What is the Best software to arrange and record music with.

[vlad509sympatico.ca]

What is the Best software to arrange, mixing and record, sequence music with?

 

i mean user friendly but very good quality,

 

I hear about Emagic, I saw someone working with Emagic.

even Teddy Riley uses it. but I heard someone say that it's all complicated for nothing.......

 

I heard about Cubase VST what about that!!!

 

and Wavelab 3.0???

 

Vlad

[DOS]

I use Sonic Foundry Acid. At first, it seems really basic, but once you really get going, it has some serious potential. However, I recommend using Sound Forge with it. I've heard a lot about Cubase and many similar programs, but I find that they are not user friendly at all. If you want to get going immediately, Acid is a great product. You can download samples to get yourself started and get familiar with the software, but later on, you'll make your own samples and can get really creative. It's unfortunate that this software is so overlooked because of it's ease of use. The results in the end can be very professional, but of course, that all depends on the composers creativity.

[murph]

First off, you didn't say if you were a Mac or PC owner. You mentioned Wavelab, which is only PC, so I'll assume that. Emagic Logic is incredibly powerful software. There is a learning curve to it that's slightly steep, but if you want pro software, that's a great way to go. Cubase VST is also powerful, and you might not have to spend as much time with the manual. Cakewalk is also a very popular program, deemed to be very user-friendly and not quite as powerful as the other two. Allthree of these will do audio recording, some audio editing, working with effects, and sequencing.

 

Wavelab isn't really a recording program, per se. You can record individual tracks, put effects on them, edit, etc, but you can't record multiple tracks at a time. It was designed to be a really powerful editing program. Plus, it doesn't do any sequencing.

A couple of other programs to consider if you don't need sequencing are Vegas and Cool Edit Pro. Both pretty easy to use and powerful.

 

Ther best thing to do is to either download demos of go to your local store and get them, put them into your computer and try them out to see which one agrees with you best. Software usually can't be returned, so it's not something you want to "try out." Once you buy it, you're stuck with it. The demos are usually fully functional. You'll get a good idea of how they work from them.

[callengowanco.com]

Hey All,

 

I'm no dummy, but I've had Logic Platinum for 2 years and still haven't learned it. Everytime I try, it gets so frustrating that I fire up my onboard sequencer on my Emu Esynth. I do think Emagic can be a fulfilling experience if there's someone close by who is able to walk you thru it. I will porbably be switching to Cubase VST only because I hear its easier and its free when you buy the Tascam USB-428.

[Mike Martin]

First like Murph, I'd have to hear your application and more about your setup and what you're looking to do.

 

In general though, I'd have to recommend Emagic's Logic.

 

Many people say that the learning curve is steep. I don't know if I agree. The problem is that it is simply different than any other sequencer. If you're used to using something else, you'll probably have a hard time adjusting. It took me a long time to break the habbit of looking under the Edit menu for Quantizing, its not there, there is a dedicated "parameter" window for that.

 

If Logic was your first software sequencing experience you'd probably have the same (bad) reaction when taking a look at other sequencing/recording products.

 

PS - Carl, I've made an Environment for PC2 which allows you to do all the of the effects bussing for each MIDI channel. Makes working with the PC2 in a sequencing situation ideal. Here is the link -

 

http://members.aol.com/kurzrep/PC2.LSO

[callengowanco.com]

Mike,

 

Thanks for the link, you've just given me another reason to give this frustrating piece of software another try.

[musicman1ovation.net]

I know it's for the MAC and not the PC, but how does the learning curve of Digital Performer stack up with Logic Audio and/or Cubase VST?

[x factor music]

If you can wait until about May (when the first patch upgrades will be hitting the web), I would get Sonar from Cakewalk. Scheduled for release next month, probably all fixed up by late spring. No one's ever really SEEN Sonar yet, but millions have used Cakewalk for an excellent home and project studio-based recording solution over the past 10 years.

[D.Triny]

Originally posted by xfactor111@home.com:

If you can wait until about May (when the first patch upgrades will be hitting the web), I would get Sonar from Cakewalk.

 

I would probably go with Cakewalk PA9 for now (to get started immediately) then upgrade to SONAR when it's ready...

 

-david abraham

[murph]

It really should be a seperate thread, but as a word of warning:

 

Don't 'plan' on buying software (or any other gear, for that matter)when it's 'supposed' to come out. Shipping dates are guesses at best. And you're talking about software, which may or may not work with your particular computer setup with this version. Sure SONAR looks cool, and it may be awesome. Is it really coming out in May? I've heard the story 1,000 times. I saw Steinberg's REASON two years ago at the NAMM show, and it was supposed to ship soon. It didn't ship until recently. Version 1.0 might not be compatible with the XYZ card. You'll have to wait for an update, which may be out by summer, if the planets align right...

