The Warp modes let you take audio and, in technical terms, mangle the h*ck out of it. The pitch shifting can be corrective, like you would use on vocals, or it can be creative, maybe for vocal chops and other things. The free version of Ableton Live still contains the legendary pitch-shifting and Warp functions that many producers swear by, and that we truly wish Logic would adopt (or steal, whatever works). It may not look nice and shiny like Garageband, where you feel as if you’re playing some sort of video game, but it’s every bit as powerful. Things tend to just make sense, and finding your way around the DAW in Ableton is pretty intuitive. Live 11 Lite | Image credit: Ableton Check & download Ībleton is surely considered the best music making software for producers of electronic music, largely due to its workflow. Last point on this one, but if you decide to upgrade to Logic ( the best DAW, according to the author of this list), all your project files can be opened in Logic with no conversion or exporting necessary! Just know that with a little research, it can do everything you want it to, and it looks sleek and approachable perfect for beginners!

It takes some digging and asking the right questions on Google to be able to find all the things you would expect from a full-version DAW, like how to add plugins, though you might think it would be simple. One big downside is that most of the higher functionality of this DAW is hidden, though still accessible. You can even take the drum track, convert it to MIDI, and use your own sampler with your own sounds, saving you from coming up with a pattern and all the tedious fills! It may sound cheesy at first listen, but with a little processing (try OTT by Xfer it’s free!) it can be a saving grace for people like me who loathe the idea of hand-programming drums for an entire song. Now imagine that you had more than one drummer, with different kits and styles. Imagine that you had a drummer with you at all times who knew where to put fills on their own, could listen and adapt to your track, and could even differentiate between the chorus and the verse, with no yelling across the room. The real treat that is exclusive to Garageband is the Drummer track.

You can get full control of all the synth parameters, and start creating your own sounds right away, and the sampled libraries can be delightfully authentic sounding with the right touches. It comes with a multitude of synthesized sounds, as well as a number of basic sampled libraries to get you started.

Secondly, it’s far more capable than most people know. It gets the first spot on this list simply because if you have a Mac, you already have the software, no need to hunt down a download file. No doubt you’ve already heard about Garageband, given that it comes pre-loaded on every Mac sold. Garageband | Image credit: Apple Check & download

Simple daw for mac