StageLight Music Maker

It used to be that if you wanted a good DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), that you had to pay big for it - not just for the base DAW software, but for plugins galore. StageLight Music Maker has come a long way in changing that. Made for newbies or producers alike, this is a feature-rich audio workstation that comes with so many built-in instruments and editing tools that you won't be left wondering what you can do with the stock instruments and mixers.

If you're a beginner, this program actually has in-app music lessons, which can help teach you about the fundamentals of music, the basic functions of the program, and tips and tricks for music creation and production. There's even a Key Lock Feature, which is a sort of training wheels that you can activate to make sure your beats follow proper key and scale. It's almost impossible to screw up a basic beat with this program. This program also has something called LoopBuilder, which is a loop-style feature that lets you build a loop quickly by adding and rearranging audio, drum, and/or instrument/vocal loops which you can group to a beat that's automatically synced. LoopBuilder comes with thousands of its own loops, or you can make your own from scratch.

For more advanced producers, StageLight comes with a full drum machine, 6 built-in keyboards, and even allows for mixing. So if you need an equalizer, a compressor, delay, or flanger, this is all included within. What's more, StageLight allows you to record audio via your microphone, and also enable MIDI device support, so hook up your favorite MIDI controller and input directly if you're not feeling like filling out notes with your mouse or finger. Then when you're done, simply save the file or export directly to SoundCloud.

Music production, no matter what, is not easy. But a program like StageLight does go quite far in making it a little bit easier, at least in terms of having a simple interface and numerous options that will keep you on the beat, in tune, and key. And for that reason, StageLight is a pretty decent DAW that can let you build great sounding music without having to spend an arm and a leg on DAW software and endless plugins.

Numerous built in features to make music without buying endless plugins

• Easy to use loop builder
• Full drum machine
• 6 built-in keyboards
• MIDI device support
• Export directly to Soundcloud