It's amazing how many free Digital Audio Workstations (DAW for short) are available these days for recording, creating, editing and mixing music from a simple home computer setup.
When I first started getting into recording music from home, I thought it was pretty much required to spend a few hundred dollars (at least) on music recording software, but it turns out that's not the case at all.
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In fact if you're a beginner just starting out, you're much better off not buying a DAW right away.
It's better to test a few different DAWs at first, some free versions and demos, to find out what fits your style and workflow the best.
There's nothing worse than spending several hundred dollars on software that you later find out that you don't like, so it's important to take some time when it comes to choosing a DAW.
If you're looking for a new DAW or are just starting out, here's a list of the best free Digital Audio Workstations that are currently available to download and try out.
Pro Tools First
Pro Tools has been one of the top Digital Audio Workstations for a long time. It is used in many professional studios and is considered the industry standard in some circles. But Pro Tools also receives a lot of criticism for the way Avid chooses to handles things.
Avid released a completely free version of Pro Tools earlier this year called Pro Tools First. It has a lot of good things going for it, with a couple of significant drawbacks. The free version is a great way to try out Pro Tools without having to commit to spending a fortune on a full license or a subscription plan.
Here's a comparison chart that lists the differences between the free and paid versions of Pro Tools.
Pros
- Supports recording 16 mono/stereo audio and instrument and MIDI tracks.
- Supports ReWire.
- Comes with Xpand!2, a virtual instrument plugin with 1000's of built-in sounds for drums, strings, pianos, loops, synths, etc; plus over 20 Pro Tools plugins are included.
Cons
- Plugins can only be purchased through Avid's marketplace; you can't install plugins from outside sources.
- Supports just three projects at one time.
- Projects are stored in the cloud (with offline caching).
Studio One 3 Prime
The other big-name free DAW up for the taking that works with Mac and PC computers is Studio One Prime. Unlike most other free DAWs it offers unlimited audio tracks, MIDI tracks, buses, and FX channels. The main limitation is you can't load 3rd party plugins with the free version because there is no VST support—and that's a pretty big issue.
The $99 PreSonus AudioBox USB audio interface comes with a free download of Studio One 3 Artist, which sells for $75 separately. It's a step-up from the free version and adds a number of additional features, but VST and ReWire support costs an extra $79 as an add-on.
Here's a comparison chart at PreSonus listing all the different features between each version of Studio One.
Pros
- Impressive interface and workflow, with advanced multi-track editing and comping, automation, and full MIDI support.
- Supports unlimited audio tracks, MIDI tracks, buses, and FX channels.
- It comes with 9 high-quality effects, including Ampire, Beat Delay, Chorus, MixVerb, EQ, Presence XT sampler, etc.
Cons
- No VST plugin support.
- Just one virtual instrument included.
Podium Free
One of the better options for a free DAW is Podium Free, the freeware edition of Podium. It's a fully-functional DAW for Windows that supports recording and editing audio and MIDI, and it can load VST plugins as well.
Pros
- VST plugin support.
- Identical to the commercial version of Podium, with a few limitations.
- Can download and use freely, registration optional.
Cons
- Windows only.
- Plugin multi-processing is disabled on free version.
- ReWire and 64-bit mixer engine disabled on free version.
Tracktion T5
If you truly want to go the free DAW route, Tracktion 5 is one of the best options. It's not encumbered by the usual limitations like other brands. It's a fully-operational DAW, complete with VST and ReWire support and unlimited tracks. T5 also supports automation and it has audio comping, latency management, track freeze, MIDI learn, and more.
Pros
- Supports unlimited VST/AU plugins and ReWire.
- Unlimited number of audio and MIDI tracks supported.
- Works with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Cons
- Single window user interface.
- Less overall features than the big name stuff like Pro Tools First.
DarkWave Studio
DarkWave Studio is another freeware DAW that is available for Windows. It's designed with an emphasis on creating electronic music. It supports VST and VSTi instrument and plugin effects. DarkWave Studio features a modular approach and it comes with a bunch of bundled plugins.
Pros
- VST plugins supported.
- Multi core & multi CPU support.
- Regularly updated.
Cons
- Windows only.
- Not well known, not much info.
Reaper
Reaper is a popular DAW that's loaded with tons of features and a very user-friendly license policy. There's an older free version of Reaper available, v0.999. It hasn't been updated in 10 years and won't be updated again, but it still has a number of useful tools for recording and editing music.
However, it doesn't really make any sense to even bother with the free version of Reaper because the full version only costs $60. Don't let the price fool you. It's a full DAW with the same level of features as the expensive stuff. Plus it has a 60-day trial period to demo the full software.
Additional Options
Audacity – It's not a DAW precisely but Audacity is highly-capable open source audio software for multi-track recording and editing—it even supports VST plugins. It works with Windows, Mac, and Linux and it's free.
LMMS – While it does not offer any type of external audio recording, LMMS is free open-source software for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It comes with some included effects and instrument plugins. It supports MIDI and 3rd-party VST plugins.
Ableton Live Lite 9 – A fully-functional DAW that's main limitation is it only supports 8 tracks/scenes. It's not free exactly but it does come free with a number of MIDI and audio interfaces. One of the best and most capable free software add-ons if you can get a hold of it.
MuLab Free – A free version of MuLab that supports four tracks and eight VST plugins per project. Works with Windows and Mac OSX.
Ardour – A fully functional DAW for OSX and Linux. It's not free but it can be purchased for as little as $1.
Wavosaur – Wavosaur is a free audio editor and audio recorder program that supports wav and mp3 files. Wavosaur can install VST plugins for real time effects processing. The program is freeware for Windows computers.
'I just came across a superb guitar player down the street. He played guitar excellently. There were a lot of listeners around there enjoying his play. Do you have any suggestion on guitar recording software for iPhone so that I could record guitar music next time I meet him? Thanks.'
