Software Directory

A full digital audio workstation for composing, recording, editing, mixing, mastering, and scoring.

Electronic music, experimentation, live performance

Comprehensive production on Mac and iPad

Beats, piano-roll composition, electronic production

Recording and production; formerly Studio One

A flexible digital audio workstation for multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing, and mastering.

Studio recording, detailed editing, professional collaboration

Modulation, sound design, experimental electronic music

Virtual instrument racks and creative routing

Composition, sequencing, scoring workflows

A genuinely free digital audio workstation for recording, MIDI production, editing, and mixing.

Recording, MIDI composition, mixing on Windows

Free starting point on Apple devices

Free tier; browser and mobile production

Collaborative music production in a browser

Open-source recording and mixing

Free beatmaking and electronic composition

Free audio recording and editing

Music notation and composition software with free, entry-level, and professional Dorico editions.

Free, open-source desktop notation software for writing, arranging, listening to, and sharing scores.

Professional notation and instrumental parts

Handwritten notation with a stylus

Guitar tablature, notation, practice

Browser-based notation and sharing

Collaborative online score writing

Sheet music synchronized with recordings

Free text-based music engraving

Chord progressions, harmony, MIDI composition

Piano accompaniment and songwriting

Phrase-based MIDI composition and variation

Generating accompaniment from chord changes

Developing and transforming musical arrangements

Assisted chord, melody, and arrangement generation

Writing connected chords, basslines, and melodies

An orchestral playback engine designed to make notation programs sound more expressive with minimal manual MIDI programming.

Orchestras, strings, cinematic textures

Detailed orchestral instruments and scoring collections

Detailed orchestration and acoustic realism

Cohesive orchestral sections and expressive legato

Broad orchestral, choir, and instrument subscription

Access to a large virtual-instrument catalog

Cinematic orchestras and trailer scoring

Expressive orchestral performance libraries

Choirs, orchestras, ethnic instruments

Orchestral phrases and cinematic arrangements

Cinematic ensembles, textures, orchestral percussion

A free orchestral virtual instrument with a focused set of BBC Symphony Orchestra instruments and techniques.

Orchestral, choir, and cinematic libraries

Choirs, unusual instruments, sound design

Expressive solo instruments

Physically modeled strings, brass, and woodwinds

Hybrid orchestral sounds and cinematic percussion

A sampled-instrument platform for playing, shaping, and building virtual instruments and sound libraries.

Broad instrument and effects bundle

Modern synthesis, basses, leads, sound design

Cinematic textures and expansive synthesis

Visual synthesis and evolving sounds

Classic synthesizers and keyboard instruments

A visual spectral-warping wavetable synthesizer with deep modulation and an accessible free edition.

A free, open-source hybrid synthesizer with multiple synthesis methods, modulation, effects, MPE, and microtuning.

Analog-style synthesizer sounds

Modular synthesis and extensive modulation

Free standalone edition; virtual modular synthesis

A physically modelled virtual piano and instrument suite with a small footprint and editable performance controls.

Detailed sampled acoustic pianos

Advanced sampling and hybrid synthesis

Guitar amp simulations and effects

Captured guitar amps and rigs

Virtual amps, cabinets, pedals, signal chains

Guitar amp modeling

Free open-source amp modeling

Detailed acoustic drum production

Quickly building acoustic drum arrangements

Bass accompaniment and songwriting

Acoustic drum sounds and grooves

Assisted guitar, bass, drums, and orchestral performances

Precise EQ and dynamic frequency control

Mastering and assisted tonal balancing

Track processing and assisted mixing

Reducing harshness and problematic resonances

Intelligent EQ, compression, and limiting

Creative delay, saturation, modulation, effects

Reverb, delay, spacious textures

Adaptive tonal balancing

Analog-style studio processing

Extensive mixing and production plug-ins

Mixing, mastering, and analog emulations

Console, compressor, tape, and synth emulations

EQ and dynamics; several free options

Free spectrum analysis

Free edition; loudness measurement

Free audio metering

Character effects and creative processing

Creative effects and virtual instruments

Rhythmic effects and multiband modulation

Free collection of audio effects

Speaker and headphone calibration

Comparing mixes against reference tracks

Detailed pitch, timing, and note editing

Vocal pitch correction and creative tuning

Vocal alignment, timing, and pitch workflows

Audio repair, noise removal, restoration

Complete vocal-processing chains

Spectral editing and source separation

Detailed audio editing and mastering

Audio editing and restoration

Controllable singing from notes and lyrics

Programming vocals with singing voicebanks

Generating songs and exploring musical ideas

AI song generation; see export limitation below

AI-assisted instrumental composition

Automated mastering and music-production services

Stem separation, practice, pitch and tempo changes

Separating vocals and instruments

Free desktop stem separation

Free audio-to-MIDI conversion

Editing notes and harmonies within samples

AI singing and vocal production

Generating music from written instructions

AI vocal conversion and voice tools

Finding samples, loops, presets, and instruments

Browsing and auditioning samples

Organizing drum samples and making beats

Searching and tagging sample collections

Playable loops and sample-based instruments

Free sample player

Community-made sampled instruments

Sample-based instruments and sound design

Controller-based DJing and performance

DJ library preparation and performance

Creative DJ mixing and remixing

DJing across desktop and mobile devices

DJ performance and stem-based mixing

Free open-source DJ software

Live keyboard and effects rigs on Mac

Hosting instruments and effects onstage

Live plug-in hosting on Windows

Live looping and customized performance setups

Ear training, rhythm, sight-singing

Free web exercises and theory lessons

Training your ears for mixing

Pitch, intervals, harmony, musical hearing

Free detailed analysis of recordings

Slowing and looping recordings for transcription

Chord charts and practice accompaniment

Streaming studio audio to remote listeners

Remote recording and production collaboration

Remote recording sessions

Implementing interactive music and game audio

Adaptive music and sound for games