Making music with digital tools doesn't have to be expensive.
Best free GarageBand for Mac plugins GarageBand for Mac is an excellent tool for making music, and it can be made even better through these free plugins By Martyn Casserly, Contributor. A solid polyphonic synth, Helm offers lots of tweaks and customizations for pro users. Kontakt's huge collection of virtual instruments and effects is the gold standard when. The MFreeEffects Bundle. This software has 26 plugins. According to their production company. GarageBand includes a variety of effect plug-ins that you can use on the tracks in your songs: Bitcrusher: A bitcrusher creates distortion by reducing the sampling rate and bit depth of the signal.The result is a lo-fi digital sound similar to old video games or drum machines.
In fact, you can do practically every important task in music production using free software.
You might have already seen free VST effects and virtual instruments available online.
You'll definitely need a good selection of those, but the first and most important tool to make music is your DAW.
But finding a free DAW that does everything you need for your workflow can be challenging. There are lots of them out there, each with different features and limitations.
Even so, there are plenty of great freeware DAW options if you know where to look.
In this article I'll go through the best free DAWs and help you find the one that works for you.
Free DAWs vs Paid DAWs
Before you start looking for a free DAW you should consider your needs to make sure freeware is the right choice.
There are plenty of effective free DAWs out there, but many of them have reduced features and functions compared to full-fledged DAWs.
There are plenty of effective free DAWs out there, but many of them have reduced features and functions compared to full-fledged DAWs.
A free DAW is perfect for you if:
- You just want to try out music production with a basic DAW
- You absolutely can't stretch your DAW budget at all
- You only need a DAW for a few parts of your workflow
Many of the apps I'll be including on this list are free versions of respected pro DAWs. These are perfect if you think you plan to purchase a full DAW eventually and just need to try out a few different options.
Finally, if you're looking for a full-fledged production solution, consider expanding your budget slightly if you can.
There are a handful of respected DAWs that aren't exactly free, but cost significantly less than the big names. The most common of these is Cockos Reaper, which costs only $60 USD.
But, if you're looking for an easy way to piece together ideas and play with samples try LANDR's new sampling and beat making tool Creator.
It's a free online beat maker that uses pitch-shifting and time-stretching technology to help you piece together up to eight unique samples on LANDR Samples!
The 10 Best Free DAW Apps
With that out of the way here are the 10 best free DAW apps to get you started creating music on your computer:
1. Audacity
Audacity is the original free DAW. It's an open source multi-track audio editor and recorder that works on many different operating systems.
If you're only dealing with audio tracks, Audacity is a perfectly functional free DAW solution.
The main drawback is that Audacity does not act as a MIDI sequencer. That means there are no MIDI tracks for you to use with your virtual instruments.
Using plugins in Audacity is also a little different from pro DAWs, so it might not be the perfect fit for a full production workflow.
Despite that, Audacity is an excellent free resource that's well worth including on this list.
2. Garageband
Apple's entry level DAW Garageband comes bundled with every computer that runs Mac OS.
Apple's entry level DAW Garageband comes bundled with every computer that runs Mac OS. Waves tune free.
That means if you're reading this on a Mac computer, you already have it!
Free Garageband Plugins Macbook 2009
Garageband is well-known for introducing many musicians to recording. But despite its reputation as a beginner app it's still surprisingly effective for making music.
Garageband combines the ease-of-use and smart design Apple is known for with some powerful features for music production.
Don't overlook Garageband if you're a Mac user in need of a free DAW.
3. Ableton Live Lite
Free Garageband Plug-ins Download
Ableton Live is probably the biggest name in DAWs when it comes to electronic and sample-based genres.
It's easy to see why. The unique 'session view' makes using loops to compose songs incredibly easy. It's built-in pitch shifting and time stretching in the warp feature are powerful and easy to use.
Ableton Live Lite is the stripped down version of Live that Ableton provides bundled with popular software and hardware packages.
Many audio interfaces, MIDI controllers, plugins and even iOS apps offer a license for Live Lite.
You'll need a few of these items to set up your home studio, so you might want to look out for a bundle that includes a copy of Live Lite.
It's a limited version of Live that will help you get the feel for this extremely popular DAW.
