|
Best Software for Beginning Prog Producer?
|
View this Thread in Original format
| sk3zebot |
If anyone has any suggestions, i'm all ears...
Thanks! |
|
|
| Analog Artisan |
FL Studio, reaktor or Alberton Live IMO would be the easiest packages to pick up and start learning about producing music.
Logic, + Cubase are slighty harder to get going on for a new producer, and I find a good deal of people who start with Cubase and Logic end up giving up due to the steep learning curve.
You will find the people on here who used Logic or Cubase first are the more determained or just have the Natural ability to pick these things up. Not everyone is like them, so their suggestion to use these first is bias ;)
The latter are the better packages.. but the first lot can make just as professional stuff (tons of released tracks have been made with them), are cheeper to start with, and you can always switch later..
Good luck. |
|
|
| TaylorR |
A lot of people would say Fruity Loops would be best for beginners since it is user friendly but there are also people who would say go for cubase or a more complex program like reason and learn from there. just depends on which program suits you best so i'd say try out some demos of the different programs that are in the stickied link on this forum.
thread is called READ THIS!!!: Attention All Newbies/dumbasses/retards/lazy People
good luck with finding the right program. |
|
|
| Thois |
| every individual needs a different program, just try them all and decide |
|
|
| sk3zebot |
FL is mehh... i've yet to try Ableton and i dunno if i can handle a Cubase/Reason level program at this early point... so i'ma try Ableton.
thanks for the suggestions :) |
|
|
| Zombie0915 |
dont shell out any money until you know what is worth paying for. I kinda wish I still had that $100 that I spent on fruityloops(although it does give me free upgrades for life so I guess it wasnt that big of a ripoff)
I suggest starting with the freeware programs, and the demos that are still functional without registering.
Things like Buzz, ReNoise, madtracker, modplug...
Or if you are feeling really ballsy you could try the open source programs but they take alot more work to use and to get them working
Things like, Muse, Ardour, Rosegarden4...
Either way, save your money until you are 100% sure what you want to buy. |
|
|
| djyouth |
Try some Magix or eJay stuff.. It's easier to learn how to progress music and how to make whole tracks without spending years learning how to make all kinds of sounds..
If not, I'd recommend FL Studio with some VSTs and some cheesy presets. And some kind of Sample CD for percussion etc. |
|
|
| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by Analog Artisan
Alberton Live |
:stongue:
My recommendations are:
For absolute beginners:
eJay
Anything that comes out of this is going to sound pretty canned and cheeseball, but I honestly wish that more producers would have started off using software like this. It's cheap, it's VERY easy to use, it comes with a pantload of samples, and most importantly, it will let you think about the ARRANGEMENT and how a good track FITS TOGETHER without having to worry about the finer details.
Acid
Sony designed this to be accessible to and usable by just about everyone. It's mainly for remixing (loop-based) and not for creating original material, but if you go to a site like acidplanet.com you'll find hundreds of tracks on any given day to screw around with. And it's free. Again, I think this is exactly the type of thing most beginning producers need to learn about how to *arrange* a track. The sound quality isn't going to be stunning and the tracks aren't going to go platinum, but that really isn't the point here.
For those who already know the fundamentals:
Fruityloops
This program started out being loop-based like the "beginner" programs, but over the years it's been extended to include more "professional" features like external plugin support (which isn't perfectly reliable but it's "good enough" for most people). A lot of people continue to use this well past their "intermediate" stage (I question why, but that's their perogative). Basically, to summarize this program, it's still loop-based, but it includes the tools you need to create your own loops from scratch, which makes it "pattern-based".
Reason
Reason is a closed system, which means it has no external plugin support whatsoever. However, if you can see past that, the plugins they include are actually decent quality and pretty versatile. The achille's heel of Reason has always been its sound quality - supposedly they've improved this in the new version but I don't buy it. Anyway, if you don't plan on sending your tracks to labels *just yet* and can afford to take that hit, then I would say Reason is actually a much better choice than Fruityloops.
For those who really know their :
Cubase
Cubase is a full-fledged MIDI sequencer with all the professional features that are missing from other PC apps - delay compensation, high-quality built-in EQ, instrument freeze, proper track routing, etc. It also uses efficient and high-quality rendering, so unlike Fruityloops where you have to preview on low-quality and render the track on high-quality (which takes forever), what you hear is what you get with Cubase. But really, don't expect to get very far in this program without a solid understanding of track arrangement, sound design, MIDI and audio manipulation, and mastering. It's also got some problems with MIDI timing which will be a nightmare if you're using any external hardware. Finally, don't touch version 3 because it's not stable and probably won't be for a while - stick to version 2.2.
Logic
Logic is Mac software, so don't even bother reading if you've only got a PC and can't afford a Mac. Anyway, I haven't personally had the pleasure of getting down and dirty with it, but as far as I know it has almost all the professional features of Cubase, plus it includes a vast array of awesome plugins, is much less buggy, and has extremely tight MIDI timing. Natively it only supports AU, not VST or DX, but it's not hard to find a wrapper.
