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Post by stormcrow on Oct 3, 2019 1:25:47 GMT -5
As far as I can tell (and I'm not the most experienced), DAWs are the most utilitarian part of your kit. They're not there to produce a certain 'sound', they're just there to organize your ideas in the most efficient way for you. correct!
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Post by castlezagyx on Oct 3, 2019 12:47:15 GMT -5
You're right, DAW is like a screwdriver, merely a tool, but you has your hands and your mind! However, a DAW can condition or determine your workflow on a slightly way. It's not the same using FL, Ableton, SoundForge, Bitwig or a tracker like Renoise; as it's not the same using a substractive synth, a modular, a granular and so on. Your music will be in some manner influenced by the tool. Anyway, it's a good practice downloading the demo software and try it before decide the most comfortable/functional option.
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Post by skirmisher on Oct 6, 2019 8:15:21 GMT -5
I use Reaper since that's what I know. I do think it's a bit cumbersome to use compared to Cubase for example but it's fine. I feel that DAWs nowadays are so good people are getting spoiled. You can pick pretty much any one of them and get the job done without problems. Unless you're a professional and need a powerful workflow. That's another story.
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Post by Hyper Shaman on Oct 14, 2019 18:36:23 GMT -5
Currently working in Ableton Live 10 Sometimes audacity if I need to chop up recorded audio in certain ways, but never anything other than VERY minor editing
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Post by litha on Nov 19, 2019 14:59:43 GMT -5
I usually work with Cubase since SX 3 version (year 2004), due its useful pianoroll. In the past, I used Reaper, Pro Tools, Cool Edit, Adobe Audition, Fruity Loops and other score-oriented software like Sibelius and Finale. Since Cubase 7, Steinberg has done a big improvement on performance and stability. I always use the cheap LE/Elements version. The less important thing in this "music workflow" is DAW, and I don't need HALion and the other stuff included on the Pro version. If for some reason I should change my DAW, I would choose Ableton due its integrated synths/FX. Same; Cubase elements 6. Got it for Β£95 few years back. I find the dongle incredibly irritating though.
Midi drums and a million different sounds in cubase.
I use a Line 6 guitar port to add particular effects to keyboard before it gets to cubase, because I can't ever record anything clean lol
Also got a low end Zoom mic for field recording and real instruments. I'd avoid Adobe Audition - finding out how to get a click track takes a thousand years, and then its shite. With most DAWs there will be a thouroughly shit time while you figure out how to use it, when all you want to do is record your magnum opus.
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Post by draugen on Jan 29, 2020 6:39:16 GMT -5
Im using Cakewalk
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Post by element0s on Jan 29, 2020 12:56:20 GMT -5
I've been a Reaper user for quite a long time now and I'm pretty happy with it. Probably not the most beginner-friendly DAW but I love how detailed and powerful it is and the general philosophy of the developers. The included plugins are extremely useful, despite the spartan UIs.
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Post by andrewwerdna on Jan 31, 2020 22:18:55 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm all about Reaper. I doubt I'll ever use another DAW. It was easy enough for me to jump into having had experience with a few other DAWs, but even after using it for years I'm still discovering cool new stuff it can do. And whenever there's something I want to do but have never tried before, usually all it takes is a quick google search to find out how. Reaper seems to have everything one could possibly need in a DAW, though yeah probably not as intuitive as some of the huge expensive alternatives.
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Post by lurkmusick on Feb 6, 2020 14:24:22 GMT -5
I do everything in Ableton Live 10. Looking into getting some more DS friendly VSTs but I presently just do a lot of sampling, retooling synth patches to fit DS/dark ambient styles, and lots of percussion taken from orchestral packs. A lot of what I make is comprised of cinematic sounds and layers and samples I dirty way up with fx for the needed vibe. I feel like I'm in the vast minority that doesn't use any sort of physical keyboards/MIDI controllers, not that I'm opposed I've just never really had any around and have been producing all sorts of non DS in Ableton for years. It's a wonderful change of pace to produce dark ambient/ds/horror style soundtrack pieces all inside the DAW for me.
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Post by demesne on Feb 6, 2020 18:10:28 GMT -5
Jumping in on the Reaper train, I use it for everything nowadays. When I first starting writing music I used FL Studio, but after using Reaper and getting used to it, I find it much preferable to anything else. Cubase elements 10 came with my audio interface, which I tried to use for a minute but in the end Reaper has been my go to.