Live Lite gives you a total of 16 tracks with any combination of audio and midi channels. It allows up to four inputs and outputs at the same time.
4. Tracktion Waveform Free
Tracktion Waveform Free is an impressive fully functional freeware DAW.
Unlike some of the other DAWs on this list it has no limitations to track count or simultaneous recording.
It can host VST and AU plugins and works on PC or Mac.
Traktion offers a paid upgrade to Waveform Pro for advanced users, but it's not necessary to buy the full version to unlock any essential features for music creation.
Waveform Free is designed to be easy to use for beginner producers and features some slightly different design concepts than other free DAWs.
Many audio interfaces, MIDI controllers, plugins and even iOS apps offer a license for Live Lite.
5. Pro Tools First
Pro Tools First is the introductory edition of the industry standard DAW Pro Tools.
Download terraria pc free full version. It includes many of the powerful features that make Pro Tools the DAW of choice for professional studios all over the world.
But it comes with some limitations that might make you think twice. With First you can record up to 16 tracks of audio and use up to 16 virtual instrument tracks in a session.
On top of that, you can record only four tracks at the same time.
Despite these limitations, Pro Tools First lets you get started with the DAW you'll likely be using if you go on to work in a professional studio. That's a major benefit!
6. Ohm Studio
Ohm Studio is another full-featured DAW you can download for free. It's the DAW project of popular plugin manufacturer Ohmforce.
Ohm Studio provides all the essential music creation features of a paid DAW without limits.
It's built around collaboration with handy features to share your music with other people you're working with.
7. Cubase LE
Cubase LE is another solid free DAW. It's the lite edition of Steinberg's flagship recording app Cubase.
Cubase was one of the first digital sequencing apps and it's been a popular DAW choice for decades.
Cubase LE brings the best of that legacy to free users with only a few limitations.
With LE you'll be able to record up to 16 tracks of audio and up to 24 virtual instrument tracks.
It can record up to 8 tracks at once and comes with some of Steinberg's excellent VST plugins and libraries for its HALion sampling platform.
8. Soundbridge
Soundbridge is another excellent choice for a full-featured free DAW.
It contains all the important key features of a pro DAW but makes them as simple and easy to use as possible.
Its built-in drum machine and effects are excellent and it has a stylish interface that's comfortable to work with.
Free recording tools
Making music shouldn't be a financial burden.
That's why these free recording apps are so helpful for creators.
Whether you're looking to try a demo version of a classic DAW or just make music without spending too much money, these free DAWs will help you do it.
Garageband has a number of VST instruments that sound pretty good, but the saxophone is severely limited. Thankfully, there are other plug-ins we can download and use to get a much better-sounding instrument.
DSK's Saxophone and Iowa's Alto Sax are two of the best, free, saxophone plug-ins for Garageband. While they're not as good as a real saxophone, a lot can be done to improve their quality and sound with dynamics processing and effects. Adobe acrobat free download for pc windows 7.
Access the DSK Sax here and the Iowa Alto Sax at this link.
There is also Iowa's Soprano Sax, which is of similar quality, and it also has the ability to switch between vibrato and non-vibrato which makes it more versatile.
I've already shown you how to install third-party plug-ins in Garageband in my other article, which you can read more about here.
Now that you've downloaded the plug-in, I'm going to walk you through DSK's Saxophone, including how to make it sound great.
Ableton Live is probably the biggest name in DAWs when it comes to electronic and sample-based genres.
It's easy to see why. The unique 'session view' makes using loops to compose songs incredibly easy. It's built-in pitch shifting and time stretching in the warp feature are powerful and easy to use.
Ableton Live Lite is the stripped down version of Live that Ableton provides bundled with popular software and hardware packages.
Many audio interfaces, MIDI controllers, plugins and even iOS apps offer a license for Live Lite.
You'll need a few of these items to set up your home studio, so you might want to look out for a bundle that includes a copy of Live Lite.
It's a limited version of Live that will help you get the feel for this extremely popular DAW.
Live Lite gives you a total of 16 tracks with any combination of audio and midi channels. It allows up to four inputs and outputs at the same time.
4. Tracktion Waveform Free
Tracktion Waveform Free is an impressive fully functional freeware DAW.
