Songwriting Software

OMG! There is so much variety of songwriting software! That's what you're probably thinking when you're trying to choose a piece of software that best suits your needs. All of them have strengths and weaknesses and advantages and disadvantages… I could go on all day.

You'll have to make two decisions first:

1. What are you going the use the software for? (writing, recording, editing, etc.)
2. How 'strong' and what type is your hardware? (Mac? PC?)

You'll probably use your songwriting software for one or more of these:

a) Recording & editing audio
b) Making music using loops
c) Writing lyrics
d) Writing music
e) Other

(It's worth checking out all sections below. Some of the software listed here is very complex therefore difficult to categorize.)

Luckily, there is such variety of songwriting software out there that you'll probably need only one or two pieces of software to cover all your needs.

Let's see your options:

a) Recording & editing:

• Audacity (Mac/PC) - Free digital audio editor and recording application.

• Pro-Tools (Mac/PC) - Digital audio workstation by Avid Technology. It's widely used by professionals for recording, editing and music production.

• Logic (Mac) - Digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer by Apple. It's also widely used by professionals.

• Cubase (Mac/PC) - Digital audio workstation used for music recording, arranging and editing by Steinberg.

• Sonar (PC) - Digital audio workstation by Cakewalk. You can use it to record, mix, edit, master and output audio.

• Digital Performer (Mac) - Full-featured digital audio workstation and sequencer software package by MOTU.

More information about Multi Track Editing and Recording Software 

b) Making music using loops:

• GarageBand (Mac) - Software by Apple. It allows you to record audio, use virtual software instruments, edit MIDI, create music and podcasts. Plus it contains music lessons. It's part of the iLife software package.

• Acid Pro (PC) - Professional digital audio workstation by Sony Creative Software. It uses Acid Loops painted out across the screen to create music tracks.

• Fruity Loops aka FL Studio (PC) - Digital audio workstation by Image-Line Software. It has MIDI support, you can edit, mix, record or master audio.

• Ableton Live (Mac/PC) - Loop-based music sequencer and digital audio workstation. It's designed to be an instrument for live performances and a tool for composing, arranging, and mixing.

• Reason (Mac/PC) - This software by Propellerhead emulates a rack of hardware synthesizers, sampler, signal professors, sequencers and mixers.

• Audition (PC) - Digital audio workstation by Adobe Systems featuring a multitrack mixing/editing environment and a destructive-approach waveform edition view.

More information about Loop Editor and Recording Software

What's a loop? Wikipedia defines it as "a sample which is repeated". They are short sections of music that if you repeat, can make up a whole song or sections of a song. Loops are very popular even in commercial music. You can download some of them for free or you can buy them from loop libraries. Some pieces of multi track recording software are very good at handling loops but they weren't made exclusively for that purpose.

c) Writing lyrics:

• Masterwriter (Mac/PC) - Creative software for songwriters and lyricists used by many of the most successful songwriters. It is the most comprehensive one I've seen. The software includes Word Families, Parts of Speech, Phrases, Rhymes, Pop-Culture, Dictionary and a Thesaurus.

If you want to write lyrics, all you need is a pen and a piece of paper. However, you can take your lyric-writing to the next level, if you use songwriting software created especially for this purpose.

d) Writing music:

• Band In A Box (Mac/PC) - MIDI music arranger software, which creates a background for almost any chord progression.

• Sibelius (Mac/PC) - Scorewriter software used by composers, arrangers and performers mainly for writing classical, jazz, band, vocal, film and television music.

• Finale (Mac/PC) - It's considered to be one of the industry standards for notation software. It was created by MakeMusic.

Some people prefer to make their creative process as hassle-free as possible, others like to write and record at the same time. Some people can read music, some can't. No matter which type you are, you'll find some great music writing software that suit your needs.

More information about Music Writing Software

e) Other:

• SongFrame (Mac/PC) - It's a songwriting software program which you can use to start writing your songs, come up with and record ideas then refine your work. It helps you create the foundation of your song.

More about SongFrame

There are some pieces of music writing software that do a little bit of everything. However, usually these are not the most advanced ones. If you are or would like to be a professional songwriter, it's best to use software which is very specialized therefore it does exactly what it's supposed to do and the way it should do it. But if you're just starting out, or you prefer to begin the songwriting process with simpler songwriting software at hand, you might like this one.

If you really don't have the budget to spend on software currently, click here to check out some Free Songwriting Software.