Zenbeats is a superbly versatile DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and loop-building platform. It’s identical to the desktop and iOS version and doesn’t suffer from any of the limitations often associated with mobile versions. Zenbeats is a proper DAW with unlimited audio and virtual instrument tracks and comes complete with a suite of instruments, effects, and loops.

You can create freeform on a timeline, or in a LoopBuilder, using a step sequencer and drum machine and then mix it all down to a finished product.

Zenbeats is very at home on a touch device. It looks beautiful; the workflow and layout are well thought out, making it very easy to use with your fingers. The Step Sequencer features an auto-fill function where you can throw in notes or create beats with a single gesture. There’s a bunch of drum kits (including official TR-808, 909 and 707 kits), samples, loops and patterns to get the beats flowing.

You can play an onscreen keyboard which can lock to a key and scale so that you never play a wrong note, or wire up an external MIDI controller and start sequencing.

In the basic free version, you get the timeline recording, sequencing, and LoopBuilder along with 9 virtual instruments. These include the fantastic SampleVerse sampler/synth, two analog synths, electric piano, bass, guitar, organ, and a drum machine. On the effects side, you get some EQ, compression, delay, and flange.

Upgrades bring you further sounds including the ZC1 ZEN-Core synthesizer that opens you up to hundreds of presets and effects.

Zenbeats is a proper DAW, with all the audio recording, loop building, MIDI sequencing, virtual instruments and mixing that you could need. If you’ve ever been jealous of Garage Band running on your mate’s iPad then this will make you feel a whole lot better.

roland.com
PlayStore: Roland Zenbeats

Bandlab mixes up a combination of music-making and social interaction. So you can make your own music and share it and discover other artists all within the same app. But the key bit for us is that the music production part is rather good.

You have a 12-track Mix Editor in which you can record live audio, import tracks, mix and automate your music while building your song. It has a Looper functionality for building up layers of beats, rhythms and melodies. You can quantize, gate, retrigger and add all sorts of effects. In fact, there are over 100 guitar, bass and vocal effect presets for adding the perfect tone your tracks.

Another great feature is the unlimited online project storage so you’re never having to worry about filling up your phone or losing your music. You can also open up your projects on other devices; you can share it with an iPhone or run it in a browser on any computer. Or if you want a new perspective, share it in the community and get some else to mix it.

Bandlab.com
PlayStore: Bandlab

FL Studio Mobile comes from the makers of FL Studio, a hugely popular desktop DAW with all the usual trimmings. The Mobile version loses a huge amount of the clever stuff but keeps enough to make this one of the best music-making programs on any mobile platform. There’s no free version, instead for a handful of dollars you get everything you need for making music.

Multi-track Audio and MIDI recording are all ready to go. There are several virtual instruments, including synths and sampled sounds.

The mixer inserts offer 16 effects, covering all the usual suspects like modulation, delay, reverb, compression, filter, and distortion. You can sequence in a piano roll or sequence in steps, you can drop in samples, you can drop in patterns.

The Drum Sampler is fully integrated with the step sequencer, making it so easy to generate beats.

There are on-screen piano and drum pad controllers, although you can also route in MIDI control from any compatible MIDI keyboard or controller. The interface works well with fingers, opting for a straight-forward approach to the interface which lacks the flare of Stagelight but certainly does the job.

There are some in-app purchases for loops and additional sounds but otherwise, it’s a fully functioning choice for $15.99.

image-line.com
PlayStore: FL Studio Mobile

N-Track Studio has seen some welcome evolution over the last couple of versions that brings it in line with other serious DAWs. It has the studio-in-your-pocket vibe offering multi-channel audio, mixing, effects and virtual instruments.

It has virtually unlimited tracks, a step sequencer and inbuilt instrument with 128 sounds. You can play via an external keyboard or use the on-screen piano and edit in the piano-roll editor. For audio recording, you have a lot of cool effects like reverb, delay, modulation, compression, and EQ.

There are guitar and bass amp simulation plugins and VocalTube for getting your vocals a bit more musical or for applying those robotic auto-tune effects. There’s even a built-in tuner.

The sound quality of n-Track is high, it supports multichannel external USB audio interfaces, it can handle sample rates up to 192kHz and exports in 16, 24 or 32 bits. This is a serious piece of music software.

