Get recording right away with 6 of the best
free audio recording programs for windows 10
I'm Zane, welcome to Simple Green Tech where I do weekly
audio tech tips, tutorials, & reviews to help you conquer the tech
and unleash your creativity
and be sure to check the description below for links to all of the
audio recording software mentioned in this video and
in addition to the 6 I have a couple of honorable mentions
near the end of this video so be sure to stick around for that
Now first up on the list is Tracktion Waveform 11
this one is not limited in any way so you can have unlimited
tracks, add third party FX
and instruments and do pretty much everything
the paid for version can do. It just doesn't have
some of the add ons and features that Waveform Pro has
you get the Micro Drum Sampler which is an
easy to use sampler plugin plus you also get the 4OSC
synth along with the same workflow that makes the
Tracktion DAWs stand apart from the rest. Waveform Free
does include some basic effects plugins but you can add third
party VST plugins if you need to. You also get the
pattern generator which will automatically create midi
patterns for you based on the style that you want
Waveform Free also has the new plugin sandboxing feature
if a plugin becomes unstable or
crashes. Instead of crashing the entire program
the plugin will be disabled and then you can choose
to try and re-enable it to see if you can get it to work
again or remove it from your project completely
I personally find the Tracktion Waveform workflow to be quick
and it allows me to focus on music creation
the pros of Waveform free are:
it's completely unlimited giving you creative freedom
the user interface is designed with speed and
music creating in mind. It has
easy to use midi features and it also includes
a sampler plugin. and the cons are some of the users
don't like the interface so give it a try and see
how it works for you next on the list is
Audacity. This is a very simple free
program capable of recording and editing audio
for musicians, podcasters, YouTubers
and content creators. this is one of the most
easiest programs to get started with. Audacity
has been around for a long time and it's always been
free. They continue to update it and add new features
as well as get rid of any bugs so just because
it's free doesn't mean that it's ignored
it will allows you to record multitracks so you can play something
and use that as a backing track and record
another instrument or part to a new track over top of it
but if you plan on using virtual instruments at all
you'll need to look elsewhere as Audacity doesn't have
midi capabilities. Some of the pros
of Audacity are: It's easy to use and it
loads very quickly. Some of the cons:
it doesn't do midi and it
doesn't support ASIO drivers out of the box
now if you're enjoying this video so far can you please give it a
thumbs up. It really helps my channel out and I appreciate it
so much. Now next on the list of
best audio recording software for Windows 10
is Cakewalk by Bandlab. A little history
about cakewalk before it became a free DAW. It was known
as Sonar Platinum which was a premium DAW
this free version of it is a free premium DAW
it doesn't have any limitations you can have unlimited
audio, midi, instrument and auxillarry
tracks in all of your projects
you also get some decent effects plugins
included with Cakewalk. Along with an intersting channel strip
that has some cool tape emulation and saturation effects
home studio guitar players will like the included
guitar amp simulator called TH3
and you also get some free virtual instruments with Cakewalk
a bass guitar instrument, a drum kit, a piano
and a string instrument and they all have some decent presets
that cover a variety of musical styles. Cakewalk
by Bandlab gives you everything you need to start making beats
and doing music production inside the box
one of the only drawbacks is that you're required to download
the Bandlab assistant software in order to install
Cakewalk. So some of the pros of Cakewalk by Bandlab are:
it comes with a great selection of effects
and instruments. It's completely unlimited
has the traditional user interface that some users might be familiar with
midi features that are easy to use
and a decent guitar amp simulator
some of the cons are:
having to install that Bandlab Assistant software
and some users think that the user interface is
a little dated. next on the list is
Magix Music Maker Free
Music Maker 2021 is
now 64 bit. which brings it up to speed
with modern digital audio workstations
the free version of Music Maker gives you 1 free SoundPool
which is like a loop pack and it can get you
started making music quickly and easily
recording in music maker is very easy and the updated
audio engine is pretty solid. You also get a few
virtual instruments with this DAW and the Vandal SE
guitar amp sim plugin. The free version is limited
to just 8 tracks per project
