DAW for a beginner

Erock

Erock

Well-known member
Saw @bubbastain's thread, and I was just thinking about something related. I'm looking to get some kind of recording DAW for a beginner. I've used older 8 track pre's into a hardware recorder, but I've never actually edited stuff on the PC. I used an OLD version of Cubase many years ago with a keyboard midi, but never for actual recording. I picked up a used Audix i14 this year to use as an interface. Any recommendations?


bubbastain

Thread 'Upgrading from GarageBand to Logic Pro'

The only reason I can think of is so I can run my Neural DSP plug-ins. I have a couple of others that sound really good, but I like the Nameless the most.
I'm not trying to get all into home recording or make albums. I just want to record riffs and create basic song ideas, use EZ Drummer 3 to use drum loops for basic drum ideas and give to a drummer friend so he can come up with real drum parts.
But basically record song ideas. Besides running the Neural plug-ins is there anything else it will offer for my ultra basic beginner needs that GarageBand doesn't?
Id rather not spend $200
  • bubbastain
  • Replies: 11
  • Forum: Rig-Talk
  • Like
 
JackBootedThug said:
Reaper or audacity. But I’m a retard with both….
Click to expand...
thanks man, I'm going to try out Reaper. 3 months seems like a generous amount of time unless it's super complicated. I'm more familiar with the midi end of DAWs, just not recording. I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel either, I'll be happy to get a guitar track that sounds decent. :LOL:
 
g_giac said:
Ableton Live Lite is free and seems to be recommended when I was searching for the same.
Click to expand...
I have a friend that uses Ableton. I've seen him use it a lot, as he bounces ideas off me, but it looks very complicated for a beginner. Maybe because he uses a million plugins too, lol
 
At risk of sounding like a dummy, I've been getting a lot of mileage out of my old computers. My garage computer is a i7-6700K that is almost 10 years old. It can still run 2 instances of Superior Drummer, a few instances of Helix Native or Amplitube, compressors, and reverb.
Not the big box special types but a desktop like a gamer with enough money would build every couple of years. Nice motherboard and power supply. The more expensive gamer motherboards can be very nice. Like ROG, Tuf, Aorus, etc. For learning it should be enough.

I like Reaper too. All the others are DAWS are pretty awesome. You just have to try a few a pick the one that makes the most sense to you.
 
PatF said:
At risk of sounding like a dummy, I've been getting a lot of mileage out of my old computers. My garage computer is a i7-6700K that is almost 10 years old. It can still run 2 instances of Superior Drummer, a few instances of Helix Native or Amplitube, compressors, and reverb.
Not the big box special types but a desktop like a gamer with enough money would build every couple of years. Nice motherboard and power supply. The more expensive gamer motherboards can be very nice. Like ROG, Tuf, Aorus, etc. For learning it should be enough.

I like Reaper too. All the others are DAWS are pretty awesome. You just have to try a few a pick the one that makes the most sense to you.
Click to expand...
thanks man. I'm going to try Reaper first based on the suggestions here. Have you looked lately at laptop prices? It's kind of insane what you can get now for wayyyy cheap compared to back in the day. I don't throw away old builds either, but prices on new stuff, disregarding the gaming rigs, is kind of insane.
 
REAPER

Seriously, Reaper. Started with it myself years ago and haven't looked back. Didn't take me a long to get a hold of it as it is ridiculously easy and simple to use.

Also Youtube is chock-full of Reaper tutorials. Good place to start is to take a look at channel called "Reaper Mania". Never ending resources in there.
 
I have both Reaper and Audacity but can't seem to make the jump to Reaper. I'm easy to fall back into my old ways. If for some reason Reaper is too complicated, try Audacity. It is free and super easy. And if you are just out to record and not modify or add tracks, the Zoom Q2n4K is a fun camera.

But yeah, most use Reaper it seems.
 
PatF said:
At risk of sounding like a dummy, I've been getting a lot of mileage out of my old computers. My garage computer is a i7-6700K that is almost 10 years old. It can still run 2 instances of Superior Drummer, a few instances of Helix Native or Amplitube, compressors, and reverb.
Not the big box special types but a desktop like a gamer with enough money would build every couple of years. Nice motherboard and power supply. The more expensive gamer motherboards can be very nice. Like ROG, Tuf, Aorus, etc. For learning it should be enough.

