Elteto.net

Nobody says you have to spend hundreds of bucks just to produce your first song on a computer.

I am constantly amazed by the extensive discussions ensuing in various music magazines about the use of digital audio workstation (DAW) software. With dazzling advances in technology, the same audio quality previously only available in expensive professional studios can be achieved these days on a desktop (or even a laptop) computer. I read plenty of suggestions that to be a "serious" music producer, you "must" have one of the "pro" titles, such as Cubase, Reason, Pro Tools, or as the relentless Apple fanboys insist, Logic.

Cheaper production tools and the ease of Internet distribution have enabled artists to bypasss numerous layers of talent search and quality assurance, bringing music directly to the fans. However, as a few hours of digging around on artist sites will help you realize, not even high-gigahertz computer wizardry can help some of these "serious pros" make any sense of their compositions. So fear not: while fancy DAWs give you loads of options you may never need but let you stand there in your black turtleneck sweater with a MacBook Pro in your hand, sneering condescendingly at non-Logic using "amateurs", you can start producing right now, with pro features for free or at a fraction of the price.

Without getting lengthy in descriptions, here are a few low/no-cost programs you can download immediately. I will cover them more in-depth in later updates. In the meantime, "pro" DAW fanboys, how come you do not have your own custom consoles and monitors like the ones at Ocean Way Recording? I mean, that is what the real "serious" guys use these days...

Reaper $50

Mu.Lab 49 Eur

Mixcraft $64.95

Rosegarden (Linux) Free

Ardour (Linux) Free

Temper Free