1 · The sequencer
Where time is decided: tempo, swing, patterns, arrangement. Step Sequencer if you think in sixteenths, DrumPad if you would rather play the part in first.
Production stack · six layers
Music production software
Music production software
Six layers, one subscription
Music production software is a shopping list pretending to be a product: a DAW, a set of instruments, a sampler, an effects collection, a sound library and somewhere for the projects to live. Buying them separately is how a €99 purchase becomes a €900 setup. Here is each layer, what it is actually for, and what it looks like when the whole stack runs in a tab.
6 LAYERS
21 APPS
5000 SAMPLES
1 SUBSCRIPTION
0 INSTALLERS
€9.90 /MONTH
Layer 3 · playable
The pad layer, on this page
Eight drum voices mapped to eight pads, playable with the mouse or the letters printed on them. This is the layer most producers buy a controller and a plugin for - here it is a paragraph of synthesis in a page that also has a footer.
The stack
What each layer is for
Skip one and the setup has a hole in it. Buy each one separately and the setup has a price tag on it.
2 · The instruments
Something has to make the notes. Quantum Synthesizer X for polyphonic sound design, Analog Synth for the classic subtractive voice, Modern Piano when the part is a part and not a patch.
3 · The sampler
Everything you did not synthesise. DrumPad chops MPC-style: drop a break in, cut it at the transients, and the pieces land straight on the pads under your fingers.
4 · The effects
The layer that turns a correct part into a record: filters, delays, reverbs, compression, and the XY pad of Kaoss Matrix Pro for the moves you cannot draw with automation.
5 · The sound library
5000 samples shared by every app in the studio. Loaded once, available everywhere - no pack folder, no re-import, no duplicate copies of the same kick.
6 · Somewhere to keep it
Projects in your account instead of a folder. The layer everybody forgets until a drive dies or a laptop stays at home.
What it costs
Assembling the stack, two ways
Prices for the classic route are typical market ranges, not quotes - they move with sales and editions. The shape of the bill does not.
| Layer | GOONS | Bought separately |
|---|---|---|
| Sequencer / DAW | Included | €100–€700 depending on edition |
| Synthesizers | Included - 5 instruments | €100–€200 per serious synth |
| Sampler | Included - 3 samplers | €100–€400, plus a controller |
| Effects | Included - DJ effects, filters, morphing | €50–€500 per bundle |
| Sound library | Included - 5000 samples | €10–€30 per pack, forever |
| Project storage | Included - in your account | Your own drives and discipline |
| Updates | Included, already applied | Paid upgrades, plugin rescans |
| Total to get started | €9.90/month · 7 days free | Several hundred up front |
Assembling it
Building the stack in the order that matters
Rhythm before anything
Tempo and swing decide how every later part sits. Start on the grid, not on the patch - a great sound on a stiff loop is still a stiff loop.
One instrument, played properly
Add a single melodic part and finish it before opening a second app. Most unfinished tracks are three unfinished ideas stacked.
Sample what the synths cannot say
Chop a break, slice a vocal, map it to pads. This is where the track stops sounding like a preset demo.
Effects last, then save
Balance, then colour: filters and delays on top of a mix that already works. Then save the session to your account so it is on every machine you own.
Deep links
One app per layer
The stack above, as five URLs.
Music production software is a subscription problem, not a software problem
The hard part was never finding a DAW. It is that the DAW is the cheap half: the instruments, the sample packs, the effects bundles and the upgrades keep arriving, each one a small decision that is easy to say yes to. Five years later the setup is a museum of things bought on sale, half of them incompatible with the current operating system, and the actual work still happens in the same four windows.
What collapsing the stack changes
When every layer comes from one place and runs in a browser, the maintenance disappears with the installers. Nothing to authorise, nothing to migrate, nothing that stops working after an OS update. The instruments share one audio engine and one sample library, so moving a sound between them is a routing decision rather than an export. And the cost stops being a series of purchases you have to justify to yourself.
Who this is not for
If your production software has to host third-party plugins, or record eight microphones at once, this is not the stack - the browser DAW page covers exactly where the line falls. For everyone making beats, loops, sound design and finished arrangements, the line is well past where the work happens.
Starting for nothing
The full catalog is open for seven days without a card, which is the only honest way to evaluate a stack: use it for a week and see whether anything is missing. If price is the deciding question, free music software is the same conversation with the numbers in front.
Questions
Frequently asked
What software do I actually need to produce music?
Six things: a sequencer, at least one instrument, a sampler, effects, a sound library and somewhere to store projects. Most producers buy them from five different companies over several years. GOONS ships all six in one browser studio for €9.90 a month.
Is browser-based music production software as capable as installed software?
For beats, sound design, sampling and arrangement, yes. For third-party plugin hosting and multitrack live recording, no - an installed DAW still owns that work.
Do I need a MIDI controller?
No. Every instrument plays from the computer keyboard, the mouse and touch. If you do own a class-compliant controller, Web MIDI picks it up with no driver and no configuration.
Can I import my own samples?
Yes. The samplers load your files through the browser, alongside the 5000-sample library that ships with the studio and is shared by every app.
What happens to my projects if I cancel?
Your account keeps them; the apps stop opening. Nothing is deleted because a card expired.
Is there a free version?
There is a 7-day free trial with full access and no card required. After that it is €9.90 a month for the whole catalog.
Web DAW silo
Keep reading
Four pages on the same idea: the whole studio is a URL. Start with the hub, then dig into the comparison, the software angle or the free tier.
Hub
Web DAW
What a web DAW is, what it can do today, and the instruments that make one.
Read it → GuideBrowser-based DAW
Browser versus installed: latency, CPU, plugins, files - where each one actually wins.
Read it → GuideFree music software
What free really costs in music software, and what a 7-day full-access trial answers.
Read it →
Ready when you are
Get the whole stack in one click
Sequencer, synths, samplers, effects, 5000 samples and cloud projects. €9.90/month, seven days free, no card, cancel whenever.
Already subscribed? Launch DrumPad →