How to Make Beats on Your Macbook Pro Like a Pro

Wondering how to make beats on your Macbook Pro like a pro? Luckily for you, we’ve got you covered.

Unlike the olden days when you had to go to a professional music studio to create a professional sounding beat and track to a song you wrote, with the MacBook Pro, you can create the perfect beat and track by herself at home. This is particularly true with the last couple versions of the MacBook Pro.

Not only do the recent additions of the MacBook Pro have a free digital app that their users can download to create their own music, but they also are compatible with several other audio recording systems that you can use to make your own beats and music records.

To learn more about all the different audio recording systems that you can use to create your own beats, we are providing you with a detailed list of some of the top Mac music software systems out right now.

Get ready to become a MacBook music expert!

1. Tools to Making Professional Beats on Your MacBook Pro: GarageBand

GarageBand is a digital app that allows its users to create music and podcasts from the comfort of their own homes. Free for all macOS and iOS users, GarageBand allows you to plug in your own microphones and guitars into your MacBook and amp up the music that you create with different GarageBand effects.

GarageBand also provides its users with a drumming system. In fact, within GarageBand, there are twenty-eight beat-making drummers and three percussionists.

With all these different drummers and percussionists, you can create professional beats that work well with any style of music from EDM to hip-hop, to rock, pop, Latin music, and more. In fact, within each drummer in GarageBand, there is a signature kit that allows you to create your own drumming combinations filled with kicks, snares, cymbals, and cowbells.

The GarageBand “drummer loops” feature even provides you with prerecorded acoustic and electronic loops that you can customize your music with.

With other recording and editing features such as different synth sounds, tempos, compressors, audio effect plug-ins, and visual EQs, GarageBand is the perfect tool for all your beat making needs.

2. Logic Pro X Audio Tools

With a similar layout as GarageBand, Logic Pro X is GarageBand’s more powerful and more expensive older sibling. If you are really looking for an audio recording system that will leave you with professional-sounding beats and music, you should deeply consider purchasing Logic Pro X.

With a much larger music library than GarageBand, Logic Pro X comes with countless high-quality digital instruments. Logic Pro X also comes with many high-quality audio, loops, and synthesizing tools. For example, Smart Tempo, Phat FX, Step FX, ChromaVerb, and Vintage EQ are all recording tools within the Logic Pro X that are not in the GarageBand.

Smart Tempo is a digital tool that adjusts midi instruments to fit around the tempo of the music that you are recording. Phat FX is an online plug-in that allows you to distort music and sounds. Step FX is an online plug-in that modulates and re-routes music and sounds, and ChromaVerb is a plug-in that creates reverb or echoing sounds to music.

3. Logic Pro X Editing Features

Logic Pro X also has several new editing features. For example, Logic Pro X’s Flex Pitch tool acts as a form of auto-tune for any vocal or instrumental recordings on your Mac.

Logic Pro X also has Flex Time as an editing feature. Flex Time is a tool that fixes any timing issues that you have while putting together a musical record on your Mac computer.

All of Logic Pro X’s audio, looping, synthesizing, and editing tools allow its users the ability to lay up to 255 tracks of music. In fact, with Logic Pro X, you can manipulate and lay down multiple tracks at the same time.

To maximize the amount of power, high-speed data, and display connections you can use while utilizing all of Logic Pro X’s features, make sure you have a MacBook Pro docking station.

Also, it is important to note that the Logic Pro X costs $199.99 at the Apple Store.

5. PreSonus Studio One 4 Prime

PreSonus Studio One 4 purchases come in one of three formats, prime, artist, or studio. The prime format of the Presonus Studio One 4 audio recording system is free. The artist format of the PreSonus Studio One 4 costs $99.95, and the studio format of the PreSonus Studio One 4 costs $399.95.

Users of the prime PreSonus Studio One 4 package receive unlimited audio tracks, MDI tracks, and FX channels. MDI tracks are the number of channels or streams of data that run down a MIDI cable to a MIDI instrument. FX channels are the tools that help you add effects to your music.

On top of these unlimited tracks and channels, PreSonus Studio One 4 Prime offers its users many different samples, loops, effects, and editors for instruments and drums.

PreSonus Studio One 4 Artist and Studio also offer their users features like Chord detectors and Sample One XT samplers. Like with GarageBand, Logic Pro X, and all the other audio recording systems on this list, the PreSonus Studio One 4 works well with a Mac laptop.

6. Ableton Live 10

Like the other audio-recording studio tools, Ableton Live allows you to record and arrange music. To record and arrange this music, Ableton Live utilizes countless sound creation modules, sample libraries, and editing controls. Ableton’s second mode, Session, even allows you to create short bits of music that are held in banks.

7. Cubase Elements 10

The Cubase Elements 10 package for MacBooks come with professional-level mixing and editing tools, audio effect processors, and more. With all of its tools and effects, the Cubase Element 10 can even play 48 audio tracks and 64 MIDI tracks at the same time.

8. Reason 10 Intro

Reason 10 Intro is a more affordable version of the Reason 10 music recording tool. Reason 10 Intro offers amazing instrumentals and high-quality synthesizers, virtual instruments, and sound modules. These solid features are in the form of rack-style nature.

Within Reason 10 Intro, there are 16 tracks of audio and MIDI recordings, 11 effects, 10 instruments, and a large number of editing features.

9. Audacity

Made by volunteers, Audacity is a free audio recording system.

Audacity provides its users with the ability to do everything from record several channels at one time to override already completed tracks of music. Audacity also allows you to change the pitch on tracks, add crossfades to everything, and sample background noises.

So What Are You Waiting For?!

With all the different tools and apps that you can use to make beats on your MacBook Pro, there is no reason why you can’t create the next big hit of our generation. As long as you keep learning and building on your recording, editing, and mixing skills, the sky is the limit on how professional of a track you can create.

To learn more about music and culture, check out the other articles in our “Home and Entertainment” section.