Fancy creating quality music from your computer without the financial outlays. Here’s the best free music making software absolutely anyone can use.
It appears that big budget studios are becoming increasingly irrelevant nowadays. There is now a slew of high profile artists headlining festivals around the world who made it all happen with the free music making software they had in their bedrooms. From Mac DeMarco and Tame Impala to Clairo achieving international, overnight stardom with Pretty Girl; world-class records can procure themselves at home as long as you have the right bells and whistles.
You might be surprised at the number of quality music making softwares available that won’t put a strain on your pocket. We’ve compiled a list of the best free interfaces for making music from scratch.
While most of these programs pertain to beginners there is an impressive amount of quality and control at your behest, should you so desire. Moreover, the non-existent price tag does not mean that there have been corners cut on the production side of things. Free tools and options for expressive control are here in spades as these programs are often trying to seduce you into upgrading to their more professional older cousins. Defy the seduction and create without cost!
Take a browse through the best free music making software – aka audio gateway drugs.
Garageband (Mac)
As far as user-friendly programs go, Garage Band is leading the charge. If you’re interested in merely being musical, Apple’s entry level program has a significant variety of samples to play with. You could quite literally build a song in minutes. The sandbox landscape and slick interface put it at the top of the list.
Don’t be fooled though! There is plenty of quality to choose from here and it is the perfect stepping stone to Logic Pro X. With shared features like Drummer, a seriously easy to use groove making sampler with multiple genre styles and a plethora of pattern variations. You will also become familiar with Apple Library as well as a similar interface to logic.
The only downsides include a limit of 255 tracks per song, as well as no MIDI export or the ability to control external hardware via MIDI. Though when it’s all said and done, Garage Band is still an immensely powerful tool and one of the most proficient digital audio workstations going round.
Amplitube Custom Shop (Mac/Windows)
If you already have a guitar lying around, then Amplitube Custom Shop is the perfect way for you to add expression and flair to your music without the hefty price tag. While it’s essentially a stripped down version version of Amplitube 4, this free fully functioning guitar rig application includes 24 models that consist of a chromatic tuner, nine stompboxes, four amps, five cabs, three mics and two rack effects.
Thus it’s not only the perfect tool for any guitarist looking to record straight into their laptop but it’s essentially a ‘try before you buy’ for anyone interested in lashing out on the real deal. And the samples are impressively accurate! Not the least because 1K Multimedia locked down official guitar amp models from industry giants such as Fender, Mesa Boogie, Orange, Ampeg and many more.
To top it off you can customise the mic model and placement, hinting at the pool of options available when you got the full mile. Amplitube Custom Shop is ideal for anyone looking to explore guitar tones or just lay down a few ideas.
Download Amplitube Custom Shop here.
Bandlab – Cakewalk (Windows)
Cakewalk is one of the oldest digital audio workstations going around and recently received a significant upgrade from its previous model — Cakewalk Sonar. After Gibson halted production last year, Bandlab snapped it up and made it free for all music lovers.
Labelled as the ‘most complete music production package’, Cakewalk offers advanced mixing and mastering tools, unlimited tracks, studio quality effects and a 64-bit mix engine. They are also rolling with the times, adding in Windows features such as touch integration, pen calibration and Surface Dial advancements throughout the interface.
If you’re looking for the most comprehensive free music making software at absolutely zero cost, Bandlab have got you covered.
Download Bandlab Cakewalk here.
Tracktion T7 (Mac OSX, Windows, Linux)
Tracktion T7 involves one of the most impressive business models on the market. Every year the free music making software gets an upgrade and the previous model has it’s price tag shaved off. The latest version to drop the cost is Tracktion T7.
This impressive interface is as user friendly as Garage Band yet with a little extra sheen. It features unlimited audio and MIDI tracks — depending on your hardware capabilities — plus it allows multiple plug in formats such as VST and Audio Units.
Furthermore, each window is scalable so you can adjust everything to suit your workflow allowing for surprisingly linear fluidity.