so if you plan on making very large projects with
lots of tracks in it this may not be for you
but if you just want to record your guitar, add some vocals
and a few other things. Magix Music Maker Free is a
very easy program to get started with
another limitation in the free version is that you can't use
3rd party VST plugins you have to
upgrade to a higher version for that some of the
pros of Magix Music Maker Free: It's easy
to get started with, includes decent instruments
and also includes a guitar amp sim
some of the cons are:
the track limitation and no VST support
in the free version. The next free
audio recording software is Soundbridge
this free digital audio workstation focuses on
simplicity. It's a full featured DAW that's easy to
use with no limitations the channel strip
has many presets and you can also add 3rd party
plugins for more variety plus it comes with a
nice collection of built in effects
one of the highlights is the free Ritmix
drum plugin that you get with Soundbridge
as it's one of the best free drum machine plugins out there
it's available in both 32 bit and 64 bit downloads
and I know there are still some users that want
32 bit software and this might be
the most complete free 32 bit audio recording
and editing software available right now
some of the Soundbridge Pros are it's
designed to be easy to use it includes
a channel strip and the ritmix
drum plugin. some of the cons: Some of the users
say that they don't like the interface and the workflow
but really that's about it for the cons
next up is Pro Tools First
this is a free slimmed down version of Pro Tools
if you ever plan on working in a pro studio one day. learning on
this program will help you as you'll likely encounter
Pro Tools quite a bit
there are some limitations in Pro Tools First
you can only have 16 audio tracks in a project
which can be quite a bit anyway
and you can only record a maximum of 4 inputs
at a time. it does come with some decent plugins
and the Xpand2! instrument. But if you
want to add any other plugins you have to purchase them from the
Avid Marketplace. You do get access
to a very large library of loops and samples that are
easily searchable and it has some templates
that you can use for various styles of music or
podcasting. Some of the pros of Pro Tools First:
are the included effects and the instrument they're
great. It includes loops and samples
and you get the same workflow as Pro Tools
some of the cons are
the track limitation and you can't bring your own
effects or instruments into it
alright now it's time for a couple of honorable mentions
and first up is Ardour. This one
is free if you download the source code and compile it
yourself so technically it's a free DAW
however if you're like me and you find it to be a huge pain to
compile software and you want to use Ardour
then you can pay as little as $1 to get it
which is extremely reasonable Ardour has no
limitations. Unlimited tracks, busses,
sends, inserts or whatever. It also has
a pretty advanced routing system if that's something your
in need of. It does come with a handful of plugins
but you can bring your third party plugins into it too
the interface is similar to Pro Tools but it has it's own
Ardour twists. If you're looking for that familiar layout,
editing and mixing style then you might want to give
Ardour a try. Some of the pros or Ardour are:
it has great routing features. unlimited tracks
and third party plugin support
some of the cons: well because this list is
for free programs, the $1 price could be
a con and you need to compile the
code to get it for free
the next honorable mention is Reaper
this is one that I always debate about adding to the list but if
I don't add it, I get a lot of comments saying I should have added it
Reaper is not free but the demo
is completely unlocked and it lasts for 60 days
which is a lot of time to finish some tracks
and after the 60 day demo ends you can continue to
preview the software fully unlocked
and the only thing is that there's a 5 second delay screen that
reminds you to purchase a license
which is only $60 and it's a very good price
considering the quality of the software that you get
Reaper is completely unlimited and it includes
a large selection of effects. It's fairly easy to
work with and very customizable too
but if you find that you're enjoying this software please purchase
a license to help support further development of it
some of the pros of Reaper are: It's completely unlimited
it has a large selection of effects
and it's customizable
some of the cons: Well in regards to this list
as it's a free list. It's not free
now if you want to check out some of the best free VST
plugins click up here or click down here to
see what YouTube thinks you should watch next. If you liked
this video please give it a thumbs up also subscribe to the
channel for more videos like this thank you so
much for watching. For Simple Green Tech, I'm Zane
keep creating and we'll talk soon