So New To Producing I Have No DAW Software! Which do I start with?

BackToWizzerk

New member
I'm about as big as a noob as you can get when it comes to producing and DAW programs. I have no special external hardware, no MiDi's, just a laptop and desktop, both with above average specs, and the desire to learn a DAW program.

I've heard of Pro Tools, FL studio, Ableton, etc, and I've done my research, but it seems there is no perfect choice for what's best for a beginner. Every website I visit, everyone has their own opinions and reason as to why their opinion is better than someone's elses, and there's nothing wrong with an opinion, that's why I'm here asking for yours! It seems there is no factual answer to which DAW is best, so please leave your opinion!

I have a Lynda.com subscription and many free hours each day to pour into learning a DAW. I understand these programs are expensive, please do not factor price into your recommendation.

So! What DAW would you recommend to someone in my position, and why! Thanks for your opinion and suggestions :-)
 
It's a pretty tough choice to make, none of em are bad. Choose one that you simply like using more than the rest and only get a second if it really works with the first choice really well. I'd recommend Fl studio, ableton or reaper as a first daw.
There is no best. If you have no desire at all for midi hardware, I would strongly suggest a daw that would cater best to how you use a mouse.
 
FL Studio. You'll either stick with it and respect it's universal design, or move on to something you feel does a better job. Either way, you win.
 
Most (not all) DAWs have some kind of a trial version available. Try them out, that's the only way to find out which one'll suit ya.
 
FL studio just released their latest version and its relatively cheap with free lifetime updates. I have pro tools ableton and FL and i keep going back to FL because its what i started with. mess around with some trial versions watch some youtube videos
 
I've used both FLS and Live software, but i must say i always come back to Ableton, even though my first DAW ever was from Image-Line. Probably the matter of becoming familiar with Ableton. I don't regret switching to it though; try both and decide!
 
Ableton Live and Studio One are both good for beginners who want to progress. Ableton Live has its own way of doing things that is a little different from most DAWs, but that makes it simpler, IMO. Also, Linda.com only has one course for Studio One at the moment, but quite a few for Ableton Live.
 
Don't buy anything. Just use demo software until you figure out what you want to do. People waste money on stuff and six months later, they are bored. Use the demo software to see if you even care after making a bunch of garbage.

If you can survive a year or two of making songs that are not meant for radio, you will be okay. If not, life goes on. But don't waste any money on it yet. Just get out here and make as much music as you can with the demo software. You will get an understanding as to whether music is for you or if you are caught up in the hype.
 
If you are from the US I'll get Protools, that's the standard of the high-end industry so if you'll be getting there on day you won't have any prblem blending in
I use Cubase in the US and having a hard time, in Europe I didn't have that problem
Logic is the second choice around here
 
FL Studio. You'll either stick with it and respect it's universal design, or move on to something you feel does a better job. Either way, you win.

I dont know a lot about FL but what do you mean by universal design? Dont you have to assign channels to the mixer? Im sure there are other things but I always assumed FL was full of shortcuts and workarounds which is why people liked it so much.
 
If you are from the US I'll get Protools, that's the standard of the high-end industry so if you'll be getting there on day you won't have any prblem blending in
I use Cubase in the US and having a hard time, in Europe I didn't have that problem
Logic is the second choice around here

Yah if he will be working in other studios with clients and playing the 'traditional producer' role he doesn't have a choice. He has to learn Pro Tools. But I dont think thats the case here, I think he's just talking about working from home on electronic music. I still use pro tools for that so I'm not saying dont get it. Just saying, Pro Tools being the standard is only relevant if he plans on working in studios as an engineer or with recording artists. But i doubt he is.
 
It all depends on what you want to do with it and what the focus of yer production will be. For example, if yer gonna be primarily making beats and not recording any actual live instruments or vocals, then you need software with strong sequencing/prgramming/editing capabilities plus great virtual instruments & samplers. If you'll be doing mainly live recordings, then you should look for software that has strong audio capabilities and excellent routing options. If you'll be doing a combination of both, then you need a bit of everything.

