There are a lot of reasons you might need free music making software. Are you looking for a way to edit your songs that you recorded with your audio recorder? Maybe become the next great DJ? It’s not just for audiophiles, musicians or sound engineers. You can use music making software for a perfectly regular daily occasion such as combining several songs into one file, creating a podcast, making sound effects for a presentation, or putting together a birthday or wedding video, and so on. By editing music and other sound effects in using a nice music software, you can make any video so much better!
Without any further ado, here are the best free music making software of 2021.
1. BandLab – free music making software with a community
BandLab isn’t just a music making software or DAW program (digital audio workstation). It’s also a whole social network of budding and professional musicians alike. It works fully in-browser, in case you don’t want to install an app.
Using BandLab free music maker, you can trim, edit and remix any audio file. It can be used to alter the pitch, volume and speed of any sound effects. There is a huge range of sound effects for users to play around with, including different types of distortions, delay effects, modulations and reverbs.
BandLab free music software also offers sound packs and loops for sale. You can search for different types of sounds and instruments in order to put together your own music. If you ever need any more features from a music production software than what is available in the browser editor, you can download the BandLab Cakewalk app for even more in-depth music production. However, all the features make it difficult to learn for beginners.
OS: Web-based, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
Our Rating: 10 / 10
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2. Apple Garageband – free music making software by Apple
Garageband music making software is available by default on all Macs, iPads and iPhones. So, if you are an Apple user, you won’t have to worry about downloading it. It’s quite comprehensive, with features targeted at different types of users.
Using Garageband music creation software, working with a huge range of electronic music is simple and straightforward. You can plug a Keyboard or Electronic Guitar into your Mac or iPad and record the music directly into the app. If you don’t have any instruments at hand, don’t worry – there are plenty of audio clips and music included with the program.
The UI of this free music making software is sleek and stylish, featuring thematic visuals. Changing the dynamics? Instead of a boring list of bars, it will be displayed like a physical soundboard, with knobs to change different levels. Even though there are a lot of features, they are organized in a way that is intuitive to beginners. If you have an Apple device, Garageband is the way to go. Check out the review of iMovie alternatives for Windows if you wish to edit your videos both of Mac and PC.
OS: Mac
Our Rating: 9 / 10
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3. Audacity – open-source and free music making software
Audacity is an open-source program and thus, always completely free music making software. It features all the basic features you need to work with audio and music, such as trimming, mixing and other various effects. There’s a variety of digital effects included with the program.
It supports input from both a microphone or electronic instrument and as audio files. The UI of this music making software is packed with features, but not so overwhelming that a new user will feel lost.
Overall, while Audacity is not a comprehensive as full-blown best music production software, it is robust and features all the tools an average user needs.
OS: Windows, Mac, Linux
Our Rating: 8 / 10
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4. Waveform – fully featured free music making software
Traktion’s Waveform is another free music making software and music production app that gives users a full suite of professional-level tools for free.
The multi-track layout of the free DAW program can look intimidating at first, but Waveform is actually fairly easy to use. You can begin from scratch, or start editing one of the preset templates. Each track or instrument can be trimmed and edited individually, with options to change the volume, channels, etc of a track, or equalize it.
More importantly, Waveform free music production software has a massive library of plugins that can be used for any kind of editing work!
Waveform Free is available on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. Normally, it is a buy-to-use software, but Traktion gives out one limited edition of the music making software for free.
OS: Windows, Mac,
Our Rating: 8 / 10
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The listed and reviewed free music making software programs will help you not only to edit audio files that are saved on your computer but to create new and your own music from scratch. Pick the one that works best for you according to your preferences and demands. If you’re a Mac user then Garabeband should be your first try. Audacity should be your preference if you need a good old reliable and completely free music making software. Go with Bandlab if you wish to join a community of music enthusiasts. Waveform will offer you plenty of features while being a cross-platform program that you can use on multiple OSs.