Here are 5 of the best audio recording software programs available today. These are programs that let you record, edit, and mix your music. They are software programs which means you need a computer to install them and run them:

• Pro Tools
• Logic Studio
• Cubase
• Cakewalk
• Digital Performer

There are of course a few others that are very popular (Audacity and Adobe Audition come to mind) but are either free and are not used nearly as much by professionals. This is not to say they aren’t good.

You can argue about which one is best all day long but this isn’t the point. The point is to choose one of these programs and learn how to use it to record your music. The good news is that they will all do just that!

Pro Tools has long been the most popular among the pro’s and even amateurs and recently the media company AVID bought Digidesign who owned and ran Pro Tools. Since then Pro Tools 9 has been released and unlike the earlier versions, Pro Tools 9 will run on any audio interface. Unlike all previous versions which required a Digidesign hardware interface like MBox or Digi 003 interfaces to run the audio softwareprogram.

All the above mentioned recording programs come with their own bells and whistles and they do differ from program to program. Things like virtual instruments, effects, guitar cab models, etc.

We’ve included a section here for Waves because most people who are serious about their recording will get past their programs plug-ins very quickly and get superior ones… in comes Waves which produce some of the best sounding plug-ins in the world.

Waves have different entry levels, bundles, etc but they are a bit costly… in fact more costly than the software recording program that is running them. But like I said, if you’re serious about your recordings you’ll want the best sounds available.