What daw software you recomend?

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Deimantas Reimant

New member
Hello. What daw software would you recomend to start making electronic music with? Please say you top daw software. What daw you started with, and what software are you using at the moment? Which software would you say is most professional? etc....
 
I started with software I wrote in vax vms basic and fortran for generating tone rows and inversions and deriving the chord multiplication matrix espoused by Pierre Boulez

Then I wrote some similar programs in vic basic for the commodore vic20

next came pro 16 for the commodore 64

closely followed by pro 24 for the atari st512 and mega2st

then e-magic logic for the atari as well

later came e-mafic logic (the daw) for pc and cubase vst32 score V2

then cubase vst32 score v5.1 for pc

also finale notepad+ 2k2, 2k5 and 2k7

currently using cubase v5.5.3 for pc, reason 6.5 in xp, reason 8 in win 7, reaper and fl10producer (rarely use this but it is installed for collabs) also have supercollider and puredata (a open source version of max) installed for experimental work, and tuxguitar tabbing parts for clueless guitarists

have garritan gpo 3 and 4, JaBB 2 and 3, CaMB 1 and 2, miroslav philharmonick, komplete 8 ultimate (moving to 10 next year along with a komplete kontroller)

for beginners I recommend reaper (free never ending demo that works, $60 to license) and suggest that you look at kvr audio free plugins/libraries
 
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Yay this post!

Do some research using the 'search' function in this form to see what others have said (Maybe someone has a tabbed list they can link that will direct you to all the subthreads?)

I ultimately decided on Ableton as my DAW of choice because it doesn't look like i'm using a cartoon studio (like some other options out there). I'm someone who always chooses appearance over quality, which is why I choose Ableton (The layout is also something that appeals way more to me). It definitely has it's benefits over other DAWs, but also lacks in other areas. if you have a Mac, check out logic as it's only available to apple users (and you may like what it has to offer/ flow/ capabilities). If not then just do some research, watch some youtube clips, and choose one that appears to your overall taste.

cheers
 
Sequence2 said:
Yay this post!

Do some research using the 'search' function in this form to see what others have said (Maybe someone has a tabbed list they can link that will direct you to all the subthreads?)

I ultimately decided on Ableton as my DAW of choice because it doesn't look like i'm using a cartoon studio (like some other options out there). I'm someone who always chooses appearance over quality, which is why I choose Ableton (The layout is also something that appeals way more to me). It definitely has it's benefits over other DAWs, but also lacks in other areas. if you have a Mac, check out logic as it's only available to apple users (and you may like what it has to offer/ flow/ capabilities). If not then just do some research, watch some youtube clips, and choose one that appears to your overall taste.

cheers
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You base your choice on appearance and went with ableton? grossssss. haha thats the first I've ever heard something like that.

I dont think I've ever met one person who likes the look of ableton, it reminds me of some fisher price cheap software based on the looks haha. But whatever i never have cared about that. I just think abletons ugly.
 
Sequence2 said:
Yay this post!

Do some research using the 'search' function in this form to see what others have said (Maybe someone has a tabbed list they can link that will direct you to all the subthreads?)

I ultimately decided on Ableton as my DAW of choice because it doesn't look like i'm using a cartoon studio (like some other options out there). I'm someone who always chooses appearance over quality, which is why I choose Ableton (The layout is also something that appeals way more to me). It definitely has it's benefits over other DAWs, but also lacks in other areas. if you have a Mac, check out logic as it's only available to apple users (and you may like what it has to offer/ flow/ capabilities). If not then just do some research, watch some youtube clips, and choose one that appears to your overall taste.

cheers
Click to expand...

Funny you would mention the aesthetics of Ableton. I find it extremely boring and uninspiring to even look at. I know it doesn't make any difference how it looks like.. But my god what a relief it was to finally get out of that grey zone into something else. :P
 
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Wallengard said:
Funny you would mention the aesthetics of Ableton. I find it extremely born and uninspiring to even look at. I know it doesn't make any difference how it looks like.. But my god what a relief it was to finally get out of that grey zone into something else. :P
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hahaha we said the same thing at the same time
 
Yumid said:
hahaha we said the same thing at the same time
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Hehe, well.. It's very true. How can one work with loving deep music and look at a dull grey screen every day? I know it has other colours, but those colours are absolutely horrendous.. How did they even manage to get all the colours or the visible spectrum and not find a single one that is aesthetically pleasing? I'm not using it anymore, but either way I didn't change because Ableton looks ugly.. Even though it is. Can't stress that fact enough. :P

@Sequence2 why the **** would you choose looks over quality? Why?! I will never understand this so don't even bother to reply to it. Jesus
 
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Ableton is all I know of. But I like it for the most part.