Unlike some of the other DAWs on this list it has no limitations to track count or simultaneous recording.
It can host VST and AU plugins and works on PC or Mac.
Traktion offers a paid upgrade to Waveform Pro for advanced users, but it's not necessary to buy the full version to unlock any essential features for music creation.
Waveform Free is designed to be easy to use for beginner producers and features some slightly different design concepts than other free DAWs.
Many audio interfaces, MIDI controllers, plugins and even iOS apps offer a license for Live Lite.
5. Pro Tools First
Pro Tools First is the introductory edition of the industry standard DAW Pro Tools.
Download terraria pc free full version. It includes many of the powerful features that make Pro Tools the DAW of choice for professional studios all over the world.
But it comes with some limitations that might make you think twice. With First you can record up to 16 tracks of audio and use up to 16 virtual instrument tracks in a session.
On top of that, you can record only four tracks at the same time.
Despite these limitations, Pro Tools First lets you get started with the DAW you'll likely be using if you go on to work in a professional studio. That's a major benefit!
6. Ohm Studio
Ohm Studio is another full-featured DAW you can download for free. It's the DAW project of popular plugin manufacturer Ohmforce.
Ohm Studio provides all the essential music creation features of a paid DAW without limits.
It's built around collaboration with handy features to share your music with other people you're working with.
7. Cubase LE
Cubase LE is another solid free DAW. It's the lite edition of Steinberg's flagship recording app Cubase.
Cubase was one of the first digital sequencing apps and it's been a popular DAW choice for decades.
Cubase LE brings the best of that legacy to free users with only a few limitations.
With LE you'll be able to record up to 16 tracks of audio and up to 24 virtual instrument tracks.
It can record up to 8 tracks at once and comes with some of Steinberg's excellent VST plugins and libraries for its HALion sampling platform.
8. Soundbridge
Soundbridge is another excellent choice for a full-featured free DAW.
It contains all the important key features of a pro DAW but makes them as simple and easy to use as possible.
Its built-in drum machine and effects are excellent and it has a stylish interface that's comfortable to work with.
Free recording tools
Making music shouldn't be a financial burden.
That's why these free recording apps are so helpful for creators.
Whether you're looking to try a demo version of a classic DAW or just make music without spending too much money, these free DAWs will help you do it.
Garageband has a number of VST instruments that sound pretty good, but the saxophone is severely limited. Thankfully, there are other plug-ins we can download and use to get a much better-sounding instrument.
DSK's Saxophone and Iowa's Alto Sax are two of the best, free, saxophone plug-ins for Garageband. While they're not as good as a real saxophone, a lot can be done to improve their quality and sound with dynamics processing and effects. Adobe acrobat free download for pc windows 7.
Access the DSK Sax here and the Iowa Alto Sax at this link.
There is also Iowa's Soprano Sax, which is of similar quality, and it also has the ability to switch between vibrato and non-vibrato which makes it more versatile.
I've already shown you how to install third-party plug-ins in Garageband in my other article, which you can read more about here.
Now that you've downloaded the plug-in, I'm going to walk you through DSK's Saxophone, including how to make it sound great.
How To Use DSK's Saxophone For Garageband
As I've said already, the DSK Saxophone doesn't sound as good as a real saxophone, however, I've found that it's the best free VST.
One of the main reasons why I've chosen the DSK Saxophone for this tutorial is because it has a natural vibrato to it, which seems to sound much closer to the real thing.
If you listen to a real saxophone player, they tend to use a bit of vibrato on each note.
Unfortunately, the DSK Saxophone is missing that highly compressed fluttering sound that really gives the Saxophone its fantastic vibe, but it's still quite good.
The DSK Saxophone comes with 7 main parameters, and they are the following: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Velocity Curve, Reverb, and Level.
We're going to explore what each one does and how to optimize the settings for the best possible quality.
Attack
The four main parameters, attack, decay, sustain, and release, function as compression settings.
For instance, by adjusting the attack, you change the speed at which the compressor latches on to the signal and compresses it.
One can see this dynamic at work when we put the attack all the way to zero, to the left, and all the way to the right – maximum.
When the attack setting is on the lowest possible setting, this means there is no attack at all, which means that the saxophone begins playing right away with no compression at all on the sound.