My number one piece of advice would be to avoid ProTools like the effin' plague, especially if yer rocking a PC/Windows. Avid (the company that makes ProTools) is in a severe decline in terms of their business structure & profitability right now; their customer service has always been a bit of joke but lately it's so bad it seems like a prank show on TV, and consequently ProTools is losing users rapidly. Also, there are SO many other options at MUCH more affordable prices these days, it makes NO sense whatsoever to use ProTools.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Reason for numerous reasons, but especially where beatmaking/sampling/looping/programming is concerned. It's ridiculously powerful but really easy to use. You can literally be up & running and making beats within ten minutes of finishing the software installation, but that barely scratches the surface. I've been using Reason since 2.0 (they're on 8.1 now), so it's been over a decade, and I'm *STILL* discovering new tricks and whatnot. There are a few minor drawbacks to Reason; the #1 complaint I hear is that it uses proprietary plug-ins called Rack Extensions and is not compatible with any of the popular plug-in formats like AU, VST, RTA, etc. However, the upside to Rack Extensions is their affordability: much like Reason itself (you can buy the full version of Reason for only $399 USD, whereas ProTools is $899; Logic is $599; and Ableton Pro Full is $799), the Rack Extensions are really affordable. The most expensive one available now is around $150; that's probably the lowest price you'd find for most plug-ins in the other formats compatible with ProTools, Logic, Ableton, etc.

You can download a full version of Reason on Propellerhead's website and it's fully functional, except you can't save yer work or bounce a song down to stereo format until you pay for the software. But you'll get a really good idea of how it works and the high quality of the samples & loops included with the purchase price. That's the one thing I didn't mention: the amount of instruments, samples, loops, & effects that come with Reason is just INSANE. And like the software and the Rack Extensions, you can purchase additional samples, loops, presets for instruments/effects, and other instruments & effects themselves for EXTREMELY low prices, both from Propellerhead and third-party developers.

I'm positive someone on this forum will scoff at my recommendation to use Reason; it gets a pretty bad rap for some reason (no pun intended...haha). I work at a few pro/commercial studios here in Chicago, and nearly all of the engineers laugh when I say I prefer Reason over ProTools, but to me, it's all about what you like and are comfortable with and can get work done with. There are just so many options nowadays, and you should be open to all of them. I'd jump on YouTube and look for reviews for Reason, ProTools, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Nuendo, Reaper...oh yeah, there's a fairly new addition to the DAW world called BitWig. If yer brand-new to the audio/production world, I'd *HIGHLY* recommend checking out BitWig. Like Reason, it's REALLY affordable, and like Reason, it's pretty revolutionary for its time. Explaining exactly *why* it's revolutionary would take me WAY too long, as I'd have to explain how previous DAWs worked and then how BitWig works and then maybe you'd see the difference. But I say you should check it out if yer "brand-new" to this field because you won't have the limiting mindset that someone who has been using and is used to other DAWs would have.

Sorry for the novel; I hope that helps.
 
It all depends on what you want to do with it and what the focus of yer production will be. For example, if yer gonna be primarily making beats and not recording any actual live instruments or vocals, then you need software with strong sequencing/prgramming/editing capabilities plus great virtual instruments & samplers. If you'll be doing mainly live recordings, then you should look for software that has strong audio capabilities and excellent routing options. If you'll be doing a combination of both, then you need a bit of everything.

My number one piece of advice would be to avoid ProTools like the effin' plague, especially if yer rocking a PC/Windows. Avid (the company that makes ProTools) is in a severe decline in terms of their business structure & profitability right now; their customer service has always been a bit of joke but lately it's so bad it seems like a prank show on TV, and consequently ProTools is losing users rapidly. Also, there are SO many other options at MUCH more affordable prices these days, it makes NO sense whatsoever to use ProTools.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Reason for numerous reasons, but especially where beatmaking/sampling/looping/programming is concerned. It's ridiculously powerful but really easy to use. You can literally be up & running and making beats within ten minutes of finishing the software installation, but that barely scratches the surface. I've been using Reason since 2.0 (they're on 8.1 now), so it's been over a decade, and I'm *STILL* discovering new tricks and whatnot. There are a few minor drawbacks to Reason; the #1 complaint I hear is that it uses proprietary plug-ins called Rack Extensions and is not compatible with any of the popular plug-in formats like AU, VST, RTA, etc. However, the upside to Rack Extensions is their affordability: much like Reason itself (you can buy the full version of Reason for only $399 USD, whereas ProTools is $899; Logic is $599; and Ableton Pro Full is $799), the Rack Extensions are really affordable. The most expensive one available now is around $150; that's probably the lowest price you'd find for most plug-ins in the other formats compatible with ProTools, Logic, Ableton, etc.

