best electronic music production software free download 6 Best Free Music Making Software for Beginners for Windows. Here is a list of best free music making software for beginners for Windows . These software are relatively easy to use and understand than standard music making software. Plus, beginners can gain a great experience in music making by working on these software. Simple music making process without compromising on any essential feature make these software ideal for beginners. With most of these, you can also use external MIDI devices to create music. Various inbuilt musical instruments (Drums, Guitar, Violin, etc.) are also available which help you create different sounds. Some of these provide Music Sheet on which you can add various elements like Clefs , Signature , Rests , Notes , etc., along with instruments to make music. These software also contains virtual keyboard, virtual guitar, piano roll, etc ., which help both beginners and professionals in music making. In some software, you can also vary audio parameters, such as Pitch , Intensity , Pan , Scale , etc. to refine the sound of instruments. You can also find other important tools namely Mixer and using which you can mix and enhance the music. After making the music, you can save and export it as MIDI and respective Project Files . My Favorite Music Making Software For Beginners: Magix Music Maker is my favorite software because it offers most features and still, it is relatively easy to use. Its advanced multiple track section and cleanly designed interface make it a really good software for beginners who want to create music. You can also check out Sheet Music Maker, Beat Maker, and Open Source Music Player software for Windows. Magix Music Maker. Magix Music Maker is a free music making software for beginners . It can also be used in professional music making as it is quite a featured software. In it, you get all the tools to create music of various genres. Still, it is simple and easy to work on. The property that makes it easy to understand is its simplified interface which is broadly divided into four parts namely Tracks Section , Loops , Instruments , and Virtual Keyboard Section . The Track section is the section in which sound loops , voice , imported audio , etc. are merged together using soundtracks . In this free version of this software, you get 8 free soundtracks over which you can drop audio and create a rhythmic music. In Loops section , you get multiple sounds of varying pitch and intensity of different musical instruments such as Drums , Guitar , Keys , Bass , Brass , Sequences , etc. You can easily drag and drop sound loops from this section over the tracks to create music. Instruments section contains various separate synth tracks such as Concert Grand LE, Revolta 2 , Vita , and more. These synth tracks are basically a complete panel to fine-tune and create sounds of specific instruments like piano , acoustic drums , acoustic percussion , etc. In each synth track, you get a ton of knobs and buttons which makes these synth tracks slightly challenging to use. Still, after applying the hit and trial method and with some guidance, beginners can also operate it. Virtual Keyboard section is a simple and straightforward section that provides a virtual piano that you can use to generate new tones and sounds. Besides these main sections, this freeware also provides other essential tools such as Effects , Pitch & Tempo Changer , Title Editor , and more. Overall, it is one of the best free software for beginners to learn and create musical compositions. Note : In this free version, you get certain limitations like limited tracks , effects , instruments, etc. You can remove all the limitations by purchasing the paid version of this software. . Anvil Studio is another free music making software for beginners. It is another great option for beginners who want to learn the process of music making. This feature-rich software provides all the tools and features which are required to make great music without putting too much effort. To make music, it provides two types of editors namely Piano Roll Editor and Staff Editor . The Piano Roll Editor is useful to generate music related to Piano, Keyboard, etc. In Piano Roll Editor, you get a virtual piano with various musical notes (C, E, Eb, G#) imprinted on its keys. The Staff Editor is used to create tones associated with string instruments like Guitar, Violin, etc. In Staff Editor, you get features such as Staff Lines , Notes , Signatures , etc. This software also has an analyze feature that makes it different from other software. This tool lets you analyze important information related to music like current song position in (bars, beats, tricks), position of the mouse in (minutes, seconds, milliseconds), etc. It also provides good editing features which let you align notes , merge notes , erase/create notes , split tracks , limit number of notes played at a time , and repair track . This freeware also provides various important features to enhance music, such as: Mixer , Synthesizer , Performer , Audio Lab , Tempo Settings , and more. Plus, common features to audio and play music are also present. This software also lets you save and export music in the MIDI format. ScoreCloud. ScoreCloud is yet another free music making software which can be used by beginners to start creating musical compositions. This software mainly acts as a music notation software in which you can create as well as edit musical notations . In it, you get Music Sheet that acts as a primary element on which you can add elements (Notes, Signatures, Triplets etc.) to create music. To enter elements on the music sheet, you need to use keyboard shortcuts like A-G to enter notes , R to add Rests , Shift+ A-G to replace notes , Alt + left/right arrow keys to navigate , etc. In its music sheet editor, you can view four important sections named as Normal Manual Input , Voices/Mixer , Lyrics , and Chords . In Normal Section, you can add music elements by using MIDI keyboard and according to MIDI input, notes will imprint over the Music Sheet. In Manual Input Section , you need to enter elements using shortcut keys. The Voice/Mixer Section lets you merge and mix two or more voices. The Lyrics Section lets you add lyrics of a song with created music. Chords Section lets you add chord name over