You likely have started or have an interest in starting music production! When I started producing music I remember how intimidating working in my DAW was or even just knowing where to even begin! Now I’ve been making music for a while and wrote this to help new artist find their way! As you know music production nowadays heavily relies on computers not analog or push buttons anymore. So if you are a beginner you came to the right place.
To start with “the best DAW” doesn’t exist! Each DAW in its own right has great features and some prefer different DAWs for different reasons and that’s okay! However, it is important to know what you are looking for and what’s available to you! So here we go here are the top 7 DAWs (in my opinion) for those who want to learn music production!
7. Cockos Reaper 6
Coming in at #7 is Cockos Reaper! This wouldn’t be so low on my list if it wasn’t for the payment options but we will get to that in a minute. Cockos Reaper is a DAW that is equivalent in my opinion to a low-tier budget phone. It is also compatible with Mac, PC, and Linux. It’s alright! Nothing special in my honest opinion. It feels a little bit dated when looking at it but is good for what it does! It’s a very decent and powerful great cheaper opinion to get started! Now the pricing for me is a little off-putting I would rather prefer a demo than having to pay $60 not to be able to use my music commercially to make money and eventually pay for it but that’s just me.
Price:
$60 USD: discounted license. (Non-commercial use. more info is available on the site)
$225 USD: commercial license.
6. PreSonus Studio One
Coming in at #6 is PreSonus Studio One! Studio One great DAW that offers powerful features that rivals its competitors. The recent update added support for “Harmonic Editing” for monophonic and polyphonic sound and MIDI tracks, which is the most requested feature by the users. It’s definitely one powerful tool if you’re into music production. This one is pretty exciting and visually pleasing check out the video for more! One con I found is user reports that new features that are not at the core of the program aren’t heavily perfected and can go through a number of updates without being fixed properly! Here’s their official video to give you a feel for what their DAW feels like!
Price: $99.95 – $399.95 (They offer monthly plans as well!)
Official Link Here
5. Bitwig Studio
Bigwig Studio is another great music production software that is available for PC, Mac, and Linux. Recently Bitwig added some amazing features which made it start catching wind in the music production community. One of the recently added features is Grid, which offers a modular environment for flexibility. Furthermore, if you plan on dealing with samples you may want to take a look at Bitwig It is another popular choice among creative producers.
Price: $399 USD
Here’s an informative video of the perks of Bitwig. WARNING: #BIASALERT (video may contain bias information)
4. GarageBand (Apple Only)
GarageBand, also developed by Apple, is a great choice if you’re a beginner. It offers a creative and visually appealing user interface. It also offers some features that are available in some advanced DAWs. In my opinion, the instruments in the garage band are probably the best sounding instruments for the price of free! Most of the functions it provides are automatic, which requires little human effort. The best thing about this software is that it is free, and you can use it on your iPad and iOS devices as well. In fact it would’ve been higher on this list if it weren’t for macs only
FREE!!! *With Mac or Apple Devices*
3. Logic Pro X
Coming in hot at 3 If you are a mac user, then Logic Pro is likely the best choice for music production. It is also developed by Apple and offers great value for money. Apple has recently released Logic Pro X, which received a 4.4-star review on the app market. introduced some really handy features which will surely attract music producers. Overall, it’s a great choice if you’re a Mac user and want a great music production experience.
Price: $199 USD
Here’s a great video that will with everything you need to know about Logic Pro X!
2. Ableton Live
I know this is the controversial part of the list but number 2 is Ableton Live was released back in 2001, and since then, it grew in popularity due to its robust features and great performance. This is great for not only live performance but actually getting a “Live” feel to your production! It offers support for multiple plugins and recently added support for VST3. Ableton’s Live is the DAW of choice for pro users.
Price: $99 – $749 USD (With Monthly Payments!!!)
1. FL Studio & Pro Tools
Yes, Yes, let me explain myself! I am a little biased here but FL Studio from Image-Line is popular among hip-hop and EDM producers. FL Studio also offers a ton of great features for music production. It offers free LIFETIME upgrades, and recent updates have added support for soft synth and Flex and also tools that help you make music visualizers for YouTube. It is another strong contender in the music production industry! And yes there’s a free trial!
And pro tools is just an industry standard and the same as everything I said above! (Minus lifetime warranty)
That is why these two are both number 1.
FL Studio Price: $99-$737
Pro Tools Price: $39.99 monthly – $199.00 Yearly
