Rock Home Recording Dilemma - Ableton or Pro Tools

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matthewj

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I'm looking to purchase (thinking a bout) a shure sm57 for my band to start recording at home. Can anyone help with a mic suggestion - is this the best option or should I be looking at a set of mics?

I am wondering what people think about Ableton vs Pro Tools - I've signed up to ToneArtist.com for Term 1 and I can't decide from the description - both seem to have benefits for home recording. Can someone take a look at the description and help me work out the best option

The link is Toneartist.com/courses/listing but it's explained on the home page vids a bit too. I 'm leaning toward Pro Tools because more of my muso buddies seem to know about it but I've seen Ableton in action on youtube and it doesn't look bad either.

Help would be appreciated. Cheers.
 
Well, if you plan on having your songs mixed by a mix engineer I would suggest using
Pro Tools. Most ppl are going to be using it; at least in my humble experience.......
 
You should probably use whatever your school is using...probably PT, and since your buddies use it you have built in support.

I always suggest Reaper though for people who have no need for compatibility. For most of us it does everything PT does for $40.
 
Pro Tools is a studio standard... I use Ableton for live stuff, but that's about all I like to use it for.
Pro Tools comes with some really nice mixing plug-ins (for being the ones that come with the program) as well, so that's a plus.
What type of music are you planning on recording? If you're doing mostly the whole hip-hop/rap/electronica style, just go with Ableton.
If it has actual instruments you want to record, such as guitar/vocals/bass etc, I'd go with Pro Tools.
 
Abelton has a demo if you want to just try it out. I personally didn't like it YMMV though.

DAWs are just a means to an end and they all get there, it's just how they get there that makes them different. None of them are necessarily better.
 
as far as the SM57, its a great workhorse microphone. great in a live proformance on just about anything. As far as recording anything seriously i might use a 57 on something like a guitar cab or bass/snare drum. but if you want a little bit more bang for your buck i would check out some of the cheaper condenser microphones. i love my Blue and it's improved the quality of my recordings by 100%. but they require phantom power so be sure the interface or mixer your are using to record is capable
 
Guitargodgt said:
DAWs are just a means to an end and they all get there
Click to expand...

and about how nice you can play with others.

Which is why if you'll be dealing with other studios and you have friends that have protools, it would be a good idea to get it. Just allows for easier transport of files and so you can bring your actual session ,not just files of individual instruments, to other studios and open them up and go to work.
 
Personally, I don't think you would be going wrong with getting a recording bundle. I've seen m audio sell bundles that included a firewire interface, pro tools, a condenser microphone, and studio monitors for around 500. That would give you a great start provided that you have a computer decent enough to handle pro tools.
 
Free SM57

Thanks for the advice guys. The Free SM57 offer got me over the line with the SM57 - seems like a good option for me. :) I signed up for Pro Tools Rock Home Studio - just going to try out Pro Tools for now - should give me a good home recording grounding and once I get the basics down for micing etc, I'll go from there...
 
Hmmm.

As far as I'm concerned, the ONLY reason to select Pro Tools is if compatibility with a studio or another musician using it is high on your priorities list. If this is the case, then Pro Tools is probably the best option.

However, if you're working fairly stand alone, then Pro Tools can be a poor choice. You can get a lot more features for you money in a lot of other DAWs. Other DAWS can also be more intuitive and easier to use. (For reference, I had to use Pro Tools at work for many years but, despite my familiarity with it, chose a different option at home because I disliked the PT user interface so much).

Also, don't forget that most pro studios are using the full hardware version of PT, not just the software with other brands of interface etc. This makes a big difference in how effective the software is.

Finally, if file exchange is only a minor consideration, check out the OMF capabilities of the software you're considering. It is often possible to exchange projects (or at least most aspects of projects) even if you use different DAWs. However, I stress that you need to check this out rather than just assume it'll work--there can also be "gotchas" in OMF exchange.

Anyhow, the SM57 is a good workhorse no matter where you go in the future--and, checking out the included home version of PT will at least give you something to compare when you try other software like Reaper!
 
lets see, new user, first post and a dirty big spam advert for a free mic :spank:
 
Why, Lemon Tree, you are a very suspicious person!

Of course, as I always say, "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you".
 
What about the interface - do u agree with using the 003 or is there a better option?
 
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