 

If something does the job for you now, get it now. Try it first, see if it's friendly, and get it! If the new thing comes out, many manufacturers offer competitive upgrades. You can get it cheaper then.

A word to the wise.

[Steve44]

At this point, basically all software that's out there is damn good for arranging and recording audio, from Logic to Cubase to DP, even Cakewalk, and furthermore even Powertracks Pro and ProToolsFree are good programs for it all. They all have massive amounts of features, and rather tiny differences based on how they are laid out and how professional they look and/or sound. It's easy to get into a debate about which one is "best" but the truth is that they're all really good, and you just have to define what you want to do with the software specifically in order to narrow down your search.

 

The first question to ask yourself is whether you're doing just audio or sequencing midi too. If it's just audio, you may be better off with Vegas Audio or Acid Pro, both of which offer very cool features but nearly no midi. If you are using synths, thenb you need to decide what kinds of features are important to you, how many effects you need, and whether certain "power features" in the software you'll ever get around to using. All of these programs offer introductory versions, from micrologic AV to Cubasis VST to Cakewalk Home Studio/Guitar studio. There may even be demo files of each one on the companies' websites.

 

If you post with more specific criteria for what kinds of software you're looking for and what your applications are, we'll be able to give you much better information instead of just saying "Logic is what I use & it rules"

[dansouth]

Let me step back for a moment. It's not enough to say "Logic is a great program." There are several things you can do with music on a computer. Different programs do different things, so you have to know first what you're trying to do. Many of these programs can be used in conjunction with one another to mix and match features.

 

- MIDI recording and editing (Logic, Cubase, Performer)

- audio recording and editing (Logic, Cubase, Performer, ProTools, Wavelab)

- looping samples (Recycle, Acid)

- playing back prepackaged loops (Acid)

- generating synth or sampled sounds (GigaSampler, Reaktor)

- creating dance beats (Reason, ReBirth)

 

Here are a few comments on each.

 

- MIDI sequencers are some of the most popular programs, and many of them can record audio, as well, with the proper interface. Front runners are Logic and Cubase (both for Mac and PC), Digital Performer (Mac), and Cakewalk (PC). Logic and Cubase have similar layouts. Some people find Logic difficult to use, some find it easy. I'll make a few remarks on Logic at the end of this post, because it's my sequencer of choice.

 

- Recording and editing audio requires much more memory, disk space and CPU power than MIDI processing, plus you have to have a way to save huge audio files (CD burners, removable hard drives, etc.) ProTools is the king of the hill, and it has includes some simple MIDI features, but most people use it in conjunction with Logic or Performer. ProTools can be expensive. WaveLab and Bias Peak are used for editing stereo mixes, while ProTools, Logic, DP, Cubase, etc. allow you to record, mix, and process many tracks at once.

 

- Acid is very popular, powerful, and easy to use, but it's mostly for mixing together loops that have already been recorded. This suits some people better than others who prefer to "roll their own" tracks. Acid and Recycle can break a recording up into loopable phrases.

 

- Reason and Rebirth are complete music creation programs, including synths, effects, and beat boxes, but the interface becomes cumbersome as projects get larger. I think that they're both cross platform.

 

- GigaSampler runs on PC and Reaktor runs (I think) in Mac. Both are very powerful and may take some time to learn. Less powerful and less expensive programs are available in both categories.

 

- The reason that people stumble over Logic in the beginning is because Logic comes preconfigured to use a set of General MIDI instruments. The configuration is contained in something called the Environment. Logic comes with an Environment tutorial on CD-ROM. You should start here if you want to get up and running on Logic. First save a copy of your AUTOLOAD file, then work through the first example on the CD-ROM. It will show you how to delete all of the junk in the default environment and create a simple, streamlined one. This is all you need. If you end up getting Logic, I would be happy to send you a sample Logic file with a simple, useful environment to get you started.

 

Once you get past this hurdle, the program is extremely easy to use. Everything is right in front of you, including very useful, non-destructive transpose and quantize functions, the effect of which are immediately applied to all of the MIDI editors. I don't know if you can download a copy of Logic to try from www.emagic.de , but if you can, you should check it out before you buy anything else. Logic is my right hand in the studio, and it only took me about a week to get comfortable with it.

 

Logic has many wonderful tools, including a sample editor, a host of useful audio plugins, and very well-developed notation generation from your MIDI sequences. It does a lot of things and does them well.

 

This message has been edited by dansouth@yahoo.com on 02-25-2001 at 12:35 AM