I have a couple of these to add as well: VCVRack - simply one of the most mind-expanding things a synthesizer-nerd can play with. (https://vcvrack.com/) ZynthianOS - another example of a simple software solution to a problem nobody realized existed, opening the door to an absolutely astonishing array of Audio processing tools (https://zynthian.org/). - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago

> It’s haven’t bought any Modular’s yet but I’m really looking forward to getting into other on the new year. http://cardinal.kx.studio https://vcvrack.com/ The former is libre and gratis, runs as a standalone or plugin and in the browser!! and is based on the latter. Ther former has a libre and gratis standalone version, the plugin version is non-gratis. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago

A music synthesizer. It's a pathway to learning electronics, music, and the nature of sound. There are cheap kits, cheap synths, lots of kinds of synths, and there are much more complicated and expensive systems you can grow into. You can get software synths also, VCV Rack is a free though complex one: https://vcvrack.com/ However I'd recommend an inexpensive hardware one with real knobs you can turn, like one... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago

What really opened my eyes was the Nord Micromodular; it taught me what I just described. It showed me how limited other synths were - but that limitation was a trade-off because it's much faster to make something on a fixed-structure synth than on a modular, in most cases. Nowadays, you can use https://vcvrack.com/ instead of a small limited box that needs Windows 98 to run the editor on. Source: 12 months ago

Also I would suggest the paid version of VCV rack which works as a VST too ( the free version is just stand alone ) Expecially when experimenting with modular ( believe me, it can save you a fortune whilst you learn what different modules do ) I would also recommend Omri Cohens Youtube channel for learning this too. Source: about 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