Looking to make music on your Android phone?
Although it may have been a bit of a novel idea only 15 years ago or so, these days, it’s not such a stretch to believe you can make music on just about any device (some people have even recorded entire albums in Apple’s GarageBand).
And while we still recommend using your laptop or desktop computer for audio production in general – because it has more processing power and connecting USB devices is generally easier – there’s nothing saying you can’t practice and enhance your skills on the go, and even write your next hit.
So, in this guide, we’ll look at the best Android music making apps.
Contents
FL Studio Mobile by Imagine Line
It’s kind of hard to believe such an app even exists!
If you love making beats inside FL Studio, guess what? There’s a fully capable mobile version called FL Studio Mobile that’s available for Android, iOS, Windows UWP, and even as a native FL studio plugin. Using FL Studio Mobile, you can create complete multi-track projects, and even export them to WAV, MP3, AAC, FLAC, and MIDI.
For all those times you’re on the go and have an idea you need to sketch out quickly, this is sure to come in extra handy!
And this isn’t just a “port” for mobile devices, as that would surely mean this version of FL would be a slow running, cumbersome app. No, the high-quality audio engine was optimized specifically for low CPU load.
FL Studio Mobile comes complete with a step sequencer, configurable virtual piano-keyboard and drum pads, MIDI control, mixer, effects (auto ducker, chorus, compressor, limiter, distortion, parametric equalizer, graphic equalizer, flanger, reverb, high-pass / low-pass / band-pass / formant (vox) filters, delays, phaser), browser for samples and presets, piano roll, flexible interface, and an active user forum.
If you’re ever stuck, no problem. The folks of Image Line thought of that too. You can take advantage of their video tutorials, FL Studio mobile manual, and tech support forum. I’ve personally watched a video that shows you how to create a beat from scratch inside FL Studio Mobile and found it quite helpful. To be perfectly honest, though, it’s quite intuitive!
So, if it wasn’t enough that the good people at Imagine Line have created one of the most popular electronic music making tools for desktop and laptop, now they are set to dominate the mobile market too. Unreal.
For portable beat making, FL Studio Mobile is sure to be a big hit!
Download: Google Play
Groovepad – Music & Beat Maker by Easybrain
What’s that app with a colorful, beautifully, and professionally designed logo? Why, it’s Groovepad – Music & Beat Maker by Easybrain, of course!
And this app promises to let you make music and beats, access new sounds every week, take advantage of built-in sound effects, “drop your beat,” and share your hits!
What does that all mean? Well, that’s what we’re about to get into here.
Easybrain claims you can “become a DJ” with Groovepad, which allows you to create music with ease. It will teach you how to create your own songs and play different music tracks. All you need to do to get started is choose your favorite genre and tap on the pads to get started.
Inside, you can experiment, mix different styles of music, make awesome sounding melodies, and develop into a full-on beat making machine.
Groovepad comes with a large library of unique soundtracks in the categories of hip-hop, EDM, house, dubstep, drum & bass, trap, electronic, and others. Even mixtapes are a cinch with Groovepad.
You can also take advantage of live loops and effects (filter, flanger, reverb, and delay), and even share your music with friends and family.
Although Groovepad is a “music and beat maker” by name, it’s more like a fancy sampler / looper with the option of triggering different elements at different times. Kind of like a MIDI pad controller. And a few other apps on this list kind of follow this formula.
For a little instant gratification, though, this app should prove a ton of fun, and probably an easy way to impress friends.
The app is available on Google Play.
Download: Google Play
KORG Kaossilator for Android by KORG INC.
When a company like KORG makes apps, we take notice. Why? Because their keyboards are legendary, so they know a thing or two about making music.
The KORG Kaossilator (fun name), by the way, not surprisingly, is a synthesizer – a dynamic phase synthesizer, to be exact. Now, that might immediately have you thinking, “oh, this must be just a synth, right?” And the answer is… no, it’s quite a bit more than that.
What’s especially unique about the Kaossilator is its colorful user interface, which is a touch-pad control interface that lets you play using touch gestures.
It comes with 150 sounds covering a broad range of musical styles – lead, acoustic, bass, chord, SE/hit, and drum. So, of course, that means full on beat making is not out of the question.
It also has a loop sequencer for track-making and live performance, a Mix Play function for live remixing and mashups, 50 built-in loops (with the ability to create your own), and a scale/key feature that eliminates “wrong” notes as you’re having fun making your beat. You can even choose from 35 scales – chromatic, major, minor, blues scales, and more.
What we like about the Kaossilator is that it’s just pure fun. The user interface is colorful, you’ve got a broad range of sounds you can choose from, and it’s incredibly beginner friendly. Of course, you can record and save your tracks too.
