Contrary to popular belief, you can actually compose music on smartphones. You don’t need a powerful computer with studio-level audio editing apps to get started with music creation. There are plenty of apps that allow you to create beats, record your vocals, add tunes from music packs, and edit tracks on an intuitive launchpad. So if you are someone who wants to compose music on smartphones then follow along. Here, we have curated the 10 best music composer apps for Android and iOS.
Here are the top music composer apps for both Android and iOS. We have tried to select the apps which are free to use and ones that offer a user-friendly experience for beginners, intermediate users, and advanced users. You can click on the link below to easily move to the relevant app.
Music Maker JAM
GarageBand
Walk Band
FL Studio Mobile
GroovePad
Figure
BandLab
Audio Evolution Mobile Studio
Caustic 3
MuseScore
What is a Music Composer App?
A music composer app lets you create music through your smartphone. You can record your voice, create new beats, create sound effects with synthesizers, play with instruments, and a lot more. Most importantly, you can edit soundtracks on a multi-track launchpad.
What is a Music Composer App?
1. Music Maker JAM — Overall the Best
If you are looking for a full-fledged music composer app then Music Maker Jam is the best app on Android and iOS. No matter what your music level is, you can get started with this app. YOu can create music, mix tracks, create beats, combine musical chunks, and do a lot more. There are over 100 music styles and an 8-channel mixer that will give you plenty of room to channel your creativity.
We can’t talk about music-making on iOS without including Apple’s own Garageband. It’s an all-in-one app to create music. It has smart digital musical instruments, sound effects, loops, a multi-track mixer, and a recording studio. You can plug and play real musical instruments such as guitar and bass on your iOS device, then add stompbox effects to your playing.
Walk Band is one of the best music composer apps that you can find on Android. It’s feature-packed and brings almost all the music features like synthesizers, musical instruments, studio-quality recording, and more. You can, in fact, choose up to 50 musical instruments within the app. Walk Band has also been awarded as Editor’s Choice on the Google Play Store.
4. FL Studio Mobile — Desktop Features on Mobile
FL Studio is a multi-track recording studio available on both iOS and Android devices. It comes with 133 high-quality instruments, drum kits, and sliced-loop beats, each with configurable settings. There are also tons of effects such as Limiter, Reverb, Delay, EQ, Amp, and Mix; plus 99 track sequencers and intuitive editing options.
Install: Android / iOS ($14.99)
If you love creating and mixing beats then GroovePad is the best music composer app on Android and iOS. You can develop raw music using beats and rhythms. Keep in mind, there are no instruments on this app, but plenty of sound effects and editing tools. Further, you can compose music by mixing various kinds of sounds, rhythms, tunes, and beats.
Install: Android / iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases)
If you are an iPhone user then Figure might be what you are looking for. It’s a versatile music studio app which is great for users who are more into all sorts of music genres. You can play a range of instruments, record them, mix the track with effects and create a sound of your own. There are also features such as loop sequencer, sampler, beatmaker, mixer, soundboards, and more.
Key Features: Supports multiple instruments, creates beats and apply effects, Features flanger, bitcrusher, distorted effects; Import audio and edit tracks
BandLab is a promising music composer app on Android and iOS that can help you create music from scratch. I would say in terms of music editing and launchpad, it’s almost perfect and stands with the top apps on this list. BandLab allows you to record, edit, and create multi-track music with many kinds of creative effects like beats, vocals, loops, and most importantly hundreds of sound packs.
On top of that, BandLab runs a social network of musicians as well where you can publish your tracks, connect with other fellow beatmakers, and create something new for your audience. To put it straight, BandLab is quite ambitious in its prospect and you should definitely give it a try.
Audio Evolution Mobile Studio is a complete digital audio workstation that is made for advanced users. It offers a multi-track recording studio with a similar approach to Walk Band. You can record external audio such as your vocals, or live musical instrument playing, using your device’s microphone or additional external microphones for a better result. In addition to the built-in piano roll, you can use an external MIDI keyboard to record your song as well.
Audio Evolution also comes with a MIDI sequencer and the ability to import audio. There are also features like samples, loops, unlimited undo and redo, etc. Summing up, if you want to mix and edit tracks using advanced tools then Audio Evolution Mobile Studio is the perfect music composer app on Android and iOS.
Caustic 3 has not been updated for the last three years, but it still continues to be a preferred pick for music composers. It is a virtual rack mount of synthesizer – or machines as the developer calls it. You slide between machines by sliding the sidebar up and down, or you can pick one to play with by opening the machine pad.
Each machine comes with a virtual keyboard to create tons of effects, parametric equalizers, and sequencers to modify the songs. The app is a heaven for electronic musicians, but for traditional ones, it’s a bit overwhelming. All in all, I would say, Caustic 3 is a great composer app on Android and iOS and you can’t afford to miss this app.
MuseScore is not a music composer app per se, but it can help you find music notes of whatever instrument you are playing. It supports a variety of instruments such as piano, trumpet, guitar, harmonica, and more. The best part about MuseScore is that it houses one of the largest sheets of music collection on the internet.
You can browse more than 1 million pieces of free sheet music based on piano, guitar and other instruments. You can also browse the sheet by music genre: timeless classic, anime music, video games, Christian music and more. I would say, if you want an app where you can find music notes for a particular tune then MuseScore is the best pick.
Q. Is There an App That Writes Music as You Play?
Yes, ScoreCloud Studio (Free) allows you to turn your music into sheet music as you play the music. That said, the app is only available on PC and Mac.
If you want the best app for composing music then I would recommend Music Maker JAM for Android users and GarageBand for iOS users.
Q. How Do You Compose Music on Android?
You need an app to compose music on Android. We have curated the best apps above so go through the list and pick one. After that, either you can import your recording or add new beats to start music production on your Android device.
Note Recognizer (Free, offers in-app purchases) on Android and Magic Stave (Free) on iOS let you find the notes of music that you are playing.
Yes, Uberchord (Free, offers in-app purchases) on iOS and Reverse Chord Finder (Free) on Android let you identify chords in a song.
Uberchord is an intuitive app available on iOS that helps you learn guitar based on your progress and music level. It listens to your music and adapts to personal progress. You can learn chords, rhythm, strumming, and more. Apart from that, Uberchord can also identify chords in a song.
