My most recommended method for beginners has always been PD (https://puredata.info/) combined with The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music: (https://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques/latest/book.pdf) and this book (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262014410/designing-sound/). Eli's tutorials on SuperCollider are also very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/@elifieldsteel Of course, my project Glicol can also be helpful for... - Source: Hacker News / 14 days ago

For node based workflows, check out Max or Pure Data. https://cycling74.com/products/max https://puredata.info/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago

Tools like Ossia Score, Chataigne and PureData (pd) can also help a ton in building interactive art and triggering other A/V software. Source: about 1 year ago

WebPd is a highly modular compiler for audio programming language Pure Data allowing to run .pd patches on web pages. It converts the audio graph and processing objects from a patch into plain human-readable JavaScript or WebAssembly which can then be integrated directly into any web application. Source: about 1 year ago

You might also be interested in the very different Pure Data (http://puredata.info/) environment, which is also free and open-source. It uses a visual programming approach, which many people like but if you are already a programmer it might seem inconvenient in comparison. Source: over 1 year ago

Get FreePiano. If your MIDI interface is working, FreePiano will make a sound when you press keys. It's piano sound isn't the best, but it's decent enough for testing and learning to play. It can also use VST plugins. Source: over 1 year ago

Freepiano. On top of being free and letting you get started right away, it is also a VST Host (VST 2 only!) Watch out for the volume, though. It starts up with the volume at MAX, and with the sustain pedal On. Playing that first note can be quite annoying. Just click once near the sustain fields (can't miss them, right above the keyboard) and then turn the volume down to about half. Source: over 1 year ago

If you're on Windows, FreePiano. It's a piano all by itself, connects to MIDI devices, and can use VST2 plugins (32 or 64 bit, depending which version of FreePiano you download). It's own default sound is actually a VST you can use in other VST hosts. And it can use ASIO4ALL to get rid of that nasty Win Audio Latency. Source: over 1 year ago

You don't really need much. Windows 10 still has the Wavetable Synth installed. Freepiano 2 is pretty much just what it says - a free piano application that takes MIDI input. It comes with it's own piano sound, but also can use any VST2 plugin (make sure if you get the 64 bit version, your VST2's are 64-bit as well). You can point Freepiano at the MS Wavetable Synth, but it's not a great sound. Source: over 1 year ago

There's a thing called FreePiano. It's nothing great, but the default piano sound leaves a lot to be desierd, but you can use standard VST plugins to replace it's default piano sound, so you can 'upgrade' to a better piano sound later. Super simple to set up and use - just remember to turn the volume down and click on the Sustain field when you first start it up. It's always max volume when it starts, and the... Source: about 2 years ago