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Post by skirmisher on Feb 11, 2020 18:37:21 GMT -5
So I tried Cubase, Ableton, FL Studio and Reason for long enough to form an opinion and what happened is I stuck with Reaper and bought the cheaper license. I now have a midi controller that is completely integrated into Reaper and I can customize everything 100%. Right now I have it setup like this:
Row of faders and buttons for each track. I use the faders for mixing and the buttons are solo/mute/armn for each track. I also have pads for each track so I can jump into a time where specific clips start. It's very handy when polishing or trying to glue a certain sound into the mix. Then I have potentiometers that I mostly use for panning tracks and your basic reqind, stop, play, loop and record buttons. And a gazillion of other stuff I don't use right now but might find use later on like sequencing, sessions etc. I now use my controller more than my keyboard.
Oh.. and it has a very nice 5 octave keybed too.
I previously thought that Reaper was cumbersome compared to other DAWs. I had no idea how powerful it can be when you take your time to customize it. You can do anything you want with it. Now that's either a good or a bad thing. It totally depends on you. For me it's great. I like to customize my workflow.
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Post by imp on Feb 12, 2020 13:39:18 GMT -5
Hijacking this thread for a quick question: any recommendations for a good quality midi controller for beginner? I've been looking at Arturia Minilab MKII, Akai MPK mini MKII and Alesis V25. Full-sized keyboard is really not an option. Appreciate any help!
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Post by element0s on Feb 12, 2020 16:24:25 GMT -5
Hijacking this thread for a quick question: any recommendations for a good quality midi controller for beginner? I've been looking at Arturia Minilab MKII, Akai MPK mini MKII and Alesis V25. Full-sized keyboard is really not an option. Appreciate any help! At a quick glance, all three of those controllers look extremely similar. I don't think it will make a difference worth worrying about, tbh. Buy that one that's cheapest on Craigslist/Your local music shop and get jamming! You can always flip it for one of the others if you're not happy. (the main difference that comes to mind could be how well they integrate the pads and knobs with that various DAWs out there. You could try googling "[Controller Name] [DAW Name] Integration" and seeing what you can find.)
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Post by skirmisher on Feb 12, 2020 19:01:57 GMT -5
Hijacking this thread for a quick question: any recommendations for a good quality midi controller for beginner? I've been looking at Arturia Minilab MKII, Akai MPK mini MKII and Alesis V25. Full-sized keyboard is really not an option. Appreciate any help! At a quick glance, all three of those controllers look extremely similar. I don't think it will make a difference worth worrying about, tbh. Buy that one that's cheapest on Craigslist/Your local music shop and get jamming! You can always flip it for one of the others if you're not happy. (the main difference that comes to mind could be how well they integrate the pads and knobs with that various DAWs out there. You could try googling "[Controller Name] [DAW Name] Integration" and seeing what you can find.) Out of these three Arturia has in my opinion the nicest feeling keybed. Arturia is usually great at integration too so I'd vote Minilab. Akai is pretty close but the Alesis felt very flimsy. But in this category (small keyboard, a few knobs/pads) I would probably go for Novation Launchkey Mini MK3 unless you need some kind of integration it doesn't offer. Novation stuff is just great. For a little bit more you could get Novation Launchkey 49 Mk2 or Arturia Keylab Essential 49 which both would be huge upgrades over the mini ones and with 49 keys aren't huge (full size is 88 keys) The bottom line is you can make do with anything. It's about preferences and priorities.
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Post by imp on Feb 13, 2020 3:58:25 GMT -5
Out of these three Arturia has in my opinion the nicest feeling keybed. Arturia is usually great at integration too so I'd vote Minilab. Akai is pretty close but the Alesis felt very flimsy. But in this category (small keyboard, a few knobs/pads) I would probably go for Novation Launchkey Mini MK3 unless you need some kind of integration it doesn't offer. Novation stuff is just great. For a little bit more you could get Novation Launchkey 49 Mk2 or Arturia Keylab Essential 49 which both would be huge upgrades over the mini ones and with 49 keys aren't huge (full size is 88 keys) The bottom line is you can make do with anything. It's about preferences and priorities. Thank you, really appreciate the help. I know the differences are really minor and it really comes down to the feel of the keys, build quality and integration with Reaper. I'll definitely check the Novation launckey.
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