Whether you’re learning to write songs, recording and producing a potential chart-topper, mastering the chords of a classic or mixing like a club DJ, these apps will be music to your ears.

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Bored with the same chords? Guitar Wiz helps you learn new ones while keeping you in tune and in time. When you need to learn by listening – or transcribe something new – Capo separates instruments in a mix and lets you loop, slow down and master the tricky parts. And when bandmates are nowhere to be found, iReal Pro turns your Mac into a backing band for practise sessions.

Channel your inner mix master with Remixlive, using its intuitive grid of loops and samples for an instant injection of dance-floor energy. Or go full DJ with djay’s powerful mixing tools, which can integrate with your Apple Music library to let you scratch, cut and backspin with your favourite tracks.

Got a catchy rhythm in your head? Tap it out using old-school drum sequencer DM10, which is packed with famous drum machines, vintage electronic gear and realistic-sounding acoustic kits. Or for a rawer edge, Blip Box is a lo-fi noise machine that lets you create crunchy, distinctive beats that sound like nothing else out there.

Build your own sounds with PolyWave by simply twiddling dials and drawing waveforms. Or go retro with Model 15, which harks back to the famous 1970s synth – patch cables and all. Mela and the visually striking Audulus go further, offering modular playgrounds where you bolt components together to build bold, expressive sounds from scratch.

MainStage lets you connect a USB or MIDI controller to play a range of software instruments live, from pianos and synths to horns, percussion and strings. Or rock out on electric guitar with MainStage’s virtual amps and effects such as overdrive and compression.

If you’re just starting out, GarageBand is the easiest way to create a song on Mac, whether you’re playing software instruments or capturing a live band. When you’re ready to scale up, Logic Pro X gives you the tools of a professional recording studio to handle even the most complex projects.

Create something unconventional with Animoog Z, which allows you to shape sounds by dragging elements of a sound path in 3D space. Fugue Machine Rubato draws equally from Baroque music, serialism and modern sequencing – as you move its playheads across sequences of notes, you create layered, looping, hypnotic melodies that evolve over time. ZOA fuses a grid-based synth with Conway’s Game of Life to create constantly shifting ambient soundscapes. And Musyc2 turns music-making into a visual physics playground, where shapes interact to produce organic, ever-changing sounds.