Need Help Picking First Software Program

I

Ishkodenini

New member
Hi guys this is my first post. I'm 20 years old, live in rural Michigan and want to start recording some raps.

I'm willing to buy a new laptop and a software program. I mainly want to focus on lyrics and find others' beats to use. Will one of the FL studio versions work to:

Record vocals
Edit them in with beats and such (not familiar with music terms, or what "mixing" or "sampling" really means")

What software would you recommend?
 
Everyone will have a different opinion on what is the best software program. It is like asking.."what is the best car to drive?"

The best thing to do is get your hands on some demos and check them out yourself. Only you know what works for you and the style in which you will learn.

Since this will be your first DAW you may want to go with something with a small learning curve like FL Studio and then later move into something else, Pro Tools, Cubase, ect.. The choice is up to you of course, but I would look for something fairly easy to learn and that won't cost you much money. Who knows you may find creating music is tougher than you thought and quit. No sense spending a bunch of money at this point.

I would recommend maybe Reaper (its cheap) or FL Studio along with Audacity for recording to get you started, but try out some demos.
 
FL studio would suit you just fine, it can do everything you imagine, all DAW's can do all these things, but some just work differently, and fit to personal needs, and using other peoples beats and record your own stuff over it is not exactly a big ask from any program, so if you already have FL studio, then there is no reason not to have a go at that, maybe at a later stage when you know more about what a DAW actually can do, you might realize you want a change because you don't like this workflow.

Mixing is when you make sure all your sounds are balanced out, every sound has enough space in the mix all levels are ok and all sounds have been properly EQ'd (cutting away unnecessary frequencies in a sound, you will be surprised of how much bass and weight there will be in a crash when you might not want that at all, interfering with the low frequencies of your kick for example, and other sounds might need a little boost in certain frequencies), but also putting compressors on, reverbs, stereo enhancers etc, basically anything where you are aiming for the quality of your overall sound, and sampling is when for example you cut a violin out of another track, and reuse it in your own maybe repeating it or putting some other effects on top of it like a delay.

I hope you can understand this, I have got a article on my blog talking about a couple of popular DAW's, have a look.
 
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I love Fl Studio but if you are going to be recording vocals I would NOT recommend it!

The best deal out there is the Presonus 1box Bundle. It comes with a Mic, Headphones, Audio interface (thing you plug your Mic into), Presonus Studio 1 artist software and all the cables to hook everything up. It's usually $300 but on sale right now for $250....you can't beat that anywhere

AudioBoxStu-xlarge.jpg



Presonus Studio 1 is a great DAW and gives you a straight forward approach to recording. It also comes with a tutorial DVD to get you started.

PreSonus Audio Box Studio | Sweetwater.com
 
choices....

I use reaon 5 and ableton 8 and im hooked on ableton at the moment all programs have there advantages maybe down load the demo's on the ones that interest you and then decide.
 
Best thing to do is to download a few demos and see which you prefer. I'd take a look at Reaper.
 
It all definitely depends on the person, but I chose Ableton Live for its simplicity and smooth workflow.
 
Beats09 said:
I love Fl Studio but if you are going to be recording vocals I would NOT recommend it!

The best deal out there is the Presonus 1box Bundle. It comes with a Mic, Headphones, Audio interface (thing you plug your Mic into), Presonus Studio 1 artist software and all the cables to hook everything up. It's usually $300 but on sale right now for $250....you can't beat that anywhere

AudioBoxStu-xlarge.jpg



Presonus Studio 1 is a great DAW and gives you a straight forward approach to recording. It also comes with a tutorial DVD to get you started.
Click to expand...

I know this doesn't pertain to this thread but is the mic any good in this bundle, has anyone bought the bundle, how is it?
 
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About those DAW demos: what are the limitations of the demo versions? Do they not let you do certain things? Do they run out and stop working after a while?
 
Viking Warrior said:
About those DAW demos: what are the limitations of the demo versions? Do they not let you do certain things? Do they run out and stop working after a while?
Click to expand...

usually you are able to access all the features of the full versions but you're not able to save any music you create.
 
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Tallhane said:
usually you are able to access all the features of the full versions but you're not able to save any music you create.
Click to expand...
So technically you could do all your work on the demo version and put the finished production on your Soundcloud page if you had one and go that route? Or is that no doable?
 
I agree with beats09, but he will have to upgrade to studio one pro to mix and master his final product. Reaper is cheap and very good. My first daw was pro tools 6, then i went to cubase, NOW I USE STUDIO ONE PRO. It depends on ur budget but the top 5 daws u cant go wrong. Do not get fl studio for mastering and recording vocals, it sux in quality.
beats09 said:
i love fl studio but if you are going to be recording vocals i would not recommend it!

The best deal out there is the presonus 1box bundle. It comes with a mic, headphones, audio interface (thing you plug your mic into), presonus studio 1 artist software and all the cables to hook everything up. It's usually $300 but on sale right now for $250....you can't beat that anywhere

audioboxstu-xlarge.jpg



presonus studio 1 is a great daw and gives you a straight forward approach to recording. It also comes with a tutorial dvd to get you started.

presonus audio box studio | sweetwater.com
Click to expand...
 
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It depends on the program and it will be listed on their websites.. some might not let you save or render, some might have a limit on the amount of channels you can add, things like that, I am pretty sure that the reaper demo is forever completely free, it is more of a donation system.
 
Coming from a fellow rapper..

Choosing your DAW all comes down to your preference and how you choose to work. The only advantage each DAW has over another one is its workflow.

Some people prefer Presonus. Some people choose Ableton. Personally, I absolutely love Adobe Audition for vocals. I've been using it since its Cool Edit days in 2000-ish, and I pretty much know it by heart already. But I'm making the switch to Reaper since I'm starting to do my own beats with VSTs, and I don't think Audition has MIDI input or whatever.

I would read reviews and watch Youtube videos on any of the following DAWs:

- Reaper
- Logic Pro
- Adobe Audition
- Cubase
- Cakewalk Sonar
- Presonus Studio One
- Propellerheads Record (soon to be Reason 6)
- Ableton Live

Download demos too and try importing a beat and spitting a basic freestyle, then see which one you like the best. Like many things with music, no one has the right answer -- only you will find out for yourself.

====

Oh yeah. If you don't have the equipment yet, don't expect to get good quality rapping into your laptop's built-in microphone. Shell out a few bucks for a condenser mic and an audio interface (preferably with a built-in preamp like the ones from Focusrite). The Presonus bundle Beats09 posted looks like a great deal though.
 
Tallhane said:
I know this doesn't pertain to this thread but is the mic any good in this bundle, has anyone bought the bundle, how is it?
Click to expand...

I haven't used the M7 but I would assume that it is decent enough for your first Mic. The good thing about this bundle is that it gives you EVERYTHING you need to get started. Then you can upgrade each piece as you go.
 
I use Fruity Loops 10 (don't care about the version,,whether is FL 8, 9, or 10 you can always update the version)for making n composing the beat,, n Cakewalk Sonar 8 for recording vocals

its fits on me ,,, :)
 
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