If you’re interested in music production, your Mac has great tools to offer you. Here is the top 6 absolute best music production software for your Mac.
While Macs only have 8.59 percent of the worldwide device market, they have an inordinately strong reputation in the creative industry. This means that if you’re looking for music production software for Mac, you’ve got quite a few choices.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at some of the strongest music production suites on Mac. These programs can help you make incredible music. All that’s missing is you and some inspiration!
These suites range from vast premium production software that could make a chart-topping hit, to free software that is perfect for beginner musicians.
Ready to take a look at the great range of music software that’s on Mac? Then keep reading!
1. Garageband
Are you looking for a free (well, kinda) bit of software that can help you make basic backing tracks and podcasts? Then Garageband is for you. This bit of music production software comes preinstalled on Macs and iOS devices and offers impressive functionality.
For instance, there is a good selection of instruments that you can play around with to create backing tracks. These include everything from drum machines to a selection of guitars and Chinese instruments like the Erhu.
There are also drummers that can play along with your tunes, which means there’s no need for complex programming.
Not sure about how to play certain chords? Don’t worry, you can use chord keys to make chord progressions without knowledge of the instruments in question.
If you want to import other sounds to Garageband, we’d recommend learning how to open RAR files on Mac. Once you know this, you’ll be well on your way!
2. Logic Pro X
Logic is a legendary bit of software. This music production software for Mac is the gold standard that all other music production software needs to live up to. So what makes Logic Pro X so good?
Logic is Garageband but more. This is a professional software, and it’s reflected in the dizzying number of instruments that you can choose from when putting your music together.
You can also record up to 255 different tracks that you can then stitch together into a single song. You can edit every detail of your MIDI tracks, which means that you can change every aspect of your songs, too!
Flex Pitch is another nifty feature that lets you autotune any of your tracks. If something doesn’t sound quite right, put it through Flex Pitch, and smooth it out!
If you know how to use Garageband, you won’t have any problems with Logic. It has a very similar layout, which makes it a logical upgrade.
3. Audacity
Although some people may sniff at Audacity, it’s a very powerful bit of music software if you know how to use it. While it may be lacking the range of instruments that you’d find in Logic or Garageband, it has a couple of tricks up its sleeve.
Firstly, you have the tremendous selection of extensions that are available and can add a ton of functionality to Audacity. Another is the selection of effects that you can add to your tracks.
You can record into Audacity with a mic, guitar, synth, or other instruments. You can then take these tracks and add effects like delay, reverb, and wah-wah to add creative depth to your tracks.
While it’s not suitable for in-depth electronic music production, it’s a superb piece of music software for Mac if you’re a singer-songwriter. If you want something open-source and versatile, we recommend giving Audacity a try.
4. Ableton Live
Are you looking for software that’s more in-depth than Garageband and some would say, even more, in-depth than Logic? Then Ableton could be what you’re looking for. Ableton has been used by professionals like Diplo and Flying Lotus to create popular tunes.
Ableton Live has two modes. The first is a standard DAW that lets you record and arrange music like other music production software. Yet Session mode is something entirely different.
Session lets you store recorded snippets of music in banks. While one is playing, you can add another and manipulate it, giving your music a rich textural depth. It’s almost akin to live mixing like a DJ and can produce incredible songs.
5. Cubase Elements 10
As with Ableton and Logic, Cubase has a fantastic pedigree as music production software goes. It’s also somewhat cheaper than Ableton and Logic, which makes it an attractive proposition.
Cubase is perfect for mixing and editing your music, and you’ve got a fine degree of control over your MIDI tracks. Speaking of MIDI tracks, you can have 64 of them playing at one time, which is pretty fantastic.
If you’re new to music production, you’ll find it easier to get started with it than Ableton. There is a good range of tutorial videos that can teach you every aspect of Cubase.
6. Ardour
Interested in a free DAW that offers more than Audacity does by default? Then check out Ardour, a free and open-source DAW that can rival its premium rivals in some respects.
You can record as many tracks as your Mac can handle, and import existing files as with Audacity. It has a full-fledged MIDI editor that makes it easy to edit the fine details of your music.
As far as ease of use goes, it’s not the most user-friendly bit of software, but you’ll be fine with it if you have previous DAW experience.
Music Production Software For Mac: A Coda
There’s a fine selection of music production software for Mac. If you thought your choices began and ended with Garageband, we hope that you’ll give some of these programs a go, and see how they work for you! Some require more patience than others, but they can all help you create fantastic music.
Want to read more articles like this one? Then check out our music software section, and take a look at what else is available for Mac users!
