Tracktion Corporation has released Waveform Free, a free digital audio workstation based on its flagship Waveform Pro 11 ($69) software.
Waveform Free is a freeware digital audio workstation based on the essential features found in Waveform Pro 11. It is the successor to T7 DAW, the previous free digital audio workstation on offer by Tracktion Corporation.
See also: Best FREE Music Production SoftwareOf course, Waveform Free doesn’t provide all the features found in Waveform Pro 11. However, all the essentials required for music production are there. Let’s take a look at some of Waveform Free’s coolest features.
Most importantly, the app can load third-party VST plugins, meaning that you’ll have access to an almost unlimited amount of virtual instruments and effects. Also, the DAW comes with its own set of native effects and a couple of virtual instruments – the 4OSC subtractive synthesizer and the Mirco Drum Sampler instrument. Also, third-party plugins will run in a sandbox to prevent any crashes and similar issues caused by plugin instability. If a plugin misbehaves, you can simply remove it from the project and continue your work.
Another feature worth mentioning is Waveform Free’s unlimited track count. Whereas most other freeware DAWs limit the number of audio tracks that can be used in a single project, Waveform Free lets you add as many channels as you’d like. This is essential for mix engineers working with multi-track recordings and for electronic music producers who use a large number of audio layers in their music.
Since its beginning, Tracktion’s music production software was known for its efficient workflow. Waveform Free continues that tradition with a streamlined user interface that is arguably more intuitive than other DAWs. If you’re a beginner music producer, chances are that you’ll have an easy time understanding how to make music with Waveform Free.
With the release of Waveform Free, the debate of what is the best free digital audio workstation on the market continues. Which one do you prefer, Waveform Free or the excellent Cakewalk by Bandlab? Let us know in the comments section below.
Waveform free can be downloaded for free from Tracktion’s website. A valid email address is required to create a user account and to activate your software. You can also download the free Waverazor LE virtual synthesizer.
More info: Waveform Free (117 MB download size, EXE installer, 64-bit standalone application for Windows, macOS, Linux)
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16 Comments
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks to our readers Avner Kish and Wing Yee for the info about this free release.
Igor
onI can ‘t register this product!
4-bit musik maker
oncant download this free version
Alan Kelly
onMe neither – tried various browsers
4-bit musik maker
onok i see there
“Raspberry Pi Installer” interesting….
Darryl Lim
onNice timing! Been waiting for this since its announcement at NAMM! :D
(Happy Tracktion T7 user here!)
Raoul
onI can’t register and download for FREE Version, …only DEMO version 30days Trial!
A lot of Ads Trial Demo trigger during using it!
Vladinemir
onThe question now is – how many great free 32-bit-only plugins are there? Is it time to switch to 64-bit for freeware users too?
Atme
onAlways nice to see another free DAW. Thanks a lot Tracktion Corporation! <3
Michel
onI tried to download Waveform Free today.
I was greeted with a registration screen.
It said it was a demo.
It said it was a 30-day trial.
This is not a free DAW. This is a dishonest trial. I can just get the FL Studio demo if I want a trial.
Again, REAPER has an 60-day evaluation version that is fully featured, and I think it even continues to operate after 60 days, but with increasingly lengthy nag screens.
Waveform Free (Traktion T7 – why the confusing name change?) is worse than that IMO. Not only is it crippled and missing features, it is constantly nagging you to ‘unlock’ and ‘upgrade’, while giving you nagged messages that it is a demo and trial version only.
Thus, it is misleading to call this a “Free DAW” as it’s not free at all – it’s just a trial like all DAWs offer.
Tomislav Zlatic
onThe DAW is free, you need to sign up for a Tracktion user account first. When downloading Waveform Free, there should be a pop-up form that asks you to enter your name and login credentials (or to create a new account). Once that’s done, install Waveform, load the software and enter your login info. This will activate Waveform Free. I believe that you’re using the free trial version.
Michael
onhow do you get to that
T.
onSo the ‘free’ version is now a ‘demo’ version, and tells you this with a popup pretty much all the time. It also sends note off actions to midi devices and lacks virtually all features that the actual Waveform 11 has. Maybe there used to be a proper version, but this is basically like a trial (it is not actually the trial, although that annoying popup does offer for you to start a 30 day trial).
T.
onActually; I tried the above; registering from within the application with login credentials, and it activated as Waveform free! They should make this more obvious, because I actually uninstalled it out of frustration, and I imagine many potential users might have. Still seems like a very limited DAW though…
Arov
onNoticed that it has problems with plugin delay compensation! Or is it absent altogether … Is there a solution to the problem?
YDARR
onI’d say cakewalk, but it isn’t available for linux. As a conservative Linux user i don’t use virtual machines or Dual Boot. so Waveform’s my take. Otherwise Bandlab has a lot to offer that I like.