Please suggest a DAW software for a beginner

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I get the feeling you are in love with Mac no?

"I am a newbie at this but from what I have learned so far, I would say if you are serious about learning these stuff and will be buying a laptop too, go with Mac. It is better built to run these type of things, more compatible and more user friendly (once you get use to it)."

More compatible with what?

You state that you are a newbie to this, yet you make a recommendation as to what is best for something you know not much about? Sorry, but that is not cool. Please have a basis for making a suggestion, before posting it to others, who may have even less experience to form opinions from.

Dear Jimmy,

I can see you do give valuable advice, nonetheless, it comes with the need to be picking on people. Just because I am a newbie (and yes I do clearly state that I AM and that I love Mac, so what? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that) does not mean I don't have the right to share my own personal opinions/experiences as a newbie and to give some recommendations according to what I have learned, enjoyed and have worked for me so far. After all, the person who posted the thread is asking for opinions and is new to this as well, so advice on what has worked for me so far (yes as a newbie), might be useful for him/her. These forums are made so people can share and voice their opinions and experiences, and to continue learning. And that's what I am here for. I am NOT in any way claiming to know better or that what I am "advising" is best. Nor am I here to be picked on, judged or whatever some of you think you have the right to do just because you've been doing this longer. Sorry, but THAT is not cool. You have no right to take that away from me and there is no reason at ALL for you to get defensive and right away talk to me or any other person in that manner. Please make an active, conscious effort to keep your ego in check, as receiving advice from knowledgeable people such as yourself is always very useful and enlightening but when it comes in that way, it kills the truest purpose of it in the first place. No need to be condescending, judgmental and/or demeaning. Don't forget you were in this position once (newbie) however long ago that was, you did not start knowing it all. So again, you have no right to treat others like that just because now you have, (I'm guessing) years under your belt. Also, if you will reply to this with the same attitude, it might be worth letting you know now that this will be my only reply to you, as I don't have time to waste replying to unnecessary remarks.
And to the newbie who's thread this is, good luck with it all and cheers to us newbies who are enthusiastic about learning, growing and sharing! Booya ;) :guitar: :D :thumbs up: :laughings:
 
Dear Jimmy,

I can see you do give valuable advice, nonetheless, it comes with the need to be picking on people. Just because I am a newbie (and yes I do clearly state that I AM and that I love Mac, so what? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that) does not mean I don't have the right to share my own personal opinions/experiences as a newbie and to give some recommendations according to what I have learned, enjoyed and have worked for me so far. After all, the person who posted the thread is asking for opinions and is new to this as well, so advice on what has worked for me so far (yes as a newbie), might be useful for him/her. These forums are made so people can share and voice their opinions and experiences, and to continue learning. And that's what I am here for. I am NOT in any way claiming to know better or that what I am "advising" is best. Nor am I here to be picked on, judged or whatever some of you think you have the right to do just because you've been doing this longer. Sorry, but THAT is not cool. You have no right to take that away from me and there is no reason at ALL for you to get defensive and right away talk to me or any other person in that manner. Please make an active, conscious effort to keep your ego in check, as receiving advice from knowledgeable people such as yourself is always very useful and enlightening but when it comes in that way, it kills the truest purpose of it in the first place. No need to be condescending, judgmental and/or demeaning. Don't forget you were in this position once (newbie) however long ago that was, you did not start knowing it all. So again, you have no right to treat others like that just because now you have, (I'm guessing) years under your belt. Also, if you will reply to this with the same attitude, it might be worth letting you know now that this will be my only reply to you, as I don't have time to waste replying to unnecessary remarks.
And to the newbie who's thread this is, good luck with it all and cheers to us newbies who are enthusiastic about learning, growing and sharing! Booya ;) :guitar: :D :thumbs up: :laughings:

To be fair to Jimmy, I was pleased he called you out on your dodgy advice so noone else had to, and he did it in a much nicer way than might have been seen, as he so often does.
 
To be fair to Jimmy, I was pleased he called you out on your dodgy advice so noone else had to, and he did it in a much nicer way than might have been seen, as he so often does.

I find it hilarious that some of you have that incessant need to "call people out" on what you feel is "dodgy" advice, or incorrect or "not cool", is like you continuously imply to people, who do you think you are to be giving that advice?....And you are new, how dare you? LOL... AGAIN:

These forums are made so people can share and voice their opinions and experiences, and to continue learning. And that's what I am here for. I am NOT in any way claiming to know better or that what I am "advising" is best. Nor am I here to be picked on, judged or whatever some of you think you have the right to do just because you've been doing this longer.