the chords symbol so that beginners can also understand it. A very interesting feature named Magic Wand is also present in this software that can auto-correct chords and detect repeated music . But, this feature is still in its BETA stage. Other handy features such as Audio Recorder , Music Player , Audio Overdub , Replace , etc., are also present to help beginners make music easily. Besides this, it also lets you save music on ScoreCloud server , and options to import and export MIDI files are also available. LMMS is another free music making software for beginners. Using it, beginners can learn about the music making process and about various aspects and parameters of music composing. With this software, you can also make beats , compose music , and perform audio editing . It comes with various inbuilt plugins through which you can quickly create tones like Monstro , Organic , Mallet , Kicker , etc. Each plugin has its own interface that contains various fine-tuning options. Apart from inbuilt plugins, you can also download and load external plugins to add more features to this software. To make or edit music, there are two options available, namely, Song Editor and Beat+Bassline Editor . By adding various instrument plugins into these two editors, you can create various beats and music. These audio editors also contain options like play/pause , zoom in/out , add sample track , draw mode , edit mode , etc. that also helpful in music creation. A handy FX-Mixer is also present in it, through which you can add various audio effects (dynamic processor, mono chorus, hard clipper, etc.) and control audio intensity. To create custom sounds, it offers a Piano-Roll containing features like notes , scale , chord , signature , recording from MIDI devices , etc. Through Piano-Roll features, you can adjust and control various audio parameters. Besides various features, it also lets you import and export projects in LMMS format and save the final music in MIDI files . Easy Music Composer. Easy Music Composer is another free music making software for beginners. It is a really good software for beginners because it contains an automatic music composer . To create music, you just need to select various music elements and click on its Compose button to get automatically composed music. The flow and beats of composed music will depend upon the input parameters. This software provides multiple musical notes such as C# , D , D# , E , F , and more. Along with music notes, it also provides musical instruments (drum, piano, guitar, Arpeggio) with lots of predefined patterns. In this freeware, you can also create a custom pattern and add it to the existing pattern list. Besides various instruments, it also provides the predefined tones namely, Melody , Chord , Bass , and Arpeggio . According to your requirement, you can adjust the volume of each available instruments as well. In the Input Notes menu , you get a virtual piano to select notes using it and options to set octave , interval , and bar is also present there. In this software, you can also record voice and mix it with other sounds to make music. To fine-tune different aspects of music, you get options to modify Channel , Bar , Minimum Notes , etc. Once the whole music gets created, you can immediately preview it and save as MIDI and sheet music file . Note : In this free version of Easy Music Composer, you can use only select up to 8 notes at a time. Aria Maestosa. Aria Maestosa is a free open source music making software for beginners. Beginners can use it to create, edit and compose music. In it, you get a simple track panel on which you can specify Musical Notes (whole note, quarter note, half note 8th note etc.), their time duration, and Instruments (Piano, Organs, Guitar, Strings, Drums, etc.). Track panel also provides options to choose different Track Sheets according to different instruments. In it, you can also connect external MIDI devices and record music directly. Plus, it also lets you work on multiple projects at a time to improve productivity. Besides this, some important tools namely Record , Play , Zoom in/out , Time signature , Tempo Settings , Draw and Add notes are also present in it. After creating the music, you can save it as MIDI file or save it as Aria Maestosa Project . 8 Best Music Production Software for Mac and Windows. Are you looking for the best music production software for Mac and Windows? To support your workstation, it is important for you to have the right music production software. The DAW is like a blank canvas which is incomplete without the production software. You may have all the music materials, but how to create that amazing music? The music production software helps you create some of the best music tracks. In this article, you will learn 8 best music production software for Mac and Windows. Part 1: How to Choose the Best Music Production Software. You need to consider two things while choosing the best music production software- Budget – Considering the budget is at the top of the list in the music equipment guides. It is a sort of an investment like your car, so you would definitely want to have something that is enduring and gives you value for money. There are definitely many free music production software available, but it is always recommended to save a few hundred dollars and get something that you can stick with for a long-term. Before opting for the paid versions of these music production software for Windows and Mac, it is always better to check the trial version of it and then, go ahead with the purchase only if you are satisfied. Your Music Editing Experience – If you are just starting out with music production, then it is pointless to go mad with the DAW terms. You may find the difficult so the investment makes no sense. It is obvious to start with a tool that is easy to understand and easily comprehensible for audio editing. The expert level software can make your learning task time consuming as well as daunting. If you are an experienced player, the Pro Tools might be tough to a certain extent but an ultimate investment for a long time. Part 2: Best Music Production Software for Mac. 1. FilmoraPro. FilmoraPro is professional and best music production software for Mac. You can download it for free and use all the features of the software. Set a standard and create anything you want with FilmoraPro. Apart from refining your footages with precision, the FilmoraPro tool also brings perfection to your audio. The features of the FilmoraPro music production software are- Sync audio automatically Control the highs and lows of your audio to normalize the volume of your clips. Reduce unwanted background sounds, like crowds or wind with this feature. Apply crossfades or overlap audio to smooth the sound between clips. 