This app may not be for purists, but it’s great for experimentation and general messing about. Go and grab it on Google Play to find out what it’s all about.
Download: Google Play
SunVox by Alexander Zolotov
Speaking of synthesizers, we should certainly reserve a bit of digital whitespace to talk about Alexander Zolotov’s SunVox.
They claim it’s “the most powerful music creation tool for Android.” That seems like a slight exaggeration to us, but we can’t deny that it’s a lot of fun, and quite powerful too.
So, like I was saying, this is a synth, namely a modular synthesizer with a pattern-based sequencer / tracker.
But this music making tool also comes with a modular interface, microtonal sequencer, optimized synth algorithms, support for 16-, 24-, and 32-bit WAV, AIFF and XI samples, multitrack WAV support, MIDI import/export, USB MIDI IN/OUT (for Android 6+), mic/line recording (using the sampler), XM (FastTracker) and MOD (ProTracker, OctaMED) import, generative music features, and more.
And just in case you don’t have an Android device, you can check out SunVox on Windows, Linux, Mac, and iOS too.
Its built-in synthesizers and effects include generators, DrumSynth with 120 unique synthetic drum sounds, FM synthesizer, multisample instrument, SpectraVoice (FFT-based synthesizer), sidechain compressor, distortion, echo and reverb, equalizer and filters, flanger, loop (for glitch effects), reverb, vocal filter, Vorbis player, pitch detector, pitch shifter, and more.
And we simply can’t deny that this is a super generous set of tools for a mobile app…
SunVox’ user interface is simply beautiful and inspiring to make Lo-Fi or video game style music with (and we love that!).
This one might not be for the faint of heart, but for those with a little bit of beat making experience behind them, it’s sure to prove a blast.
Download: Google Play
Add Music To Voice by inglesdivino
Obviously, there are a variety of music making or beat creation apps out there depending on what you’re trying to achieve. This one is basically as it sounds, and it’s well-suited to any vocalist who’s going, “you know, it would sure be great if I could put some backing tracks to these lyrics and melodies I’ve written.”
Sounds too good to be true, right? Yet, that’s exactly what Add Music To Voice purports to be able to do.
All you need to do is select a recording from your device (or record a new one), choose a song from your music library, apply smart filtering, and save the track.
If you want to record your voice while the music is playing, you can do that too. And, if you need to do a bit of editing, no problem, you can trim the audio or apply basic filters (fade-in, fade-out) using the app.
One interesting way you can utilize this app is by recording speech and layering music under it. So, theoretically, you could create radio ads, podcast intros, bumpers, and things like that.
Within the app, you can easily adjust the volume of your tracks, shift where you want your voice or backing track to come in, and so on.
Go and give this one a try. We’d love to hear about your experience!
Download: Google Play
BandLab – Music Recording Studio & Social Network by BandLab Technologies
It’s no secret that we’re quite partial to BandLab and checking out our free DAW guides might offer some clues as to why.
This is another app that purports to be the “best,” which is always funny coming from the developer. Not totally relevant, but worth a laugh.
And, in this case, BandLab might be right.
This social music creation platform is used by 37 million users worldwide. It comes with a multitrack mix editor where you can record, edit, remix music, make beats, add effects, and use loops and samples (from their royalty-free sound packs – EDM, dubstep, garage, hip-hop, house, rock, rap, and more).
It has unlimited cloud storage for limitless creation, and it can be used from practically any device (which is nice when you might want to switch from your phone to your desktop computer, for example).
The social networking features let you find new friends, connect with collaborators, or even start a new band. Creator Connect will also match you with beat makers, producers, or DJs.
The main feature set includes a new sampler, 16-track mix editor, 330+ virtual MIDI instruments, 180+ vocal / guitar / bass effect presets, looper, mastering, video mix, tuner and metronome, the previously mentioned Creator Connect, and more.
BandLab’s user interface is quite a bit like Groovepad’s, but compared to Groovepad, it boasts quite a bit more functionality (especially since you can track real voices and instruments).
If a fully featured music making app is what you need, then we do recommend giving BandLab a try.
Download: Google Play
Roland Zenbeats – Music Creation App by Roland Corporation
As with KORG, when Roland puts out products, it’s kind of a big deal.
Roland Zenbeats is a music creation app with an easy workflow, and it works on any device or platform. It was designed to make the process of making music fun.
Zenbeats comes with the ZC1 synthesizer using Roland’s own ZEN-Core Synthesis System. It has 60 presets and a touch-based interface that’s sure to inspire. It has an XY pad for resonance and cutoff (or other parameters), and you can get 900 additional preset tones and 90 built-in MFX effects with ZENOLOGY or ZEN-Core compatible hardware.
