7 Best Music Production Software For Beginners – 2023

1. Garage Band (Our Pick!)
2. Logic Pro X 
3. FL Studio 
4. Ableton live (Best Value)
5. Bandlab (Best Free Alternative)
6. Reaper 6 
7. Akai MPC Beats

1. GarageBand

OUR PICK!

GarageBand for Mac

GarageBand is a fully equipped music creation studio inside your Mac — with a complete sound library that includes instruments, presets for guitar and voice, and an incredible selection of session drummers and percussionists.

Why We Love It:

• Free, yet a sophisticated DAW in its own right

• Built-in lessons for both piano and guitar

• Quality organic sounds

View On Apple.com

This free-to-use Apple software is a great place to start for beginners.

This software comes with some basic yet key tools to begin to produce and mix your music.

On all tracks, you will have a panel that will allow you to adjust things like compression, EQ, and reverb.

Another great feature of Garage Band is the ample selection of guitar amps and presets ready for you to play and record with your instruments.

This DAW also has a wide variety of software instruments to play with, which will allow you as a newly found producer to have a chance at producing a wide variety of music.

Pros

• Free music production software 
• Very easy to use 

Cons

• Somewhat limited in terms of editing and being able to change instrument parameters 
• No mixer window 

Review

This software is a great place to start for beginners.

It’s incredibly user-friendly and comes with many production tools that will be sure to get you on your way to understanding production techniques and making your first tracks.

This software best suits bands and/or musicians wanting to record instrumental-based music.

With the selections of amplifiers and presets, this is an excellent option. Best of all, it’s free!

Unfortunately, its simplicity is both Garageband’s shortcoming, and its strength.

While it’s great for those in the early stages of music production, there an upper ceiling in its in-depth offerings that other DAWs provide.

2. Logic Pro X

Logic Pro X

$199.99

Sophisticated creative tools for professional songwriting, beat making, editing, and mixing are built around a modern interface that’s designed to get results quickly. Logic Pro X includes a massive collection of instruments, effects, loops and samples.

Why We Love It:

• Versatile

• Great stock plugins

More Details On Apple.com

The big brother to GarageBand is Logic X. In terms of a natural progression from Garage Band, Logic is the next best step as a producer.

It offers all that GarageBand has to offer with a plethora of additional features.

Logic also includes a mixer window, enabling you to be far more fluid in creating a good mix.

You have far more control over the synthesizers and software instruments, allowing you to dive deeper into synthesis.

There are also far more intricate editing tools that are great for mixing vocals and tools like time stretching for sound design, to name a few.

Pros

• A multitude of instruments and plugins 
• It can handle almost any audio task 

Cons

• Logics “Smart” snapping can be inaccurate 
• Limited to Mac OS users 

Review

One of the most significant differences between GarageBand and Logic is the mixing improvements.

Creating bus sends, summing stacks, and using the mixing window is critical to professional workflow, and Logic offers that.

You also gain access to high-quality synths and native plugins.

Logic also has far better UI with all of the plugins, which makes for a far better user experience.

3. FL Studio

FL Studio has become one of the go-to music production programs for creating Hip-Hop music, though it’s not just limited to that.

This is mainly due to the need to make beats fast and easily, which FL excels at. With the drum beat sequencer, you can produce drum sections extremely fast.

But don’t get it twisted — FL studio is much more than a beat-making platform, it’s a complete music production tool.

You can record, mix and master your music all within FL Studios.

There are also several different versions of the software, from a free version to a fully-fledged studio version.

Pros

• Drum machine style sequencer
• Great UI
• Cheap buying options

Cons

• Limited audio editing capabilities
• Some features can be a bit confusing

Review

Like the previous two on our list, this is a great entry-level music production software.

It’s a very intuitive program with a streamlined layout for quick and efficient beat-making.

However, one of FL Studio‘s shortcomings is that the audio editing portion of the software is a bit lackluster compared to its competitors.

It can also be confusing regarding routing buses for effects, which may deter new users.

I recommend this DAW for those whore looking to make music quickly, as FL Studio does this very well.

4. Ableton Live

Ableton Live

Pro Tools may be the industry standard for a band and studio recordings, but the Ableton logo is the sigil of the electronic musicians.

Why We Love It:

• A titan in the world of music production

• Nurtures creativity

View Price On Sweetwater

Ableton Live offers all you need for recording, mixing, and mastering your music.

The bottom control view lets you see all effects, EQ, and processing you have on a track at once, with a highly intuitive ‘drag and drop’ system for applying effects.

Ableton Live was built with musicians and performers in mind. The clip view is unique to Ableton Live, and a seamless way to create music when paired with a MIDI controller.

Another feature of Ableton Live is the session view. This allows you to shuffle around and trigger sections on and off while remaining in sync.

This is a great way to experiment with a track and generate ideas. This is also an excellent tool for performing music on the fly.

Pros

• Excellent session feature for live performance and experimentation
• Smart and fast editing

Cons

• Have to create instrument groups to draw midi
• UI could be more intuitive

Review

You may see Ableton grey UI and not find it appealing and may seem confusing at first.