2. Garageband. It is amazing music production software also suitable for the beginners. With a user-friendly interface that lets you visualize your creation with the use of the in-built percussion, synths, and keyboard. Editing your performance down to the note and decibel with music loops, music lessons, etc. the Garageband has it all to create some great music. The features of the software are- Solid presets for vocal and guitar recording Few amps and effects for the guitar or mic Built-in lesson function for both piano as well as guitar Chord mapping to better understand music theory Supports USB keyboard and get some built-in loops Interactive plug-in controls. 3. X. If you are a Mac user, the Logic Pro X is advanced software to help with music creation with track consolidation, logic remote, smart controls, flex pitch, and more. It is a professional recording studio on Mac. The features of Logic Pro X are- Intuitive mixer for plug-in control Score Editor to create your own MIDI Interactive drum set for visual implementation of drums Natural sounding kits Synths, plug-ins, and a great interface Sound library and loop collection with out-of-the-box effects. 4. 4 Prime. For any music producer using Mac, Studio One 4 Prime is the best music production software today. It is the advanced version of the flagship digital audio workstation Studio One. The features of Studio One Prime are- Intuitive drag-and-drop functionality Unlimited tracks Nine robust Native Effects plug-ins 1GB of loop and sample content Same powerful features from Studio One Artist and Professional Operates on 64-bit OS only. Part 3: Best Music Production Software for Windows. 5. Acid Pro 9. Acid Pro 9 is a full-fledged and one of the best music production software for Windows that comes with a sleek and refined interface. It is a loop- based music production and an ultimate one for all music creators. The features of Acid Pro 9 are- Creative loop-based music production Contain pitch, length and transient data Can be edited and manipulated in real time 24-bit, 192kHz multitrack audio recording Dedicated and fully-featured mixing console Flexible routing Control surface support. 6. FL Studio 20. FL Studio is one of the most popular software to date. If you are starting out with your music-making journey, FL Studio 20 is one of the best names that you may consider. It is a comprehensive package for composing, arranging, recording, editing, mixing and mastering professional quality music. The features of the FL Studio 20 are- Plug-and-Play integration 4 x 16 RGB pad matrix Quick input patterns on the Step Sequencer Live playing and recording of notes Over 80 instrument and effect plugins covering automation Professional mixer. 7. Cubase. One of the most powerful music production software, Cubase has an unmatchable range of flexible tools. Now, create music intuitively and quickly with Cubase consisting of a wide range of virtual instruments, effects and thousands of sounds. The features of Cubase are- Audio alignment tool for synchronizing stacked vocals Easily match multiple tracks Chore pads to compose music quickly Fully integrated vocal editing. 8. . A multitrack music production software, Audacity is one of the best for the Windows. It is free, cross-platform, and open source software that is easy to use and comes with a range of features. The feature includes- Record live audio through a mixer, microphone, or digitize recordings from other sources Import, edit and combine sound files Export your recordings in many file formats Supports 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit Support for LADSPA, LV2, Nyquist, VST and Audio Unit effect plug-ins Tracks and selections can be fully manipulated using the keyboard. Conclusion. Make use of the above-mentioned music production software for Mac and Windows in order to churn out high-quality music. It makes your task easier and of professional quality. Grab the one that suits your requirements and create great music. Best Free Music-Making Software for Beginners. Looking for the best free music-making software to get your music career started? or better yet, to take your hobby to the next level? Look no further! We understand that the beginning of anything can be pretty overwhelming. You are excited to start something new, but there are a ton of other things you will need to figure out and maybe spend on. The global music industry today is growing at a fast pace, taking only the smart ones with it. Starting out in such crowded industry can be way beyond daunting. But the truth is mastering the art of music production is a marathon you may have to run for the rest of your life. Like every marathon, it all begins with the first step. Don’t be afraid to take the baby steps. To help you scale through this initial stage, we took the time to compile a working cheat sheet showing some of the top free music-making software for beginners. Yes, you do not have to shed out hundreds or thousands of dollars to kick start your music career. These music makers are perfect for the creation of just about any gig or beat you want to jump on. And they come at no cost at all. Let’s get the tape rolling already! Wait a Minute. Cut! Before we rush into these astounding free digital audio workstations (DAWs), it is important you make some crucial decisions that would guide the selection process. First off, you have to decide why you need a free music maker. Is it just to mashup a sound? Or to create an entire beat? It may sound far-fetched but the free attached to these monster apps does not make them any less effective. You can totally get everything you need to create an entire song, clean up an audio, mix some beats, and loads of others. So, before you get lost in ecstasy, it is critical to streamline your need so, you can get the best for that particular function. Secondly, it is also critical to check the compatibility of your PC before