Best program for starting out producing

Shotty

Shotty

HUGE EARS > COMEDY CHIN
VIP Junglist
Joined
Jun 15, 2007
Location
CHINFORD
I know theres probly been about a 100 threads like this so I dont need you lot to tell me but I can't be arsed digging them up :teeth:

Anyway what program would you recomend for starting out, I've heard good things about Fruitlyloops being good for beginers but I dunno dont really have a clue.
 
fruity loops is the most user friendly and no matter what anyone says, if you get fruity 7 or 8 you'll get a highpower tool that does basicall everything that any other sofware can do.

fruity for the win every single time
 
I just started and i've got Cubase, working well so far. I can vouch for fruity though, it's a badass program - although i find i can make better sounds on Cubase.

Reason is another option, although i found it hard without a keyboard and not knowing how studios work.
 
Initially, all of them are a bit head fucking... Which ever one you start with you'll probably stick to for a while. At the end of the day, it's not about what you use, it's how you use it.

The most versatile is probably Logic. Ableton, Cubase and Reason are also really powerful.

Reason cannot be rewired with VST's. It can be rewired through Cubase, and also a program called Rewire. I'm pretty sure there's a program called Pro Tools too which it can be rewired with.

Fruity has a few things which Reason doesn't have, which may help you when starting out, and tha's a tap counter, say for vocals nd shiz, and it can also be rewired, say with Sytrus for example.

Any program is fine to start on, but you need to spend a lot of time learning how to use it.

Hope this has helped you a bit man. Good luck to you!

-dubC-
 
i have used both fl studio and propellerheads reason. For anybody starting out you are gona produce pro tracks in reason before you ever would in fl studio, purely due to the sound presets qulity. fl studios libary is shit, yet i love it for the interface. if you get fl you gona need to spend alot time searchinf fro samples.

Reason for anybody starting
 
I'm not bang up to date with software, but I'd say Reason.

You can start very simply in Reason (just like Fruity Loops, with a step sequencer), but once you get into it and get some experience there is soooo much more you can do.

Once you get your head round the basics and want to take a step up 'pro-style' production techniques (playing more with effects, tweaking the synths etc) you can come up with some great sounding stuff. You can automate just about everything, so although some of the default sounds are a bit cheap-sounding, by the time you've recorded/drawn in a load of tweaks, then chained some effects (and you can automate all of those so easily), you end up with something altogether different. Just about any fader/knob you see can be automated, plus you don't just see them move, the ones you have automated are highlighted to show you. Viewing your controller tracks is so easy. Everything is so logical, intuitive and straightforward.

Plus if you then want to take it still further and get more expensive stuff on the go like Cubase and all the VST plugins you can use ReWire to output your Reason tracks directly into Cubase; then use really top-notch FX plugins and processors. Then Reason basically becomes your sequencer/starting point and you can then do all the finishing in Cubase, or export audio and finish that in Cubase.

It starts simple and is great for beginners but it is a deep, deep program that you can keep using once you progress - and it is so stable, has never once crashed on me. Plus, I love the way you see your virtual rack so you can 'see' what you're putting together. I started with Atari and Akai 1000 so I like that though :)

So yeah I think it's the tits!
 
Beginner wise i would have to agree with FL. But really the best thing to do is cut the bullshit of tutorials and trying to figure the programs out. Jus take some classes at a local community college.
 
No brainer....
Cubase/Nuendo or Logic... .
you will either be using these
oneday or wish you were...
hands down the 2 most powerful
sequencers on the market... .

the other dont really come close...

My 2 second View of the Contenders...

Ableton - Great as a live tool... No good in the sudio...

Reason - NN - XT is all thats really good about this
program actually a really good sampler... no VST or audio
intergration makes this program useless... .

Mackie traction - Only used it a few times not that great...

Cakewalk Sonar - Good program possible alternitve to
steinberg emagic sequencers... comes with excellent VSTs
had re-routable plugs before cubase did...