There’s a free version that gets you 5 audio tracks, 3 instrument tracks, and 2 step-sequencer tracks. You have 2 effects per track. You can save and export your work so it is fully functional. For a standard subscription of $0.99 a month, you unlock all the musical features whereas for $1.99 you can unlock the higher quality audio support and multichannel ability.

N-Track Studio 9 is a serious contender that’s determined to offer a proper studio recording experience on the Android platform.

ntrack.com
PlayStore: n-Track Studio

If you like working with samples then Flip has got you covered. It’s one of the best sample-based mobile music studio apps to come along for a very long time. It’s fast, intuitive and poised to get you making music.

You can use your phone’s microphone to capture any sound you want. Then it’s instantly spun across drum pads or a keyboard for instant beat making. Your sounds can be shaped and transformed using the built-in effects and editing tools. You can apply randomisation to sample selection, note choice and automation parameters

There are up to 9 tracks of samples you can layer to build your songs. All knob movements can be recorded to keep things lively and full of movement. Each track and automation lane can have its own length. Your arrangement can be split into 16 sections and set in any order to build the perfect track. Once it’s ready you can export a finished mix through the in-built mixing and mastering tools.

If you prefer to perform live then switch to the Performance Page for instant triggering, pitch bends, effects, fill generators and a global filter.

Flip Sampler is the most fun you can have making music on your phone.

flipsampler.com
PlayStore: Flip Sampler

Polaris filters the complexity of music making through to an elegant app designed for fingers on the Android platform. It simplifies the process and gives you the essential tools for building your tracks without bombarding you with option anxiety.

The sequencing is inspired by grooveboxes and works around a 4×4 grid controlling up to 6 tracks. It’s very easy to set up trigger patterns and then modulate each step by dragging in parameters and values. Your sound source can be a sample from the extensive library, or by importing your own. Alternatively, switch to synth mode and you have a dual oscillator virtual analog synthesizer which includes a multimode filter and envelopes to shape your sound.

Polaris features a mixing console to blend your tracks and a bunch of stereo effects to give it the right polish. It’s a neat little situation that fits brilliantly with the best reasons to use a mobile device for your music-making.

Meteaura.com
PlayStore: Polaris

At last, Cubasis has made it onto Android. It’s easily one of the best mobile platform DAWs out there and now more people can get into it on Android and Chrome OS. This is the real deal, although there are some great alternatives.

You have unlimited audio and MIDI tracks with a defining 32-bit floating-point audio engine and support for 24bit/48kHz resolution. It has all the right tools like pitch shifting and time stretching, automatable mixing, audio editing and MIDI learn on any parameter.

It comes with a selection of great sounding instruments including the Micrologue virtual analog synth, Microsonic acoustic instrument and Minisampler where you can forge your own sounds.

The mixer has a studio-grade channel strip and 17 effects with sidechain support and automation. It works and feels like the full desktop version of Cubase and can very quickly become your go-to recording solution.

Steinberg.net
PlayStore: Cubasis 3

SunVox is a modular-based synthesizer and sequencing app. It allows you to patch together all sorts of synthesizer building blocks to generate and effect sound.

It’s something a little less serious to round us off. It’s less about playing instruments and recording music and more about enjoying the flow of mixing and matching loops and building beats into your own tracks. Groovepad will bring your ideas to life in the smoothest and grooviest way possible.

It’s all in the library. Groovepad has an extensive library of unique and engaging loops, hits and noises. It includes styles such as Hip-hop, EDM, House, Dubstep, Drum & Bass, Trap, Electronic, and more. All of it is pre-synced and ready to drop into what you’ve got going on. You can add effects such as a filter, flanger, reverb, and delay and mix it all together on the fly.

Groovepad can be a bit advert-heavy when you’re trying it out but once you invest in a few chunks of library you can while away the hours making beats and finding your own riffs. You don’t have to have any musical skills, just the ability to feel the groove. They are constantly updating the library and bringing in new features, so you’ll never run out of things to play with.

easybrain.com
PlayStore: Groovepad

If you are looking for ways to make music on iPhone, check out this list of the best music production apps available for iOS today!