jumping on a DAW. What operating system does your PC run on? Windows? Mac? Linus? Some of these music making apps are exclusive to a particular OS. Be sure to check if your favorite free music mixing app is compatible with your computer before clicking download. Thirdly, do you need a full pack to last your entire music career? Most of these options may be best for beginners, however, a few free music makers are packed with tons of features to last your entire music career. They perfectly skirt the gamut between beginners DAWs and those left to the pro. Depending on your taste, you may keep an eye out for such fully-packed music creator or jump on anyone for the meantime and get the full version down the road. Your choice! What Are the Best Free Music Production Software for Your Music Needs. GarageBand. If you really want to get things started on a high groove then you may have to jump on this app. This mac-only music production software is packed full with everything a beginner needs to navigate his way through today’s music industry. Made in 2004, GarageBand has come a long way. It now houses everything from multiple sessions drummer to presets for guitar and voice and loads of instruments. Like the name implies, this music making app gives you all you need to create music right from your garage. As a beginner, you will find this app very easy to use. It also allows you to record up to 255 tracks per song. Created for today’s internet life, GarageBand is expertly designed to allow you make music anywhere and at any time. Simply sync your files across your devices from your online iCloud account and start making music on the go. Make incredible music with ease! . Qtractor is a -only free DAW that comes with every single feature and tool necessary to get you started on your musical career. Besides being extremely easy to use, this music maker boasts a ton of features and effects including standard MII file support, non-linear editing, multi- track tape recorder control, unlimited number of overlapping clips for each track, and multi-track audio & MIDI sequencing and recording. Qtractor also allows you to easily export your files in any preferred file format. LMMS has proven to be an amazing electronic music production tool since its inception. The free music maker is fashioned with numerous pro features that would leave you wondering if it is actually free. And yes, it is. With this music making software, you can create an entire song without sweating it. Like the website rightly puts it, “making beats has never been easier.” The LMMS app runs on all existing OS and it is very easy to use. The Beat + Baseline Editor is yet another feature to kill for. Your producing can’t go south with LMMS. It is indeed “made by musicians, for musicians!” Audacity. Having spent about two decades in the market, it is no doubt that Audacity is one of the best free music production apps for beginners. This open- source music maker is an all-rounder, perfect for PC of all operating systems. It depicts several essential features that allow any beginner or pro to record both in studio and live mode. Thanks to its amazing sound quality and editing tools, you are sure to make top-notch songs without breaking the bank. Furthermore, Audacity is outrageously easy to use and it comes equipped with Export/Import function that allows you to record your music in any file format. The spectrogram view mode is yet another astounding feature that allows you to visualize and toss between frequencies. It is simply amazing! . Recording, cutting, editing, and mixing has never been easier. This free music maker dubbed Ardour is a great way to skyrocket your music career from the bottom to the top in no time. The app consists of a wide variety of tools and plugins that earned it a seat among the best free music making DAWs on the planet. You would be forgiven if you mistake it for high-end DAWs such as Apple’s Logic, Nuendo, and ProTools. It totally feels like one of them. The carefully designed music creation tool can run on Linus and OS X only. You may have to seat this one out if your computer runs on Windows OS. Otherwise, it is a great way to go! The software provides you with everything from a powerful signal routing to incredible editing and mixing tools. You can even use the app to create soundtracks for films and do other sound-related tasks. DarkWave Studio. Packed with a plethora of professional music production features, DarkWave Studio may be too much for a beginner but it gets easier as you go. This open-source music creation app is exclusively created for Windows OS, running from Windows XP through Windows 10. It is furnished with several plugins and features that makes it undoubtedly one of the best music production software out there. With the DarkWave Studio, musicians get to enjoy excellent features such as sequence editor, multitrack hard disk recorder, virtual studio, pattern editor, and lots more. Besides the recording and editing options, you also enjoy the opportunity to stream your audio live. Let’s ride the wave from the studio! . If your computer runs on Linux and you are looking for a great music production tool at no cost whatsoever, then you will definitely find Hydrogen as a lifesaver. Hydrogen was curated to meet the needs of newbies venturing into the music industry, hence the simple and intuitive interface that makes making music so much fun. Like the free music makers outlined above, Hydrogen is packed full with a wealth of features, perfect for creating all genres of songs and from the comfort of your home. The top-notch mixer features and line sequencers are just a few of the many highlights of this fun buddy. You also get to enjoy playlists with embedded scripting functions and the all-new pro tab-tempo. Although the market is filled with high-end music making software that boast a ton of magnificent functions, it is without a doubt that there is a truckload of free music production software that also bring the prize home. Don’t allow money to be a hurdle in chasing your dreams. You can do so much more than you think possible with these apps listed in our best free music software guide for beginners. Do You Want More? Then quickly run to Movavi Video Suite to download this amazing movie and audio sound maker. With this app, you get to enjoy a wide range of features that would