One of our most frequently asked questions from guitar players and lovers is how to record a guitar on a PC, Laptop, Mac, iPHone or Android smartphone. There are a range of ways, depending on your budget, from purchasing simple guitar recording software PC cable tool to dedicated USB solutions or upgrading your sound card set-up.
In this guide, we would like to introduce you some best guitar recording software for PC, Mac and smartphones (iPhone and Android). Some of these are even free guitar recording software tools for portable guitar recording.
Part 1: 5 Best Guitar Recording Software
With all the hardware well configurated, you only need to get a piece of guitar recording software to help you record guitar with your iOS devices, Android devices, PC, laptop or Mac computer. The below 5 guitar recording software tools include guitar recording software for PC, iOS devices, Android and Mac computer.
1. Leawo Music Recorder
Leawo Music Recorder is a popular application that combines music recording and music editing functions.It supports wide range of audio sources including built-in input audio, computer audio and online music sources, like YouTube, Spotify, Hulu, AOL Music, Last.fm, etc. You'll figure out how to record and edit audio files in minutes even if you're a novice. You can output your audio files in MP3 or WAV format with lossless quality. Moreover, the sound editing software could compress sound files by changing the bit rate and sample rate and edit sound tags automatically and manually. We'll list a step by step tutorial of how to use each function to edit your sound files.
Leawo Music Recorder is available in both Windows and Mac versions to help you record guitar on computer.
2. GarageBand
GarageBand turns your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch into a collection of Touch Instruments and a full-featured recording studio — so you can make music anywhere you go. And with Live Loops, it makes it easy for anyone to have fun creating music like a DJ, by triggering loops and audio effects in real time. Use Multi-Touch gestures to play keyboards, guitars, and drums. Enjoy Smart Instruments that make you sound like a pro — even if you've never played a note before. Plug in a guitar or bass and play through classic amps and stompbox effects. Use a Touch Instrument, microphone, or a guitar and instantly record a performance with support for up of 32 tracks. Audio Unit Extensions in iOS 10 allow you to play, record and mix third-party instruments or effects right into GarageBand. And share your song using email, Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud, or AirDrop for iOS.
3. Magix Music Maker Jam
Music Maker Jam helps you create music by combining loops – short musical chunks that you can play over and over in loops, hence the name. There are over 100 music styles and 8-channel mixer that will give you plenty of room to channel your creativity.
The app also allows you to record external voice, so you can use the feature to record guitar music, your singing, rapping, or other kinds of sounds; and add them to your song. After you have finished recording your song, you can share it with the world using the sharing feature. You can also discover new music in the Music Maker community shared by other users.
4. Clear Tune Chromatic Tuner
You can play guitar as fast and precisely as you like, but there's nothing like a sour-tuned string that will turn a listener off more quickly. Luckily, ClearTune provides a quick, efficient and clean way to get your instrument whipped into shape in time for your recording session. This guitar recording software is snappy, mostly spot on from my tests and a true tool that has knocked digital tuners out of the effects chain for many short-on-cash guitarists with iPhones. Though it's not free guitar recording software, it's worth of the $3.99.
5. Audacity
This free guitar recording software program forays onto the scenario filled to the brim with exciting features. With this one in place, you can record live audio bits via a microphone, line input, USB/Firewire devices or mixer. The open source delight also includes timer record and sound activated recording features as well as a device toolbar for managing output and input devices.
There are even useful level meters which helps you monitor volume levels while the recording sessions are on and even before or after these periods. What's more, you can import your desired sound files, put your own spin on things and merge them with your recordings. You'll be spoiled for choice with varied editing options, effects and plugins. The cross-platform treat is compatible with Mac OS X, Windows and GNU/Linux PCs.
Part 2: The Best Guitar Recording Software for PC - Leawo Music Recorder
Free Acoustic Software
Leawo Music Recorder has been considered as the best guitar recording software in the entry-level group for its powerful and practical functions and performance, even though it has only Windows and Mac versions. This guitar recorder software could clearly record guitar music and then save into either MP3 or WAV audio format so that you could record high quality guitar music and freely share recored guitar music anywhere as you like.
Leawo Music Recorder
☉ Record any music file from computer stream audio and built-in input audio.
☉ Record music from 1000+ music sites like YouTube, Facebook, Veoh, VEVO, etc.
☉ Schedule music recording via the internal recording task scheduler.
☉ Automatically/manually add and complete music tags like artist, album, cover, genre, etc.
The below steps would show you how to record guitar music with this guitar recording software for PC. Click the above download icon to download this guitar recording software PC or Mac according to your need and install it.
Step 1: Set audio source
Click the audio source icon at the bottom left corner to set audio source. If you want to record guitar music on your computer, choose 'Record Computer Audio' option. If you want to record guitar played out of your computer, choose 'Record Audio Input' option and then set the input device.
Step 2: Set output directory
Under the 'General' tab, move to the 'Output' box to set output directory for saving the recorded guitar music file. Switch program interface language here if you need.
Step 3: Set output format
Under the 'Format' tab, you could choose either WAV audio or MP3 audio as output format to save your guitar recordings. What's more, you could determine the bit rate and sample rate here to determine the recording quality.
Free Acoustic Recording Software
Step 4: Record guitar music
Click the red button on the top left corner of the main panel before you start to play guitar. Stop recording by clicking the red square button anytime you like.
If you're recording an existing guitar music, this guitar recording software for PC and Mac could even automatically download and install music metadata like artist, title, album, cover, year, etc. You could even edit these tags by yourself via the internal music tag editor.
REW - Room EQ Wizard Room Acoustics Software
Part 3: Video Demo on How to Use Leawo Music Recorder
