Best Free Music Production Software: If you are a DJ, you have a music group, a band, or you want to start in the world of production to create music. These are undoubtedly some of the questions that will go through your head:
- What program do I use to make music?
- What is the Best Free Music Production Software?
- How can I learn to use production software?
Top Best Free Music Production Software
Let’s be honest. Making music was never easy. Or cheap! Luckily we live in a time where access to the tools we need to make our songs is more comfortable, cheaper, and more accessible than at any other time in history.
Any musician of only a few decades ago would have dreamed of having half of the possibilities offered by the software to make music that we have access to today, even at the double (triple, quadruple.) of its current price.
These are good times. If we were born just a few years ago, we would not have these possibilities. So, let’s take advantage of it! You want to make music. Keep reading.
What is a DAW or The Best Free Music Production Software?
A DAW, which stands for Digital Audio Workstation, is a program designed for editing, recording, mixing, and mastering digital audio files. A DAW or digital audio editing program is basically a blank piece of paper and the brushes necessary for an artist to create their works of art.
Once you have chosen the program to make correct music, all you will need to create your own songs is your talent, some sounds, and, above all, creativity.
With this tool, you can record your different instruments, sort the tracks, add virtual instruments, reorganize, cut, paste, edit, add effects, mix and master your songs so that the world can listen to it.
Professionals, amateur, and home studios use DAWs as their backbone to make music. Some still use analog configurations, such as Akai MPC samplers, but most people today use computer-based software to make music.
Apart from a computer, DAW is the most important piece of Free Music Production Software. Nowadays, with only these two elements, it is possible to create incredible results. And the good news is that anyone can become a great producer!
How to Choose the Best Free Music Production Software to Make Music or Daw?
For us, choosing your DAW is like choosing which soda you should mix with your favorite beverage. Anyone can work for you.
However, it is convenient to consider your personal needs in order to choose the best possible option. Here are some important aspects to keep in mind during the search:
- Your budget: This is an investment, usually 4-5 years or beyond (such as buying a car), so you’ll want to do things right. We all have trouble saving a few hundred euros that this Free Music Production software can cost, so the price factor is something to keep in mind when choosing a production tool or another. It is important to think in the long term, and, fortunately, most of these companies offer free trials of their software that will be more than enough to test the software and see that it covers our needs.
- Which platform do you use: Although most software has versions on the most popular platforms, other DAWs only work on certain platforms, such as the case of Logic X Pro, which is only available under MAC computers. If you have the platform on which the program works, you will not have any problem. If not, you will have to consider the investment that will also require buying that equipment.
- What level do you have, and what quality of music do you need to create? : If you are starting, you probably do not need to get many options from more professional DAWs such as Pro Tools (for which it is necessary several years of practice or courses in specialized schools to begin to master all their power!). Surely you want to start with a program that you can easily understand, and that meets your needs to make music with which you gradually learn what you need to be a good music producer. Obtaining expert software from the beginning can not only take months of learning, but it can also be tremendously daunting short, a bad choice can lead to frustration and abandon your intention to create music. On the other hand, if you are a little more experienced, you will surely want to look up and get expert-level software. This more advanced software may be hard to control at the beginning, but they are a good investment for the future, which brings us to our next point.
- Think about the future: If you are a beginner, you should take into account what has been said above, and we recommend learning and progressively using the most professional tools, but do not lose sight of the future you want to reach. It is clear that most likely, after some time (year surely), your needs will begin to be greater, so you will surely need more options. If the DAW you initially chose has a low ceiling, you will eventually have to make a change and learn a software new. We would like to come up with an intermediate solution – software that will take some time to learn, but with which one can immediately feel safe with the basic functions of music production. And also that it ultimately offers some more advanced features by the time, it is ready. To take this path, the majority of DAW, including “beginner” software, have a fairly professional level and could cover almost any technical need when making their music. As an example of this, we have just told you could be the Fruity Loops program (now FL Studio), which, although it is considered a preferable beginner software. It is still used by well-known musicians and professional artists of all kinds who began their learning with the.
