Whether you're an aspiring artist uploading cover songs on SoundCloud and YouTube or someone who handles multimedia work, there will come a time you will need to fine-tune some of your audio files. You may even be required to download some tracks and sound effects online.
Though there are some good ones on the App Store, but most come at a hefty price. Before you start spending though, we've compiled a short list of awesome – and free – audio editing and recording software for the Mac.
Read on and make an educated decision before choosing the software to download.
Best Audio Recorder to Capture Any Sound on Mac Losslessly As a powerful Mac music capture, AudFree Audio Capture for Mac brings a full set of flexible and enriched methods to fulfill all your needs in recording any sound from any source with no quality loss. Audacity is available for free on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux with source code available here. The 3.0 version of MP3 Audio Recorder for Mac is provided as a free download on our website. This software for Mac OS X is a product of LUO RENTING. This program's bundle is identified as com.seasoft.soundrecorder. The following version: 2.2 is the most frequently downloaded one by the program users.
Audacity
Download microsoft word 2010 for macbook air. I've worked with Audacity before and it was – and still is – my go-to free audio editing software for the Mac. It'll always be on top of any related list, and for good measure: it's immensely popular and supports a wide range of audio files, like WAV, MP3, and FLAC.
It's built like most audio editing software – copy and paste the audio files on the work area or export them from one of your folders.
It has a good set of features, from recording directly from your Mac's microphone, enhancing sounds, and even reduce static. This audio editing software is pretty easy to use as well: it only takes a bit of common sense, a little exploration, and a 15-minute experiment to get the hang of it. It's intuitive and basic interface makes it a great choice.
Apowersoft Free Online Audio Recorder
This is a decent piece of audio recording software, but it has quite a few limitations that keeps it away from the top spot. It does enable you to produce audio files in several formats, like MP3, AAC and WAV, though. Apowersoft also has file conversion capabilities and can burn files into CDs.
The not-so-good side of the software is its inability to let your produce recordings higher than 128 kbps, which is pretty low for today's standards (this was the compression of your iTunes song download back in 2003). It also only allows you to download a single track at a time and limits your recordings to a measly three minutes.
iSkysoft Audio Recorder
This audio recording software now includes support for El Capitan and is an excellent choice. It records audio without ever compromising quality and you save files either as an MP3 or an M4A.
iSkysoft did well in designing this audio recorder's user interface. It somehow resembles iTunes which gives it a plus on intuitiveness given that it take advantage of user familiarity. The program can directly import audio in iTunes and even burn music to compact disks.
WavePad
In terms of awesomeness, WavePad is 2nd behind Audacity. Nevertheless, this audio editing software is a great choice if you're a home user. Its free, but if you plan to use it commercially, you will need to pay $70 for a standard license – this could be a deal breaker to artists looking to launch their online music careers.
Regardless, it provides a host of good features to casual users, allowing them to save files in multiple formats, including MP3, WAV, and M4A. The interface is intuitive and its simplicity allows you to work on a number of files at the same time.
OcenAudio
It's not as popular as the other software, but it's a pretty decent one.
Made by developers from Brazil, OcenAudio is completely free. Features include the ability to edit large audio files (there's no limit) and supports different audio formats, such as MP3, WAV, and WMA. Unlike other audio editing software in this list, it allows you to select multiple parts of the audio at the same time, allowing you to efficiently apply effects to your project.
Overall, these are among the top free recording and audio editing software you must have on your Mac computer.
Are you looking for the best free multitrack recording software for Mac/Windows? Actually, there are many free multitrack recording tools for you to make use of. Whether you want to edit or record your own compositions or just desire to start your own podcasts, you can take advantage of the free multitrack audio recorder to make it. This guidance will introduce some of them and take one for instance to teach you the steps to record one multitrack audio. You will also learn the solution to add music tags to the recordings in this tutorial.
Part 1: Top 5 Best Free Multitrack Recording Software for Mac/Windows
The free multitrack recording software reviews can reflect the quality of the tool directly. Different multitrack recording tools have diverse features. You can compare them one by one, but this will take you much time. In order to save you time, you can read this part to get rid of this issue perfectly. Here I would like to recommend you the top 5 best free multitrack music recording software for your computer. Each tool is convenient for you to make use. Before your downloading and installing, you need to pay attention to the system that the multitrack recording software can be applied to.
1. Garageband
This free multitrack recording software is released in 2004, which is one popular DAW. Its smooth and intuitive features attract lots of users to make it to apply its high-quality virtual instruments. You can see the soundwaves of the tracks in the interface of this great software.
System Compatibility: Mac
2. Audacity
Audacity, as great free Mac multitrack recording software, can record the source coming from a microphone, through the line-in jack, or live streaming audio. The clean interface makes users record files easily. Its simplicity facilitates the recording process, which is quite proper for beginners to apply. You can also add the effects you desire to the recorded files via this program conveniently.
System Compatibility: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
3. Ardour
Ardour is also considered as wonderful free multitrack recording software Mac/Windows/ Linux, and the highly versatile multi-track recording features enable it to win the favors of numerous users all over the world. It has no built-in effects or instruments, which only depends on the installation of third-party program. This feature is not so pleasant for users to make use of.
