DAW Thread -

[round robin]

For any of you kiwis that write/produce music, what is your DAW of choice (no audacity) and why?

I recently got back into writing music after a very long hiatus and have been using Ableton Live Lite and it's a pretty decent lightweight workstation. It recognizes my midi keyboard outright and lets me make all kinds of shortcuts using my keys. I don't think I like the midi inspection window very much tho. Before that I used guitar pro 5 (lol) and produced a bunch of midi video game music.

This can also be a music theory/composition general thread. Feel free to share VSTs you like and recording methods/tools as well!

 

[Ero]

I like Ableton Live the most as well. It just has a simple and fairly straight forward UI and it has all the features I actually use. I do agree that the midi sheet is pretty meh compared to something like Logic Pro and FL Studio but you eventually get used to it.
My fav VST is TAL-U-NO-LX which is based on the Roland Juno 106 / G, it's also free which is nice. If you're fine with pirating VSTs or other music related software then rutracker.org is a great website, just use google translate (and a VPN if you live in a country that enforces anti-piracy laws)

 

[SSF2T Old User]

LMMS. It's not overly complicated and does exactly what I need it to do.

LMMS | Home

LMMS is a free, open source, multiplatform digital audio workstation.

lmms.io

 

[Raging Capybara]

If you are gonna pirate VSTs please torrent all of the fab filter and u-he shit.

Thank me later.

If you want VSTs to emulate a traditional band, I recommend Modo Drum and Modo bass. They sound insanely realistic.

 

[tehpope]

I could never get my head around Ableton. I've got experience with Audition and Reaper. More the former than the latter. I have used Maschine a bit as well. Its okay. Still have it and maybe will try using it if I ever get a Mac.

Now of days, I use my Deluge, basically a daw in a box, to make sketches. Not really songs. But its like $1k but really fucking nice and great.

If you are gonna pirate VSTs please torrent all of the fab filter and u-he shit.

Thank me later.

If you want VSTs to emulate a traditional band, I recommend Modo Drum and Modo bass. They sound insanely realistic.

I'd also recommend the Artuia CS-80 and the Korg M1 VSTs. But those are my tastes.

 

[round robin]

I could never get my head around Ableton. I've got experience with Audition and Reaper. More the former than the latter. I have used Maschine a bit as well. Its okay. Still have it and maybe will try using it if I ever get a Mac.

Now of days, I use my Deluge to make sketches. Not really songs. But its like $1k but really fucking nice and great.


I'd also recommend the Artuia CS-80 and the Korg M1 VSTs. But those are my tastes.

I used Reaper way back to do Rock Band Network stuff and understood it pretty well back then but I've been trying to use it for actual music production lately and it is really unintuitive, I now realize. I don't know how anyone uses it properly, and that's after watching dozens of tutorial videos.

 

[tehpope]

I used Reaper way back to do Rock Band Network stuff and understood it pretty well back then but I've been trying to use it for actual music production lately and it is really unintuitive, I now realize. I don't know how anyone uses it properly, and that's after watching dozens of tutorial videos.

idk. Its cheap and basically free.

 

[round robin]

idk. Its cheap and basically free.

It's the winRAR of DAWs.

 

[benutz]

Got a bit carried away, so I spoilered it in to three parts.

Part 1:

Spoiler: DAWs

I use several DAWs for whatever functionality suits the job at hand. I also use Ableton Live. The Live Lite package is awesome and you don't need much more really to make great music. Live excels at being more a creative/ideas/scratchpad kind of thing becuase of its fairly unique paradigm. Having said that I've been using it more as a linear DAW lately to complete tracks just like you would with Cubase. I know lots of people use it like this anyway (even film composers) but many people will couple a DAW like Live with a more linear/traditional alternative such as Cubase.

I have Cubase Pro. Also have Elements on one machine. Again, you don't really need much more. It's expensive but Steinberg have a sale every summer or so iirc and you get about 40/50 percent off. You can also upgrade from more basic versions which brings the price down again. You can get these licenses free with certain Yamaha hardware or even buy one for like a fiver in the kvr marketplace or gearslutz. For a beginner, even something like Elements would be overkill.

With regard to using cracked software, I would advise against it. Not because of muh morals/ethics, but because there is such a plethora of great free or low cost software out there right now, it's easy to get your head stuck up your arse. Also, if you can afford it, it gives you a sense of self-respect and pride and provides skin in the game. It makes it easier to get support as well. I certainly wouldn't judge anyone for using cracks though - I do myself - but only for testing or for stuff that is no longer available. Everyone can make their own decisions on this.

A good DAW to start off with is FLStudio. You can buy a basic version of this for not much money then upgrade when they have the odd sale. They also do a discount on your birthday as well. Plus you get free lifetime updates. It's a superb piece of kit, though it doesn't click with everyone. Some people use it as their main DAW but again, it's more of a software that you would pair with something else more linear/traditional.

