I don't know because I have not heard very good sounds coming from open source software. The synthesis software could fail as well, until shown otherwise. The output could fail also for lack of playing/composing skills. That is why I want a MIDI file with superiour melodies for testing the commercial and the open source synths. Here is an example of what I mean by a good synth sounds: http://www.access-music.de/audiodemos/presets_on_parade_160.mp3 Check their other demos as well for melody based demos. Do that with your favorite open source software and let us know! Juhana -- http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-graphics-dev for developers of open source graphics software