# hydrogen-music/hydrogen

The advanced drum machine for Linux, macOS, and Windows

Repository: https://github.com/hydrogen-music/hydrogen
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/hydrogen-music-hydrogen
Homepage: http://www.hydrogen-music.org
Language: C++
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: midi, jack, audio, drum-machine, qt5, music
Last push: 2026-08-17T20:27:44+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 70/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 16, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5260, "days_push": 16, "days_rel": 400, "gap_med": 116.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1325, forks 183 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:22.646058+00:00)

## What it is
Hydrogen is an advanced open-source drum machine for Linux, macOS, and Windows, combining a pattern-based drum sequencer with a sample-based drum synth. It offers first-class MIDI support, OSC automation, time-stretching, and a rich GUI built with Qt.

## Use cases
- program drum patterns for a song
- use a software drum machine in my studio
- practice drums along with beats at home
- trigger drum samples from my MIDI pad controller
- loop drums live with tempo and swing control
- export my drum track to wav or midi
- create and share custom drumkits

## When to choose
- you need a free, cross-platform drum sequencer with deep MIDI and JACK integration
- you want pattern-based programming plus a sample-based drum synth in one app
- you need OSC/MIDI automation for live performance or studio workflows

## When to avoid
- you need a full DAW with recording, mixing, and plugin hosting
- you want a lightweight plugin (LV2/VST) inside an existing DAW
- you need step sequencing for synths beyond drums

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: audio-processing, gui
- domain: media, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cpp
- tags: drum-machine, drum-sequencer, drum-synth, jack, alsa, qt, music-production, osc, sample-based, midi, audio, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- hydrogen-music/hydrogen (main) score 70

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:22.646058+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:46:34.812632+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/hydrogen-music/hydrogen (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:22.646058+00:00, sha 776aa3fd387d)
  - homepage: http://www.hydrogen-music.org (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:32.663903+00:00, sha 4e61913b78fa)
  - site_page: http://hydrogen-music.org/features (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:32.676808+00:00, sha 3449b524304e)
  - site_page: http://hydrogen-music.org/doc (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:32.673178+00:00, sha e1cba2848bfd)
  - site_page: http://hydrogen-music.org/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T12:05:32.674936+00:00, sha 1fcf219368bb)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.