Digital audio workstation

Cromulent

Cromulent

Cromulent

Soldato
Joined
1 Nov 2007
Posts
7,064
Location
England
Back when I was in school I studied GCSE Music and loved it. As well as playing the guitar (I was awful) we used Cubase to make our own music and it was really fun. I was thinking maybe I could get back into it as I'm going through a bored state and want to try something new. I did a bit of hunting and it appears that Reaper is well regarded but I'm curious if we have anyone here making music and what they would recommend?
 
It's all much of a muchness really if you're starting from scratch. Reaper is a good DAW and the license is cheap.

As you're on Apple I would also consider Logic. More expensive but probably the most complete DAW for the money (way more stock synths/tools than any other).

I use Pro Tools but if I was starting from scratch I'd probably be looking at Logic.
 
ShortWarning said:
It's all much of a muchness really if you're starting from scratch. Reaper is a good DAW and the license is cheap.

As you're on Apple I would also consider Logic. More expensive but probably the most complete DAW for the money (way more stock synths/tools than any other).

I use Pro Tools but if I was starting from scratch I'd probably be looking at Logic.
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Logic does look good. Thank you.

Should be fun to play around with.
 
Reaper isn't too bad and i'd argue it gives Cubase, Pro Tools and Logic a run for their money. Some aspects of the UI are a little clunky but i think it's acceptable given cost and what you can achieve with it.

There's also Fruityloops, now rebranded as FL Studio, and it's what i started with when i was a kid. It has changed a lot over the years and you can accomplish a lot with it but it is pretty backwards in a lot of areas, routing or side-chaining for example, which made those learnt skills difficult to translate to other DAWs and to IRL studio setups.
I personally wouldn't recommend it especially given the cost but i thought it's worth a mention if you're trialing stuff.

Pro Tools was always my go to for audio work, mostly because it is what i was taught throughout school and uni as it was industry standard back then. It's impressive though and is now a lot cheaper to get into than it was as you aren't restricted to the requirements of expensive Avid/DigiDesign hardware.
Otherwise Ableton was my go to for any electronic/loop/plugin based projects as i found it extremely versatile plus i could use MaxMSP from within. Biggest downsides of Ableton is audio editing side of it is a little pap compared to other DAWs (Cubase, Pro Tools etc) and now largely cost.

Edit - You also have Reason, The Prodigy were big users of it, but i never could get my head around it outside of the cool factor of patching synths and plugins etc.
 
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visibleman said:
Reaper isn't too bad and i'd argue it gives Cubase, Pro Tools and Logic a run for their money. Some aspects of the UI are a little clunky but i think it's acceptable given cost and what you can achieve with it.

There's also Fruityloops, now rebranded as FL Studio, and it's what i started with when i was a kid. It has changed a lot over the years and you can accomplish a lot with it but it is pretty backwards in a lot of areas, routing or side-chaining for example, which made those learnt skills difficult to translate to other DAWs and to IRL studio setups.
I personally wouldn't recommend it especially given the cost but thought it's worth a mention if you're trialing stuff.

Pro Tools was always my go to for audio work (mostly because it is what i was taught throughout school and uni) with Ableton for any electronic/loop/plugin based projects as i found it's extremely versatile plus i could use MaxMSP from within. Biggest downsides of Ableton is audio editing side of it is a little pap compared to other DAWs (Cubase, Pro Tools etc) and now largely cost.

Edit - You also have Reason, The Prodigy were big users of it, but i never could get my head around it outside of the cool factor of patching synths and plugins etc.
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Thank you!

The one thing that appeals to me is that Logic comes with loads of MIDI instruments which Reaper does not (as far as I can tell). I know you can download free ones but for just getting started having a default selection seems like a good idea.
 
Cromulent said:
Thank you!

The one thing that appeals to me is that Logic comes with loads of MIDI instruments which Reaper does not (as far as I can tell). I know you can download free ones but for just getting started having a default selection seems like a good idea.
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That's fair, it gives you a start point and the included libraries and synths aren't too bad for twiddling around with.
Although i would recommend trialing Ableton as the 'Essential' package is similar money and imo, it's far more powerful than most DAWs if you plan to work with plugins, loops or chopping audio as if you were with a sampler (think Akai S6000 etc).

Edit - If you're planning to use an external midi controller (keys etc) then look at investing in a reasonable IO audio interface, will help with latency etc.
 
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I've used lots of them in the past, but mainly gone from Logic to Ableton Live and now using Bitwig, which I think is my favourite. It might depend on what sort of music you want to make, as Live is more performance-oriented (as the name suggests), FL was always more sample-based, Reason was synthy, but tools like Logic, Cubase etc. were more generalist.
 
visibleman said:
That's fair, it gives you a start point and the included libraries and synths aren't too bad for twiddling around with.
Although i would recommend trialing Ableton as the 'Essential' package is similar money and imo, it's far more powerful than most DAWs if you plan to work with plugins, loops or chopping audio as if you were with a sampler (think Akai S6000 etc).

Edit - If you're planning to use an external midi controller (keys etc) then look at investing in a reasonable IO audio interface, will help with latency etc.
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I'm thinking of getting an M-Audio Oxygen Pro Mini. I'll look into an audio interface as well.
arty said:
I've used lots of them in the past, but mainly gone from Logic to Ableton Live and now using Bitwig, which I think is my favourite. It might depend on what sort of music you want to make, as Live is more performance-oriented (as the name suggests), FL was always more sample-based, Reason was synthy, but tools like Logic, Cubase etc. were more generalist.
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In terms of music I'll likely play around with drum and bass and other electronic stuff. I do like rock and metal but I think that staying with electronic to start with would be good.
 
Why not try them all.
Ableton has a free trial
FL Studio has a free trial
Logic has a free trial

They pretty much all have a free trial.

I would recommend you give them all a go, and see which one fits your mindset the best.

They all have their pros and cons, and what’s best for someone else may not be ideal for you.

Ideally you want one that fits your style and way of thinking, so it gets out of your way.

Also, do NOT go down the rabbit hole of buying every VST you can. Learn the one you have. Otherwise you’ll waste tonnes of money and waste time searching through thousands of presets and not be happy with any of them.

If you MUST buy a VST, then I really recommend Serum 2. Out of all the VSTs I own (A LOT!), this is hands down the only VST you need. It easily has the best presets I’ve ever come across. Covering a wide variety of genres, from analogue to actual sample based instruments.

An alternative to this would be Vital. Which is free.

But you won’t listen, of that I am sure. You’ll need to learn the hard way, like all of us.

Good luck
 
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