Fender, a company synonymous with music thanks to its iconic guitars, amps and other audio equipment, today launched its own music creation software — and it supports Linux!
Called Fender Studio, the app is free (but not open-source) and available for all major desktop and mobile operating systems.
Fender Studio is based on pro-grade DAW Studio One Pro, with a simplified interface
It works with most audio interfaces across mobile and desktop, meaning it’s easy to start recording vocals and other instruments without specialist gear.
While there are a number of digital audio workstations (DAWs) for Linux, e.g., Ardour, REAPER, Bitwig Studio, Tracktion Waveform, et al, their workflows, UIs and feature sets target pro producers. Aka people who know what they’re doing.
Fender Studio tacks mainstream, catering more to casual creators looking to ope the app and start recording, playing around, and learning the basics of mastering and production – more GarageBand rather than Pro Tools.
Arguably, Linux has been crying out for an accessible music creation option like that, which is why I’m sure the arrival of Fender Studio will strike a chord.
The company say the app shares a basis with the pro-grade Studio One Pro DAW—which came to Linux in 2023—but with a simplified interface, a mobile version and fewer overall bells and whistles.
It still looks like a DAW, just a little more streamlined. I understand what I’m looking at when I open a tool or add a track. I don’t feel like I need six hours of YouTube tutorials to bring me up to speed just to figure out where everything is!
Simplicity comes with a cost.
Out of the box, Fender Studio only supports a max of 8 tracks which is not a lot. Registering for a (free) Fender Connect account unlocks 8 additional tracks. Most budding music makers should 16 tracks is enough – limitations are opportunities for ingenuity.
That aside, the rest of the feature set on offer is capable. Fender Studio is fewer-frills, not no-frills.
As one might expect, Fender Studio comes preloaded with digital distillations of Fender’s iconic amps, pedals and tuners (see list below). Lots of on-screen knobs, sliders and buttons provide advanced users ample—pun intended—controls to shape sounds and tones.
Amps:
- ’65 Twin Reverb
- Rumble 800 v3
- ’59 Bassman
- Bassbreaker 15 Medium Gain
- Super-Sonic
- Redhead
- Tube Preamp
Pedals:
- Overdrive
- Sine Chorus
- Mono Delay
- Small Room Reverb
- Modern Bass OD
- VariFuzz
- Vintage Tremolo
- Stereo Tape Delay
- Small Hall Reverb
- Triangle Flanger
- Simple Comp
Vocal effects are also available, including de-tuner, vocoder and vocal transformer, as are standard audio processing essentials, like compression, reverb and EQ, are present. Editing and mixing provides FX sends, fades, panning, transposing, and more.
Want to Download Fender Studio?
Fender Studio is free (as in beer) software, available to download as Flatpak1 (only) on Linux from the company website, with links to macOS and Windows versions on those system’s respective stores, and links to the iOS and Android apps.
Linux system requirements for Fender Studio are listed as:
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (or higher) with Flatpak installed
- 2 GB RAM (or more)
- 64-bit Intel/AMD or ARM64 processor
A few features (the italicised amps and pedals listed further up, 8 extra tracks, and access to the “jam” presets) do require you to register for for a (free) Fender Connect account, so keep that in mind (use a masked e-mail or throwaway, like I did).
If you’re feeling inspired, go try this out — and let me
know what you think of it (or how it compares to other DAW software
you’ve tried in the past) by leaving a comment!
Source: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/05/fender-studio-linux-audio-recording-app
Official video from Fender (mainly focuses on the mobile version)