leave you stunned at the result. The all-new Movavi Video Suite is indeed “next step in video making.” Best Free Music Production Software For Indie Musicians. Caleb J. Murphy is a Songwriter/Producer based in Austin, TX. He is the founder of Musician With A Day Job, a blog to help part-time musicians succeed. He is also a contributor to CD Baby's DIY Musician blog, Sonicbids, and Bandzoogle. His work has been shared by ASCAP, Hypebot, and Music Think Tank. FULL BIO. Table of Contents. Introduction Digital Audio Workstations Reaper (Windows / Mac) GarageBand (Mac) Audacity (Windows / Mac / Linux) DarkWave Studio (Windows) Cakewalk by BandLab (Windows) Drum PRO T-REX 606 Hip-Hop Drum Pads 24 Regroover Dexed DSK Strings 4Front Bass Module Ample Percussion Cloudrum. Free does not always mean low-quality. It just might take a little more digging through the free stuff to get to the free-and-high-quality stuff. But that’s why I’m writing this guide — to do the digging for you. I’ll go through 13 pieces of the best free music production software that can help you be more productive in the studio and make more interesting music. Our picks for the best free music production software: Reaper GarageBand Audacity DarkWave Studio Cakewalk by BandLab Drum PRO T-REX 606 Hip-Hop Drum Pads 24 Regroover Dexed DSK Strings 4Front Bass Module Ample Percussion Cloudrum. Digital Audio Workstations. A digital audio workstation (DAW) is the first piece of software you need before you start making music. Fortunately, you can get some really good free DAWs. Reaper (Windows / Mac) Reaper is my go-to DAW. It can do pretty much everything the expensive DAWs can do that you’d see in professional recording studios, but it’s a fraction of the price. (The trial version is free.) I’ve recorded multiple releases with Reaper, and I’m not sure I’ll ever switch. Pros & Cons. Very affordable Comes pre-loaded with VST plugins specific to Reaper Easy to learn, so it’s great for beginners Try out the full version before you buy Can’t edit or print scores Limited quantize functions. GarageBand (Mac) GarageBand has been around for years (I started using it in 2009) and it keeps getting better. It comes pre-loaded on every single Macintosh computer and many well-known musicians have recorded songs with it, including Kendrick Lamar and Fall Out Boy. It’s super easy to learn, making it another great option for beginner producers. Pros & Cons. Pre-loaded on every Mac computer Access hundreds of instrumental loops Easily apply professional-sounding preset effects Only available on Macs No mixing-console view. Audacity (Windows / Mac / Linux) Audacity is an open-source DAW, and it’s as simple as you can get in terms of good music production software. Even though it doesn’t have some of the more advanced options that other DAWs have, it does allow you to do the basics. You can record, edit, add effects, and bounce your song at professional quality. There’s also an “analysis mode,” which shows you the frequency of your song so you can ensure it’s balanced. Pros & Cons. Compatible with any operating system Easy to use No mixing console Doesn’t have a lot of features that well-known DAWs have. DarkWave Studio (Windows) The big benefit of DarkWave Studio is that it’s a full DAW that doesn’t take up much storage space. Plus, it comes with 19 built-in plugins. The trade-off, however, is that you’re fed advertisements, which is how it’s a free DAW. Pros & Cons. Pattern Editor Sequence Editor Doesn’t use much storage space User experience could be improved Advertisements can be annoying Available only on Windows. Cakewalk by BandLab (Windows) Cakewalk went away, but then BandLab bought it in 2018 and made it a free DAW. Because of this, it already has 30 years of experience, so it’s a solid option considering it’s free. It’s a surprisingly powerful piece of software, allowing you to insert an unlimited number of audio or MIDI tracks. Pros & Cons. It has been around for a long time Powerful DAW Unlimited number of tracks Available only for Windows. Beat Makers. Whether or not you’re a beat-making producer, it’s a good idea to have some beat-making software. First, they can be helpful to use supplementally if you have trouble hearing the click track. Second, you never know when you may want some sick beats. Drum PRO. I’ve used Drum PRO so many times, people are probably starting to recognize some of the drums sounds. You get 20 built-in drum sounds that include hip-hop, pop, vintage 808s, and more. There are 12 pads that give you two kick drums, two snare hits, two types of claps, two high-hat hits, and four additional channels with things like shakers and claps. You can also adjust the effects like ADSR and reverb. Pros & Cons. 20 drum kits Adjust ADSR and reverb Drum sounds don’t always sound “real” T-REX 606. The T-REX 606 is modeled after the old Roland TR-606 drum machine. And the interface is as simple as you can get — there are seven drum sounds and then a volume knob and reverb knob. The drum sounds are a kick, snare, closed high-hat, open high-hat, low tom, high tom, and a cymbal. Pros & Cons. Simple interface Replicates the classic Roland T-606 Limited effects options Limited drum sounds. Hip-Hop Drum Pads 24. This one is different from the other beatmakers. Hip-Hop Drums Pad 24 is actually a mobile app for smartphones and tablets. There are a ton of free sounds you can play around with, and each kit has 12 pads with kicks, snares, claps, samples, and more. You won’t be able to make a beat right in your DAW, but here’s how I use it: Record myself playing a beat with the in-app record feature Email or WeTransfer that file to myself Go to my computer, download that file, and drop it into my DAW Either use the beat as-is or break it apart with Regroover (see below) Pros & Cons. Seemingly an unlimited number of free sounds Drum kits also include samples Make a beat from anywhere Can’t make a beat directly in your DAW May have to edit beat to ensure it’s on time. Regroover. Regroover is a program that will split apart any audio file you drop into it. It’s meant to separate a drumbeat into its respective parts, so you can isolate the kick, snare, hi-hat, and other parts from each other. Then you can use your MIDI controller to make your own beat with those sounds. So you can take the beat you made with Hip-Hop Drums Pad 24, split