As many of you know I have just returned from a 15+ year haitus to producing music due to not having the time for it and real life priorities. I remember that you were limited in acrtual DAWS around that time frame, and basically the only thing I know is FL Studio. Ableton was still reletively not used as much by many average joes, I remember most house/techno producers used it but mainly just the pros. Cubase for that matter as well, which I'd never even heard of until Timbaland back in the early 2000s. Propellerheads Reason, ImageLine Fl studio, CakeWalk (Sonar), Adobe Audition, Goldwave, Acid, Audacity, Sound Forge etc. and Logic and then Apple Garageband later for macs were basically the only options we had for pretty much amateur "bedroom producers". DigiDesign Pro Tools wasn't even a thing really because it was only used by the real professionals, and industry standard due to how expensive it was and you could never find a real working copy of the software on warez. It was also controlled by the actual hardware in professional studios, that NO ONE could afford back then.

I don't even remember many people having even FL Studio as a mainstream thing back then, but now EVERYONE knows of the software, it's really mainstream and anyone and eveyone uses it.

Nowadays with programs like PreSonous Studio One, Bitwig Studio, Magix music maker (Sequoia), Cockos Reaper, and other freeware etc. there are so many work stations and options to produce music.

So with that said, what are the easiest and most simplistic programs used these days for producing music, what are the most advanced and most diffcult to learn in your opinion and and is Avid Pro Tools and Steinberg Cubase still industry standard?

I'm just curious what DAW you all use these days and why, I see A LOT of Ableton these days, especially here. Is Abelton industry standard now? What are the pros and cons of each software, and how much of a learning curb would it be to pick up? etc.

 

Last edited: Oct 25, 2024 at 8:24 AM

I'm still using FL Studio because it was the DAW i started making music 10 years ago and i know a lot of shortcuts and the ecossystem i built allows me to work really quick, now that i'm working as a professional it makes a hell of a difference. But the mixer sucks and it's ressource hungry, as cons.

If i was starting now (2024) i'd probably use Reaper or Studio One. And i'm waiting for some time to learn Magix Sequoia.

 

I've seen lots of people using Studio One lately, and also talking about the simplicity of Reaper, its not even that big or a proram either. Hell, I may have to try them for myself, branching out from FL and broadening my own horizons. I've always known nothing but FL Studio, but like everything else with technology becomes more possibilites and options. I've been watching tutorials and such, music production has become both more simplistic and also more complex in a way with learning how certain VSTs function and what they are used for.

 

I don't have a favorite because they all got flaws. Rather I have favorites: Reaper (most versatile by far, if you master Reaper you're set to do almost anything you want regarding audio engineering and music composition) Bitwig (effortless music creation, sound designing, big synth playground, I love creating music it) and Renoise (a tracker is still the best way to sequence drums imo, I can't live without one).

 

i started with ejay.. then fl studio.. then cubase.. now studio one

studio one is my favorite its the eqvivalent of logic pro i would say.
i can make a full sont or remix in fl studio in 1 hour or 2 hours and it will sound as professional as commercial music on youtube or radio
the reason i dont use fl studio is because it is TOO EASY. therefore i challange myself by using other daws.
i also like propellerhead reason but i use it mostly as a rack or for exploring and experimento

 

I hear that, and very true. Are you a professional as well? I may have dabble a bit.

 

What kind of music do you mainly produce? Have you landed placements for projects artitst etc or studios etc?

 

Steinberg 12 on Atari up to Cubase v.I-don't-know in 2013 - Reaper.

Why? I had enough of Steinberg's BS, too demanding, problems on mass, and I needed to teach a DAW that was not expensive and/or was free and/or had a long enough demo phase. So I switched completely and know now, that that was the best thing I ever did. DAWwise.

 

I have no clue what ejay even is lol, I'm assuming you come from a DJ background?

I hear that, FL Studio is way more complex than I remember, but practicing and using it as a daily driver so to speak i'm sure it will only become more natural. My favorite House/Techno/Trance producers all used Logic and I talked to a few of them on myspace back in the day but Apple was just making a resurgence. DJ Encore, and few others I used to talk to all told me that I needed to try Logic. They were all Apple fanboys because it was the new thing, but them shits were so expensive back then. I remember people using Qbasic back in the day.. now thats oldschool.

 

Wow Atari? I'm assuming they made musical hardware interfaces as well, hell the only Atari I know is the first ever game system I had in the 80s.