Pro-Tools - Midi intergration has been terrible in the
past... i have been told this is getting better in more
recent updates... still their latency compensation approach
was shocking in the past... requiring almost twice as much
processing power per plug to get the latency down to
a reasonable level. Great for recording and playing back audio...
Not good for much else....

Fruity Loops - Much better than reason... haha you can
actually sequnce audio.... still its audio capabilities are
to limited...

Logic - Excellent program - Its automation system is unrivaleld
the VSTs which come with it are top quality - Their convolution reverb the space designer is amazing...

Cubase/Nuendo - Best Sequencer for chopping audio....
so fast and simple... Can literally chop breaks in seconds....
Excellent VSTs that come with it... steinberg Overdrive is fat....!

In the end you can get good results with any program... .
its just how you use it.... the quality of the synths and
samples you use and how you process them...
fuck there are so many varibles that there are so many right
ways to write a beat...
and in the end its just how it sounds...
all that said i find it easiest to work with the most
powerful tool available and for sequncing audio it is
either Steinberg or Emagic...
 
Mackie traction - Only used it a few times not that great...



In the end you can get good results with any program... .
its just how you use it.... the quality of the synths and
samples you use and how you process them...
fuck there are so many varibles that there are so many right
ways to write a beat...
QUOTE]

I use Tracktion and as a sequencer it's fine. I can do most of the things that I want to do. Some of the bundled plug-ins are useless, but you can get your own as you need them. Depends if you want to spend lots of coin. T3 was 79 quid for the project bundle and that will do me for a while. Each to their own.
 
start with a sequencer like Cuebase, logic or Nuendo as sook said, then get fruity or Reason. your sequencer is way more important than the midi software such as fruity and reason.
you can sequence fairly well in Reason, but its just not as nice and a bit shit looking compared to a proper sequencer like Nuendo 3 (which i use)

i would get a sequencer first and learn the basics of playing and chopping samples around, cos you'll be doing an awful lot of that once you get rolling bro!
 
i started with reason and cubase. fruity seems a good option tho as it has vst capabilities.

their all boggling until you understand basic studio theory so just grab some demos and give them a whirl. cubase and logic are the daddies for serious studio work tho (except protools is the daddy for classic recording).
 
Cubase or Reason if your using a pc but logic for sure if youve got a mac youl probly end up on it n e way lol and in my opinion i think its better than most other software put tgother even tho im sure ppl will disagree :p
 
If you're completely new to production and have never seen a sequencer before, a prog like Cubase can be a too deep of a plunge (although it's claimed as one of the best). I think progs like FL or Reason could be the best to learn the basics on.
As for macs the only sequencer I know is logic, I don't know it but heard a lot of times it's a bitch to get through for complete producing noobs. Isn't there a simpler sequencer for the mac to learn the basics?
 
Reactor Grits said:
If you're completely new to production and have never seen a sequencer before, a prog like Cubase can be a too deep of a plunge (although it's claimed as one of the best). I think progs like FL or Reason could be the best to learn the basics on.
As for macs the only sequencer I know is logic, I don't know it but heard a lot of times it's a bitch to get through for complete producing noobs. Isn't there a simpler sequencer for the mac to learn the basics?
Click to expand...

I agree Reactor, it is a very daunting process at first, i remember when i first tried to use a mixing desk and thought 'oh my god...how many fuckin buttons!' then you realise that they are just channel strips of the same thing repeated with a few busses!

i would recommend getting into working with Audio in a sequencer straight off the bat because your gonna want to, or have to at some stage. Reason doesnt really give you the edge on cutting up audio samples. saying that, whole tracks can be put together in Reason so why not eh.

if you start off by amassing as many high quality samples as you can and start chopping, editing, looping, reversing, phasing ect inside a sequencer, your half way there

i like the way Reason looks and acts like real bits of gear though - complete noobs can learn how to wire stuff up in the mixer ect, routing tracks ect the same way it would work if it was hardware
 
Back
Top Bottom