Let’s see some best GarageBand alternatives that allows you to create and record energetic music on your Windows PC.
If you’re a die-hard music lover who lives his passion by singing, editing and creating the music, you might already have heard of GarageBand. It’s one of the best music creation studios out in the market, and its fully-equipped library of presets, instruments, session drummers and other tools allows music lovers to create some awesome music in no time. There’s a good chance that some of your friends who create music for any purpose might have used it already.
However, GarageBand has a major shortcoming: it doesn’t work on Windows! It’s available only for Mac and iOS. Now since Windows is a much more mainstream operating system than Mac, there’s a major demand of similarly powerful music creation programs in the market of Windows software.
Best GarageBand Alternatives
The good news is that there already are many such programs available in the market for Windows, and here we’re going to take a look on some of them:
Cubase Pro
Cubase Pro takes the first spot in our list because it has been refined by more than 3 decades of experience and development. Currently in version 10, it comes with all the necessary features and tools that you may want to have in any digital audio workstation (DAW) such as an audio alignment tool, a channel strip, chord pads, drum editor, etc.
Its Control Room is so powerful that you can think of it as a full-fledged GarageBand tailor-made for Windows. Though there’s some learning curve involved with this software due to the sheer amount of features, after a few days of training both amateurs as well as professionals may use it to create music.
Mixcraft
Mixcraft by Acoustica is another powerful DAW for Windows. The best thing about it is that it looks very cool when you work at it (LOL). But jokes apart, besides its cool looks it has also got all those necessary and powerful features which make any DAW program a complete package for music lovers.
Currently in version 8 it has got a fast sound engine, a big library of loops, a performance panel for automatically synced audio clip grooves, ability to add new plugins for enhancing the functionality, and even a video editor! The library of instruments, effects and presets is also a large one.
Soundation Studio
Unlike other options included in our list Soundation Studio is an online music creation and editing tool that can be accessed from any web browser. However, despite being an online tool it provides almost all necessary features to help you create the kind of music that you want to create.
It has got real-time sound effects, 700+ loops and sounds, recording functionality, and much more than that. You can also upload your audio to it for easy editing, and there’s an easy way to get started by simply logging in to one’s Google account.
Music Maker Jam
Music Maker Jam is one of those rare DAW programs that are available for both Windows and Android, which means that you can continue your music creation or editing with it on both your PC and your smartphone. Available in Microsoft Store, it’s a fantastic app that divides the tools available for music creation into 4 genres.
These genres can be altered every month, and one can unlock new genres through in-app purchases. The best part is that unlike other programs listed here which are paid or freemium this one is completely free of cost!
Audiotool
Like Soundation Studio this one is also an online music creation platform. Its distinct feature is the collaboration capability provided by it, which can be used to take help of multiple artists while creating the music. If you’re a professional and have got a team of professional editors at your disposal it will be super easy to create music with their help through this tool.
It also works if you want to create some music with your friends. You can get started by uploading some of your own recordings, or by choosing some samples from thousands of others available on the platform.
FL Studio
Arguably the second oldest DAW program on our list, FL Studio is currently in version 20. With over two decades of development it has emerged into such a simple yet fully functional audio editing program that one can keep high expectations from it.
A simple vectorial user interface that can be resized according to convenience, live performance functionality, more than 80 plugins and a high quality mixer are some of its highlights. It’s available in 4 different editions, and you’re provided lifetime free updates for any of the editions that you purchase.
Ableton Live
Finally, we’ve Ableton on our list for features that you would otherwise not expect from a music editing program. Its session view allows you to freely mix and match the various musical ideas that you may have in your mind without the constraints of any timeline, while Arrangement view allows you to organize your melodies into a timeline.
The interface of both views is pretty simple, yet full of features that you may need. Recording various sounds and adding them to your music is also pretty simple. You can also easily change the tempo and timing of any audio with Ableton Live.
Conclusion
No matter whether you’re an amateur music lover or a professional working in the entertainment industry, these 7 GarageBand alternatives for Windows will help you create the kind of music that you want. I’ve included both free and paid options in the list so you can get a holistic view of awesome music creation studios out in the market regardless of their price. So give each of them a try and do let me know what you think about them in the comments!