However, once you’re used to the interface, this is a very fluid way of producing music.

The bottom control pannel visual UI elements are fantastic.

This makes editing things like EQ, pitch, and effects very quickly, allowing you to be creative without restrictions.

Ableton Live’s session view is also one of the best live performers in a DAW.

Not only is this great for live performance, but it also allows you to quickly move things around, trying arrangements you would never have thought of.

5. Bandlab

Best Free Option

BandLab

Make music anytime, anywhere. Connect with millions. Release your tracks and engage with fans — keep 100% of your earnings.

Why We Love It:

• Free

• Real-time collaboration

• Unlimited multi-track projects

BandLab

Google Play

Bandlab is by far the most accessible software on our list, this is due to it being a cloud-based DAW.

Bandlab is available on every device, and you can even use this on your phone.

All you need is an internet connection. Furthermore, it’s also completely free with no advertisement! Putting no limitations on your creativity.

Even with its simplistic nature, you still have access to all you expect from a modern DAW.

You can record, automate parameters, and access a plethora of built-in FX.

There is also a fairly extensive instrument and loop library, which is great for those starting out in music.

Another key feature of Bandlab is its free mastering tool. This will be essential to those new to music production who still want a professional-sounding end result.

Pros

• Free music production software
• Can be used anywhere, on any device, as long as you have wifi
• Large library of effects and instruments

Cons

• Lacks some of the production tools present in most DAWs
• No third-party software support

Review

Bandlab is a fantastic free first software for beginners.

However, it’s a very basic piece of software and lacks some of the intricacies found in all major DAWs today.

There is very little you can do to the software instruments and synths for those looking to produce electronic music.

Furthermore, there is no support for 3rd party VSTs and plugins, which is a massive deterrent for those looking to seriously get into music.

So, where Bandlab is very accessible, it is very limiting in terms of the amount of music production knowledge you can gain.

6. Reaper 6

Our Pick

Cockos REAPER

REAPER’s full, flexible feature set and renowned stability have found a home wherever digital audio is used.

Why We Love It:

• An industry standard DAW

• Affordable

• Fantastic drag and drop tool

View Reaper

Reaper has a very efficient workflow, this is by far one of the quickest ways of routing I’ve seen in a DAW.

You can simply drag and drop tracks into sends and effects, and they’re routed, just like that. Another interesting feature of the reaper is that there is no track type.

You can have things like MIDI and audio all on the same track. You can also have up to 32 sub-groups within the program, making this very useful for sound design.

It is very apparent why this is one of the industry standard DAWs for sound design and game development.

When you first open Reaper, you may not be a fan of the UI.

But this is not a problem, there is a large selection of themes to choose from to change the look.

They have even included themes like Logic and Protools, which may make for a smoother transition if moving over from another software.

Pros

• Highly customizable
• Reasonably priced when compared to competitors

Cons

• You may need 3rd party plugins and instruments to broaden the library

Review

Reaper is one of the most affordable DAWs out on the market today.

You can get the fully-fledged version for $65, which is very reasonable compared to Logic and Ableton’s $250 price tag.

Aimed at professionals, Reaper may initially seem quite intimidating to first-time DAW users. However, Reaper is very easy to use once you’re familiar with the software.

The drag-and-drop feature is a fantastic tool for mixing and routing, making other software seem cumbersome.

As this is used more for sound design professionals, there is a lack of tutorials for music when compared to the other software on our list.

Another thing that is a bit of a drawback is the aesthetic of the Stock VSTs. For lack of a better word, they are ugly and may seem complex to those starting out as there are little-to-no visual representations.

7. Akai MPC Beats

Akai Pro MPC Beats

MPC Beats – the fully featured, beat-making software based on the legendary MPC workflow to quickly make great-sounding beats.

Why We Love It:

• Very accessible for first-time users

• Free

• Highly intuitive

View Price On Akai Pro

Akai MPC Beats is a music software targeted at producers making hip-hop, trap, grime, etc.

With a focus on using a MIDI controller to write and produce the music, the software makes it easy to program and set up your own samples.

However, you don’t need a MIDI controller to use the program as you can use the in-software pads.

It’s highly intuitive, and you’ll be making music with this program in a matter of minutes.

Pros

• Very accessible for first-time users
• Free music production software

Cons

• Focused on using midi controllers rather than music production
• A limited number of tracks allowed

Review

I think where this software shines is when you pair this up with midi drum pads and keys, especially when using Akai products.

It makes it incredibly easy to drag, drop, play and record samples, making this a fast way of building out beats.

While this software is a great tool for beginners looking to make beats, it is a bit limiting for those looking to make full productions like electronic music.

You are limited to eight MIDI tracks, two stereo audio tracks, four send channels, and eight submix channels, so that is something to keep in mind.

You can upgrade to the studio version, but it’s the same price as Logic, FL Studio, and Ableton.

I find it hard to recommend this over its flagship competitors; however — it’s worthy enough of a mention.