Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) Discussion - Discuss experiences using Ableton, FL Studio, Pro Tools, Apple Logic Pro, etc. or any topics relevant to them.

[Alex Hogendorp]

So a couple weeks ago. The plugin database for DAWs known as Waves have decided to become a subscription model and many people are not happy about this at all.

Producers HATE Waves for Doing This...

They can't say I didn't warn them.The MASSIVE Problem with UAD Nativehttps://youtu.be/DdpcUMoJjR0

www.youtube.com

Each DAW has it's advantages and disadvantages and works depending on what you wanted to make. I've been using FL Studio and honestly, you could get basically everything done with just the producer edition alone and you'll get discounted on the other plugins, I know a couple hundred dollars seems pretty expensive but it's that kind of software more in touch and fair with you (unless you pirate their softwares). Another Pro for FL Studio are free updates which saves you a lot, but you might be lost on opening so many tabs for the studio. I never used Ableton Live but I know a friend who does and admitted to me he was pirating the plugins only paying for them if they really liked it. It's absolutely not worth pirating any DAW or DAW related things and can cost you a lot in lawsuits. The con with Ableton Live however is that new updates cost money. I also do remember FL Studio users trying Ableton Live and Ableton Live users trying FL Studio. It's pretty interesting.

 

[Colon capital V]

Ideally if I had the money, I'd probably switch over to using Ableton or Cubase for music making or whatever (and if I had a mac, I'd love to use logic), but I've already gotten so used to most of FL's bullshit that I thought "well this is all that I've got, might as well make it work." Usable meme DAW that gets the job done really.

Also I use rutracker.org for pirating plugins and whatever else for audio related tools.

 

[AgendaPoster]

I'm not a musician or anything, but my job journeys took me to places where I had to edit audio, nothing too complex, just tracks, transitions, some fx and some sync to video when needed.
Had a lot of fun working with both Ableton Live and Audition. Been quite a long time since then, post made me kinda nostalgic.
In my free time I'd just pirate some VSTs and then try to replicate old techno and new wave stuff. Maybe if I get some relaxed period of life ahead, I'll look into it more.

 

[8mm Cunningham]

I'm not a musician or anything, but my job journeys took me to places where I had to edit audio, nothing too complex, just tracks, transitions, some fx and some sync to video when needed.
Had a lot of fun working with both Ableton Live and Audition. Been quite a long time since then, post made me kinda nostalgic.
In my free time I'd just pirate some VSTs and then try to replicate old techno and new wave stuff. Maybe if I get some relaxed period of life ahead, I'll look into it more.

Fruity Loops has a new name and went GNU. Anything free is worth saving up for.

 

[Cnut]

Reaper is great. It's technically shareware but doesn't lock you out or prevent you from updating. I'm on day 6000 of my 30 day trial. It's amazing for live recording, overdubbing, mixing etc but I have not used any of its sampling or programming capabilities.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

The OP sounds like a post on a Roblox forum or something.

It's not worth pirating DAWs/plugins because you'll get sued? When was the last time someone got sued for individual software piracy? And yeah a couple hundred dollars is a lot of money, especially if you aren't professionally recording and only use it once in a blue moon.

Reaper just nags you every time you open it, then you close the message and go about your business.

I get the feeling that, as usual, more aggressively monetized products probably are more accessible for normies and have better support, but all this paying for updates and plugins, etc. seems like complete nonsense.

 

[Slav Power]

Reaper is great. It's technically shareware but doesn't lock you out or prevent you from updating. I'm on day 6000 of my 30 day trial. It's amazing for live recording, overdubbing, mixing etc but I have not used any of its sampling or programming capabilities.

Sounds like Justin Frankel is taking example out of Christian Ghisler and Eugene Roshal. God bless these guys for keeping true to these old but gold commercial software practices.

 

[Grub]

I'm a linuxfag so I use Ardour and JACK2. I like the modular, use your whole os as a DAW approach you use in audio production on Linux.

