LMMS Portable

This is a portable version of LMMS, a comprehensive, free and open-source audio processing software that integrates advanced sound composing and editing techniques geared toward experienced users.

Portability advantages

Since installation is not required, you can extract the program files to any part of the hard disk and run the executable directly, as well as save LMMS Portable to a removable storage unit, to be able to run it on any PC. An important aspect to consider is that the Windows registry and Start menu do not receive new entries.

Professional-looking interface

As far as appearance is concerned, the main window looks professional. It integrates several panes and rounds them up in the main frame: a song editor, beat and baseline editor, effects mixer, and controller rack.
A new project can start by importing audio files, as long as they are MIDI sequences (MID, MIDI, RMI), FL Studio projects (FLP) or Hydrogen projects (H2SONG).

Experiment with effects and plugins

It is possible to record notes from a MIDI device, enter draw mode to compose music and erase mistakes (if any), cut, copy and paste notes, select notes, scales and chords, as well as to test various effects and plugins to obtain the desired audio composition.

Compose music from multiple tracks

Multiple tracks can be arranged in the song editor module, baseline tracks can be cloned, while new beats, sample and automation tracks can be added. Furthermore, users may adjust the tempo, volume and pitch levels, as well as enable a visualization of the master output.

Configure program settings

As previously mentioned, LLMS works with various plugins, and users may change the default location for the FL Studio installation directory, STK RAW WAVE directory, LADSPA and VST plugins, in addition to the background artwork, default soundfont files, and app working directory. Performance settings are adjustable as well, and they concern the channel activity indicators, smooth scrolling in the song editor component, auto-saving, and playback cursor in the audio file processor.

Evaluation and conclusion

According to Task Manager, the app is not resource-hogging. However, we have noticed that other active apps slowed down during LMMS' runtime. It crashed several times during our evaluation when we attempted to import audio files. Plus, its response time is not very good, and LMMS requires external plugins to work properly. Although it is free and open-source, the suite has some stability issues that cannot be overlooked.