Opinion: Top Software for Making Beats

applesmasher

New member
Ok im thinking about upgrading from shareware to something that really packs some punch. In your opinions what program is the best all round, with an emphasis on user friedliness, for constructing beats, techno mixes, and original effects?
 
applesmasher said:
Ok im thinking about upgrading from shareware to something that really packs some punch. In your opinions what program is the best all round, with an emphasis on user friedliness, for constructing beats, techno mixes, and original effects?

er, what are you upgrading from? i or we kinda need to deduce your learning curve before suggesting anything user friedly imho...

fruity, eh...
 
well my learing curve is very steep. Is that what it is when you dont know anyhting? Cause the only thing i have is pro tools le and i dont even know how to use that. But, i want to start learing to make techno, and ambient sounds like radio head.
I also used to have some dj software that i could use pretty well, but that was just like Best Buy stuff.
 
Last edited:
What kind of beats? I'm pretty sold on Acid Pro but I use it to try to replicate real drums not any techno stuff. Works good as a general purpose recording app too..
 
well i also want to mess around with ambient sounds, u know like pulsing glowing noises, all that good stuff, plus beats as well. Like i wonder waht stuff radiohead used on to get those sounds on their album. And techno artists like chemical bros etc...
 
I'll say it again: What you want is REASON.

I've tried most of what is out there, and Reason kicks every kind of ass there is for what you are talking about.

The synth sounds are awesome, and if you get tired of synthesized, you can load your own samples into one of the samplers. Then put some of reason's FX into the chain. THEN record it with the sequencer at the bottom, loop it just like you would be able to in acid, and route everything to its own separate channel in the reason mixer. The program might be a little pricey, but it's all inclusive and the only thing you will need (as far as software goes) aside from your audio recording app.

Obviously I'm a satisfied user...download the demo and see what you think.
 
applesmasher said:
sounds cool, ill read up on it. Any body agree, have other opinions?

according to the "words on the street", I think a lot of people would agree...

Al
 
no software can top reason or gigastudio.. only probem with gigastudio is it takes so much power to run it..you really need 2 computers.. one as a daw one just for gigastudio..
 
and these are user friendly? no 500 page maunual to read? maybe i should start with some thing simplier to get my feet wet. I had like "sooper party dj" before or somthing so its not like ive been mixing before.
 
reason is heavy stuff. prepare for a lot of learning if you want to be serious.

for sequenced beats, i like impulse tracker, but i'm also quite mad.
 
Yea, zero is right about Reason being a bit complex for the beginner.

If you are looking for something a little less involved, check out Propellerheads Rebirth (made by the same company as reason). It's sort of the same concept, but your rack is the same everytime, and it's simplified a bit...that would definately be a good starting point now that I think about it.

Very similar to Rebirth is another program you may have heard of called Fruity Loops. I believe both programs are significantly less expensive than reason, and will be good steps in the learning process should you eventually decide to move up to something like reason or otherwise.

Note also, that since Rebirth is made by the same company it can work in conjunction with Reason...

check those out...

trog
 
Reason 2.0 works great for me and I'm new to these type of applications. Really powerful. Reason 2.5 is out now and it is expensive... but if you can find 2.0 (usually $150 less!) and register, you can download the 2.5 FREE UPGRADE! from the Propellerheads site... so you're getting the same thing.
 
That's a good point dave. I know that Propellerheads also has a bunch of soundclips and songs done using each of their products on the website, so that should help you get a little bit more of an idea of the sounds you'll be working with in each one.
 
What about Project 5? A freind bought it to get into some more techno sounding stuff and thinks it's really cool. I know nothing about it other than listening to a few demos on the Cakewalk site...
 
$150 plus an upgrade? That sounds like a steal. Is Rebirth like dramatically easier to use than a reason 2.o, or would you just go with 2.o if you were starting out? Both require seperate Audio Recording apps i assume? Also ive aksed this before but while im figuring out my software, can any of these simulate guitar notes? Band in a Box was the only reccomendation I got last time.
 
At that price go with Reason...

It's not significantly harder to use than Rebirth but is a hell of a lot more flexible. It can be extremely simple or extremely complex depending on how you set it up for each song.

And Reason has samplers that can play guitar sounds from the factory sound banks along with a slew of other instruments...
 
O i think i misread, Reason 2.o is 150 LESS. So its actually about $250. okay...I dont know anything about those mentioned above, why would you choose those over reason stuff?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top