Reaper is fast loading and offers 64-bit internal audio processing, as well as powerful audio and MIDI routing, with multichannel support throughout. Alongside that is support for thousands of third-party plug-in effects and virtual instruments, so you can easily adapt Reaper to your needs. It also bundles in hundreds of studio-quality effects for processing audio and MIDI, providing you with plenty of flexibility. The interface takes a little getting used to, but that’s also customizable, with user-built themes that can make Reaper easier to figure out early on. Audiotool also offers over 50,000 device presets, along with over 250,000 samples via its community fed cloud-based library. Mixing is easy to conduct here with plenty of effects to add on thanks to the extensive library. Through it, you can record, produce, and mix sounds for distribution. It’s part digital audio editor, part music sequencer. Learn it and you can use it to produce studio-like audio quality thanks to its vast options. Cubase provides extensive built-in instruments so you can easily throw in samples as needed, produce some beats, or opt to record everything from scratch yourself. Composing is also supported here, along with tweaking what you record so timing and pitch is just right. The disadvantage? Well, Cubase isn’t the simplest of tools to learn. Thanks to its well established name, there are plenty of tutorials out there, and you’re going to need them. Besides advanced editing tools that enable you to cut off samples when needed, it includes some live effects such as grain delay, beat repeat, a saturator, erosion, chorus, as well as vinyl distortion and many other effects. There’s also extensive visual feedback so you know what’s going on at a glance, along with an intuitive layout that makes lining up your plans easier. A 30-day free trial of Ableton Live is available, while the Intro, Standard, and Suite packages can cost you hundreds of dollars. The essential package is the same, but the more you pay, the more useful extra features unlock. Available in multiple different packages, its Home edition is quite basic, but ideal for newbies; its Recording Studio package offers up instrument sound controlling, a live performance panel recording, import functions, MIDI scoring, and editing. Want even more? The Pro package also throws in video editing, but it’s going to cost you, as will the Home edition and Recording Studio package. That said, a 14-day trial is available for Mixcraft so you can see if its right for you. As the name suggests, Music Maker Jam is pretty simple. It’s the kind of app you could use with your kids and achieve results fast, but not necessarily the professional results you’d expect from a ’true’ music production tool. It’s a good introduction to the genre, though, and you can still play instruments through its virtual instruments engine. It also includes 16 built in synthesizers, including emulations of the Commodore 64, NES, and Game Boy, so it’s fun if you want to do something a little different. Thanks to LMMS’s open-source nature, there are also plug-ins you can always install to extend its feature set. Elsewhere, there are plenty of plug-ins on offer, free samples, MIDI out, a keyboard controller, real-time stretching, and a full mixer and sequencer. Its potential should expand with your plans well. The downside is FL Studio 12 is pretty expensive. There’s a free but limited trial to get you started. Otherwise, it’s $99 for the basic Fruity edition, which doesn’t include audio recording; $199 for the Producer edition, which allows for recordings; $299 for the Signature bundle offering extra plugins, or $899 for the full package and all available plug-ins.
