This collection of free recording software is awesome! There is something here for everyone. If you don’t have much money and you’re looking for a way to record some of your music, look at this collection of free DAW software. You can actually obtain a collection of professional tools to record your music for free!
The Official Free DAW Software List
Cakewalk by BandLab: This is actually your best option if you have a Windows PC. Cakewalk is formally known as Sonar. The only drawback is the core program does not work on an OS-X operating system. Many of the restrictions that you will find on other free platforms are removed from this version of Cakewalk. You can use VST plugins and VSTi instruments with this platform. All of the mixing and mastering tools found in Cakewalk’s base program are here minus many of the third-party apps. You have an unlimited number of midi tracks and an unlimited number of audio tracks. Many features found in this free app can only be found in software programs that cost hundreds of dollars. The midi capabilities alone are phenomenal. This is no lite version. There are no track limits and no restricted capabilities.
To install simply go to https://www.bandlab.com/ and create an account. Once that is done download the BandLab assistant by clicking the link below.
Download Cakewalk Here
For Windows Only
The tools and abilities of this program are truly remarkable. You will also enjoy being a member of the BandLab community. There are many benefits that go along with the community. The mastering tools are pretty good too.
Here is a collection of custom presets I put together for the Pro-Channel for use in Cakewalk Cakewalk Pro Channel Presets
Bandlab: also offers a unique DAW that works inside Google’s Chrome browser. It also works on Mac computers. This allows you to record music on your iPad, iPhone, Android tablet, and android phone. This is actually a pretty good platform. If you have very little money to invest and you own one of these devices, then this is a good option for you. This app works on Windows, Android, Mac, and Linux devices. Once you create the same Bandlab account you used to get Cakewalk, you can download this app too. There are also several free loop libraries available as well.
Check it out Here
Waveform Free by Tracktion: is a fully-featured and completely functional digital audio workstation. This software is another great option for recording music. This is amazing software that works on all platforms. It is completely Unlimited and totally free for all music creators. This is no ‘Lite’ version! There are no track limits or plugin limitations. It works with Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you can’t use cakewalk then this is your best option for Mac Computers. It provides more capabilities and Features than Garage Band.
Download it Here
Garage Band is Logic Express Lite. It is included for free on a lot of apple products. It does have some limitations. Here are some of the limitations and things it won’t do, Automatic crossfades on overlapping audio regions, Group tracks. Aux bus sends, Super-hi-res audio quality, Real-time automation recording, and MIDI sequencing of external hardware synths. The types of DAWs I like are more sophisticated beefed-up platforms that have more production capabilities. That being said this is a great program for free. It is included on Macs. Garage Band uses the AU and VST plug-in format, which is a big plus. This may be all you need for what you want to do. Its big brother (Logic Pro) is an excellent way to go if you want to upgrade. The cost of the upgrade will be an expense but it is still cheaper than many of the expensive DAWs that are out there.
Garage Band click here
LMMS: is an open-source pattern-based software application. It was built by a team of volunteers. This DAW is inspired by the popular Fruity Loops App.
Get It Here For Free
Audacity: is a free easy-to-use and multilingual audio editor and recorder. Programs like Audacity are also called open source software because their source code is available for anyone to study or use. Audacity is available for PC, Mac, and Linux systems. This is another good option because there are no restrictions. You don’t get all the tools that you would normally receive from Cakewalk by BandLab, but you can use VST effects and instruments, and there are many wonderful VST plugins available for free.
Audacity click here
Audio Editing Software
Audio Editing software allows you to record a minimum of one track of audio. It also allows you to edit any audio file. You can do a number of things such as normalize, fix, and change audio formats. A good audio editing app is a handy tool to have in our toolbox. Here are the top three free versions.
Ocenaudio: is a cross-platform, easy to use, fast, and functional audio editor. It is the ideal software for people who need to edit and analyze audio files without complications. Ocenaudio also has powerful features that will please more advanced users.
Ocenaudio click here
Music Editor Free: is designed to be very easy and intuitive to use for audio editing. Within minutes you will be able to open or record music and edit it. But if you take time to explore the other features you will find many powerful tools for editing audio designed with the professional sound engineer in mind.
Music Editor Free click here
Wavosaur: is a cool free sound editor, audio editor, and wav editor. This is software for editing wav and mp3 files. It is also able to process and recording sounds. Wavosaur has all the standard features to edit audio. (cut, copy, paste, etc.) it can produce music loops, analyze, record, and batch convert. Wavosaur supports VST plugins, ASIO drivers, multichannel wav files, and real-time effect processing.
Wavosaur click here
Worthy Considerations
While the following software is not free the costs are very low. Certain aspects of the program are free and the value of the program in its entirety is great.
Ardour: is a DAW that runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac. It has a very clean user interface and it is easy to learn. It has a great workflow and it is easy to work with. There are many similarities to other DAWs, but this one is open source and the code is completely free. The newest version (7.0) was just released on October 15th, 2020. Ardore works on Mac, Windows, Linux, and other OS platforms. This DAW can use plugins based on LV2, VST, and Audio Unit formats.
If you decide to go this route a payment of 45 dollars will give you this version with all the updates and the next version when it becomes available. You can also do a subscription-based plan for very little money. Download the demo and see if it works for you.
Get it by clicking HERE
REAPER is a complete digital audio production application for computers, offering a full multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing, and mastering toolset. REAPER supports a vast range of hardware, digital formats, and plugins, and can be comprehensively extended, scripted, and modified.
This is a fully featured DAW with no artificial limitations. You can evaluate REAPER in full for 60 days. A REAPER license is affordably priced and DRM-free. A new REAPER 6 license includes unlimited free updates through REAPER version 7.99. Frequency varies, but updates are typically released every few weeks. If you are just starting out and you are not running a professional studio then the license for the full version is just 60.00. Some have claimed Reaper is free because they have used it beyond the trial period. If you go beyond the trial period then you should buy a license to support its development. This is one of the most popular low-cost DAWs out there.
