#android is also lacking in music software so ios and garageband appears to still be the go-to for that

[songforaname]

I have never dealt with browser-based music things, however i do try to generally keep track of software things.

I did a bit of looking around because i don't know much about notation programs (ive been using guitar pro for over a decade) and i found a list of them on r/composer. Wikipedia also has a list, and does mention if they're free.

On the free DAW front though, Bedroom Producers Blog has a list of 17 of them with a small variety of workflows. Personally I've been trying to learn how to work MPC Beats.

In a similar vein is playpm's GAS Therapy video series where he finds alternatives to hardware with software or apps that are either free or very cheap.

and like once or twice a year humble bundle usually has a music production bundle that can cost like $25 for a daw and some software.

I wish that more people would get into composing music, because it's fun and therapeutic and neat, but like. It's really fucking expensive if you're looking into typical, professional equipment, so I understand why they don't.

Personally, I just don't think you need to start out on a DAW. It feels unnecessary, and it feels like it's an easy way to gatekeep art from the poor. "Professional" Music software ropes people into spending, like, $500+ on the software alone, and then expects them to be able to play an instrument, which involves owning an instrument which varies wildly in price depending on what the instrument is and if it's well-made.

(there's also the occasional software that's aimed at people who are able to record themselves playing that instrument and like...the logistics of that costs a lot, but it's not strictly required or anything. there's also an argument to be had here about the culture surrounding machine-produced sounds as opposed to human-performed sounds, and I'm just not gonna get into it right now)

That's why I don't fucking use a DAW. I'm poor!

I got started on Flat.io, which is not a DAW, but it is free! It's kind of like Noteflight or Musescore if you're at all familiar with either of those things, but the general consensus is that Musescore is better than Flat is better than Noteflight. I've never used Musescore. But I know that Flat is better than Noteflight. It's just a website that has really good instrument variety. It's primarily limited by the fact that you can only use western musical notation. You're also limited to 15 scores without their subscription service (which I got a lifetime membership on for like 150 dollars? but i think they've increased the price since then? dont know, cant see it anymore) but honestly it's not so bad because they don't enforce the ban on multiple accounts as hard as they say they do.

So I guess what I'm saying is like...even if you don't know what you're doing and you're really nervous and you don't want to share anything and you think it costs way too much money (because it does), like...give it a shot. Go digging for artistic software, regardless of the medium, and eventually you will find what you want. And even though the free services can get penny-pinching at times, there's usually at least one out there that can show you whether or not you really want to get into it before you hit the paywall.

And also what I'm saying is go look at Flat.io. Because it's cool. And I've used it for years. And I really like it. And you should go look at it.