I like Reaper too. All the others are DAWS are pretty awesome. You just have to try a few a pick the one that makes the most sense to you.
Click to expand...
BTW, I've been watercooling since the early 2000's, and even experimented with Peltiers back in the day. I had processors completely sealed with condensation on the outside :LOL: My ex and I just went in on a 4080 RTX to upgrade my oldest's rig I built with him. I'm not sure it's even worth it these days, considering what you can get for so cheap. It's basically only if you are into the hobby. Thanks though, you're no dummy.
311splawndude said:
I have both Reaper and Audacity but can't seem to make the jump to Reaper. I'm easy to fall back into my old ways. If for some reason Reaper is too complicated, try Audacity. It is free and super easy. And if you are just out to record and not modify or add tracks, the Zoom Q2n4K is a fun camera.

But yeah, most use Reaper it seems.
Click to expand...
Thanks man, I'll keep that in mind. I remember people talking about Audacity back in the day IIRC. :cheers:
 
Last edited:
FruityLoops is by far the easiest to get into and comprehend and get into autopilot mode and start making shit work. Hands down the easiest. However, FL is its own ecosystem. It's unlike any and all other DAWs out there. So when you actually start grooving hard into FL, and needing to expand, you'll be met with limitations. And once you leave FL, every other DAW is going to feel completely and utterly foreign to you.

Reaper is an excellent start - and finish. Honestly, they've got a killer support forum, amazing tutorials (Kenny Gioia, thank you!!), it's pretty stable (even though its industry nickname is "Repair"), it has a free trial period, and if you choose to buy it, it costs almost fuck all. What it does offer though?? Complete customization to your wants and needs, all the bells and whistles of skins and making it "look" the way you want it to, the Right+Click mouse is fucking powerful shit - everywhere on the screen, and it's cross platform compatible. Furthermore - once you start working in Reaper?? Every other DAW will be familiar feeling to you. Every other Daw except FruityLoops.

**Edit: oh ya, there are also - IMHO - no limitations to what Reaper is capable of. At all. Period. I've seen monstrous PT files just get plunked into its environment and just like that, smooth AF. I know of no other DAW that's this massive - only if you need it to be.
 
Last edited:
I got a free Ableton Live Lite with a MIDI controller IIRC, and spent time learning it, then just stuck with it, eventually getting the full Suite, which I keep renewing to the latest version.

I'm sure there are pros/cons to all DAWs, but once I spent time learning Ableton I didn't want to try learning other DAWs. My problem is I use it for awhile then do other things, and forget half of what I knew when I get back to it.

When I finally retire, and my son is safely ensconced in college, I plan to use more of my additional spare time to learn and use Ableton, and other gear, more thoroughly than I have while working and raising a kid.
 
Ventura said:
FruityLoops is by far the easiest to get into and comprehend and get into autopilot mode and start making shit work. Hands down the easiest. However, FL is its own ecosystem. It's unlike any and all other DAWs out there. So when you actually start grooving hard into FL, and needing to expand, you'll be met with limitations. And once you leave FL, every other DAW is going to feel completely and utterly foreign to you.

Reaper is an excellent start - and finish. Honestly, they've got a killer support forum, amazing tutorials (Kenny Gioia, thank you!!), it's pretty stable (even though its industry nickname is "Repair"), it has a free trial period, and if you choose to buy it, it costs almost fuck all. What it does offer though?? Complete customization to your wants and needs, all the bells and whistles of skins and making it "look" the way you want it to, the Right+Click mouse is fucking powerful shit - everywhere on the screen, and it's cross platform compatible. Furthermore - once you start working in Reaper?? Every other DAW will be familiar feeling to you. Every other Daw except FruityLoops.
Click to expand...
That sounds exactly what I'm looking for. Thank everyone for the recommendations, helps a lot. :cheers:
rsm said:
I got a free Ableton Live Lite with a MIDI controller IIRC, and spent time learning it, then just stuck with it, eventually getting the full Suite, which I keep renewing to the latest version.

I'm sure there are pros/cons to all DAWs, but once I spent time learning Ableton I didn't want to try learning other DAWs. My problem is I use it for awhile then do other things, and forget half of what I knew when I get back to it.

When I finally retire, and my son is safely ensconced in college, I plan to use more of my additional spare time to learn and use Ableton, and other gear, more thoroughly than I have while working and raising a kid.
Click to expand...
aww man, don't do this to me. You sound exactly like my friend! :LOL:

He swears by it, but has a few thousand wrapped up in just plugins. It's way advanced for me, lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top