Can You Produce Music on a Raspberry Pi?

The Raspberry Pi is a tiny (think cigarette packet-sized) computer designed to be cheap and easy to use for projects, and music production is no exception.

(This article has been updated to include the latest links and information)

Originally made as tool to teach computer science on the cheap, the Raspberry Pi has inspired millions of projects.

They are available for around £10-60 (depending on the model) and are awesome to have, even as just a small backup computer.

There are, of course, downsides to a system that small, it lacks significant processing power for any major scale work. Even the recommended operating systems tend to be smaller versions of Linux.

That said, with the latest models (the Raspberry Pi 4 and the Raspberry Pi 400), the processing power has gone up quite a bit. The latest models are even effective computers for basic users.

So the question one might ask is it powerful enough to produce music on it?

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Using the Raspberry Pi to produce music

Even back when this article first came out, the answer was yes, you can produce music on a Raspberry Pi. Now, things have got even better!

The Raspberry Pi has come a long way since this guide was originally written. Processing power and the number of operating systems it can support are much improved and the amount of community support is enough for even the biggest noobs to solve their problems.

One of the best options for producing music with a Raspberry Pi is Non.

Developer by Jonathan Liles, an American software architect and musician set out to make a DAW under the aim of it being “fast, light, [and] reliable”.

He has developed a modular DAW great for use on small computers, such as the Raspberry Pi itself.

Best of all, Non is entirely FREE!

Non, the DAW that works on the Raspberry Pi

At 43k lines of code, Non an impressive example of efficiency. Getting most software in that size is admirable, let alone a fully functioning DAW.

He aims to maintain the simplicity throughout the life of Non.  

Non differs from other DAWs in its modular nature; each component can work independently of the others.

Originally designed as the Non-Sequencer, when Liles encountered difficulty with the available resources, he kicked the project into gear using JACK, a low-latency sound server.  

Non comes with several modular packages:  

• Non-Sequencer – A MIDI sequencer
• Non-DAW – The timeline/arranger section
• Non-Mixer – The mixer section with plugin hosting

The only real issues with Non as a DAW are that it is very much a one-man project, he is releasing it for free and updates are infrequent.

Obviously, for the serious producer, this won’t be a problem, as they will have another DAW, and for the hobbyist fan of Raspberry Pi hardware, it will be enough to tinker about with, so don’t let that put you off.  

If you do plan on running it on a Raspberry Pi, you will find you need more kit eg. a soundcard, however after the price of a Pi, you will likely have some money spare for these extra devices.  

It really comes as a shock to realise that most computers are more powerful than the Pi, and so should really be able to handle sound production processes.

In reality, the bottleneck is the size of most software DAWs. When provided with enough computing power (as most modern computers provide), developers don’t need to refine and streamline their products as much.

This, in turn, leads to unnecessary amounts of code in some cases. Yes, most computers can handle it, it’s still a waste of efficiency.  

It’s only when you get someone who realises what can be done, and is willing to invest the time, that you realise how little computing is necessary.

What Raspberry Pi should I buy for music production

As of 2020, the best option for you would be the Raspberry Pi 400. This version of the Raspberry Pi takes a detour from the standard formats and actually comes built into a keyboard.

The Raspberry Pi 400 is, in essence, a Raspberry Pi 4, but with the added keyboard, it has much more size to spread heat.

This means it runs cooler and the processor is overclocked by default at the factory making it even faster than the Raspberry Pi 4.

It does come in more expensive, and you do lose some functionality, such as lack of an audio jack. This can be resolved with a cheap USB soundcard though, which you’ll want anyway for better sound.

That said, if you are looking for a Raspberry Pi for multiple projects, you may be better off with the default Raspberry Pi 4, this allows a bit more freedom, and all the standard features of Raspberry Pis, including an accessible GPIO.