Some of Top 40’s biggest hooks were born in the bedroom.
But the days of the Tascam cassette studios and the delicate Nagra reel-to-reels are long gone. Now, the freshest ideas don’t get cut to tape, they get converted directly to bits, and there are a slew of software apps available for building songs from scratch.
Some musicians only use software as a sketchpad for quick demos. Others sweat over their keyboards until they’ve crafted a full-fledged, radio-ready jam. As a result, there are a wide range of capabilities to be found in today’s selection of studio software. From the beginner-level GarageBand and the Tascam PortaStudio app for the iPad, all the way up to top-tier production suites like ProTools and Audition, there’s an app to match whatever level of depth you need.
We asked Victor Krummenacher — Wired magazine designer by day, songwriter and Camper Van Beethoven bassist by night — to test some of the more popular ones here. Victor went the extra mile and composed a song using each of the apps he reviewed. You can hear the resulting tracks at the bottom of each review.
The lesson we learned is that whether you’ve got an iPad, a notebook PC or a pricey studio rig, there’s a piece of software out there to suit your need. And while you’re shopping around, maybe grab an app to help you tune that guitar, m’kay?