You can download a full version of Reason on Propellerhead's website and it's fully functional, except you can't save yer work or bounce a song down to stereo format until you pay for the software. But you'll get a really good idea of how it works and the high quality of the samples & loops included with the purchase price. That's the one thing I didn't mention: the amount of instruments, samples, loops, & effects that come with Reason is just INSANE. And like the software and the Rack Extensions, you can purchase additional samples, loops, presets for instruments/effects, and other instruments & effects themselves for EXTREMELY low prices, both from Propellerhead and third-party developers.

I'm positive someone on this forum will scoff at my recommendation to use Reason; it gets a pretty bad rap for some reason (no pun intended...haha). I work at a few pro/commercial studios here in Chicago, and nearly all of the engineers laugh when I say I prefer Reason over ProTools, but to me, it's all about what you like and are comfortable with and can get work done with. There are just so many options nowadays, and you should be open to all of them. I'd jump on YouTube and look for reviews for Reason, ProTools, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Nuendo, Reaper...oh yeah, there's a fairly new addition to the DAW world called BitWig. If yer brand-new to the audio/production world, I'd *HIGHLY* recommend checking out BitWig. Like Reason, it's REALLY affordable, and like Reason, it's pretty revolutionary for its time. Explaining exactly *why* it's revolutionary would take me WAY too long, as I'd have to explain how previous DAWs worked and then how BitWig works and then maybe you'd see the difference. But I say you should check it out if yer "brand-new" to this field because you won't have the limiting mindset that someone who has been using and is used to other DAWs would have.

Sorry for the novel; I hope that helps.


Logic is not 599.
 
Logic is not 599.

That's the cheapest price I can find for a new, full version of the latest release of Logic Studio. But then again, I am not a fan of Apple/Macintosh products in general so I don't use iTunes, which might be the reason i'm finding inaccurate (well, according to the above poster) pricing for it.
 
I'm just saying reason is not superior to protools for the price, but it's...just what some dudes myself included prefer heavily.
 
My number one piece of advice would be to avoid ProTools like the effin' plague, especially if yer rocking a PC/Windows. Avid (the company that makes ProTools) is in a severe decline in terms of their business structure & profitability right now; their customer service has always been a bit of joke but lately it's so bad it seems like a prank show on TV, and consequently ProTools is losing users rapidly. Also, there are SO many other options at MUCH more affordable prices these days, it makes NO sense whatsoever to use ProTools.

Someones been reading too many blogs haha. yes AVID is a joke to deal with, never had to deal with em though so i dont care. But they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. And either way thats what the DUC forums are for. But pro tools isn't going anywhere and it never will. The only reason AVID are being dicks right now is because they know that people dont have a choice. Their demographic is a lot bigger than bedroom producers, they have the studio and post production market on more than a lock. Their milking it and they're dicks for it, but it doesn't take anything away from the software, which is all i care about.

I work with audio for video post production and music. There is no other option than pro tools for me, and there won't be for a long time. At least with the same flexibility for both fields. And I like how it worked out like that, because i genuinely like using pro tools over ableton or reason for music as well. The workflow is more fun/engineer like.

I agree about AVID, but its a non issue for me. For now anyway. All i care about is the software, not the people sitting behind it.

One thing will always be true though, if you're fast in pro tools. Youll never be as fast in another daw. The ease of zooming and speed editing in pro tools doesn't seem appealing until you use it everyday. I could never imagine having to go into another daw and having to use a zoom tool or even a keyboard shortcut to zoom lol..id be punching my screen out of frustration. Its the little things like that that you can do that make pro tools huge, everyone concentrates on the big things and neglects the perks they dont know about because they've never taken the time to get used to it. When you take the time to get used to it (actual time, ive been using it a year everyday with training and I'm just starting to get fast) thats when you start realizing you'd never want to work in another DAW when you can work this easily with the keyboard. Not saying you havent, but obviously your complaint is more about the politics of it, which i dont care about as much. If i owned a commercial studio and worked with a ton of HD rigs i might be a little more mad. But i just have a full version of pro tools 50% off cuz the student discount, cheaper than ableton. Cant really go wrong if you take the time to learn it and dont need to call customer service ever.

Not to mention the job opportunities that arise just for being good in pro tools. No other daw gives you that extra perk, and its just something that comes with everyday use. You dont even have to make it a goal. first your making music next thing you know you might have a job in a post house making good money. Will never run into that using ableton or FL.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top