OK, so I will state from the outset that I am in no way a musical guru or anything remotely like it...but I do enjoy tinkering and would really like to have a go at messing around with some means of composing (and "messing around" really is the right phrase...this wouldn't be anything serious at all). When I say composing, what I mean is having some kind of multi-track recording ability that allows you to layer different instruments, sounds, beats, etc. I believe the official term for the necessary software is Digital Audio Workstation and having spent a bit of time poking around online, it seems (as always!) that there is an absolute plethora of options.

 

I believe there is free DAW software out there, but the overwhelming opinion appears to be that it's not much cop and it's far better to pay out and get something that actually works and is usable. I have a keyboard (electric piano) that has MIDI connections, so that would be my main input device at this stage. I realise I'll need to get a MIDI interface to hook the keyboard up to my computer - something like this or even this if ££ are tight.

 

I'm not looking to add in analogue instruments at this stage (electric guitar, etc) so I don't believe I'll need an audio interface (is that correct?). And there definitely won't be any singing involved...in any way, shape or form!!! 

 

So, I'm basically looking for something that is cheap-ish and that is good for an absolute beginner (I realise that there's a necessary learning curve for any software, but I don't want to have to attend a 3 year college course just to create a simple tune ).

 

I'll be running it on an i7 Windows 10 laptop (which precludes all the Apple stuff...Garage Band, Logic Pro, etc). I know that CuBase, Ableton, etc are considered to be some of the best but they also come with a hefty price tag, which for someone of my ability and with my needs would just be overkill.

 

I've heard that Reaper is supposed to be pretty good and is relatively cheap at ~£42 ($60). Has anyone used it? Any good? One slight downside is that I don't believe it comes with many samples, loops, etc like some do, but I understand these can be downloaded online...is that right?  

 

Any other recommendations?

 

 

Had a borrowed copy of Cool Edit Pro 2 back in 2004/5, got it off a buddy whose uncle had a studio in his house. Pretty good and worked across multiple inputs inc midi iirc.

Id bet theres newer versions out now, no idea on license cost though.. "our" copy had it