The Best DAW to Make Beats? | 2022 Comparison
“Which is the best DAW to make beats?”
“Which DAW has the best and most intuitive workflow for beatmakers?”
Beatmaking is an incredibly fun and creative style of music production. It’s usually associated with hip hop or trap beats but can also refer to many other genres of music.
Usually, music production beginners will start with creating simple beats or loops, but the process of beatmaking can sometimes be a career in itself.
Whether you are a complete newbie to beatmaking, or an experienced producer in another area looking to branch out, you’re probably wondering which DAW is the best place to start.
The best DAW to make beats?
There are many, fiery online debates over which DAW is ultimately the “best” program for making music.
Many producers prefer the tracking-focused layout of DAWs such as Pro Tools, a classic DAW that is incredible for tracking instruments and live bands.
Whereas others gravitate towards more modern examples such as Ableton or FL Studio. These DAWs are generally speaking more centred around electronic, hip hop, or any loop-based production styles.
However, at the end of the day there is no DAW that is objectively the “best”. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages, and each one appeals to certain styles or genres of music production.
For producers looking to create music in a way that revolves mainly around beatmaking (as opposed to recording live bands etc), programs like FL Studio or Ableton are probably better suited.
1. FL Studio – The best DAW to make beats?
FL Studio is an incredibly powerful program that, in my opinion, revolutionised the way music can be created.
FL Studio is especially popular with hip hop producers, mainly due it’s intuitive workflow and design. The separate “channel rack” and “playlist” view is not found in many other DAWs, and this layout makes it very easy to create ideas quickly from scratch.
FL Studio also comes with a wide range of VST effects and instruments. Equipped with thousands of presets (and many more available online) these plugins are fantastic ways to create incredible beats.
Some of the biggest producers on the planet use FL Studio, including…
Avicii
“In Memoriam”
Martin Garrix
“If I have an idea I want to be able to work it out really fast…”
Porter Robinson
“At first, FL stood out to me just because it was vastly more intuitive and usable.”
Madeon
“…with the incredible depth of the software, I never feel like something isn’t achievable”
How much does FL Studio cost?
FL Studio offers a fantastic free trial which has no time limit, however it does not allow you to re-open your project files once they are saved. This free trial has virtually all the features of the “all plugins bundle”, so it’s definitely worth a download if you’re not ready to purchase just yet.
Below are the pricing options for FL Studio.
| Fruity Edition: $99 |
| Producer Edition: $199 |
| Signature Bundle: $299 |
| All Plugins Bundle: $899 |
Click here for our full, free guide to FL Studio.
2. Ableton – The best DAW to make beats?
For beatmaking, Ableton Live is genuinely spectacular.
Once you have a decent grasp of the interface, it is incredibly simple to create beats within this DAW.
Within Ableton, you have also a choice of the session view and arrangement view.
Session view is great for sketching sonic ideas and bare-bones arranging and looping. It is perfect for building a loop in real-time and experimenting with new elements.
Arrangement view then allows you to flesh out tracks and perfect your masterpiece. Please note: Ableton is an incredibly flexible, you can technically create full tracks in session view if you want.
The way Ableton is designed makes it incredibly easy to make beats in any genre. It is incredibly innovative, ridiculously quick on it’s feet and has a fairly low learning curve.
How much does Ableton cost?
Ableton has a 30 day free trial, which gives you access to all of the features of the Suite version.
Below are the pricing options for Ableton.
| Intro: $99 |
| Standard: $499 |
| Suite: $799 |
Want to know more?
• What is the best Daw for producing, tracking, composing etc…