Song production features also open when you connect Roland VERSELAB to your device. Hardware-software integration was obviously important to Roland, and probably in their mind, their users too (that’s accurate thinking right there).
Which of course means Roland is looking to lure you into their world with Zenbeats. We’re not saying that’s good or bad. But it’s quite apparent when you consider that the Zenbeats Store is loaded with sounds, loops, and other creative tools you can use to extend the functionality of the app.
Zenbeats integrates with Google Drive and OneDrive, so you can easily store your tracks, sketches, and ideas for later use.
We could go on about its features, I’m sure, but the bottom line is that Zenbeats is a fun environment in which to play with samples and loops, record your own instrument tracks, mix and master (with the help of outboard tools), and more.
Roland’s fingerprints are all over this app (especially with the synth and beat making aspects), so if you’re a fan of Roland, you’re going to get a kick out of this. But even if you aren’t, if you’re excited to get into making music on your phone, you should check it out.
Download: Google Play
RD4 Groovebox by mikrosonic
mikrosonic’s RD4 Groovebox can be summed up in three components – virtual analog synthesizers, drum machine, and effects.
This music making app lets you compose and arrange your own tracks with up to four channels. You can record as you go or use the sequencer and piano roll to map out each track.
Famously, the interface was designed around your fingertips. It’s not a desktop app crammed into a small screen. That’s always comforting to know when your main device is a smartphone.
This app is multi-touch enabled, and it’s tailor-made for creating loops and musical phrases. Synthesizers are fully configurable, with oscillators, resonant filters, and audio envelopes.
It’s not a bad choice for beginners and more advanced music producers alike.
Its feature set is comprised of a four-channel rack mixer, sequencer, analog synthesizers, bass synths, classic drum machine sounds (808, 909, 606, CR-78, Linn, KR55, RX11, RZ1, DMX, DPM48), audio effects (reverb, distortion, filter, phaser, delay), and more.
Obviously, if you’re looking for an app with a more extensive feature set, you’ll want to look elsewhere, but sometimes limitations work in your favor as an artist, because they can be creatively inspiriting. And RD4 Groovebox is perfect for sketches and experimentation.
Plus, those who love to compose with synths will find this an engrossing workstation to delve into.
Download: Google Play
Hip-Hop Producer Pads by chebdev
This app might not need much of an explanation, but just in case. Hip-Hop Producer Pads lets you play and record hip-hop music, add effects to your tracks, and share your tracks with others.
In short, it’s a virtual sampler and drum machine tailor-made for hip-hop beat creation. With loops, one-shots, and samples, you can develop your track on the fly. It has a metronome to help you keep the rhythm tight too.
So, while it isn’t exactly a full-fledged, feature rich Digital Audio Workstation, it does what it does quite well.
The app has a simple interface – nothing too crazy – and it’s obviously based on MIDI pad controller interfaces.
If hip-hop is your thing, and you want to start messing around with beats like Timbaland, give Hip-Hop Producer Pads a look on Google Play.
Download: Google Play
Music Maker JAM – Song & Beatmaker App by Loudly
No matter what level you make music at, you might want to give the user-friendly Music Maker JAM a try (it was also selected as Editor’s Choice by Google).
Regardless of whether you want to create your own beats, remix songs, or take advantage of a wide array of loops (trap, EDM, rap, dubstep, hip-hop, house, garage, pop, rock, and more), you’ve found a tool that grants you with the full studio experience.
Music Maker JAM comes with over 300 mix packs, over 500,000 loops(!), an eight-channel mixer, tempo adjustment, effects (reverb, stutter, delay, and others), and more.
JAM lets you share your tracks directly to YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook, TikTok, and other social networks. Their music community allows you to connect with other artists, influencers, fans, followers, DJs, music producers, and more.
Overall, this is yet another impressive app with a great feature set.
Download: Google Play
Drum Pad Machine – Beat Maker & Music Maker by Easybrain
It’s rare that we have two apps by the same developer in a guide like this, but it just so happens that Easybrain is a prolific developer in the music domain.
Here we have Drum Pad Machine, which right off the bat, makes you think of an app we looked at a little earlier – Hip-Hop Producer Pads. Of course, in this case, you can do more than just make hip-hop beats (though you can do that too).
This is a DJ beats music maker that gives you the ability to mix loops, record melodies, add beats and sound effects, and more.
Drum Pad Machine has been designed with trap, dubstep, EDM, house, drum & bass, hip-hop, electro, and future bass in mind. So, if you’re making electronic music, or want to create remixes, you’ve got yourself a powerhouse of an app.