Cubase started life as a Midi arranger and it has probably the strongest implementation of that, where as DAWs like Samplitude started of as more of an Audio thing, and that has great strengths in that department still. Having said that the lines are extremely blurred now and any DAW you can buy today is more than enough to arrange/mix and even master your music on. Lots of people use Sequoia - Samplitude's big brother - in the professional world for mastering for example. You can find cracks of all these programs except for Cubase Pro which has never been cracked due to its world class dongle protection. Elements has essentially been cracked with an 'extender' that provides much improved functionality making it a lot closer to Cubase Pro in features.

Samplitude is good and a lot of fun but it's a bit clunky and unstable. I like it though. It has some stand out features like true object editing of parts - a very powerful feature. Studio One has kind of the same type of concept and that is also a real powerhouse of a production system. In fact, Studio One Pro is probably closest to my main DAW. It was coded by the guys that left Steinberg and coded the original Cubase. It's got powerful Midi and Audio and editing features and it even includes a dedicated Mastering section with encoding for stuff like burning masters. It's also very stable these days, even though it can be a bit fucky still for some people.

You really need to test these things out just to see how they work on your computer system. Sometimes they place nice, but any software can be moody on any system. Best to check or even build a dedicated DAW computer if you can afford it and know what you are doing. Several companies like Scan make great computers for audio starting around the 1k price range. You get the benefit of it being properly tested plus the warranty if anything goes wrong.

A really fun program to use is Reason, which is getting a new update that gives it high-res graphics - it's a major upgrade that people have been asking for for years. Their new subscription model is a bit shit but for now you can still buy outright. It's also a good program for beginners because of its abstraction of real studio hardware - hit 'tab' and the synths and mixers reverse and you can plug virtual cables in to whatever you like and see if it works. Might not be really necessary for everyone but as I said, it's more of a fun piece of software. Lots of serious producers use it anyway, including people like Aphex Twin, so...

Another contender for a real all in one solution DAW is Bitwig. When you buy it you get free upgrades for a year, then you have to top up after that. Mine is nearly up but I'll do what I usually do and skip a version. As long as the software is working well on my system I don't like to mess with it too much. These programs are so deep as well that about 80 percent of users will only ever be using about 20 percent of functions/features. Bitwig is coded by the guys that jumped ship from Ableton, so it subscribes to that 'Live Clip' paradigm very much. But it's also got the more traditional linear functionality built in to it. It's also great for controlling external hardware because it transmits things like MTC (midi time code) and even CV (control voltage) as well iirc. MTC is a form of SMPTE that helps different hardware sync up. CV is used for triggering analog synths.

Again, wait until they have a sale because it's not cheap. And don't forget you can get versions of the 8track DAW they do and get quite a decent amount off again (by upgrading). You can buy these for a tenner, or you can track down an online magazine that actually gives this away (for the price of the mag). You can even get it for free by downloading a cracked copy of the mag and registering it with Bitwig, then you get the discount. What was about 400 bucks is now about 100 bucks!

If money is an issue and you want to be legit, then have a look at REAPER. It's coded by the guy that did Winamp. It's essentially free anyway as it just has a nag screen that pops up on startup. But it doesn't cripple any features. It's only about 40/50 bucks anyway. It makes a great alternative to something like Live because it's got a very powerful editing system for Audio and arranging that audio in a linear fashion. It's a real Swiss Army Knife of a DAW that is always handy to have. It even has some kind of extension that gives you a similar thing to the Ableton Live 'Clips' paradigm. It's also extremely efficient on the CPU because of how it's coded, so it's great for older machines as well. It also works on Linux. I've used it with WINE and it works surprisingly well, just about flawless in fact. IIRC they also have a native Linux version. Bitwig also works great on Linux as well. Harrison Mixbus works on Linux too. More and more Linux is a real viable alternative to consider with things only getting better every day. It's not quite totally there yet, but it's moving in the right direction. There are even dedicated multimedia distros like AVLinux that make life a bit easier for you by having some software pre-installed.

Part 2:

Spoiler: VSTs

As for VSTs, I have too many to count. I have the full Komplete package by Native Instruments and that covers just about everything. As before, wait until the yearly sale. And same trick again with buying an old version of the package and upgrading from there. Same thing, what was about 400 bucks is now closer to 100 bucks. If you are patient you can get some serious savings. Komplete would probably be all you need really when you factor in the plugins that came with your DAW and what is freely available. There are some superb and stunning synths that are completely free (as in beer). It really is down to the type of music you want to make and how you want to make it. Komplete provides me with Kontakt - the industry standard sampler (if there is such a thing) - and Reaktor, pluse a whole host of decent content and some stellar synths like Massive and FM8.

My favourite sampler though is Halion 6. This can read old Akai and Emu sample CD's as well as actually providing true sampling. You can downlod .iso's from various sites, so much so that I have over half a TB of them. Your normal computer can't read them and you need special programs like CD Extract or Awave. But it's good having a software sampler that reads those formats. Ableton Live Sampler (the full version, not Simpler) can also automagically read them as well. You drag and drop the .iso file on to Sampler and it recreates the entire directory structure and tree and saves it to Ableton's internal native directory for use later on. Incredibly powerful and opens up a whole new world of sampling what with all the stuff available on the net. Any instrument or any type of loop you can think of has already been created and mapped out, ready for you to experiment with. Sampling isn't just stealing other people's music (though this is fun as well).

