| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Digital Audio Workstations | |
| marksdg -- 07/31/2007, 07:00:00 -- #36129 | |
| I wanted to see what software people were using for generating music projects that include great sythesized sounds, realistic instrument samples and overall good effects to incorporate recorded sounds. I was looking at a variety of Cakewalk products, including SONAR Home Studio, Dimension Pro, Project 5 and Rapture and I can't tell what is really needed for good music production, and what is redundant. Please give me some help based on your own experience. | |
| Scot -- 07/31/2007, 10:52:33 -- #36129 | |
| I used cakewalk products (including sonar 6) since 1990. This year I have dropped all cakewalk software off my system and started using Ableton Live 6. The possibilities regarding live performances along with all the standard features that you need in a piece of studio software, plus the ease of use, made the switch easy for me. Over the years I've looked at virtually every piece of studio/recording software there is, including the loop stuff stuch as Rebirth and Fruity Loops, and I have never run across something so intuitive and easy to use as Ableton. My opinion, but I think it's worth checking out if you're looking. One of the reasons I really like Ableton is that they are not trying to emulate a physical studio which is what most software tries to do, going as far as even making it look like a big mixing board. Instead, Ableton has taken the powers of the computer and designed a new way of looking at studio software. Utilizing other dimensions in how things are organized. I can't explain it that well, but I sure enjoy the software. | |
| sid -- 07/31/2007, 12:27:02 -- #36129 | |
| I've been with Cakewalk since it was a DOS program and I'm now up to SONAR 5.2PE. But I'm seriously tempted by Reaper (http://www.cockos.com/reaper/), especially since it looks as if this application can handle Vista. But it's worth remembering that, for most people and most applications, the full power of these programs is probably never exploited. I certainly suspect I stopped getting to the limits back in Cakewalk Home Studio days. sid | |
| marksdg -- 07/31/2007, 12:40:20 -- #36129 | |
| For getting MIDI into my computer, I have an old keyboard with a large MIDI output, but I do not have a sound card with a MIDI input. I see that there are MIDI-to-USB cables, but I don't know if these are usable as MIDI input into these types of programs. Does anybody else have experience with a MIDI-to-USB cable for MIDI computer input? | |
| Scot -- 08/01/2007, 07:43:23 -- #36129 | |
| I checked out Reaper and it's a solid audio app, uses dxi and vst plugins, and has a nice clean interface. Amazing the thing is so small! I'll be keeping my eyes on it. | |
| alhaynes -- 08/01/2007, 13:18:19 -- #36129 | |
| I use a MIDI-USB adaptor cable whenever I connect the old Korg to the my Mac laptop. I use Logic as a DAW for recording, but use RAX (these are Mac-specific programs) for live performance. Ableton has a free demo download available. | |
| Jazz+ -- 08/01/2007, 14:24:14 -- #36129 | |
| Scott, What sort of music are you producing with Ableton Live? Do you have any samples online? J+ | |
| Scot -- 08/02/2007, 11:19:46 -- #36129 | |
| No samples, sorry. Every time I sit down to record something I want to throw up, but I can turn on my MD next time and maybe I'll catch something good. I'll let you know if/when that happens. | |
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