Help with software for home studio?

KarteBlanche

New member
I have been making instrumentals and producing hiphop music for like 15 years, but I want to upgrade to my equipment. Software wise I always used cool edit/adobe audition 2.5 for producing songs and mixing. I know that's laughable to most of you, but I had all my vocal effects set the way I liked them and I was comfortable with it. All these years I was using a windows computer, and this also was the only program that didn't lag or have a vocal lag. I recently just purchased a brand new iMac and I figure this computer deserves to have better software. For instrumental making I have always used Propellerhead reason and Recycle. My beat making is 'ok sounding', but I feel like it would be better if I knew how to mix and master better. To do this I need a better multitrack mixing program. I have messed around with Cubase and the newest Audition, but they are complicated and there is a bit of learning curve from what I was using.

I have a few questions...

1. What program do you feel is best for mixing instrumentals? Singers / Rappers?

2. Is there some kind of guide or tutorial that can show me how to mix / master / engineer a song with professional quality?

I find that when I watch a video on youtube of someone making a beat with reason that it sounds mediocre usually, and then at the end when they give a clip of the finished product it sounds great. My problem is that I will make a beat that might sound decent on the program, but it never really sounds finalized. Basically what I do is I take it from reason, put it in Adobe Audition, add some amplification or sometimes effects and then load it on my page. I really don't have a clue how to master but I would like to learn. What are some of the things that should be done to master a instrumental/song? Or what procedure do you guys follow? I really appreciate and help that you guys are willing to give. Thanks

To get an idea of some of my mediocre work you can check soundcloud.com/karteblanche914
 
I'm a cubase user and a really big fan.

I learnt on Cubase but also use logic pro and pro tools a fair bit. I'd say just pick one and learn it inside out. I'd recommend learning on logic, cubase or ableton for beat making. No matter what program you pick it's gonna be a steep learning curve, especially to reach that 'professional quality' level. There's no real 'best' for all daw.

My advice for 1. would be watch some indepth tutorial videos on cubase, ableton, logic etc and see which one matches your workflow best.

as far as mastering stage is concerned... there is no point in learning how to master if you can't mix. With a good mix, there isn't much need for mastering, but you can't fix a bad mix through mastering.

For 2. this youtube channel will teach you everything you need to know to get to a pro level: https://www.youtube.com/user/pointblankonline/videos?sort=p&view=0&flow=grid

your music is really good, just as you said gotta work on polishing it up. good luck bud
 
I'm a Reason/S1/Fl studio/Cubase user.
not too sure tbh but I think the best daw...is the learned daw.

Second one is youtube and the manual.
 
Thanks for all the imput.

I like to use reason to actually make the beats as I like its setup, and I do a little mixing there sometimes, but sometimes I will take each individual track and mix them in a secondary like audition or cubase. As far as Cubase goes, I have watched maybe 10 videos and the learning curve is definitely steep. My issue is that most of the videos I watch use earlier versions of Cubase like 5 or lower. The one I am using right now is Cubase Element 8, and it seems like I keep running into issues like somethings not where its shown in the videos, not featured at all, etc. Should I be looking to get an earlier version? Is there a version of Cubase that many would agree is better? I saw some people used the rewire for Reason and recorded directly into Cubase which could be cool and a nice way of eliminating the task of exporting and importing each individual track, but it is not featured on the version I am running.

I will definitely check out the manual, but I'm more of a visual learner. I know Reason pretty damn good. I learned a lot from a friend who showed it to me, and I learned a lot more watching little tips and production videos on youtube. I feel like there is always more to learn but I feel like I have reason down pretty good. Cubase is my next conquest, and learning the art of mixing is a top priority. Is there somewhere that shows the basics of mixing ie. when and which tracks to pan, suitable levels for bass and other instruments, filters, equalizers, frequency. Although, I use equalizers, and occasionally throw around different frequencies, I really have no idea what I'm doing in that department and sometimes its hard to tell what sounds good. If I had something that kind of gave an idea of the do's and dont's it would definitely be helpful because I know that sometimes I am turning knobs where I shouldn't be. Once again, thanks for all the help, it is definitely much appreciated.
 
Like already stated above, there is no best software for mixing on a pro level. If you know how to mix, you can do it in any DAW. It's really about learning the concepts and putting them into practice. And then, like with any skill, practice, practice, practice....

Another good youtube channel to learn mixing is https://www.youtube.com/user/theproaudiofiles

For the DAW, this really is a matter of taste and workflow. On the mac I consider Logic to be the best bang for the buck, though I'm working with Ableton and Pro Tools myself.
 
I get what you are saying about DAWs all being pretty similar and that there is no best, but I was asking as far as Cubase goes if one version is preferable to the next. Like I said I was used to cool edit before they got bought out by adobe and changed to audition. In cool edit, and adobe audition 2.5, I had a few presets and effects that were taken out of all subsequent releases. When I watch the Cubase videos 90% of the people are working on Cubase 5 or earlier, and when I try and replicate some of the things I see in the videos the effects and setting have been moved or removed all together. Like with the Reason rewire. I might check out Logic as well, but what version of Cubase do you run when you use(d) it.
 
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