It's effects are very good for EDM. Clear, transparent, nice sounding for EDM.

It looks EDM oriented.

I don't recommend Suite unless you want it's awesome vocoder or any of it' s Suite features. Analog is too hard to work with but there are packs you can purchase for presets that are unbelievable. Operator is da bomb and Sampler can be useful to some people.

Ableton kills it for clear effects but you will need a better limiter. I use Waves.com Limiters.

Ableton multi band compressor is cool even though it is only 3 band in 8. I don't know about 9. Ableton has great effects.
 
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I can just talk for myself, but I started with FL Studio and I still use it and love it!
There are really some people hating that program, cause it appears "cheap" to them or something.
And having used other things like Ableton or Logic I can confirm: It's onboard-FX aren't the best compared to the other interfaces.
But you know what? I don't use ANY one from FL Studio itself. Everything is third-party based plugin content.
I mean, in the end it's just a "surface".
I found myself working different with other programs, but I found out for myself why that was and then knew it was my thinking which had to be changed.
You really have to get into ONE program, you have to know it well to let your workflow unbounded and get your own working method.
I mean to be serious I can't say I recommend you DEFINITELY to use FL Studio, it's just what I worked with for years now and I never stop gaining production skills.
Many professinals use it, but as I said: Look what really gets you, I don't really care about the appearance, you have to find that out for yourself.
I think if you're talented and let a lot of energy flow into music making, you can get big with every daw. Or at least with one of the big ones:
Ableton, Logic, Cubase, FL Studio, ..
 
I use FL studio for composing, though I really think about getting Ableton. For mixing and mastering I use REAPER; really cheap and got everything you need.
 
Studio one and reason on desktops/laps, a combo.
Fl 12 is a perfect mobile daw too.[although I never ever fully understood the best way to use pattern mode]
Reaper because it's similar to S1.

The only things i can think of negatively about the other daws is that if you want to use a stepmode, you have to create a midi file thats a bar long and chop it into 16ths and mute everything, save it then unmute the individual little blocks.
And wait for input needs to be a thing, badly.
 
KonKossKang said:
Studio one and reason on desktops/laps, a combo.
Fl 12 is a perfect mobile daw too.[although I never ever fully understood the best way to use pattern mode]
Reaper because it's similar to S1.

The only things i can think of negatively about the other daws is that if you want to use a stepmode, you have to create a midi file thats a bar long and chop it into 16ths and mute everything, save it then unmute the individual little blocks.
And wait for input needs to be a thing, badly.
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Cubase has had decent step input since it was on the Atari, you activate step input, enter notes with your MIDI keyboard and enter rests and quantization values with your QWERTY keyboard.
 
Deimantas Reimant said:
Hello. What daw software would you recomend to start making electronic music with? Please say you top daw software. What daw you started with, and what software are you using at the moment? Which software would you say is most professional? etc....
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Honestly, a lot of people will give you a lot of different feedback on this subject.
However, there is no definitive answer other than this:
Whatever the hell you want.
*But whatever u pick, stick with it!*
I've been on the same daw for years and am still learning new subtle little tricks within it. And the knowledge I've gained is definitely transferable to other daw's.The most "professional" is pro tools because that is the industry standard (or at least it was). But that doesn't matter much.

You learn the various controls within whatever daw you choose and those controls are universal & transferable to other daw's.

So tbh my answer would be this:
If you're just starting out, regardless of genre, pick a daw with a simple learning curve - Like FL Studio or Logic/Reason.

Other software assumes a certain level of prior understanding that you may or may not have and will only screw you in the long run if you don't already know the in's and outs.

So you mentioned "start making electronic music with". Your music's quality and how well your listeners respond to it is going to be based off of your skill in musical arrangement/music theory/so many other things waaaaay before choice of daw even comes into play.

So again, pick one that you can learn quickly from. :)
 
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