 

[Hüftpriester]

Nothing beats a TASCAM 8-track imo.

 

[Cnut]

Nothing beats a TASCAM 8-track imo.

You mean on cassette tape?

 

[Hüftpriester]

You mean on cassette tape?

They make them with USB ports now but the old cassette tapes are peak nostalgia.

 

[Slav Power]

Nothing beats a TASCAM 8-track imo.

Ah, doing it old school I see.

Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms was done on this, it's one of the first albums mastered and released in digital format and by extent it has one of the best dynamic ranges, since it actually used the potential of the new technology before it got abused by recording labels via the loudness war.

 

[Cronkle]

edit: damn i just realized these posts were from 2023... my dumbass didnt mean to necro

Reaper is great. It's technically shareware but doesn't lock you out or prevent you from updating. I'm on day 6000 of my 30 day trial. It's amazing for live recording, overdubbing, mixing etc but I have not used any of its sampling or programming capabilities.

so far, to me, reaper has been the best thing ive found for someone that wants to make good shit but also isnt a pro producer. Some DAW's are great, but there is just an unreal amount of stuff to learn and can be intimidating and seem complicated especially if youre new to recording. Although you could watch videos for years on reaper too i suppose.

Nothing beats a TASCAM 8-track imo.

I really like the TASCAM, but I havent had a chance to use it much. I don't have one myself. Do you record on the that, and then edit/mix and stuff on a computer? Or just all TASCAM? Sorry if this is a retarded question. Ive played forever but im relatively new to recording.

Really glad I found this thread btw. The more I learn about recording/mixing/etc, the more I realize just how much there is to know. It seems infinite. Feels easy to get lost in the sauce and NEVER get done with a project lol And I even dig a lofi kind of sound. Some of my favorite albums were done on a 4-track.

 

[RedAmor]

edit: damn i just realized these posts were from 2023... my dumbass didnt mean to necro

All good, I've been learning how to Use Digital Performer (not my favorite DAW), and Pro Tools lately, and I've been working on building a little studio with an Mbox (which has ADAT compatibility, which I will probably use to get more mic preamps). I know people generally shit on Pro Tools for being a memory hog, but I've had a decent time with it so far. I've been practicing EQ and dynamics processing with free multi track files. It's one of those things you have to do hundreds of times.

I've also used Ableton a little bit, and now that I have a better grasp audio, and recording in general it'll probably be a lot more fun to work with as I was strictly all outboard gear before.

 

[Named User]

I took music technology classes in college, and we’d do everything in Ableton because you can create components in Max.

From a composition perspective, Ableton’s clip view makes it convenient to figure out smaller sections of the composition before moving on to the main timeline.

Is there a DAW that allows musical notation input? Or do I have to import a MIDI file from Musescore or Sibelius and drop it into the DAW? It would be so convenient if I could just compose on a staff on my iPad and Pencil, and then immediately have something to work with when I open Ableton on my macbook. The Ableton Note app gets the convenience right, but I literally cannot compose on this:

 

[Cronkle]

All good, I've been learning how to Use Digital Performer (not my favorite DAW), and Pro Tools lately, and I've been working on building a little studio with an Mbox (which has ADAT compatibility, which I will probably use to get more mic preamps). I know people generally shit on Pro Tools for being a memory hog, but I've had a decent time with it so far. I've been practicing EQ and dynamics processing with free multi track files. It's one of those things you have to do hundreds of times.

I've also used Ableton a little bit, and now that I have a better grasp audio, and recording in general it'll probably be a lot more fun to work with as I was strictly all outboard gear before.

I tried ableton, and that’s what everyone recommends to me, but as a beginner it just seems like so much. Possibly because I’m moron lol. It’s not that I can’t figure it out, it’s just so much. I get so frustrated because I’ll record something in an hour and then stare at a computer for days and keep finding more shit to do. I swear to god some days I want to say fuck it all and open up audacity and call it a day lol. Especially frustrating when I know damn well that I’ll do all that work for 2 other people to listen to the song anyway lmao