Best Free DAWs [Free Software to Make Music] (2021)

in this video each doll will have a section for key features and minimum computer requirements then I'll show you what the sequencer piano roll and mixer look like with a quick overview of their features and don't worry none of these are free trials or restricted they are all 100% free no strings attached [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey everyone Jake from transverse odd you here you can find all the links in the description below and just in case you don't know what a DAW is it's short for digital audio workstation essentially it's a host for plugins you download such as virtual instruments and audio effects the first one in this top 5 is lmms this is a great choice regardless of the operating system you use with its availability on Windows Mac and Linux it really makes music production accessible to anyone with a computer it doesn't use much CPU either but it is a very basic digital audio workstation and it's even open source meaning it has been developed by a bunch of people which could include you too if you wanted to contribute there is even computer keyboard to MIDI which means you can play virtual instruments with your computer keyboard as if it was a piano the sequencer or song arrangement window isn't too bad in lmms but it is very basic and doesn't offer a lot of freedom but it still gets the job done and makes it easy to manage your samples and patterns this is what the piano roll or MIDI editor looks like in lmms it's pretty clean and easy to use and has a great feature that lets you write any chord based on any scale with one click as for the mixer it does have the same simplicity but it does come with the basics even though it looks dead simple it does include the ability to make a send track or mixbus just like every other DAW on this list the one drawback I found to kind of suck for the stop is that you can't record audio but you can always use something like audacity to record that and then import the audio files into LMMS at number 2 we have Sandbridge this da started as lumen when it was crowdfunded but it has had quite the evolution since then this one is available on Windows and Mac as both 32 and 64-bit just make sure to download your plugins in the same bit version as the DAW for them to work so for example if you downloaded the 32-bit version of Sandbridge you'll need to download 32-bit plugins the center of this DAW is its sequencer and is definitely better than the one in lmms you get much more control over the tracks and each individual pattern it's also directly linked to a panel that displays whatever you have selected making it very easy to adjust an audio file or pattern for audio patterns this includes extremely easy pitch time and volume controls to name most of them and to write notes in those patterns the piano roll in soundbridge is good and lets you change the length of a MIDI note while you draw it instead of after in Alma mess but lmms does have some features over this one as I mentioned with the one-click chords last is the mixer and it does have a bit more features than the one in lmms but they both have their pros and cons I do prefer this one though and it even comes with a mini view of the mixer that can be viewed while the sequencer is open the only downside is that it bugs you for a donation every time you open the da next up we have home studio as far as I know it has something no other da has real time collaboration this means you can work on the same project at the same time with more than one person from anywhere in the world you can also see what anyone is doing in the projects you choose to collab on real time there's even a general and project based chat room in the da so you can talk to anyone currently using own studio or only those you are collaborating with the sequencer has a bunch of flexibility though letting you quickly zoom in and out of a pattern or the entire playlist adjust volume fade points loop and resize in both directions I do think this has a better sequencer than the last two does but the next one it has an impressive set of features but with this dog comes an interesting piano roll to say the least being located in each MIDI pattern inside the sequencer itself makes it one of a kind quite unusual but it's actually not bad at all as for the mixer it's pretty straightforward and the guides help you understand what you can and cannot do but it can also be switched over to a more analog kind of view it even changes focus depending on what track you select in the playlist the two things I did notice that are a bit of a drawback are the fact that you can only export to OGG format with the free version and you need to be connected to the Internet to use this dog oh gee gee isn't that bad anyway but you can export to wave if you pay 39 euros for the advanced version of the stock if you have used traction t7 before this may look familiar that's because wave form free is the latest version of it just with a new name what traction as a company does is every time they publish a new version of their paid dog wave form they will typically release an older version of it for free now this dog does have the ability to use your computer keyboard as a MIDI controller but it's kind of a hassle and awkward to use but hey at least it's there if you need it the sequencer in wave form is kind of confusing at first but once you get the hang of it the workflow isn't all that different and it actually has a lot of unique features you can anchor the MIDI and move the pattern around it or vice versa and it's super easy to bounce to audio all you have to do is click this option and drag it waveforms piano roll is really good you can adjust the velocity of each note when you are drawing it by dragging up and down and you can adjust the width going right and left you can even make chords with whatever notes you have selected whether it is multiple notes or a single note as for mixing your audio you can either use the integrated mixer to the right of the sequencer or a dedicated mixer window by going to the top right and bringing it into view the mixer is quite standard but when it comes to making send tracks aka a mix bus they are called sub mixes and have to be created in the sequencer but can then be routed in the mixer or the sequencer the last da on this list is cakewalk by band lab this da was once called sonar when it previously cost money but it was acquired and made free to use from my experience this has got to be the best free digital audio workstation out there and yes it does have computer keyboard to MIDI but it's through a window that needs to be the last thing selected the downside is that cakewalk is only available for 64-bit windows with 32-bit plugins support so some of the previous options I talked about may be your only choice if you can use this dog though I would highly recommend it in my opinion this da has the best piano roll out of the five on this list there are a lot of features packed into it and it's easy to use and if you are a more traditional composer it has a great notation editor that you can use to write sheet music as for the sequencer it is good everything is where you need it and there are a lot of features including a video display to edit the audio with the visuals quite unique for a free dog let alone any dot in general there is a lot you can do with the mixer in cakewalk and it has the most features out of all the DAWs in the video there is an integrated eq window for quick changes and it's linked to a main EQ that's built into the pro channel on every track this includes a compressor the EQ I mentioned tube saturation and a console emulator oh and the EQ opens up into an even bigger EQ to make it easier I don't know why they have three different sizes but hey now I would have mentioned GarageBand but if you have a Mac you probably either heard about it or have it already but I do think it would have made the list otherwise so be sure to check it out if you use a Mac especially if you are interested in using Logic Pro in the future I hope this free software helps you make some great music sound effects or other audio related projects don't forget to subscribe if you enjoyed this one and as always thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: `Transverse Audio