 

Last edited: Oct 25, 2024 at 6:28 AM

With Bitwig and SSL360, it's relatively easy to separate creative tasks from mixing tasks. SSL ensures that you don’t need to keep opening and closing plugins, and you can see multiple tracks at once—bringing back the good old classic workflow. Plus, SSL has some great gear for this setup as well, like the UC1: https://solidstatelogic.com/products/uc1

workflow will be some kind of this>>>


SSL 360 mixer itself is free and out of the three channel strips, two are rent-to-own, so there's no need for a huge upfront investment or any annoying subscription

https://store.solidstatelogic.com/plug-ins/ssl-4k-e
https://store.solidstatelogic.com/plug-ins/ssl-4k-b

ps. Bitwig also has rent-to-own https://splice.com/daws/39084269-bitwig-studio-by-bitwig so the intial invesements will be around 50$ (per month), you need an anologue synth Diva, and a digital one Spire, or one Serum and done ready to go

 

Last edited: Oct 25, 2024 at 10:34 AM

oh wow dang that is so convenient for sure.

 

I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but i use a handful of them.

Ableton - my bread and butter / daily driver. Years ago i was forced into using ableton due to a gig i got running tracks for a band live, and immediately fell in love, due to the workflow and simplicity. It just clicked for me. I was coming from Protools and Reason at that point. Ableton also has so many tutorials, both free and paid, and a huge community of patch sharers, max for live dev's etc. Its not 'industry standard' but for certain genres it kind of is.

Protools - also a somewhat daily driver still. Tracking and editing mainly, although these days i often will do either or in Ableton as well, as they have progressed greatly in that area in recent years. Protools is much less intuitive for beat making / creating, unless you are performing everything live. I honestly hate protools. Been using it for 20 something years, and have never liked it.

Logic - have always had it, and just learned it over the years. I use it periodically when working with certain collaborators, or just to switch things up. Its great. Downside, only AU plugins. Upside, great midi, and in recent years some great workflow improvements and even built in FX

Bitwig - bitwig is seriously awesome, and is gaining traction and a large user base. I bought it a couple years ago on a whim, and dont regret it. Wild sound design possibilities. Insanely deep, yet also able to keep it simple if needed. I use it for beat making / sound design and resampling, or just to switch things up. Not as large of a community as ableton, but it is growing. Its basically ableton's nerdy step brother, who is less popular with the ladies, but has a better paying job and thus has a hot trophy wife.

Reason - haha yup, still use it. Ive been using for over 20 years, not going to stop now. Its great! i dont really use it for more than making loops, but still love it. I know they have some improvements in becoming a more full fledged daw in recent years, but i still really look at it as an instrument.

Reaper - have messed about with it on and off for years, lately becoming more interested in learning it. Its probably the most powerful and customizeable of all the above, but is not as intuitive for me. I aim to master it, and use it as my main mixing daw.

FL Studio - i dont really use it, but used to. Its fun, i always hated how it looks. I know lately its also been gaining more and more users, evolving from being the hip hop / trap beat makers daw to more electronic genres. I know a lot of Dubstep / Riddim kids are using it, as well as a fair amount of DnB kids, house and techno too. I think ableton still has the lion's share of electronic music producers, but FL studio has definitely attracted more in recent years.

Cubase - i was using it for a while, as i had cubasis on my ipad, and wanted to be able to seamlessly transfer those sessions over. It never really clicked for me. I know its very powerful, i think a lot of composer types use it.

 

Studio one the best.

 

In school (Graduated 2021), it was Pro-Tools, Pro-Tools, Pro-Tools..."You will never achieve the level of true success that comes with sticking to the 'Industry Standard' by using what is hip or cool."

No problem, at the time PT was the only DAW I knew. And I knew her well.

I checked out a friends modest home studio one day, and he began telling me how great Reaper was on system resources, it's very forgiving with plugins of varying quality, and can be as simple or complex as you wish...blah, blah, blah.

Then I heard, "Audio tracks are the same as midi tracks are the same as busses are the same as individual tracks with no need to set up nor specify beforehand, you just go."

"What, show me."

He put a .wav file/midi file/mp3 file/video all on the same track, and played it...the Anti-PT. At that moment, my dreams of running a TV control room were over, I'm a music guy now.

As I learned to use Reaper, I felt like it was a difference between someone telling me how they want something done, and me slowly building something that does things as I choose...literally. Plus, free of iLok and overpayments to Avid.

I gave up PT at 21.12, but keep my copy for those who must have that 'Classic' Pro Tools 'Sound'...hehe.