it up, then reassemble a beat with the same sounds. Pros & Cons. Split apart any drum beat (or any sound) and use those sounds to make your own beat Free download to test it out (must eventually buy a license though) Their customer service is top-notch Regroover Pro is expensive The interface can be hard to understand at first. Virtual Instruments. Realistic or quality-sounding virtual instruments are the most difficult type of plugin to find. I’ve tested (and then deleted) many. Here are a few that have stuck around for me. Dexed. For being a free piece of software, Dexed offers a lot, both in sounds and settings. You can get all sorts of synth sounds, from ambient to harsh to percussive. You can get bassy sounds as well as high, tinny sounds. Plus, you have several settings to play around with like EG levels, depth, curve, and many more. Pros & Cons. 32 sounds to choose from Sounds are further customizable Plenty of settings to play with The interface can seem overwhelming with all the settings Some of the sounds are very harsh-sounding. DSK Strings. DSK Strings emulates violins, violas, cellos, upright bass, and entire string sections. You can play these parts with pizzicato or bowed and you can adjust settings like ADSR, reverb, , and flanger. It will take some finagling to make the strings sound real. In my experience, this plugin is best used for more ambient string sections rather than featured or solo strings. Pros & Cons. Choose between violins, violas, cellos, upright bass, and strings sections Control the sound with plenty of settings Good sound for supporting string parts It’s difficult to make the strings sound real It may take some time to understand how the settings work. 4Front Bass Module. The 4Front Bass Module plugin has just one setting, one sound. It emulates a bass guitar and that’s it. For it being a free plugin, it sounds pretty close to a real bass guitar. If you solo it, you can tell it’s a plugin, but if you mix it into the song, it can do the trick. Pros & Cons. Sounds like a real bass guitar Easy to use Only one default sound/setting Need to be mixed into the song to work well. Ample Percussion Cloudrum. The Ample Percussion Cloudrum is a unique plugin in that it mimics a cloud drum. So it’s part percussive, part melodic, part ambient. So you can play it like a piano on your MIDI controller, or you can use it as supplemental percussion. There are 15 preset sounds and you can even adjust the settings like the Body, Width, Synth, Pan levels, and ADSR. Pros & Cons. 15 preset sounds Adjust a handful of settings Save your own presets Being a cloudrum emulator, some of the single notes have dissonant undertones. All street prices listed at the time of writing. We only recommend products or services we use and love. We are not affiliated with any product or service and make no commission from any affiliate links or sales. Free Music Production Software. This article is about free music production software . For more music software, visit our Free VST Plugins page. If you’re a beginner music producer, this is where you will find the best music production tools for your studio. We included the best music software from each category to help our readers get started with production on a PC. All music production software on the list is compatible with both Windows and macOS. We tried to included Linux-compatible applications whenever possible. We also have a list of free beat making software that you might find useful. Consider the music production tools listed on this page as a starting point for building your music studio. These are the essential software tools for music production. Once you’ve covered the basics, you can expand your music-making toolkit with additional plugins, samples, and Kontakt libraries. So what is the best free music production software in 2020? Music Production Software. These are the best free music-making programs on PC and Mac: – best free digital audio workstation – best free audio recording software – best free audio editor – best free synthesizer – best free sampler – best free equalizer – best free compressor – best free limiter – best free reverb – best free effects bundle. Waveform Free. Waveform Free is a powerful DAW that can load VST plugins. It is the best free music production platform on the market. Waveform Free is a free digital audio workstation developed by Tracktion Corporation. The DAW is the core of every music production software setup, and Waveform Free is the best one you can get for free. This powerful music-making tool works on all major platforms (Windows, macOS, and Linux) and provides all the features necessary for recording and mixing a professional-sounding song. Waveform Free can record audio and MIDI, it features an audio mixer with built-in effects, and it offers various advanced features like automation, track analysis, and more. Most importantly, Waveform Free can load VST and AU plugins. This means that you can expand your music production workspace with hundreds of free VST plugins like , samplers, effects, and more. The most essential freeware audio plugins are featured in this article. However, if you’re a singer/songwriter who only needs a multi-track recording application without VST plugin support, we recommend Studio One Prime. The hard truth is that no freeware DAW is perfect, though. If you can spend some money on music production software, the digital audio workstation should be the first item on your shopping list. The most budget-friendly DAW on the market is Reaper. It is priced at $60 for a discounted license and comes with a very generous 60-day free trial period. Some people actually just stick to using the trial version of Reaper for an infinite amount of time. But if you use Reaper to make music, be fair and support its developers by purchasing a license. Other popular DAWs are , FL Studio, Cubase Pro, and . Logic Pro X is the logical choice if you’re on macOS. Our favorite pro digital audio workstation is Studio One Pro. The top freeware alternatives to T7 DAW are Cakewalk by BandLab on Windows and GarageBand on macOS. Our readers also recommend Ardour, the free music production workstation for Linux. If you don’t want to use VST plugins and just need a free music production program to record and edit your songs, try Studio One Prime or Pro Tools First. More info: Waveform