Just plug it in, it should be recognised as a midi device, as far as DAWs go I use Bitwig, you could try renoise or Reaper which is essentially free though.

Did some edits

[–] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

LMMS is a free software DAW that's worth looking at for midi stuff. There is also Ardour, but it is more focused on recording.

Though it is getting into the weeds, it is also worth looking into setting up PipeWire (preferably) or JACK (older, more complex). These are alternative audio systems which allow you to patch audio and midi from one program to another, and make for a nice time doing audio stuff. A lot of libre audio software is designed around this workflow, rather than massive DAWs which do everything.

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

it doesn't produce sound on its own so I believe it needs a DAW to be usable.

[–] Sausage@hexbear.net 9 points 2 weeks ago

There are free software synths https://linuxsynths.com/

Reaper is an essentially free DAW, what I don’t like about LMMS is that it can’t take in audio inputs otherwise it’s good fun