Moseph
07-07-2007, 03:54 PM
This is one of several threads I'm going to post as part of "Moseph's Guide to Windows Audio Freeware That Nobody Asked For" (MGWAFTNAF). "MGWAFTNAF" will be included in the title of each thread, along with the article title (see above). Further discussion of the topic in this thread is encouraged.
LUNA Free
NOTE: LUNA Free is no longer offered, and a similar product called MU.Lab Free is now being offered. The new program is the successor to LUNA Free, and the feature set and functionality is very similar. For this reason, I have left this left more or less unchanged.
(http://www.mutools.com/downloads.html)
LUNA Free is a lightweight composing tool that is a stripped down version of it's slightly bigger brother LUNA Unlimited. LUNA Free is somewhat unique in that its approach is based very heavily on the idea of providing only the very basic essentials. Operation is accomplished mainly through right-clicking and simple sequencing tools. While this may seem unorthodox and even limiting, LUNA Free does offer a fairly robust feature set, including:
-- Unlimited Audio tracks [limited to 8 total tracks in MU.Lab Free]
-- Unlimited MIDI tracks [limited to 8 total tracks in MU.Lab Free]
-- Unlimited VST effects plugins
-- Modular routing capabilities
-- Comprehensive automation capabilities
Despite this, LUNA Free does have some limitations to encourage the user to purchase the Unlimited version. For starters, LUNA Free doesn't permit the use of multi-timbral VSTi plugins, such as most drum samplers. Additionally, the user is limited to 4 VSTi plugins per project, and the user cannot add more than 8 "Rack Modules" (a mixer strip with built-in VST effects slots) to a project.
Most of these limitations aren't a huge deal for the average beginner, or even a more advanced user who is only interested in audio recording. For example, though there is a limit to Rack Modules, LUNA Free allows an unlimited number of regular mixer strips, sends, and VST effects which can be arranged (and are actually more flexible with some work) in the Modular Workspace.
There are a few things that seem to be unavoidable. For starters, LUNA Free's audio engine always uses 44.1kHz sampling rates and 32-bit processing. Though it will record at bit-rates dictated by the driver, the engine doesn't seem to be changeable. Additionally, importing outside audio would require sample rate conversion by 3rd party software. Similarly, there doesn't seem to be any method of specifying the directory where new files will be stored. Another potential deal-breaker is that LUNA Free doesn't seem to handle multi-channel or multi-track routing particularly smoothly: all tracks seem to be mono inputs with stereo outputs.
Another quirk is the transport control. Unlike most audio apps, LUNA Free doesn't track time in terms of seconds, but instead in terms of beats and measures. While it does permit tempo changes from measure to measure if desired, it doesn't yet seem to allow more than one time signature per project.
LUNA Free offers a pretty extensive feature set for a free download, and additionally doesn't feature the typical nag screens of other stripped-down software available. LUNA Free offers a fairly comprehensive set of tools for music composition. Additionally, the fact that is part of a family of commercial products means that updates are reasonably frequent and support is available not only from user-created knowledge bases, but also the developers.
LUNA Free
NOTE: LUNA Free is no longer offered, and a similar product called MU.Lab Free is now being offered. The new program is the successor to LUNA Free, and the feature set and functionality is very similar. For this reason, I have left this left more or less unchanged.
(http://www.mutools.com/downloads.html)
LUNA Free is a lightweight composing tool that is a stripped down version of it's slightly bigger brother LUNA Unlimited. LUNA Free is somewhat unique in that its approach is based very heavily on the idea of providing only the very basic essentials. Operation is accomplished mainly through right-clicking and simple sequencing tools. While this may seem unorthodox and even limiting, LUNA Free does offer a fairly robust feature set, including:
-- Unlimited Audio tracks [limited to 8 total tracks in MU.Lab Free]
-- Unlimited MIDI tracks [limited to 8 total tracks in MU.Lab Free]
-- Unlimited VST effects plugins
-- Modular routing capabilities
-- Comprehensive automation capabilities
Despite this, LUNA Free does have some limitations to encourage the user to purchase the Unlimited version. For starters, LUNA Free doesn't permit the use of multi-timbral VSTi plugins, such as most drum samplers. Additionally, the user is limited to 4 VSTi plugins per project, and the user cannot add more than 8 "Rack Modules" (a mixer strip with built-in VST effects slots) to a project.
Most of these limitations aren't a huge deal for the average beginner, or even a more advanced user who is only interested in audio recording. For example, though there is a limit to Rack Modules, LUNA Free allows an unlimited number of regular mixer strips, sends, and VST effects which can be arranged (and are actually more flexible with some work) in the Modular Workspace.
There are a few things that seem to be unavoidable. For starters, LUNA Free's audio engine always uses 44.1kHz sampling rates and 32-bit processing. Though it will record at bit-rates dictated by the driver, the engine doesn't seem to be changeable. Additionally, importing outside audio would require sample rate conversion by 3rd party software. Similarly, there doesn't seem to be any method of specifying the directory where new files will be stored. Another potential deal-breaker is that LUNA Free doesn't seem to handle multi-channel or multi-track routing particularly smoothly: all tracks seem to be mono inputs with stereo outputs.
Another quirk is the transport control. Unlike most audio apps, LUNA Free doesn't track time in terms of seconds, but instead in terms of beats and measures. While it does permit tempo changes from measure to measure if desired, it doesn't yet seem to allow more than one time signature per project.
LUNA Free offers a pretty extensive feature set for a free download, and additionally doesn't feature the typical nag screens of other stripped-down software available. LUNA Free offers a fairly comprehensive set of tools for music composition. Additionally, the fact that is part of a family of commercial products means that updates are reasonably frequent and support is available not only from user-created knowledge bases, but also the developers.