Supported OS: macOS
Supported plugin formats: AU
Cost: Free when purchasing Apple computers; $ 2.99 to unlock all additional features
Official website: https://www.apple.com
GarageBand is installed by default on all Apple computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. If you’ve bought a brand new MacBook to work with music, GarageBand is the perfect place to begin your first musical experiments and learn the basics of recording and music production.
GarageBand is easy to learn and beginner-friendly. The program comes with a large collection of plugins, virtual instruments and other audio content, which will be more than enough for the first time. Inside Garage you will find a virtual pedalboard, a set of virtual amplifiers, an excellent software drummer X Drummer, and a number of other features. In addition, the desktop GarageBand can be synchronized with the mobile version of the application via iCloud: we created a project on an iPhone, sent it to a MacBook for further work.
Despite such richness, you should not consider GarageBand as your main workstation – the functionality of the program is basic, and it is aimed specifically at novice musicians. At some point, the Garage’s capabilities will cease to be enough – you will have to look for a more productive replacement. At this point, you will have two paths:
In general, if the requirements for DAW functionality are not great and you need something simple to solve non-trivial studio tasks, choose GarageBand. If you need something more advanced and productive, then look towards other programs.