The Sampler plugin in Ableton live only comes in the Suite version though, it's not in the Standard version. Same advice here, upgrade slowly and wait for sales, though the abes are stingy german bastards and hardly ever give much off. There are very good working cracks of the full suite out there but I think they provide something like a 2 month fully working demo, so maybe they aren't so stingy after all. Having said that, the Simpler plugin will do the bizz with basic sampling duties for a lot of people who just want something quick and dirty to play with. I use it all the time. It's very powerful even if it doesn't have the sample library reading ability of its big brother.

Another good option for basic sampling is TAL Sampler. TAL make top notch stuff and their free stuff should be one of the first stop off points for any budding producer. They make excellent effects as well. If you are looking for an all in one bundle to cover most bases in the effects department, then have a look at Melda stuff. Their free bundle is free (as in beer) but it's crippled. I think it's about 50 bucks or so to get the upgrade which is well worth it. It's got you covered for just about any effects VST you would need, and you can save options and resize and more with the paid 'Free' version.

It's good advice as well to not buy too many effects VSTs when you are starting off. The ones that came with your DAW will be sufficient until you learn how to use them. Maybe buy one 3rd party Compressor, Equalizer, Reverb, but don't go mad. Klanghelm make top notch stuff for very little money as do TDR. Lots of youtube tutorials on how to use these things if you didn't already know. It will take a long time, but you need to put the work in until it really clicks for you and it becomes second nature and you can really focus on the music.

Part 3:

Spoiler: Recording

As for recording methods, it's all well and good recording in to the computer via soundcard or usb interface, but sometimes you just want to do it the old fashioned and more immediate way. I have a Tascam DP32 for multitrack digital recording. Quality is amazing. You can buy Zoom multitracks as well for around the same price or much cheaper. Some of these units have added functionality like built in samplers. Talking of samplers...

If you can afford it, and if the workflow suits you, get something like an Akai MPC One. Ok it's 600 bucks, but what it can do is nothing short of amazing. It's not just a sampler/drum machine, it's a whole Midi production hub for controlling other synths/drum machines/samplers. It's probably the best bang for buck unit on the market right now. It has the same software and hardware as the much more expensive top of the range units like the MPC-X. You can download the cracked version of the MPC beats software to see if it clicks with you. This will run on your PC and you can use different controllers with it. Obviously the experience of using it built in to the MPC One will be slightly different, but it gives you a rough idea of what to expect.

You can use the MPC as an audio recorder as well, though it's a little limited in some regards. The whole is still greater than the sum of its parts though when you add up all that it can do. It can fire out MTC for syncing up your other units and it includes an auto sampler function for making presets of your hardware synths. It's getting some great updates and everyone is eagerly waiting for what Akai will pull out of the bag when the v3.0 Beats software comes out.

 

[SamuellyGenie]

Still use Sony Acid Pro 7, hasn't failed me yet. I tried out some other briefly, but I feel like it would take me too long to figure out how to use anything else and would just be spending time trying to do something that I can already do now, just with a very old program. That's also why I use Vegas for video editing because the interface and all the shortcuts are pretty much the same and I can get stuff done really quickly.

 

[Spermatozoa]

So many great DAW's it really comes down to your workflow.

Are you all software based, are you looking to compose songs or just to multitrack record instruments- there's at least 2 options for each craft method, imo.

i am very fond of the digital enviornment and use Reason and Ableton
Prior to that I had alot of hardware and was using Cakewalk (DONT USE) and Cubase

They have some now like Prosonous that have some amazing automation and workflow. For begineers and hobbiests, you should check out Reaper- it's one of the most underappreciated apps eva- It harks back to the days when Acid Pro worked the best.

- If you are a mac user- Logic and Garageband are great.

Right now, I am spending so much time in Korg Gadget sculpting out the basics of a track- that it allows me to easily export to Abelton which has become an industry standard tbh and arrange more serious tracks.

DM me and I can share a shitload of info with anyone interested.

tapped this out in Gadget in a few minutes: Was going for a Robot / Clockwork orange theme - figured it was pretty specific and hard for one app to do it, but I think I nailed it with Korg's

https://voca.ro/1frEGSNXPngS

 

[feetlover84]

I used ableton in the past but after resetting my pc I was too lazy to pirate it again so I checked for free DAWs and am using waveform now. It is sufficient for basic arrangements for sure. Plug-ins are a must have of course. I managed fine in ableton without any but waveform is hardly usable out of the box. I am not a serious artist so who knows if my experience applies for anyone with ambition.

 

[Jewthulhu]

FL Studio. Use Serum as my primary synth and I have been messing around with pirated versions of Kick2 and Synth1. Been too lazy or busy unfortunately to do much with it though. My main issue so far is that resampling seems a lot more streamlined and intuitive on other DAWs compared to FL studio.