User guide
Introduction, installation and first run.

Giada is an open-source, minimalistic and hardcore music production tool designed for DJs, live performers and electronic musicians. It combines a loop machine, sample player, song editor, live recorder, FX processor and MIDI controller in a lightweight yet powerful environment, letting you build performances in real time with audio tracks, MIDI events, samples and plug-ins. With sample-accurate beat sync, unlimited channels, audio and MIDI input/output support, built-in editors for samples and MIDI, portable JSON-based projects and broad cross-platform audio support, Giada is built for fast live use, deep control and continuous experimentation.

Warnings

Giada is under constant development and may still lack some features, which can make it difficult to use in certain situations. Please see the milestones to understand the current direction of development. Giada is also full of bugs, so feel free to join our forum and report any malfunction or suggestion.

Join us on GitHub to share your thoughts and ideas, and to suggest any corrections.

Requirements

Giada is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. We provide binaries for Windows and macOS only. More specifically:

You can also build Giada from source. More information is available on the Compiling from source page.

How to run Giada

The configuration file

Giada saves its configuration in a file called giada.conf, generated in the following location on your filesystem:

If you accidentally delete or alter it, the default setup will be used. The file will be restored the next time you quit the program.

Problems with the Linux version?

The Flatpak package should work out of the box. However, for the absolute best experience, you may also want to try the binaries provided by your distribution's package manager. Giada is available on Debian, Ubuntu, and many more.

Problems with the macOS version?

The macOS package we currently provide is not signed, which may cause macOS to block it. If Giada doesn't start when double-clicked, try removing the "quarantine flag" by following these instructions. Additionally, macOS Gatekeeper might get in the way: follow these instructions to disable it.