- Do you perform live performances? Some of the software is more optimal to perform live than others and has special features for this while others are purely designed for work in the music studio.
- Relax: We are in the digital era, and most of the production software today is very advanced. Whichever option you choose from all of those we offer in this ProductorDJ guide will not be a bad decision.
- All the software that we list have a significant development behind them, they have grown with the experience and contributions of hundreds of professional musicians who use it as a tool. They have huge communities with forums where to find support, YouTube tutorials, etc., anyone It ends up being your choice of software really will not be wrong. It will not go wrong, even if you are a beginner. So don’t be scared.
The Best Free Music Production Software to make music
All the leading music production software for free for current music production is of high quality, and you will find international producers that have made some of your favorite songs using any of them. However, if you are starting in the production of your own music. You want us to put the Easier things, here is a list of what for us are the best software for you to start making your songs:
1. GarageBand
You will have to look hard to find a better DAW if you are an initiate in the world of production or just someone who wants to record a model for your group in an amateur way. Garageband comes free with the new Mac, and if you can’t download it at a meager price, it costs $4.99 right now on the App Store.
The good thing about Garageband is that anyone, even non-musicians, can easily “play” with their bookstores and instruments and create music tracks. It also has all the basic tools for recording and creating songs.
GarageBand has now evolved into a kind of mini-Logic Pro, so if its features begin to fall short for your needs, you can make a quality leap to this more professional software relatively easily.
It has a drum functionality that is ideal for the automatic generation of rhythms, intelligent controls that greatly facilitate the editing of sounds, and also has a “Logic Remote” application for remote control of the parameters through the iPad.
- Its price. Free with the new Mac. IPad version.
- Ease of handling, it is the perfect program to start in the world of production or for bands and amateur groups.
- For more professional users, it presents certain shortcomings.
- Only available for Apple platforms. With versions on Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
- They have sacrificed functionalities to gain in simplicity and ease of handling.
2. FL Studio (Former Fruity Loops)
FL Studio began its life as Fruity Loops, the editor by beat/rhythm/loop steps with great popularity that has been used by numerous artists and producers around the world (Deadmau5 included). However, today the status of being one of the complete DAW in the market has been earned on its own merits.
The latest version of FL Studio, released this year, represents one of the most significant revisions to the program in years. It offers a vector user interface that looks great on high-resolution monitors, a redesigned mixer, and updates for several of its software plugins.
FL Studio is today an excellent option to start in the professional world of music creation.
Its strength remains perhaps the ease of starting to work with the tools and libraries provided by the factory and a sound mixing console, rather than a more traditional approach to what is a recording studio.
Another great advantage that it presents compared to other DAWS is that it now offers free updates for life to everyone who purchases their license. This guarantees that in the long run, it will be a very profitable tool, especially if we compare it with other popular options for the same platform (PC) such as Cubase.
- Learning curve. Although, like every professional DAW, it is still a program that requires a lot of experience to take advantage of all its performance. The FL studio learning curve is somewhat more accessible if we compare it with other software in its same category.
- It has one of the best and most active online communities, so it is very easy to find support, forums, and online resources.
- Free updates.
- At an advanced professional level, FL studio is still somewhat behind other music production software.
- Its version for MAC is not yet completely stable.
Celebrities who use FL Studio:
Avicci, Deadmau,
3. Pro Tools – Music Software
Pro Tools has long been the industry standard for professional recording studio software. The latest version of Pro Tools once again sets the bar high with its 64-bit audio engine and its low latency handling, playback, and recording.
Pro Tools is also expandable to Pro Tools HD, which has incredible recording capabilities but is expensive compared to other digital audio work software.
- The authentic “standard” in all the great studios of the world.
- Audio recording.
- Your sound engine
- It remains one of the tools preferred by the best producers and technicians in the world when it comes to mixing and mastering.
- Its functionalities to handle MIDI and virtual instruments, although they have improved a lot with their latest versions, are still somewhat behind their more direct competitors.
- High learning curve
- It has evolved more slowly than the competition.
- Price.
4. Steinberg Cubase
Cubase has been an industry standard for years. This software is often referred to as “the grandfather of DAWs,” as it has been in development since 1989 (Atari ST).