On the other hand, if we crank the attack all the way to the right, it sounds like it has a 'fade-in' effect.
The reason for this is what I mentioned above.
When the attack is set to the maximum, the plug-in's compressor latches on to the sound immediately and begins compressing it, which tends to create somewhat of a 'faded' effect.
I would say there are two primary purposes of the attack function in this particular case:
1) Slurs and Fast Lines
An attack set higher will make it sound a lot better for fast lines and notes played in succession.
In other words, it's great for a saxophone section in which many notes are played quickly and closely together, almost as if they're slurs, or as guitarists call them, 'hammer-ons and pull-offs.'
2) Long Notes
On the other hand, if we're going to have the attack set to the lowest possible setting, this makes it sound a lot better for notes which are held for an extended period of time.
Go ahead and experiment with your own 'attack' settings, and see what you like best.
I typically keep it right at the half-way mark.
Decay and Sustain
The decay and sustain work in conjunction with each other. For instance, if you've cranked the sustain, but the decay is set at its minimum value, it won't do much.
However, if you have the decay turned on half-way and the sustain turned all the way up, the note will continue playing at a similar level.
In other words, when you hold down the note on the MIDI keyboard with the sustain all the way to the maximum, the note will continue to play at the same volume and intensity.
But if you turn the sustain all the way off, to the left, the note will dissipate despite the fact you're continuing to hold down the note.
However, they both have to be turned on, so keep that in mind.
Release
From what I've experienced thus far, the release is the final setting among the main four where there is a substantial difference between a maximum and minimum setting.
In summary, the release is a setting that adjusts the degree at which the note fades after you've stopped pressing on the MIDI keyboard. If you go ahead and crank it to the maximum, it's easy to hear the difference.
When the setting is increased to its fullest capability, that means that the note will have a lot of sustain to it, meaning, it will continue to play for a few seconds after you've let off the MIDI keyboard.
Conversely, if there is no release at all, that means that the sound will abruptly stop playing the moment you've taken your finger off the MIDI keyboard.
In terms of making the saxophone from DSK sound realistic, I think that the release should always be set at mid-way.
Now we'll move on to the other more intuitive settings, the velocity curve, reverb, and level.
Velocity Curve
The velocity curve, if you're familiar with music production at all, should be quite intuitive.
Essentially, what it does is that it controls the strength or volume of the note by default.
The piano is a useful comparison.
If you strike the key very hard, as hard as you can, this is hard, strong, or maximum velocity, but if you play it as lightly as possible while still pressing on it enough to make a sound, this is the minimum velocity or the softest one can possibly go.
In this particular case, there are three main settings, 'Normal,' 'Weak,' and 'Strong.'
'Normal,' is self-explanatory. The notes are played at a normal strength or velocity, in comparison to 'Strong,' where the notes are loud and strong, and 'Weak,' where the notes are soft and quiet.
In terms of making it sound as realistic as possible, I would probably just stick to 'Normal,' because it is going to be the most versatile setting.
Reverb
The reverb is self-explanatory, as I hope you know.
In case you don't, the reverb setting creates an effect where it appears as if the sound is coming from a long distance away, and the degree at which it's set, adjusts the distance.
For example, a reverb with the setting cranked to the maximum will make it appear as if the sound is coming from a long distance away, whereas a reverb setting of zero or low, sounds like the sax is right at the microphone.
Depending on what kind of sound you want, I would argue that the reverb setting is best to leave it turned right off because Garageband has better plug-ins to use for Reverb, which we're going to explore in a moment.
Level
The level adjusts the volume or the output level. This is also self-explanatory.
Essentially, it just increases the maximum volume of the plug-in, with all of the effects and parameters at the same level.
I would say that it's best to keep this at half-way, or perhaps three-quarter way.
Just keep in mind that you don't want it set to the maximum, otherwise, you may run into some clipping. This, of course, can be fought by decreasing the VU meter of the track region on which the plug-in is set up.
How To Make The DSK Saxophone Sound Good
On account of Garageband and Logic Pro X's fantastic presets, a lot can be done to increase the quality of the saxophone with minimal work.
For this section, I'm going to touch on a few dynamics processors and then two effects: Channel EQ, Compression, Reverb, and Delay.
