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I agree. Go with Reaper man. I live next to the guy who created it.

If you want to learn, you don't want to spend too much on your DAW.

The good thing is Reaper will probably last you a few years, I think he updates it, and it's already a solid DAW. I know a few bands here that work exclusively in Reaper, and their albums sell pretty well.

Cheers!

-T

Definitely Reaper. FL10 tho if you can afford it is much better imo, but then i guess you are paying for what you get. For midi controller i have a little Akai MPK Mini. Small and connected via USB, gets the job done for what I need to do. Got a keyboard, knobs and pads all in one little unit. Good for a starting point.

paravrais wrote:*some* people find it easy to use. Personally I found it the most confusing of the lot

Honestly though, launch the application, click a couple of buttons on the step sequencer and hit play, you have a beat. NOTHING is easier than that to get a beat going. Want different samples, just drag them into the step sequencer. A wee child could do this. Now give that child ableton, live, cubase, reaper, reason... no.

Instead of forking out the cash, someone compiled a really nice little collection of freeware programs and named it the mobile production or something, I would link you but I'm on my phone, why not use the search bar to find it here, never know may not need to buy anything

nowaysj wrote:

paravrais wrote:*some* people find it easy to use. Personally I found it the most confusing of the lot

Honestly though, launch the application, click a couple of buttons on the step sequencer and hit play, you have a beat. NOTHING is easier than that to get a beat going. Want different samples, just drag them into the step sequencer. A wee child could do this. Now give that child ableton, live, cubase, reaper, reason... no.

Although Logic's Ultrabeat is easy too, since it has really good beats you can swing or change programmed into them. I see a lot of people using those beats and modifying them.



Most of the other major drum programming software has the same stuff! Making beats now a days is literally pie in any DAW.

-T

Reaper hands down.
I can afford any of the daws but I still use Reaper.
I have used Reason, FL, Cubase and Reaper.
Reaper has been the best by far.

I didn`t know Reaper but jumped into it faster than Cubase which I`d used for 7 years prior.

This paying for what you get crap is also getting old.
FL is no better just because it costs more.
Choosing a DAW based on price is just antiquated.
Reaper is being updated on a daily basis to include all requests made by the community.
Development of the program and 3rd party plugins has rocketed, for every request or complaint, there's an option and a solution.

You can get a student copy of FL7 for like.. 50 quid. I'd go with the FL range. Up to you though.

Filthzilla wrote:You can get a student copy of FL7 for like.. 50 quid. I'd go with the FL range. Up to you though.

Haven't seen that anywhere. Have a link perchance?
Thanks.

BevOh wrote:Definitely Reaper. FL10 tho if you can afford it is much better imo, but then i guess you are paying for what you get. For midi controller i have a little Akai MPK Mini. Small and connected via USB, gets the job done for what I need to do. Got a keyboard, knobs and pads all in one little unit. Good for a starting point.

I think I'll play with reaper for a bit then. The Akai looks neat. Has it worked for all your needs? It doesn't look like it comes with a 'lite' software though. Oh well.

I'm considering that to get started. Should be a nice handy tool.

At this point, thinking of Reaper+the Akai.

SidewaysDubstep wrote:Instead of forking out the cash, someone compiled a really nice little collection of freeware programs and named it the mobile production or something, I would link you but I'm on my phone, why not use the search bar to find it here, never know may not need to buy anything

I downloaded that actually. I think it comes with reaper.
$40 for a program like reaper isn't really a big deal though. It sounds like it's something I'd be able to use for a while and some of the free DAW's have their own issues and their interface is supposedly not as good.

I'll just add this because the phrase "use it for a while" keeps coming up in this thread. Though I think it's been said in one way or another...I wouldn't recommend buying Reaper and "using it for a while" then sidegrading to another DAW. Download demos, choose a DAW, stick with it. The re-learning curve of figuring out how to do familiar tasks in a new DAW, after you've already learned one, is going to set you back.

I spent four or five years just bumbling on my own and because I didn't understand my software I've gotten stuck in this weird process of using two DAWs. Currently I use both FL Studio and Reaper and have really been weighing the pros and cons of each DAW so I can settle on one.

What's your verdict on either one?

Honestly, it seems that a lot of people are fine with reaper, many are on ableton, and many on reaper, and many more on others still. Having a good interface is important for me, and honestly, I think it'd be great if I could potentially plug in my guitar and play through effects or such in real time too if possible.

Reaper and FL both have demo'es. I guess I can try out both of them. Throwing down 300 bucks for FL sounds nuts though this early in the game, especially if the total comes to about 400 with a basic midi controller. I know it's cheaper than an instrument, but jeebus.

I can afford it, but I'd rather get something with the best bang for the buck. What I like about reaper so far is that it's Open Source-ish with many people making mods and effects/plugins/vsts for it. That's intriguing.

Use Reaper. Get comfortable with production first, with any DAW. If after a few months your still wanting to progress further, then (if you feel the need) check out a more expensive DAW.

I'm personally on Ableton and wouldn't switch for anything. Beautiful beautiful workflow
And sounds so stupid, but I love how you can use your computer keyboard as a midi keyboard with Ableton. Handy when your out and about with the laptop, or just pure broke with no controller haha

You can use a piano roll on reaper to alter pitch for drums right? I could do this in FL3 and it was pretty neat.

I'm guessing there's a simple add on that'll let you do that if the original program won't.

Wobble that thing. (in Reaper).

Not sure about using the piano roll, but there's something called Reapitch for this isn't there? It's one of the fx included with it

My verdict is Reaper actually. Don't get me wrong...FL studio is awesome imo...I will probably keep it installed do some occasional sound design. I started with acid 4 and reaper reminds me a lot of acid. Reaper feels natural and appeals to my usual process of doing sound design, mixdown and arrangement all at once. I will also miss beat making in fl.studio but am loking into vst sequncers. FL made it very essay to lay down a beat then take things off the grid.

Yes. Reaper does have a pitch bending vst. I'm not a fan but am using it for now.

In FL you can go to drums and then change the pitch of the drums via the piano roll right?

I thought I was doing that yesterday. Or maybe I'm tone deaf...

every daw i know has a piano roll!

Played with reaper for a while today.

Had no idea how to set up a drum machine on there. Went back to FL3, and there it was staring me in the face. Piano roll and all.

I guess I have to set up reaper with VST's and virtual instruments, huh?

Reaper doesn't come with a step sequencer that I'm aware of. It has piano roll, use CTRL + Hold Right Click and Drag to create a midi sequence. Dbl Click the midi sequencer = piano roll.

Screw the step sequencer...load drum samples into mixer channels in Reaper, get off the grid, write beat, bounce ;p

But seriously, I'm looking into step sequencers to use in Reaper.

isnt FL Studio free upgrades for life?

so if its a paid FL Studio 3, isnt it free to upgrade to 10??