So neither you or Jimmy or anyone for that matter has any right to tell me that my "advice" does not count or is no good and "not cool" to give...[how dare I!? Huh?] when all I'm doing is sharing my OWN personal experience and opinion AND by doing that, I am not going out of line here or crossing any boundaries I'm not supposed to. I don't find it nice at all that right away I am being adressed in that manner. Also, by reading through the replies on the threads I repeatedly saw the demeaning and condescending responses that Jimmy and some others gave to other people posting their opinions. So defensive, so much attitude...Why not make use of the time better? Keep to the advice. Avoid unnecessary BS. Anyone has the right to say what they please and you people have no right to say we can't. We are not disrespecting anyone by doing so. You seem to forget we are all sharing our OWN experiences and very likely they are not the same as yours. Perception is a wonderful thing.

I came to this forum to learn, and grow and share because I am very passionate about learning these stuff...as I'm sure other new people are and join for the same reason, but unfortunately most of what I've seen so far are egos scolding. There seems to be a click of people who know each other here and act this way, like they run the show, and then you got the others come in in their defense. This is not high school, yet we got clicks and drama. I am not doubting you guys offer good information and advice, and that you are knowledgeable in the area, great. But what good does that do to me if I post, and these are the kind of responses I get and that I have to reply to? It's a real waste of time. In fact I have even posted a couple of threads asking for advice myself and I have gotten no helpful replies, so in my OWN personal experience in this forum, I guess is fair to say that it is doing nothing good for me. As I said to Mr. Jimmy, please consider this my only reply to you if you continue replying to me in this same fashion, (and same for anyone else who does). I have said enough and I don't have time to keep wasting replying to unnecessary remarks. Such a waste of time. I rather spend that time learning more and talking to other people who can share their knowledge without letting their egos get in the way. Thanks to all and good luck.
 
I think you mean clique.

Oh, LOL! Yes I do! Oopss...hey, but now you can tell me to go learn grammar and learn how to write first, like they told the other dude, haha... Sorry, had to sneak that one in! ;) :D

Regards to all @ Home Recording
 
Oh, LOL! Yes I do! Oopss...hey, but now you can tell me to go learn grammar and learn how to write first, like they told the other dude, haha... Sorry, had to sneak that one in! ;) :D

Regards to all @ Home Recording

There is nothing shameful about the odd typo or spelling error. One of the very top technical people I know on another forum is famous for his typos! They are only ever pointed out when particularly Freudian!

I do not claim to be any kind of English scholar (not ONE GCE as they were then!) but I consider it bad manners and just plain lazy when people fail to capitalize, punctuate reasonably well (yes, I know the "rules" are Byzantine!) and do not break things into paragraphs...Have these people never read a proper book or even a newspaper?

Then again, how many people here have ever used an old fashioned typewriter? I used to type up articles in my 20's for a few electronics magazines.

Dvea.
 
Dear Jimmy,

I can see you do give valuable advice, nonetheless, it comes with the need to be picking on people. Just because I am a newbie (and yes I do clearly state that I AM and that I love Mac, so what? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that) does not mean I don't have the right to share my own personal opinions/experiences as a newbie and to give some recommendations according to what I have learned, enjoyed and have worked for me so far. After all, the person who posted the thread is asking for opinions and is new to this as well, so advice on what has worked for me so far (yes as a newbie), might be useful for him/her. These forums are made so people can share and voice their opinions and experiences, and to continue learning. And that's what I am here for. I am NOT in any way claiming to know better or that what I am "advising" is best. Nor am I here to be picked on, judged or whatever some of you think you have the right to do just because you've been doing this longer. Sorry, but THAT is not cool. You have no right to take that away from me and there is no reason at ALL for you to get defensive and right away talk to me or any other person in that manner. Please make an active, conscious effort to keep your ego in check, as receiving advice from knowledgeable people such as yourself is always very useful and enlightening but when it comes in that way, it kills the truest purpose of it in the first place. No need to be condescending, judgmental and/or demeaning. Don't forget you were in this position once (newbie) however long ago that was, you did not start knowing it all. So again, you have no right to treat others like that just because now you have, (I'm guessing) years under your belt. Also, if you will reply to this with the same attitude, it might be worth letting you know now that this will be my only reply to you, as I don't have time to waste replying to unnecessary remarks.
And to the newbie who's thread this is, good luck with it all and cheers to us newbies who are enthusiastic about learning, growing and sharing! Booya ;) :guitar: :D :thumbs up: :laughings:


Please read my PM to you. :)
 
Ableton is far simplier than the others to me ;) Perfect for a beginner
 
Very interesting discussions going on there. :D

I could not tell you anything about other DAWS then GarageBand, Audacity and Cubase LE5.

Garageband is rather easy to use. By far easiest of the three. I guess they could make it so easy because there are not to many options. It only takes you a month or so to know how it works. On the other side it takes you about the same time to meet the limitations of it. If you don't want to spend to much time learning a DAW, I would recommend GarageBand. If you want to go beyond, look at the advice of all the experienced people above. (thanks to that advice I'll be installing Reaper very soon)
 
Reaper.

It's lightweight, easy to start with, but it has alot of advanced features. After a ½ hour, you know it roughly in and out.
 
