Music software students can start using on day one.
Fontelle is a free, open-source music studio for Windows, macOS and Linux, made in Knoxville by Fopull LLC. Students play or draw notes, build drum patterns, mix and record, in a program built for people who find music software overwhelming.
Classes, programs and therapists whose students are new to this.
Music classes, music technology and audio programs, music therapists, library and after-school programs, and anyone teaching students who find music software overwhelming.
- It teaches itself. The first time it opens, Fontelle offers a twelve-step tour over a small demo song, each step pointing at the part of the window it explains. The same guide is one key away in the app (F1) and on the web as the Fontelle manual.
- It starts from sounds, not settings. Pick an instrument, play it on a MIDI keyboard or draw notes with the mouse, and press Space.
- It is calm when it needs to be. Calm and high-contrast looks are built in, and a computer set to reduce motion starts Fontelle without moving backgrounds. Every keyboard shortcut can be changed.
- It grows with them. The same program has a full arrangement, a piano roll, a mixer with effects, a synthesiser with 338 presets, a drum machine, audio recording, built-in singers, and hosting for the CLAP, LV2 and VST® 3 plugins a program may already own.
- Nothing to sign up for. No accounts and no subscription. Fontelle never asks a student for a name or an email, and every student can take it home free.
Runs on Windows (64-bit), macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel) and Linux (64-bit; Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Mint 21 or newer). A download of about 35 to 50 MB. Speakers or headphones; a MIDI keyboard is optional.
The software is free, always. Help is there if you want it.
Fontelle
$0, always
For every student and teacher, on every machine, at school and at home. Open source under MIT or Apache-2.0. Nothing a student uses is ever paid for.
Pilot workshop
$300
A setup visit, then up to 90 minutes with one class or staff group, in Knoxville or nearby. Every student makes and exports a short piece, and the teacher keeps the lesson plan and project files. Another class period the same day is $150.
The first 3 pilots are free in exchange for a short case study.
Classroom plan
$400 a year
- One teacher and one lab.
- A training session at the start of the year.
- Priority support: a reply within one school day during term.
- A classroom install image, set up the way your IT wants.
- A named invoice with a W-9.
School plan
$900 a year
- Every teacher in one building.
- Training at the start of the year and a refresher.
- Everything in the classroom plan.
- Districts: ask for a quote.
Ask about a pilot or a plan, or call (865) 224-6120.
Five lessons, one class period each.
Each lesson will come with a starting project, a teacher page and a one-page student handout, and assumes no prior music software. The pack is being written now; this is the plan.
| # | Lesson | By the end, each student can |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your first loop | open Fontelle, take the tour, choose an instrument, draw a four-bar melody in the piano roll, and play it in a loop. |
| 2 | Beats | build a drum pattern with the drum machine, understand bars and beats on the grid, and set the tempo. |
| 3 | Building a song | arrange clips into a verse and chorus, copy and vary a part, and use undo without fear. |
| 4 | Making it sound good | use the mixer to balance levels, pan, add one effect, and explain what each did. |
| 5 | Share it | add an expressive touch with sliding notes or a singer, export a WAV, and present the piece to the class. |
Free to any teacher once it is ready. Ask to be told when it is.
Made in Knoxville by Ty Johnston at Fopull LLC. contact@fopull.com. VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.