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serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:46 pm
by m0dd3x
Hi there.
I'm absolutely new to the whole topic, first time i heard dubstep was about 2 months ago, but i love it anyway. now i want to experiment in producing such great kinds of music with my own mind. but as i am new to music production i don't know where to start and which software would be suitable for that. As there are a lot of different programs like Ableton, Cubase, FL studio, Reason etc. it would be great to have some opinions about which apps are good or not...
sorry for being a noob

Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:53 pm
by tavravlavish
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:57 pm
by 999
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:01 pm
by 86.
google iNudge....learn the basics of that first. it can be overly complex at times, but with exteme dedication you can learn the entire program.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:07 pm
by hurlingdervish
you wont be able 2 make pro music unelss you have the word PRO in your daw's name
so either protools, or logic pro, or acid pro, or pro-pro
but seriously
just try some shit out
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:08 pm
by adam_john
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:19 pm
by stappard
yeah! fuck the noobs! if youre not born with knowledge of DAWs then go get a job in a garden centre and STOP WASTING OUR TIME ON THE PRODUC oh shit wait the OP asked a perfectly valid question in a pleasant manner and was very apologetic for his inexperience..... ANYWAY FUCK THE NOOBS!
OP, there are essentially no "easy" DAW packages out there. For in-the-box production (in terms of not requiring any other software) reason is probably your best bet, and there are definately record-releasing producers out there using it, but then fl studio, ableton live and logic pro can be considered all-in-one solutinos in the same way. Many say fl studio's a good first place to start but i tried it first and no bloody idea what was going on. Now I use logic. Your best bet is grab some demos and have a play around, if you're going to invest in a piece of software like this you want to know its the right one for you.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:31 pm
by 86.
[quote="stappard"]
Many say fl studio's a good first place to start but i tried it first and no bloody idea what was going on. Now I use logic. quote]
LOL...my thoughts exactly when I first used FL.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:43 am
by collige
They're all good. Pick one.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:00 am
by nowaysj
Only one thing is certain, for me at least, if you're just getting started now, don't start with reason.
I've been using flstudio for 10 years, and I am trying desperately to find another daw. I've just tried live, and now I'm trying cubase. In the end you can achieve the same results with any daw. If you're on mac, I'd say logic, pc, I'd say cubase. There.
There have been a lot of threads about daws lately, check them out. Read the daw Q and A threads, there is a lot of info there.
GL
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:24 am
by tripwire22
CRACK and egg and get flstudio is simple
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:10 am
by yellowhighlighter
nowaysj wrote:Only one thing is certain, for me at least, if you're just getting started now, don't start with reason.
I've been using flstudio for 10 years, and I am trying desperately to find another daw. I've just tried live, and now I'm trying cubase. In the end you can achieve the same results with any daw. If you're on mac, I'd say logic, pc, I'd say cubase. There.
There have been a lot of threads about daws lately, check them out. Read the daw Q and A threads, there is a lot of info there.
GL
i read that alot, don't start with reason. i assume it's to do with the restrictive nature of the program as it doesn't support plugins.
but i switched from hardware to software about 6 months ago and i got reason. now i was used to samplers, drum machines and some fx pedals. recording everything to the 8-track and that was it. i think because reason is a closed system it really helped me learn. there are so many tutorials on the web and the program has all the essential tools you need to create great tracks.
through using reason i learned a lot more about compression, equalisation and generally making my tracks sound a bit more "polished". i also learned a lot about synthesis thanks to the 3 onboard synhs which are great quality (especially malstrom and thor).
although having a program that is infinitely expandable is obviously technically better, some people learn and excel under stricter conditions.
so now it's a few months later and i've started using renoise and it's pretty easy to incorporate reason via rewire. i've also learned enough about production that i know what sort of fx and softsynths i want to get and why i want to get them. although i have spent the last month religiously searching for plugins instead of making music. i'm easily distracted.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:26 am
by nowaysj
Reason is neat-o and a unique environment. But it is a historical dead end. Any tech or biz model that bases its continued relevance on the limited computational power of a computer is doomed to failure. Look at UAD cards - according to many of their users, their pc's are more powerful and can run more instances of a particular plugin than the card itself. Why would u pay $500 for a dongle?
Point is though, if you're just getting started, get started on the right foot, that way down the line you won't have to relearn another daw etc etc. And everyone be quiet be fore the widdler shows up. FFS!
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:38 am
by yellowhighlighter
good point. although i personally don't mind having to learn a new daw. i think once you learn the basics you can easily transfer what you've learned. and i actually quite like the stability and low cpu usage of reason. it benefits users such as myself. i don't have a really powerful laptop but i've never had a problem cpu wise with reason ever. to me that's a plus point. if you have a super computer and only have reason installed on it then yeah it's a bit of a waste.
i do however agree that it's best to start off on the right foot. unfortunately what is right for somebody with experience may not always be best for somebody starting out.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:14 am
by deadly_habit
renoise

Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:20 am
by alphacat
Reaper.
http://www.reaper.fm
And it'll cost you nothing to try the full version indefinitely. If it's not for you, at least you haven't blown hundreds of dollars or pounds or pesos or cheeselumps or whatever the currency is where you live.
Don't mistake the lack of high price for lack of features and music-making power though. It absolutely holds its own against any of the other DAWs mentioned. I've worked with DAWs for almost 15 years, including Reason, FL, and Acid - and have played around with more than I can even remember now. None of them were as clean and obvious as Reaper once I spent a little time reading the manual.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 5:59 am
by nowaysj
From what I've heard plugin delay compensation is a little not right in reaper. That is a big issue for me, and should be for anyone using vst plugins.
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 6:04 am
by jsilver
i use the best daw that all the pros use, its really tight you should get it
it costs $20,000 because its so good tho
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 6:21 am
by notch
They all do about the same shit.. But none of them come close to handling audio like Ableton Live!
BeLIEve
Re: serious question: Which DAW to use?
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:41 am
by yellowhighlighter
jsilver wrote:i use the best daw that all the pros use, its really tight you should get it
it costs $20,000 because its so good tho
i'm saving up for the home edition of that daw.