Ableton Live
Sorry, but beginners shouldn't be touching this thing with a 10-foot pole. I'm afraid to touch it. Ableton does not yet have the efficiency or stability to be a professional-grade sequencer (for example, one friend said that when he uses the freeze function, it renders but doesn't actually turn off the instrument, which means it's still consuming CPU!). Ableton fanatics can yell and scream at me all they want, but there's a reason it's called Ableton LIVE, and that's that it's for LIVE ACTS. It excels at taking existing sounds and loops and putting them together with new effects in new ways. In other words, the only people who should be using this are experienced producers with a fairly large body of self-made, high-quality material that can be chopped up and spliced back together.
|
|
|
| Timothy |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
Cubase
It's also got some problems with MIDI timing which will be a nightmare if you're using any external hardware.
|
Solving midi timing problems with Nuendo
It may work on cubase too |
|
|
| DJDIRTY |
Her's my opinion...
| quote: | | It's also got some problems with MIDI timing which will be a nightmare if you're using any external hardware. Finally, don't touch version 3 because it's not stable and probably won't be for a while - stick to version 2.2 |
I have been using cubase for over 10 years now, since when it came out on a single floppy :) on atari..
I never had any midi timing problems with my cubasesx vst sx1/sx2/sx3 before.... It depends on many diefferent things, like your computer hardware, midi interface....
My sx3 only crushed once so far in last fiew months, and that's was a problem with one of the vst plugins I downloaded of the net. As soon as I deleted the plugin from sx folder never had any problems. Most cubase or any other sequencer crushes are associated with problems with some vst plugin or dx, or vsti instruments.
| quote: | | But really, don't expect to get very far in this program (CUBASE) without a solid understanding of track arrangement, sound design, MIDI and audio manipulation, and mastering |
I suggest you get yourself Cubase sx 2, 3 Power book( depending on the program You will be using). It basically takes you thrue the whole program explaining how to do things. It's great for newbies. After reading that I am sure Cubase, or Logic, or Ableton will become more logical and you shoudn't have to many problems setting up and making a track anymore.. You can also get cubase sx videos, showing you in real time how to do things, and how to set the program up. they have those for other programs as well.
| quote: | | Logic is Mac software, so don't even bother reading if you've only got a PC and can't afford a Mac. Anyway, I haven't personally had the pleasure of getting down and dirty with it, but as far as I know it has almost all the professional features of Cubase, plus it includes a vast array of awesome plugins, is much less buggy |
I had the pleasure, since one of my friend is Logic only, since notator times.. And belive me it's sure great, but it has as much problems as any other sequencer. nothing is perfect.. You should go read some logic forums, You would be suprized what kind of problems people have. On a brand new g5 duall 2.5 , logic 7, crushed more one day than my sx in the last 3 years.. |
|
|
| IKKI-ZUVK |
| Logic 7 Pro or Express |
|
|
| DigiNut |
Interesting - didn't know about the "use system clock" option, I'll have to try that... I'm not holding my breath though.
| quote: | Originally posted by DJDIRTY
I have been using cubase for over 10 years now, since when it came out on a single floppy :) on atari..
I never had any midi timing problems with my cubasesx vst sx1/sx2/sx3 before.... It depends on many diefferent things, like your computer hardware, midi interface.... |
Yes, I also tried Cubase in the days before SX or even VST - but I didn't do any *serious* production on it. The MIDI timing problems started with Cubase SX. Look at the Cubase forums sometime; a lot of users seem to think that just because *they* don't have MIDI timing problems, it means that the software is fine and the problems lie with the individual users. It's simply not true. Cubase SX 2 has serious known MIDI timing issues and SX 3 makes them even worse, to the point where many users have simply discarded the software as unusable.
| quote: | | My sx3 only crushed once so far in last fiew months, and that's was a problem with one of the vst plugins I downloaded of the net. As soon as I deleted the plugin from sx folder never had any problems. Most cubase or any other sequencer crushes are associated with problems with some vst plugin or dx, or vsti instruments. |
Sure, as I've said before, plugins and VST compatibility issues are probably the #1 reason for crashes. But since the VST "standard" is Steinberg's, it's their own damn fault! If you ever try to write a VST plugin, you'll see that the standard is utter crap - there are gray areas and guessing games everywhere. By contrast, the AU and RTAS standards are pretty much rock solid - plugin programmers know EXACTLY what to plan for.
| quote: | | I suggest you get yourself Cubase sx 2, 3 Power book( depending on the program You will be using). It basically takes you thrue the whole program explaining how to do things. It's great for newbies. After reading that I am sure Cubase, or Logic, or Ableton will become more logical and you shoudn't have to many problems setting up and making a track anymore.. You can also get cubase sx videos, showing you in real time how to do things, and how to set the program up. they have those for other programs as well. |
Are you telling this to me, or just to readers in general? Believe me, I know *very well* how to use Cubase! :haha: All my recent tracks have been done in Cubase. My point is just that it's not good for beginners! I consider it the best software available on PC, but that doesn't mean that there aren't still some VERY valid criticisms. |
|
|
|
|
