Looking for free/low cost music production software [closed]

Question

My friend and I are planning on creating some music for fun.
He has been using this horrible free software that barely offers any features. (I forget the name of the software)

I'm looking for a good software for this. Because we do this hobby with some seriousness, I don't mind paying some money on this as long as it fulfills my needs.

Give me some suggestions on music production softwares.
It would be great if you can explain why such product is good/bad.
Please inform if the product works on Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS X, or both.

Answer 1

I would go with REAPER. Not free, but very inexpensive, and supports Windows, Mac, and Linux via WINE. The developers are very open with the community, and multiple updates are released every month.

Answer 2

Adobe Audition is GREAT. I am a hobby guitarist and it has done me very well. In addition to providing live feed effects processing, it has a lot of off-line processing features for signal cleanup, etc.

It's support for ASIO is stellar.

Well worth the money in my opinion.

http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/

If you need straight up free, I have done some pretty cool stuff with Audacity.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Answer 3

One for Mac OS X is Garageband in iLife. I have used Sony Acid on Windows. http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/acidfamily.asp

Answer 4

If you are looking for a free light weight software try Wavosaur, its just 224KB. Its loaded with features and easy to work with.

Description from the site

Wavosaur is a free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing, processing and recording sounds, wav and mp3 files. Wavosaur has all the features to edit audio (cut, copy, paste, etc.) produce music loops, analyze, record, batch convert. Wavosaur supports VST plugins, ASIO driver, multichannel wav files, real time effect processing. The program has no installer and doesn't write in the registry. Use it as a free mp3 editor, for mastering, sound design. The Wavosaur freeware audio editor works on Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Go to the features page for an overview of the software.

Detailed features listed here

Answer 5

I'm all for the flexibility of Reason - it seems suitable for most things, be it a tracker nerd like myself or any other type of studio/computer musician. Works for both Windows and Mac but isn't exactly low cost (though compared to other famous solutions it might be).

As I like trackers like MadTracker and OpenMPT they might be interesting and free - but the question perhaps is, what kind of music? (roughly) Do you need some kind of instrument support, like midi keyboard or analog recording of guitars and whatnot? Or are synthesizers the only thing that matters? Patterns, notes, loops or how do you prefer to compose? Creating sound by tweaking dials or importing a recorded sample? ^^

Answer 6

FLStudio is "relatively cheap" and very full-featured (with cheaper versions, depending on your needs).

Answer 7

To keep the voting a little simpler, I'll post a couple as separate answers.

As already mentioned, there's Audacity. Its free, simple, and quite capable for small and mid-sized projects. The new beta supports multi-track recording, and there's been some big improvements elsewhere. However, if you're not feeling very adventurous, you may want to stick with the stable version. I have had some issues running the 1.3.8 beta on Windows 7 - but the 1.3.7 works fine.

Just as an FYI, I've recorded a few demos with it, and I record the sermons for my church website with it.

Answer 8

I've used Acoustica Mixcraft and Beatcraft on Windows. Supposedly Mixcraft is similar to GarageBand, though I've never used GB so I can't compare. They are both "loop" oriented. Mixcraft is $65 and Beatcraft is $40, but I got them as a package for $95, and it also included some loop packages. You can also use GarageBand loops. Acoustica also have an extensive library of free loops available for download.

If you want something more sheet-music oriented but with some decent audio creation utilities as well, I would recommend something from the Finale library. I use PrintMusic, which is around $100, but their entry-level software (Finale NotePad) starts at $10.

All of these packages also have free trials, so you can download and try them out before you decide to buy.

On Linux, I played around with a free sheet-music creator that is similar to Finale PrintMusic, but I'd have to reboot my computer to remember what it's called...

Answer 9

kvraudio keeps an extensive list of hosts and instruments and effects. Use their search and choose "hosts."

Answer 10

Another option would be Magix Music Maker. There's a fairly inexpensive version that does good with small/medium projects. Theres a somewhat more expensive version for mid/large projects. And there's the pro version (Samplitude) that Jesus Joshua used to record their 2nd CD, 3rd CD, and the upcoming 4th.

There's a bit of a learning curve involved, but once you learn how to use it you'll see just how amazing it is.

I've used the cheap version for a few projects, and I've worked with Jesus Joshua as a computer tech while they were recording the 2nd album and up. If you can spring for Samplitude you will get more studio than you know what to do with. :D

Answer 11

If you are thinking of creating electronica, FL Studio (though it can be used for other styles, as shown in some of the sample projects).

I've been a user for almost 2 years now, and love it. Try the 30 day demo linked above. Comes with a bunch of sample project files that you can view to get an idea of how to use it. There's also a load of stuff on youtube explaining various aspects of it, which makes learning easier.

Between FL Studio and other DAWs (Digital Audio Workstation) I have sampled, I couldn't find anything I was really missing out on. It seemed as though they only differ in the way things get done. That said, FL Studio suited my way of thinking, it might also suit yours.

Though what has been said about great tools not necessarily producing great music is true. Pick a DAW you like, and learn it.

Answer 12

Despite the name LMMS works on windows, and i think is quite close to what you're looking for.

Answer 13

Even though you prefer linux, i would use Soundtrack pro on Mac.

Answer 14

Depends what kind of music you are trying to make. Line 6 has RiffWorks which I find great for recording guitar. If you're into mixing there is Virtual DJ.

Answer 15

There's Mario Paint Composer :), which works on Wine. People actually used it to make interesting music, like this remake for example.

Still, I'd like to see a more serious program than that.

I've heard some people who like Fruity Loops, but it's unknown at the moment how it works on GNU/Linux. I've used it a bit, and it's really easy to use.

As for the how side, there's really really large number of ways. The easiest, in my opinion at least, is to get a program like MPC or FL or whatever which comes with samples preloaded. Then you use samples to create sounds. On the video I linked, each creature is actually a note and you arrenge them in order to make a melody. Here's a video for FL where its shown how a simple song is made. Here's another interesting video where you can see each instrument used.

Basically, it's difficult, but after couple of days of Youtube use, you should be able to make simple songs. I'm sorry for posting FL links, but I can't think of any other simple program at the time.