So I find myself in need of a means of making music tracks. I'm planning on buying an electric drum set (though they're by far inferior to acoustic) and it will allow me to record and mix the grooves I play digitally, but I have no way, nor ability, to do anything of the sort with other instruments.

So I ask: can anyone recommend any music making tools that I could use to make some music tracks? The only requirement is that it be legal to use. Preferably free, but legal is a must. Thanks!

FL Studio? Idk, i tried it myself but i found it hard to use. Probably because i was like 11 or so when i tried it.

Good luck trying, though. I'm curious what music you'll make. :V

MarioLucarioFan64 : FL Studios is a great program but it's way too expensive, at least for small time creators..

I don't really have any recommendations myself because I've never tried any but I'll be favoriting this thread, I just wanted to give my 2 cents on fruityloops

Hello!  Depending on your skill level and knowledge of terminology, FL Studio can be pretty easy to use. It has many complex capabilities and potential, but if you understand what means what , you would learn how to mix/master your songs fairly comfortably I think. FL Studio is a bit expensive, and I've never used >70% of what it has to offer, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who understands the terminology for its relative ease of use and interface layout.
I have a friend (whos currently en route to BC on a tour) who plays guitar and he writes and records all his songs live. He uses a program called Audacity to mix his tracks. I don't think it has anywhere near the post-production effects offered by FL Studio, but I think it's a very good program for putting together tracks with pre-recorded audio and mastering them. My friend is very well aware of FL Studio and he will only use Audacity.
Those are the only 2 coming to mind right now.

FL studio is probably one of the easiest music making tool out there since there's literally a crap ton of tutorials in youtube, but it's expensive, but you can easily crack them (like what i did). There's some free and decent Digital audio workstation out there like Milky Tracker (i never used them but i've heard some of my fellow producers friend tried em out and they said it's decent) so you might wanna check those out. And also, what kind of music are you trying to make? Cause i could probably help you to chose the right samplepacks and instruments to download, other than that, have fun learning, it's gonna be a fun and long journey but i bet you're gonna like it

since no one offered a free software i suggest LMMS, its like FL studio but less features. It has everything to make music including VST plugins so you dont have to buy a real piano.

P.S: Audacity is not a music editing software, it is a sound editor and wasn't designed for making music.

I use Soundation.

I used the free one for years and then I started using the first tier of priced ones, which was $20 a year.

MarioLucarioFan64 : I've heard of that one. I'll look into it if I can't get a good enough free one. Thanks.


pinkeyedtree : I actually have Audacity. I got it for recording voiceovers originally because it offers really nice quality recording. I'm not sure if I'll stick with it or not, that depends on how it compares to what I have when recording begins. Thanks for the info on it and FL.


Verkudara : I won't really know what style I'll need until I get there. It's for game development, so the situation and games will dictate what style I'll need.


mastergame : LMMS? Is that an abbreviation, or the actual name?


zanderlex : Thanks for the tip, man. Really appreciated.