Free. Studio One Prime. Studio One Prime is the best free music production software for singer-songwriters. Studio One Prime is the best free music production software for singer-songwriters. It is a streamlined free DAW for audio recording and performing simple mixing tasks. The software comes with a built-in set of high-quality audio effects. These include a channel strip with EQ and compression, reverb and delay effects, flanger, chorus, and even the basic version of Ampire and Pedalboard, which are guitar processing effects developed by PreSonus. The free DAW from PreSonus can not load VST plugins, though. This means that you are limited to using the effects that are included with the free version of Studio One. Users who need access to more advanced features can update to Studio One Artist or Studio One Pro. Another impressive free music recording application for singer-songwriters is Pro Tools First. It is based on the industry-standard Pro Tools software by Avid. Much like Studio One Prime, it comes with some limitations (mainly the inability to load external plugins), but its simplicity can suit less demanding users. Still, we prefer Studio One Prime’s intuitive workflow and overall usability. Audacity. Audacity is a powerful free audio editor with recording functionality and VST plugin compatibility. A music production setup is not complete without an audio editor. Audacity is the best free on the market. It is also a great piece of free recording software. Open-source and fully cross-platform, Audacity comes with a great selection of tools and effects to handle all audio editing and recording tasks. Audacity is being developed by a group of volunteers and receives frequent updates almost every month. It is lightweight, stable, and intuitive enough to be used by beginner music producers. Audacity can also load VST plugins, although only 32-bit plugins are supported. More info: Audacity. Surge. Surge is a flexible open-source virtual synthesizer with over 1,000 sound presets. Surge is the best free synthesizer plugin. It can work as a VST, AU, or LV2 plugin in any compatible digital audio workstation on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is a subtractive hybrid synthesizer with three oscillators per voice and eight oscillator algorithms (Classic, Sine, Wavetable, Window, FM2, FM3, S/H Noise, and Audio input). Experienced sound designers and music producers will enjoy Surge’s almost infinitely powerful synthesis engine. Beginners, on the other hand, can take full advantage of over 1,000 sound presets that come included with this free synth. If you need a flexible free synthesizer for your music production studio, Surge is the way to go. It is one of the best free music software tools on the market, especially for electronic music producers. Surge was developed by the same programmer who later worked on developing the Bitwig Studio music production software. The plugin is now an open-source virtual instrument developed by a group of enthusiasts. More info: Surge. TX16Wx Software Sampler. TX16Wx Software Sampler is a free sampler plugin for your software-based music studio. TX16Wx Software Sampler is the best free sampler plugin for your music production studio. It is also the best free alternative to the industry- standard Native Instruments Kontakt sampler. TX16Wx Software Sampler can load samples in WAV, AIFF, Ogg, and FLAC formats. It can also handle SoundFonts, SFZ patches, as well as Akai and EXS format presets. SoundFont and SFZ compatibility are essential features. There are hundreds of free SFZ sound libraries you can find online, such as the fantastic Piano in 162 and the SM Drums acoustic drum kit. Of course, TX16Wx Software Sampler can also be used to create your own sample-based patches. The plugin features a powerful mapping editor, a non-destructive sample editor, built-in effects, time-stretching, unlimited modulation sources, and even the ability to record audio. You can capture any type of sound from your digital audio workstation and treat it as an audio sample. TX16Wx Software Sampler can be used as standalone music production software or as a VST, VST, AU, and AAX plugin in a compatible digital audio workstation. The majority of music-making applications, free or paid, will include some type of sampler instrument. That said, TX16Wx Software Sampler offers an advanced feature set for a sample-based music production workspace. If you find that TX16Wx Software Sampler too complicated or cumbersome to use, then take a look at Grace, an intuitive freeware sampler instrument that only works on Windows. TDR Nova. TDR Nova is a parametric equalizer with a parametric equalize with a full-featured dynamics section. The two most crucial mixing tools to have at your disposal are an equalizer and a compressor. These two types of audio effects are the essential building blocks of every music production studio. Together with the digital audio workstation, they are the most essential music production software. TDR Nova is the best free equalizer plugin you can add to your music-making software toolbox. It is a four-band dynamic equalizer with the additional high-pass and low-pass filters. Being a dynamic equalizer, TDR Nova can handle all sorts of mixing tasks. You can use it as a basic parametric equalizer, a dynamic EQ, a multi-band compressor, a de-esser, a wideband compressor, or even just a simple audio filter. The two best things about TDR Nova are its flexibility and user-friendliness. Despite the plugin’s advanced “dynamic EQ” capabilities, even total beginners can use its basic equalization features. The advanced dynamics controls are switched off by default and ready to use if required. More info: TDR Nova. DC1A is a powerful yet intuitive compressor plugin for your music production software rig. DC1A is the best free compressor plugin. It is not the most feature-packed compressor effect, but it certainly is the most intuitive one. Many music production beginners have a hard time understanding how an audio compressor works. With DC1A, it’s only a matter of finding the right compression amount, and the rest of the magic will happen under the hood . If you’re only getting started with music production software, DC1A is the first compressor effect to add to your arsenal. More advanced music producers and experienced audio engineers should download