The Drum Pad Machine interface is obviously emulating MIDI pad controllers, which makes this a fun, accessible app for just about everyone.
If you don’t have a MIDI pad controller, or just want to master using one (get your timing down, etc.) give this app a go.
Download: Google Play
Groovy Loops – Beat and Music Maker by Mobapp Development Ltd
This one doesn’t look familiar at all, does it? Nope, it couldn’t possibly be emulating another app we’ve already looked at.
Regardless, Groovy Loops is another highly rated beat and music making app that’s been designed to awaken your inner DJ potential. If you’re bent on making beats on the go, you’ll love messing around with this.
Groovy Loops comes with 2+ unique custom sound packs (for hip-hop, club, house, dubstep, drum and bass, trap, electronic music, and more), 800+ unique beats, instrumentals, and vocal loops, one-shots, smart synchronization, and sound effects.
So, anyway, yeah… the interface resembles that of Groovepad, so if you’ve used that app before, you know exactly what to expect. This isn’t a full-on music sequencer or multitrack recorder, but more of a “tap and enable” kind of workspace. That isn’t to say it isn’t fun, though!
So, get groovy with Groovy Loops!
Download: Google Play
n-Track Studio DAW – Music Production & Recording by n-Track
Now for an app that purports to be more of a DAW than just a fun beat making tool.
n-Track Studio DAW is a portable music making app that claims to turn your Android device into a complete recording studio and beat maker.
It lets you record a near unlimited number of audio, MIDI, and drum tracks, mix them during playback, and add effects for color and flavor (although it does depend on your subscription level).
n-Track gives you the ability to record with the built-in mic or external audio interface, add and edit audio tracks using their Loop Browser and royalty-free sample packs, import grooves and create beats with their Step Sequencer Beat Maker, create melodies with the internal keyboard or built-in virtual instruments, use the mixer to tweak your levels, pan, EQ, and effects, and save or share the recording.
Its features include stereo and mono audio support, a step sequencer beat maker, MIDI tracks with built-in synths, loop browser and in-app sample packs, group and AUX channels, piano-roll MIDI editor, on-screen MIDI keyboard, EQ with 2D and 3D spectrum analyzer, chromatic tuner, VocalTune pitch correction, guitar and bass amp plugins, effects (reverb, echo, chorus and flanger, tremolo, pitch shift, phaser, tube amp and compression), metronome, and more.
You can even import existing tracks, automate track volumes and pan, share your recordings online, and collaborate with the integrated Songtree community.
And, amazingly, you can get even more if you upgrade to the STANDARD, EXTENDED, or SUITE subscriptions.
n-Track obviously takes music production seriously, regardless of what device you’re using, so for those seeking a comprehensive solution resembling traditional DAW software, this one is worth a look.
Download: Google Play
Song Maker – Free Music Maker by Brian Vault
Song Maker is yet another music creation app that lets you compose music while combing different sounds, rhythms, and beats. You can use the editor to modify loops and sounds, and you can even record your voice to add it in.
Features include thousand of free sounds, beats, and loops, music library (bass, hip-hop, trap, future bass, metal, drums, and more), music demo projects (metal, hip-hop, trap, future bass, Marshmello style projects), music editor for sound and loops, and the ability to save your tracks.
With Song Maker, you can easily select sounds, mix and match, add them to the editor, drag and drop, playback, and save your projects (you can export to WAV or MP3 right on your device).
Overall, a simple and fun app that offers a solid introduction to music production.
Download: Google Play
DubStep Music Creator III – Rhythm & Beat Maker by Elfiz Media
With DubStep Music Creator III, you make dubstep tracks. Pretty straightforward, right?
Well, this is an easy-to-use song maker that lets you record and share, add great sounding filters and effects, and customize each pad.
It comes with a 4×4 beat pad, stereo pan, and a beginner friendly interface.
The interface is quite nice, with a transport at the top, beat pads on the left, and effects on the right. Thanks to the streamlined interface, it truly is an easy task making dubstep tracks that make your fans rattle to the core.
It’s maybe a little cheesy, but that tends to come with the territory. Overall, still fun to use and experiment with.
Download: Google Play
Top Android Music Making Apps, Final Thoughts
Thanks to mobile based music making and beat making apps, you are no longer confined to making music in your basement, at your desk, in the studio, or at home. Now you can start developing ideas anywhere, and even turning them into full-fledged tracks ready for release.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t turn your creative brain off from time to time. Too much screen time can disrupt your sleep, which can negatively affect your creativity.
That said, with unprecedented flexibility and portability, you have no excuse not to create anymore.
So, grab hold of the apps, and start pumping out those beats today!