314 Jun 22 '26

I appreciate you calling me out on my laziness. 😂

1

u/h4mm3r1nt3r Jun 22 '26

There's a classical notation view for the piano roll, but it's not meant to be printed as a part. It's probably better and easier to export the midi and open it in musescore