Cubase has been created by Steinberg, the company that introduced the Virtual Instrument Plugin technology that we all know today as VSTs. Many well-known composers, such as Zedd, Justice, Kraftwerk, use Cubase, and there is no doubt that it is an excellent piece of software. Although, as we have told you, Cubase was initially published in Atari, Steinberg has been able to evolve and improve its DAW over the years until today, where it is undoubtedly one of the main tools of musical creation for musicians and producers.
Overall, Cubase Pro feels like what it is: a mature and professional DAW that continues to evolve in interesting directions to create a great creative tool.
- It is one of the current standards.
- There are versions for both PC and Mac.
- At the time of audio editing, it is one of the best options on the market.
- Commonplace updates (although some paid).
- High learning curve
- Its price.
- You have to pay a considerable amount for the most significant updates.
Famous people using Cubase:
Zedd, Justice, Kraftwerk, New Order, Paradise Lost, Zombie Nation, Tiesto, Tom Staar, Antoine Clamarant,
5. Ableton Live
Ableton Live entered the market when other solutions were already very popular and, in its early years, failed to attract too much attention.
However, its continuous updates, excellent quality, and especially its innovative and creative approaches to music production have made a difference. They have made it one of the most popular music creation software of today.
Although Ableton continues to be a great tool for studio work such as recording, composition, mixing, and mastering. Where Ableton Live really makes a difference with other DAWs is in its “Clip View” mode, where this software does not currently have rival as an instrument for live performances, shows, and DJ sessions. This view also represents a very important and powerful innovation in the creative workflow when creating a song and even doing live performances. This makes Live, as well as being one of the best free music production software right now., also occupy a prominent place in the list of software to mix music as a DJ.
- More creative workflow.
- In addition to its power to study, it is a very useful and flexible tool for live shows. It is increasingly used by DJs, electronic artists, and bands within their shows.
- The quality of its native plugins.
- For certain more complex styles, your workflow may not be the most optimal.
- It is not the best DAW for mixing the final track.
Celebrities who use Ableton Live:
David Guetta, Madeon, Diplo, Skrillex.
6. Logic Pro X – Apple
Logic Pro X, Apple’s solution for music producers, is surely all that he thinks about when the idea of a studio for the professional musician comes into his head – it is an extremely elegant music production solution that simply works.
In the last year, we have had a real frenzy of activity in the development of this tool, which has made this program once again lead the lists of the best software to make music.
The latest Logic Pro X updates have brought a wide variety of improvements; in their workflow, they have improved their percussion application, they have renewed all the work views for high-resolution screens. They have prepared their plugins for retina resolutions; they have renewed and considerably expanded the sound library. They have included a new synthesizer Retro and the impressive and complete Alchemy synthesizer from Camel Audio (payment software that is now free for Logic Pro X users), among many other innovations and improvements.
In short, if Logic Pro X was already a DAW that offered great value, it is now genuinely irresistible. If you have a Mac, Logic Pro X is certainly an option that you will not regret.
- In the last year, it is perhaps the music software that has evolved the most.
- Its price. Especially if we consider its quality and the amount of additional material with which it comes, such as libraries, synths, virtual instruments, and plugins.
- The quality of your mixing console
- The quality of its native plugins.
- Only available for Apple platforms, iOX.
Famous people using Logic Pro X:
Axwell, David Guetta,
Conclusion
The First Step Towards a Musical Career and Create Your Own Music: Today we have at our disposal such powerful tools that not even the best sound technician of 20 years ago could have imagined having at his disposal so much for so little.
Choosing the right DAW to make music is essential, but it is only a first step.
Creativity, perseverance, learn from the typical mistakes of production, constant and progressive work, learn new techniques, and be updated with new tools. Promote yourself and invest in your own music marketing, and get a personal style are another the steps that you will have to travel in this long but exciting world of production if you want to create great musical themes.
We wish you the best of luck, and hopefully, one day, we will listen to one of your songs, somewhere without even knowing that it all started by choosing the right program to make music on this page.
Greetings creators!