I use Logic because it came on the laptop I had to get to start the college program I did for a whole year. Seems to be mostly Reason and FL around here ... what software do you use to write/compose/record(/mix?) and why did you choose it?
I have no clue what my thought process was 3 years ago when I started using FL.
Looking back, theres a lot of utube tuts and FL is probably the easiest pro daw to start with!
When i was 12 or 13 or something a friend of mine used FL Studio to make music.
Tried it, gave up.
When i was 14 i tried it again, gave up again.
When i was 16 i tried it again, figured some stuff out and now i'm still using it.
True story.
I started with Finale 2003 when we used it at school for transcribing music, and that kind of went from there. Got introduced to Garageband, and in college we used Logic Pro and Pro Tools, so that's how I got acquainted with the software I used.
At 6 minutes ago, Computer112 wrote: FL Studio:
- I personally thing FL Studio features the best Piano Roll, ever.
I would definitely agree with this... And I like the work flow... and it's colorful, which holds my attention while I'm writing music (Yep, I just said that).
Custom background is nice too... I have a song that wouldn't be in existence right now if it wasn't for the fact that you can have custom backgrounds... Because I wrote the song around the picture I had as my background then.
My only complaint about FL Studio is I think the automation could be a tad better.
Reaper:
Great for live recording... terrible midi interface... is a trade off, but I wouldn't use anything else when I want to record my guitar or vocals (Hur hur... I never do vocals).
Guitar Pro:
Want tabs? This is how it happens... In fact, I'll be posting something here tomorrow that makes use of Guitar Pro tabs (As well as a simple screenshot of the Tabs for those that don't own Guitar Pro, which I'll wager is most of you).
Audio/BBS Mod
News: Bye bye Skype - Music: Tonight Will Be The Night- Art: Kira
\/\/\/ Click the sig for fun times! \/\/\/
Becasue FL was a small enough download for me to do.
My internet sucks. Bad. I would rather use Albeton.
I use FL Studio, Guitar Pro, and Sony Acid.
I got into FL Studio around six years ago, I was fourteen. This is when I really began to understand and develop a real feeling for music due to my rapidly progressing skill on the guitar. I had also just discovered Newgrounds about a year or so earlier which broadened my musical interest. At the time I conclusively decided that trance music was the bee's knees and had to produce it non-stop forever. I began reading description of the tracks, forums, news posts, and watching YouTube videos to figure out what the best DAW would be to start with. Obviously FL Studio was a reoccurring application, thus, in my naive mind I thought it was the best.
Guitar Pro is something that I came across when I first began playing guitar a decade ago, I couldn't figure out a good way to learn songs without listening to them repetitively, and even then I would get lost trying to follow along with the tablature. I came across something called Guitar Pro while I was on Ultimate-Guitar.com, decided to Google it for some information and found TuxGuitar, which was my free substitute up until last year when I finally made the purchase for Guitar Pro 5.
And finally, Sony Acid Express was the first program I had ever come across for live recording. This was also about eight to ten years ago when I was just getting into guitar so I didn't think there was anything like Logic or Pro Tools that could possibly exist. I hadn't even heard of FL Studio at this point. Anyway, I began using Acid Express to record little riffs and licks for a couple years before suddenly never touching it (also known as the time I discovered FL Studio). A couple of years ago, I decided to try my hand at recording guitar again and purchased the latest in the Sony Acid line of recording software.
What it all comes down to is; I use the software I started with because it's where I'm most comfortable. If you have me open up Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton, Reason or whatever, I won't know the play button from a synthesizer (not true, maybe).
Sorry for the long ass post.
Ableton of course, the ability to record live manipulation of the music is smooth. FL is fun to play with, and straight forward when building a song. Ableton works well with recording your live set and building the song that way. At first the patterns can be more tedious for drums, but ultimately is more rewarding in the end.
I used to go to a friends house after school as a kid, and he had FL Studio 5 or something on his computer. Endless fun, blah blah blah, now I use it all the time.
bork bork bork
I honestly had very little idea as to what the alternatives to FL were. I just knew that a lot of people on here used it, so i checked it out when I got interested in maybe making my own music. I also tried Ableton and Reason (as well as "others" like Mixcraft and Magix), but FL made the most sense to me. I caught on fast and was able to do twice as much as I had in the same amount of time in any of the other DAWs I tried. I'd like to go back and give both Live and Reason another shot now that I understand things more, though.
At 14 minutes ago, AetherX wrote: I honestly had very little idea as to what the alternatives to FL were.
Pretty much this!
