Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 4, 2026

OpenMusic

OpenMusic (OM) is an object-oriented visual programming environment for musical composition based on Common Lisp. It may also be used as an all-purpose visual interface to Lisp programming. At a more specialized level, a set of provided classes and libraries make it a convenient environment for music composition.

Last revised
Jul 4, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
386 w
Citations
2
Source
OpenMusic
Stable release
8.01 Edit this on Wikidata / 30 March 2026 (30 March 2026)
Operating system
LicenseGPLv3
Websiteopenmusic-project.github.io Edit this at Wikidata
Repository

OpenMusic (OM) is an object-oriented visual programming environment for musical composition based on Common Lisp. It may also be used as an all-purpose visual interface to Lisp programming. At a more specialized level, a set of provided classes and libraries make it a convenient environment for music composition.2

History

OpenMusic is the last in a series of computer-assisted composition software designed at IRCAM. Versions of OpenMusic are currently available for macOS (PowerPC, Intel, and Apple Silicon/ARM), Windows, and Linux. The source code has been released under the GNU Lesser General Public License.

Programming in OpenMusic

Programs in OpenMusic are created by connecting together (a process known as "patching") either pre-defined or user-defined modules, in a similar manner to graphical signal-processing environments such as Max/MSP or Pure Data. Unlike such environments, however, the result of an OpenMusic computation will typically be displayed in conventional music notation, which can then be directly manipulated, if so required, via an editor. A substantial body of specialized libraries has been contributed by users, which extends OpenMusic's functionality into such areas as constraint programming, aleatoric composition, spectral music, minimalist music, music theory, fractals, music information retrieval, sound synthesis etc.

Notable users

References

References

  1. "Release 8.0". 30 March 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  2. "Openmusic:home [Music Representations Team]".
External links
  • OpenMusic website, with full OM class and function reference, tutorials and instructions on building OM from source.