With these dynamics processors and effects, we can increase the quality of the saxophone.
Channel EQ
There are a few different pre-sets available for the saxophone in Garageband, including the Saxophone EQ, the Sax Section, Tenor Sax, and Soprano Sax.
Obviously, each pre-set corresponds to a type of saxophone.
Go ahead and try each one. I find that the Saxophone EQ is the best one right out of the box, however, what I usually do is I just use subtractive EQ, with a few minors boosts. I find this is the best way of approaching EQ.
You can see what this EQ setting looks like in the image below:
As you can probably notice, it's almost entirely subtractive. In other words, no boosts. I'm trying to only use subtractive EQ these days with very minimal boosts.
This setting is just a guideline, and the same thing can be said for the other Channel EQ settings as well.
What you think sounds best will vary according to your style and preferences, in addition to what sound you're aiming for.
Compression
Regarding compression, I find that the platinum analog tape pre-set is fantastic for the Saxophone.
However, I modify it slightly in a number of ways, mostly in the ratio, and perhaps the attack just by a little bit.
The compression, admittedly, doesn't do a lot for the sound, but it does even out the peaks as well as boost the quiet parts. Moreover, it increases the total volume tremendously.
Go into the settings and choose, 'Platinum Analog Tape,' like what you can see in the image below:
As I said already above, compression is more for shaping the loudness of the signal, rather than adjusting the quality or tone of the sound.
In terms of the modifications that I've made to it, I dropped down the compressor ratio to 3:1, and I also changed the attack to around 35.0ms.
Other than that, not a lot of other changes need to be made to it.
Reverb
I typically don't use custom versions of reverb. And by that, I mean that I'll normally use something simple like the standard reverb control in the bottom-right-hand corner of the Smart Controls.
In this case, I chose to experiment, and I found that there are great reverbs to use for brass instruments, right in the pre-sets.
For the saxophone, I used the 'Space Designer,' within the Reverb setting in the Smart Controls.
If you take a look into the pre-sets, you'll find a lot of options there for different types of rooms and instruments. The pre-sets are practically limitless.
It's under the section, 'Medium Spaces,' and then 'Rooms,' and then you'll see where the reverb setting says, '2.0s Sax Reverb.'
You can see what it looks like in the image below:
However, I didn't leave the pre-set the way that it is, because it's quite strong.
I dropped the Output of it down to around -21.0dB – a significant reduction. I find that it's too much at the -10.0dB level that it's set at.
Stereo Delay
For the Stereo Delay, I almost always use the same setting that I've dubbed, 'Stereo Delay Setting,' and I use it for vocals and other instruments that just need to be thickened up a little bit.
In the case of the saxophone, however, I increased the left and right mix of it to around 20%, because I find that it sounds the best like that.
Tenor and Soprano Sax
The DSK Saxophone also has the ability to flip between the tenor and soprano sax, and the difference is definitely noticeable.
I prefer the Soprano sax, personally, but the tenor one is cool too in its own way.
You access this by simply clicking on the white bar where it indicates what type of sax it is.
Important Things To Note
- After going back through and comparing the VST saxophones to the real thing, it's really quite striking. Thus far, it seems like there aren't many free VSTs for the saxophone that resemble the real thing in the higher registers of the instrument.
- Regardless, the saxophone sounds the best between the ranges of C1 and C3, and near the ending of C3 on Garageband's musical typing, but once you extend beyond that point, it sounds less and less realistic.
- If you really in the market for a serious VST for the saxophone, Audio Modeling's Saxophone plug-in is fantastic, and it's easily the best one that I've heard thus far. You can check it out on their website here.
- If you're looking for a more comprehensive batch of brass instruments and horns, then Native Instruments is a good choice as well. They have a session horns bundle that you can find here.
- Don't forget about Iowa's Soprano Sax. It's a great plug-in as well that I didn't cover much here because much of the controls are the same.
YouTube Video Tutorial
Conclusion
I hope this was helpful to you.
If you're curious about more plug-ins, I recommend my article on 6 Awesome Plug-Ins for Garageband as well as my recommended gear page for more products and accessories.
Furthermore, I have a more comprehensive list of plug-ins in my article on how to install plug-ins in GarageBand which was linked at the top of the article.