I was 12 and everything else that wasn't eJay was too hard for me to use, hurr hurr.
p.s. i am gay
I'm finding the emerging trend funny, because I got my first couple looks at FL when I was 18 or so (which is probably when most of you were 14 >.<) and just couldn't figure out how to get past the super basics. Logic/Garage Band made was way more intuitive for me ... then again it was introduced to me formally in a class, so it's hard to say how much I would have been able to figure out on my own.
Carry on, carry on, this is interesting ... :)
Chalk me up as a Cubase guy. I've been using it for a 6 or so years almost exclusively beacuse of it's solid stability, decent out-of-the-box plugins (I really like using the parametric EQ), and layout. At this point, using the interface is reflexive, so I couldn't imagine going to another DAW unless I had a REALLY good reason to. I have my occasional frustrations with it, but I'm familiar with and relatively comfortable using several other DAWs (FL Studio, Sonar, Pro Tools, Logic Studio), and I always come back to Cubase!
At 3 minutes ago, DavidOrr wrote:
I always come back to Cubase!
Yeah! I guess we're on the same boat! My choice is always Cubase! Though I need a lot of learning to do, lot of improvements to achieve, and lot of problems to solve, I want CUBASE to be my DAW while I am at it. :)
I started out with ModPlug Tracker because of a Youtube video, and used that for my first couple of songs. Horrible program, not only because you can only use downloaded samples but also because it just lacked everything: a good manual, an interesting interface and a huge amount of options that are necessary if you want to be a decent producer.
After I kept seeing 'I made this with FL Studio' in the author comments on a lot of songs I decided to check that out and got myself the demo. Since I was 8 I had gathered an enormous amount of music theory (and that may sound like I'm sucking my own dick, but it's true) so I could easily understand the program. After some short and cheesy songs I bought the full version, and I'm still working with that one (I never upgraded to FL9 or FL10). And here I am now. :)
At 11 hours ago, RENstyles wrote: Ableton of course, the ability to record live manipulation of the music is smooth. FL is fun to play with, and straight forward when building a song. Ableton works well with recording your live set and building the song that way. At first the patterns can be more tedious for drums, but ultimately is more rewarding in the end.
Ableton is my choice as well.
The basic synths are powerful enough to do anything I want to with, and with Max for LIVE I can really do anything.
Also the midi interface is just so awesome and like RENstyles said, it will record live midi input and audio manipulations.
I like that patterning my self as well giving you really full control over the music.
Reason. Because it just clicked. I could visually see how deviced were integrated with eachother and how they related to the flow of music. Very straightforward and easy to use but, with a lot of depth and creative potential to make the workflow sound your own.Also i love that it runs so smoothly no matter what youve got going on in it. Sure it doesn't have VST support and its limited when it comes to audio (not anymore). But it gets the job done if you are making tracks with synths and samples. In those areas it really atracted me because of how quickly i got results.
Ableton Live. I love love the workflow. I love the creative freedom you have because of all the options you have when approaching your track. It's built for all kinda of production in mind, live performances, and DJing. And all of those element compliment each other. It's a resource hog, but with a new PC it isn't so much an issue.
I chose FL Studio because at that time it was the easiest 'musical doodling' program which wasn't very expensive - My cousin had showed it to me one summer and I got hooked.
My first love, FL Studio, at that time was Fruity Loops 2.3, just using patterns. Was easier to use than Rebirth and could read Rebirth files. It was on a CD from some French computer magazine. Demo.
Later on I won a mixing competition and got a license for FL as well as I was working in different studios with several DAWs, including a Cubase on 3 floppy disks working on a old Atari.
When I was making my first album I had problems with recording audio in FL, which is a pain in the a..eyes and a fail by default, so I was searching for solutions. Being on low budget and trying to find legal free options got to Mu.Lab which had a free version (limited at 6 tracks, now the free version is limited at 4 tracks).
Used it with success and when I got some money I bought full license.
Still using Mu.Lab as my main, heck, as my only DAW. Totally love it. Totally recommend it.
I'll always be some kind of an outcast for using Cakewalk Sonar (currently the X1 Version) xD
Seriously, I almost never come across other producers who work with Sonar. And I'll never understand why, since it's a decent DAW, very clearly arranged, very easy to use once you get the hang out of it (surprise..). It also supports VSTs, comes with a big, high quality sample bank and lots of awesome plug ins.... So seriously, why are Sonar-Users such a rare breed? D=
TRUMP 2020 | Ol'TOOL 2021
At 23 hours ago, midimachine wrote: I was 12 and everything else that wasn't eJay was too hard for me to use, hurr hurr.