Views: 843,395

Rating: 4.9499502 out of 5

Keywords: best free daws, best free digital audio workstations, best free software to make music, free software to make music, free daws, free digital audio workstations, free daws for windows, free daws for mac, free daws for linux, music software, daw, digital audio workstation, lmms, soundbridge, ohm studio, waveform free, cakewalk, garageband, pc, windows, mac, linux, free software, free music software, music production, make music, music production for beginners, top free daws, tracktion

Id: 4cFwUXSZgEs

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 22 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/ugpfpv]

I'm actually going back to Cakewalk after being with Samplitude Pro X 4 Suite, I used to use Cakewalk when it was Sonar, have X1 and X2 pro versions I can install before the bandlab version so I can get all the old plugins 🙃 the lexicon reverb and the vintage channel compresor were awesome! I really want to go with Cubase 10.5 but will have to hold off on that till this whole world situation gets more back to normal.

[u/BadMotherFolklore]

Truly free? That's probably going to be the free version of Podium.

Darkwave, anyone?

On the Linux side there's a lot to be said for LMMS/Ardour/Rosegarden and that whole ecosystem, but you have to really want to be in that world before you start thinking about the tools as candidates for "the best" anything -- but they probably are objectively better for some types of work. Since we're talking free here, they might be the only options depending on your definition of "free".

Not considering bundled systems, magazine promotions, nonexpiring demos (rules out two of the best DAW hosts at any price, Reaper and MuLab).

Protools First might be worth considering but I don't recommend that for the same reason I don't recommend trying a little bit of meth just once, or getting a little bit pregnant to see if it's for you.

Not sure whether Audacity counts, or Wavosaur.

Or modular environments like PureData. Or development platforms (perhaps for some, the be best software is bespoke software?).

We should also talk about trackers maybe.

[u/TransverseAudio]

There are a lot of DAWs out there that are free but a lot also lack features you need to make good music. After a lot of research and experience, I have got to say these are the top 5, one even has a notation editor so you can stick to traditional scoring.

Here are the download links (order in the video, not rank) :

1. LMMS: https://lmms.io/
2. SoundBridge: https://soundbridge.io/
3. Ohm Studio: http://www.ohmstudio.com/home
4. Waveform Free: https://www.tracktion.com/products/waveform-free
5. Cakewalk: https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

[u/mobydikc]

Why everyone doesn't simply use Ardour is mind boggling.

Nothing else that's free compares.

[u/the_wreckingball]

What are your thoughts on Reaper? I’ve been using it for years and have found that it more than meets my needs.

[u/mjxii]

Awesome thanks for posting

[u/djscoox]

Is Cakewalk still in active development?

[u/oscdrift]

Out of left field, but it's worth mentioning that VCV Rack is a "digital audio workstation", but doesn't really have the workflow aspects of it down. What I think is even more valuable, is the exposure that people get to the forum, learning opportunities, and honestly even learning how to code modules and getting their STEAM on.

[u/iBeany]

Hey, I recently got ozone elements for free, but I make music on my ipad. I need a free DAW that runs ozone, but so far, LMMS didn’t see it.