I tried FL, but my mind could not, would not wrap around the mixer setup. I really tried.

I'm very curious about Cubase/Wavelab...

 

studio one does not have dialog replacement and dubbing when editing filmscore like nuendo . . . live does not have a video track to see frames and no posibillity to see vertical videos for make music for social media... with protools i can not see in real time plugins (like live o bitwig) with live i have not a vca o real buses like protools o studio one, studio one plugins are not good, i preffer cubase . . . with reaper or samplitude i can load tons of plugins and tracks because low ram . . .

there is not a good daw for all.

i choose nuendo for me.

 

Cubase (Nuendo) Wavelab
Why? Because i'm used to these DAWs sinds my first Cubase v1.2 on Atari (yes with no vst, only midi)
Tried also Reason - Logic - Samplitude - Sequoia - Ableton - Studio One - Reaper - PT - Mixbus - Cakewalk - Acid, and maybe others I forgot
For musical inspiration was Ableton most fun to use.

 

I don't think it sounds ridiculous, everyone has their reasons. It would be amazing to be so well versed in audio engineering/production for sure.

I recently played with Ableton 9 and 12 and both are awesome, they have some good default libraries. I've also seen and like you said, the community shares a lot patches with one another. You know how hard it was to get an .flp back in the day? No one would share anything back then, everyone was so secretive of presets, expansions they used etc. The only guy that was open about a lot of stuff with me was Dr. Encore. He told me everything I needed, as far as hardware, software, pc, turntables, plugins etc. Back in the days of myspace you could actually talk directly through PM with artists. I used to talk to Hollywood Undead members all the time, they invited me to be in one of their videos years ago. I also used to talk to John from Secondhand Serenade and his wife, they were cool and humble people. It was awesome with myspace back then, because people would go to clubs and just network. You didn't even have to ask a girl for her number, just ask for her myspace

I've never played with Pro Tools, but I just recently installed it so I may see what it's all about. Wow, you've been in the game a while, you have a breadth of experience and knowledge.

Everyone told me that if I wanted to get back into making music that I should get an apple computer because everyone's using them now, and they have the best proccessors and what not for music production and graphic design. I always wanted to try Logic, it looks fairly simple.

I've seen lots of people vouch for Bitwig, a lot of people on reddit use it. I saw a poll on proaudiotorrents which is your favorite DAW and Ableton wins in a large margin, next is FL and logic, studio one, reaper and cakewalk after. No one there seems to use Bigwig though, maybe they are just comfortable and don't want to step outside their comfort zone. However, to me knowledge is power, and I want as my brain can contain. I would love to be well versed and be able to walk into someones studio and operate any equiptment they may have.

I honestly love Reason, their stock sounds are some of the best without any modulation or maniuplation in my opinion. The reason racks vst are really nice.

Never tried Reaper yet, but I'm about to download it and see what it's all about, who knows maybe I leave the old faithful FL lol.

I had a working copy years ago of Cubase, I think both Nuendo and Cubase were both or maybe still are "industry standard". That's what Timbaland use and the only one DAW he used for many years, I'm not sure about now or if he is even still in the game. I just got another copy of Steinberg Cubase working that I had for like a month now and I couldnt use, I couldn't use any of the R2R releases because I'm a dummy who didn't install the certificate right. Everything's good and working now though, Steinberg still makes quality stuff. I wonder if anyone still uses Hypersonic these days, that was a legend.

 

Ableton Live 10 suite and FL studio signature bundle can’t go wrong using those Ableton is like Acid pro and FL kicks Abletons midi capabilities out the window Ableton excels with looping audio while FL is for the midi producer I wish fl could loop audio like you stretch the clip in Ableton but if I’m serious about editing midi no contest here FL studio hands down the piano roll is just so damn good the other thing FL has over Ableton is I can use my scroll wheel to make the faders on the mixer go up and down however Ableton does have better automation I’m still tinkering in FL it does things differently what it al comes down to is how much time you spend on using the program sometimes I have an Ableton day and sometimes I have an FL one another thing that’s cool is you can drag and drop things from FL to Ableton live

 

Last edited: Oct 25, 2024 at 8:31 AM

Sounds interesting, I've never tried Nuendo but I'm not the type to limit myself to what I know so to speak. I always want to branch out and learn other things. I love learning and gaining knowledge of different processes and methods. It just makes you that much more resourceful, skilled and valuble, just like in my career field as an industrial electrician.