You say this as a joke. While I don't remember my real reason for using FL Studio over other software, I bet that it was because it looked most similar to eJay. Put the blocks on the grid. Hit play. Done. Then I learned a lot more about it and realized its power as time went on. Plus, lifetime updates. Aw yeah.
At 1 hour ago, Nav wrote:At 23 hours ago, midimachine wrote: I was 12 and everything else that wasn't eJay was too hard for me to use, hurr hurr.You say this as a joke.
100% truth, though! I couldn't figure out how to even get a sound out of Sonar :(
p.s. i am gay
Still using Reason 4 with absolutely no regrets. I've tried some similar DAWs, trackers, sequencers before (including FL10, and it was a totally foreign territory for me) but I find Reason to be one of the most user-friendly platforms ever, with plenty of libraries and sounds, and easy control of devices, automations and anything involving electronics.
As a downside, the refill market is pretty limited and you can't always rely on third-party loops. The impossibility of directly recording and editing in real time also makes it a huge pain, but Reason 6 probably solves this problem. However, two and a half years experience has taught me how to "handle with care" what I already had without necessarily relying on other sites for more samples and instruments.
At 1 day ago, DavidOrr wrote: Chalk me up as a Cubase guy. I've been using it for a 6 or so years almost exclusively beacuse of it's solid stability, decent out-of-the-box plugins (I really like using the parametric EQ), and layout.
Yeah! Some Cubase people exist in here.
I used Logic for ages in the early days, but it was the last version ever released for PC, which means it got outdated pretty quick. I didn't want to get a Mac, so I picked up Cubase, and haven't looked back. It treats me well.
However, what I found really interesting about the old Logic I used to use (5.1, very old now) is that it was SO ahead of its time. There were features and workflow layouts that just blew away everything for years to come.
Even today, Logic 5.1's MIDI channels are better than Cubase 5's, which I'm using now. Can anyone on a newer version of Cubase let me know if they finally added curves & proper line drawing to Cubase's automation, and MIDI automation? (For things like pan, volume, etc, and MIDI functions like pitchbend, modulation etc). Cubase 5's method is so inflexible...
I chose FL Studio because:
1. Some people among the Mario Painter circle I was in used FL Studio for their more professional productions.
2. Once you get the hang of it, it can be a breeze to use.
3. Lifetime free updates, just like someone above me said.
At 1 day ago, varrin7 wrote: I chose Logic because I have a mac, so naturally I wanted a DAW that worked well on the MAC OS. And since Logic is Apple's high-end DAW, it made sense to get it. It also has 64-bit support, which was a plus. And as of recently, it's extremely inexpensive (I believe it's $130 in the App Store).
And like most Apple products, Logic is fairly simple to use, but it offers a lot of powerful features.
I actually work for Apple, so I get every DAW they have and all that jazz. I tried using Logic, but I think that I will always stick to the nice, simple, comfortable interface of Garageband. It has VST and AU support, so I play around with building my own virtual rack and programming my own synths. It is perfect for customizable soundscapes. It is rare for people to use Garageband professionally.. hell, I even use it's virtual racking system to mix live guitar input live while DJing lmoa.. but I absolutely, positively, LOVE it. I make all of my tracks from scratch from it, and will always stick to it. I have messed around with other DAWs, and I might move into Logic in the future. For now, however, I will keep adding my own treasure chest of programmable synthesizers and other VSTs to program my own stuff and record it in the simple sequencer system.
Aieeegh! I seem to be the only one in this topic who uses Sibelius. It's a nice little program, and if you aren't the kind of person that likes to make their own instruments/sounds from scratch, it's pretty nice. Sib 6 sounds aren't too bad.
I also own/use logic, though, which has the best orchestral sounds I have ever heard...
Browsing the first page and, what the hell, ladies? No love for audacity? It's free, and good enough for professionals to use, I know for a fact Patrick Kilpatrick uses it.
With the new update, it doesn't crash as often, and you can get some sweet-ass plugins.
At 7 hours ago, protoAuthor wrote: Browsing the first page and, what the hell, ladies? No love for audacity? It's free, and good enough for professionals to use, I know for a fact Patrick Kilpatrick uses it.
With the new update, it doesn't crash as often, and you can get some sweet-ass plugins.
Well, i guess its harder to create music in audacity :P Most people tend to use software that can use both audio and midi.
I personally use Logic, cos its what I used during A-Levels. It was the first music software I ever used, so I never bothered to get my head around anything else. It did mean I haven't really done any producing for the last year and a half though :P because I haven't had access to a mac, but recently Ive started again.