System Compatibility: Windows, MacOS, Linux
4. Avid Pro Tools First
Avid Pro Tools First is perfect in recording audios, which allows users to store projects in the cloud. Its functions are various, which can meet different demands of users. You should know that the cloud space for you to store recordings is limited. If you have numerous files to store, you'd better choose other multitrack recording tools to assist you.
System Compatibility: Windows, MacOS
5. MultitrackStudio
When you decide to download multitrack recording software free, MultitrackStudio will be a good choice for you. It can be applied for any musical genre. The user interface of it is simple and original. The operation of this tool is quite simple.
System Compatibility: Windows, MacOS, iPad platforms
The top 5 best free multitrack recording software for PC/Mac/Linux can assist you to record multitrack audio without any difficulty. You can choose one of programs listed above to have a try.
Part 2: How to Record Multitrack Audio via MultitrackStudio
After you read the brief introductions on the top 5 free multitrack recording software for Mac/PC/ Linux, you can continue to check out this part to see how to record multitrack audio with MultitrackStudio. The following steps will show you how to make it with clear illustrations.
1. Download MultitrackStudio software and install it on your computer. Run it on PC and then hit on the button of 'Add Track'. In the drop-down menu, you need to hit on the option of 'Audio Track'.
2. In the pane that shows up, you need to name the track and then set the channels to 'Stereo' and the type to 'MP3' or 'WAV' in case you need. Repeat this procedure to add two or more tracks into the main interface. Hit on the 'OK' button to confirm your settings in this panel.
Audio Software For Mac
3. After that, you need to tap on 'Studio' tab and then choose the option of 'Devices' to tap on in the drag-down menu. In the next interface, set a proper driver for the recording process. For instance, you can choose the VistaSound as the driverset.
4. Hit on 'Properties' button to set the 'Audio In Device' item. Afterwards, you can click on the 'OK' button twice to move back to the main interface. Then you need to switch the tracks in the interface to the record mode by clicking on the 'Rec' button at the right side of each track.
5. When the tracks are in the recording mode, you can hit on the red play button in the upper right corner of the screen to begin to record the tracks you have added.
6. You can click on the 'EDIT' button at the right side of every track to edit the tracks according to your demands. When the recording is over, the output file will be saved in the default directory of the software for you to view.
This free multitrack recording software for PC/Mac and iPad platforms can assist you to record better multitrack audios. However, you should know that the free version of it is the MultitrackStudio Lite. You can try it on your computer at ease.
Extension: How to Add Music Tags to the Recordings Automatically
Apart from using the best free multitrack recording software for Windows/Mac/Linux to record the multitrack audio you desire, you can also choose Leawo Music Recorder to get the recording you desire. Leawo Music Recorder is one versatile sound editing program, which can add music tags to recording automatically. If the tags have not been detected automatically, you can also edit tags manually via this tool. Now the following contents will tell you how to record audio and add tags with this software.
Leawo Music Recorder
☉ Record from 1000+ music sites like YouTube, Facebook, etc.
☉ Schedule music recording via recording task scheduler.
☉ Automatically/manually add tags: artist, album, etc.
☉ Save recordings to either WAV or MP3 format.
Step 1: Set Output Format
Run Leawo Music Recorder on your computer and then hit on the small microphone icon at the bottom left of the interface to call out the settings panel. Select the 'Format' to click on. Thus, you can set the exported format as MP3 or WAV. If you would like to get higher sound quality, you'd better select WAV as the recording format. Moreover, you can adjust the detailed parameters of the recorded file, including the audio codec, bit rate and sample rate as you need. Remember to hit on 'OK' button to continue.
Step 2: Set Output Directory
After that, you can navigate to the menu of 'General' to select one target folder for the recorded audio file on your computer by clicking on the folder icon. Besides, language setting is also available in this pane. For instance, you can choose 'English' as the target language.
Step 3: Select Audio Source
Hit on the menu of 'Audio Source' on the settings panel to choose 'Record Computer Audio' or 'Record Audio Input' according to your demand. For recoding computer audio stream or online music, you need to tick 'Record Computer Audio'. If you choose 'Record Audio Input', you will be able to record Mic or other built-in input audio stream.
Step 4: Start to Record
Hit on the red recording button in the main interface to begin to record the audio, and you need to playback the audio file in succession. When the recording comes to an end, you need to hit on the recording button once again to terminate the process.
Step 5: Adjust Audio Tags
Leawo Music Recorder can download and add music tags for the recorded audio automatically. You can also edit the tags manually, like the title, artist, year, genre, etc. by navigating to the 'Media' menu to right click on the recorded file and select 'Edit Music Tags'. In the end, you can click on 'OK' button to confirm your settings in this panel.
Free Audio Recording Software Mac
As one comprehensive music recorder and editor, Leawo Music Recorder enables users to compress music file, edit music tags and trim the audios effectively. After the recording, you can enjoy the music files with detailed info on computer freely. You can also add the recorded files to iTunes library with one click through this program directly.
Free Audio Software Mac
Having discussed so much on the best free multitrack recording software for computer and the method to record multitrack audio, you can download one to your computer to have a try. When it comes to adding tags to the recorded files, you can make use of Leawo Recorder to help you easily.