(And help you create music that’s even more unique to you.)
For that reason, FL Studio is a top choice for writers who create dance and electronic music – from entry-level producers to those at the highest level.įL Studio also comes with some unique and high-quality plugins – software add-ons – that let you upgrade and customize your experience with it. The FL Studio interface is set up for pattern-based music making – it was known as FruityLoops until 2003 – so it’s ideal for quick beat making using loops. Back to TopįL Studio is a beginner-friendly DAW that also comes with plenty of advanced functionality, giving you room to transition from beginner to pro-level creator without learning a whole new DAW. If you’re a complete production beginner, you can also check out a great video course about getting started with GarageBand here.
There’s also a version for iPad and iPhone that’s available from the App Store if it’s not pre-loaded on your device – though you’ll usually have a better experience creating with the full desktop version of GarageBand.
(There’s no PC version – on PC you could try FL Studio instead.) GarageBand comes preinstalled on all Mac laptop and desktop computers. to share songs with bandmates or help singers learn your songs to perform them live), or if you write songs that more experienced producers will turn into finished tracks, GarageBand works just fine. Songwriters who don’t need highly produced tracks– If you work acoustically and only need to record basic demos (e.g. It works well with your Mac’s built in microphone – or an inexpensive external microphone – so it’s easy to set up and start creating with, whatever your level of experience.Ĭomplete Beginners – Anyone wanting to get started in music production without spending either a lot of money or a lot of time learning their way around a high-level DAW.
GarageBand works great with live-recorded instruments and vocals and has a generous but not extensive library of synthesized sounds. It’s really straightforward to use and a great way to dip your toes into music production if you’re a complete newbie.Īs an entry-level DAW, it comes with less functionality than the other DAWs we’ll talk about, but it’s still possible to record and produce some decent music on GarageBand – especially if your focus is more on songwriting than production. GarageBand is an entry-level DAW that comes as standard with Apple products.
GarageBand | FL Studio | Ableton Live Logic Pro | Cubase | Pro Tools Conclusion We’ll look briefly at what each DAW is, who each DAW is ideal for and finally how you can get hold of your DAW of choice.
So in this article, we’ll run through six of the most popular and well-established DAWs available. Every DAW comes with its own learning curve, so it really pays to focus on mastering the one, maybe two DAWs that are best suited to your needs as a songwriter. That means, while there isn’t a single ‘best’ DAW for everyone, if you’re thinking about getting started with a new DAW – or upgrading to a more professional one – you’ll want to know what, and who, each DAW is ideal for.
There are dozens of different DAWs to suit different budgets, levels of experience and styles of songwriting and music production. And when it comes to choosing the best DAW (or DAWs) for you, the good news is that you’re not short of choice. To do that, your most important tool as a songwriter-producer is your DAW – your Digital Audio Workstation – of choice. Today, you can make pro-quality music on a laptop in your bedroom using decent software that’s completely free or state-of-the-art software that costs a few hundred dollars. These were the Dark Ages of music production, a grim and barbaric era that ran roughly until the turn of the millennium.
Once, producing professional-sounding music meant shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars hiring a professional studio – or much more building your own.