I would suggest Studio One. It's completely free and is also completely self contained. The latter is a plus and a minus, but if you are a complete beginner it's probably just as well that you don't get involved with 3rd party plugins. Just visit Presonus Studio One.

When you download it, it's the same installer for all versions, but when you activate it you select which option you want. It's not really so much of a demo version as it's fully functional - you can save files and there are no annoying bleeps etc.. If you get to like it, upgrade. If not, a lot of what you will learn won't have been wasted.

A friend and I collaborate with songwriting. He uses Reason, my preferred DAW is Ableton Live. We were both new to Studio One and took turns "behind the desk". We were both competent to a decent degree by the end of an afternoon. There is a logical upgrade path with it too.

Cubase - I used it to SX3; still highly regarded
Fruity Loops - I think is an acquired taste really; I still keep a copy on my machine as I bought into it early on, but other than doodling occasionally with it, I haven't used it seriously in a while.
Live - personally I think it's brilliant but if you are new to it then it's not the most intuitive.
Reaper - for a long time I used Reaper on my portable rig as you can run it from a memory stick - it is brilliant. The only thing I didn't like was that there seemed to be an update for it just about every other day - obviously you don't need to take the update if you don't want to so it was a minor quibble for what is an inexpensive but powerful piece of software.

They all have their quirks
Good luck.
 
My Friends,
I visited an apple store and tried logic pro .I really really love that software.but my budget is a problem now , so will buy apple later .Now I got a decent windows 7 laptop . Can you suggest me a Windows alternative to Logic Pro 9 ?
 
My Friends,
I visited an apple store and tried logic pro .I really really love that software.but my budget is a problem now , so will buy apple later .Now I got a decent windows 7 laptop . Can you suggest me a Windows alternative to Logic Pro 9 ?

Reaper.
 
Just had a look at some trance stuff on a vid demo of Logic pro 9, What a bloody row!

Anyhoosey, looks a bit like Reaper but more to me like Samplitude. Try the 30 day trial of Sam Producer 11.5.

Dave.
 
Logic pro has Over 1700 sampled instruments (20GB) . can I expect that from any windows DAW's ?
 
If you already have GarageBand, I'd just go with that until you find somethign you like better.

Over the years I've had a lot of people ask "What's the best?" and my usual answer is "None of them."

If one brand of digital audio workstation (DAW) was truly the best, we wouldn't have the number of choices we have today because everybody would be using "The Best" one. It's the same thing as guitars, cars, or even scuba gear. Naturally we all have our preferences but none of them are hands down "The Best".

Essentially they all do the same thing: record audio, record MIDI, and let you mix down to a 2 track for CD burning or web posting. The only real differences that matter are how they perform those functions and personal preference. Obviously there are tech specs in each like number of tracks and all of that, but even the most basic software, like GarageBand (comes as standard on a MAC), is quite capable of letting you record some great music.

If you have a friend, or know somebody that is doing the home studio thing, talk to them and find out what they are using and why they chose that one. Consider matching your software to theirs if you’ll be working with them as there are a number of reasons to do so.
1) You can noodle around with it before buying it.
2) You will have a built in "help desk" for when you run into an issue using it.
3) If you and your friend are using the same software, you won’t have to deal with converting your files from one format to the other or the dreaded process of loading each track individually as a wave file for all 47 tracks in your song. That is a total PITA by the way.

A lot of hardware interfaces also come with their manufacturers DAW software. AVIDs M-Box series comes with ProTools while PreSonus’ interfaces come with Studio One, just for an example.

For the guitarist the Eleven Rack is a sweet deal these days. If you don’t know about it, it is a 2 space rack mount guitar processor that handles amp and pedal modeling along with being a single channel USB interface. So why is it a deal? It’s a deal at the moment (Apr/May 2013) because PT10 sells for $699 and so does the 11R, however the 11R comes with PT10. It’s like buying PT11 and getting the 11R for free! PT11 was just announced but if you buy PT10 they will upgrade you to PT 11 via download for $0.

I know I’m sounding like a PT fan boy, but that’s only because that’s what I’m using. I have worked with a few other formats and I'm just more comfortable with PT than the others. Again any brand of software you go with will work fine as long as you take the time to learn it. In short, the best DAW, is the one you know how to use, whether it’s Sonor or Logic, or whatever.

There are also hardware recording devices out there such as the Zoom R24 that are quite affordable, but hardware recorders are limited to what they are. I bought a Roland V-studio several years ago and promptly outgrew it in only a couple of months. If you’re looking for a simple scratch pad, a hardware unit will do it, but if you want to do full on recording, I would go with the computer DAW.


Side note: If you have a Guitar Center nearby, they offer free monthly classes for both GarageBand and ProTools (4 Saturdays per DAW) for FREE! These classes cover the basics, but also are a great networking opportunity.

Anyway I know that I tend to write mini novels, and I am by no means an expert, but it's all intended to help.

Enjoy making great music. :thumbs up:
 
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