TDR Kotelnikov, the best free mastering compressor on the market. More info: DC1A. Limiter №6. Limiter №6 is a fantastic free mastering limiter. A limiter is an essential tool in the audio mastering stage of music production. Truth be told, mastering your most important projects is a task that should be outsourced to a professional mastering engineer. However, owning a good quality limiter plugin is essential when mastering your demo songs and song previews. And quite honestly, its fun to be able to mix and master an entire song using only free music production software. With that in mind, Limiter №6 is the best free limiter plugin for your music-making application of choice. Another excellent free limiter plugin is LoudMax by Thomas Mundt. It is less advanced than Limiter №6 and more suitable for beginners. And we also recommend the excellent Frontier limiter by D16 Group. Both plugins are worth adding to your free mastering collection. OrilRiver. OrilRiver is the best free reverb plugin you can add to your music production studio. A lush-sounding is the secret ingredient of every great mix. That is why a high-quality reverb plugin is an important building block in every music producer’s software arsenal. The best free reverb VST plugin right now is OrilRiver by Denis Tihanov. OrilRiver is a free algorithmic stereo reverb plugin that can rival the sound quality of even the most expensive reverbs. It is a very flexible effect, capable of simulating small rooms, great halls, cathedrals, and any type of space in between. This is a fairly complex reverb plugin, but the well- designed user interface and intuitive controls make it easy to use even for beginners. The included presets cover the most used types of reverb sounds. Press the padlock icon next to the preset browser to lock the value of the Wet knob when changing presets. More info: OrilRiver. MFreeFXBundle. MFreeFXBundle features additional music production software like phaser and chorus effects, bitcrushers, and more. The music production software listed so far is what we consider as must-have free music tools. To further expand your music-making arsenal, you can look into something like the MFreeFXBundle by MeldaAudio. It features a decent selection of additional plugins like phaser, chorus, bitcrusher, and more. We also highly recommend the Komplete Start Bundle by Native Instruments, Blue Cat’s Freeware Plug-ins Pack II, and the Dead Duck Free Effects Bundle (which is only available for Windows, sadly). More info: MFreeXFBundle. For more free music production software, return to our Free VST Plugins page. About Author. Facebook Twitter. Tomislav is a content creator and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief here at Bedroom Producers Blog. 40 Comments. I agree on most of them (love NOVA, DC1A and LNo6) but Cakewalk *might* be up there too! That’s good to hear! I mentioned Cakewalk as the best alternative to T7 DAW. The thing is, I decided to list only cross-platform music production software on this list (compatible at least with both Windows and macOS). Sadly, the free Cakewalk edition is Windows-only. Unfortunately Tracktion 7 has one of the most basic flaws. Take a kick drum sample with sharp transient and place it on four beats. Place loop markers around them i.e. make a one bar loop. Listen to the first kick compared to other three. Attack will be changed, it will sound softer. I couldn’t believe that something so apparent hasn’t been fixed. And it won’t be, since T7 is no longer developed. Interesting – I’ll look into it. Thanks for reporting! Tested this out, i’ve been using tracktion for 4 years now. It didn’t happen to me. It sounded the same. Its probably a minor bug specific to your system configuration or something. T7 used to render out aloud and distorted and used to crash every time i closed a project. My laptop was running same version of windows 10 and same version of T7 and it didn’t do it on my laptop. It doesn’t happen on linux either as i am using linux now. And T7 will be replaced by a newer version of free DAW according to Tracktion’s facebook comment. I was surprised that they didn’t release anything new this year like they used to. Its probably because Waveform 9 was so buggy so they stuck with W10, W8 for OEM and T7 for free. They also released a free magware DAW with computer music mag this year. Hi Paree, thanks for reporting! So it works fine on your machine? I didn’t have to test this myself as I’m working on another article which will go live tomorrow. Yeah, it works fine on my machine. Some of the bugs with tracktion are machine specific, it used to not recall HY plugin settings on one of my PCs but worked fine on my laptop. I invite you to the KVR Audio forum. There is a link to archived Edit on the page 256. I created it in Waveform Free 11 to present above- mentioned problem with LOOP function. You can download it and check. https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php? f=22&t=521636&p=7709451#p7709451. > Sadly, the free Cakewalk edition is Windows-only. It is the only reason I run Windows these days, but when you consider that Cakewalk is the old “Platinum” fully featured version of Sonar and is still being actively developed, it surely deserves an honourable mention in a few categories! DAW, recording, and the Pro Channel does EQ and compression well (although Nova / 67P wins for me). Sound Bridge is also cool free cross-platform DAW. You should mention that if the user is on Windows, they should just use Cakewalk by BandLab. I don’t even use it, and even I’d say that nothing else on that platform even approaches that DAW at a $0 price tag. Studio One Prime is borderline unusable due to the inability to use VST Plugins, among other things. I’d use GarageBand on macOS before I used Studio One Prime, while I saved up for Logic Pro X. On Windows, you should just use Cakewalk by BandLab as a default, and then invest in something else if needed when you figure out you have different requirements that Cakewalk cannot handle. Software like Studio Prime, Pro Tools | First, Ableton and Reason Intro, etc. are Demo Ware… Except Reason Intro actually has some utility as a VST Rack Plugin. Not sure why people still recommend Tracktion 7. Lol. I don’t think Audacity is worth using as an Audio Editor. Use Audio Studio or the basic version of Acorn Acoustica.