DAW, smacks forehead.. wish it were easier

[brianrost]

Just to be clear maybe it’s just me and coming to a new DAW. Curious if other people feel the same way I do.

Changing DAWs can drive you crazy. It's not like it was in the old days, when buying a new tape machine or mixing board meant you were up and running again in a couple of days at most.

I owned Reason back before it recorded audio and found it very simple to use because it was just a rack full of synths and effects coupled to a mixer and sequencer, just like hardware synth setups I had used for years. I used it alongside a hardware synth and a Boss multitrack recorder. I barely cracked the manual.

Years later I replaced the Boss recorder with Ableton Live which I found even more intuitive to use than Reason. Again I barely cracked the manual.

I switched to Logic after six years because I sold all my synth hardware and Live's sound library couldn't replace sounds I used all the time like pianos, organs and strings. I wanted something self-contained so I would not have to deal with OS update issues with third party plugins. Logic being an Apple product I knew would work well with my Macs as the annual OS change came along. It covered all the sounds I needed and it was also cheap: $199 and so far all updates have been free (unlike Live where I had already paid $500 for two updates; today Live costs over $700 to buy).

It took about a year just to start getting a handle on using Logic Four years later I am finally comfortable with it, but in no way is it as easy to work with as Live. The concepts of how "channel strips" and "patches" work took quite a while for me to wrap my head around, as did the audio and MIDI editing features. Live was very drag and drop while Logic uses lots of key commands instead. OK, it's not like I spent every waking moment in Logic trying to learn it, but I spent $100+ on books and some video instruction because the lack of a true manual is a total disaster for new users. Since I hardly needed the manuals for Live and Reason, that should tell you something.

 

[HolmeBass]

Audacity is free, open source, and works fine for the most part. Pretty simple and straightforward work flow.

 

[john_g]

I read that cakewalk was similar to garageband on the pc.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Grab a free demo of Reaper, it's hands a feet above garage band.
Works on Mac/PC/Linux.

You don't mention sound card, onboard sound is not the way to go for pro sound.

A crazy amount of some great easily understandable tutorials readily available.

Happy recording.
Dirk

 

[Krisfield]

Logic Remote is great. You can simplify a lot of stuff with it.

 

[bwildt]

The good thing about Reaper is that it is HIGHLY configurable. The problem is that it is HIGHLY configurable, including the GUI. Everyone likes to change the screen around. Sometimes it helps their workflow. Sometimes is just because they can.

It reminds me of when computer word processing came out people started creating documents that looked like ransom notes. Access to cut and paste and multiple fonts was not always your friend.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Learning any DAW sux.

My 2 cents

 

[mikecd1]

I used garage band for a while on my mac, but someone here suggested I try Mixcraft which is very reasonably priced (about $100)and has a ton of features. I've gotten some really great plugins for it as well that have not broken the bank. It might be PC only though, but its been very robust and I've done some decent recordings with it, the learning curve is easy and there's some excellent instructional videos out there. Good online community too if you need support and the staff responds to emails. It allows me to focus on creating music instead of learning DAW's and I'm easily able to exchange files with others using pro tools, reaper, etc.

 

[lermgalieu]

Yeah, I don't know what to say other than that's why I have a Mac and Logic.

 

[Evildrwallace]

Have you tried Presonus StudioOne? I downloaded the free version recently to help out a friend who was using it and it took me very little time to get the hang of it. It also comes with a pretty decent set of instruments and effects, even in the free version.
I've used Logic for years and also get infuriated with Reaper when I've used it just because you really have to configure so much of it yourself before it is at all useable (though, when you do, it is very good).

 

[Tosh]

^ Yes ^ El Capitan, though no longer supported by Apple, works just fine - I use it almost everyday. Only last year did I advance to Catalina with a new-used Mini.

If you got it, boot it!

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

just pick one, and use it to record a song.
learn what you need to do step by step.
If you get stuck, there are millions of youtube videos to show you how.
finish the song, bounce it to a file, and after critical listen, figure out what you want to do differently.
Learn how to do whatever it is you want to, step by step.
After a few songs, you will be familiar.
Just have to start and be willing to invest the time in learning.

 

[Skillet]

Tracktion (Waveform) is the daw I've found to be the easiest to get a grasp on. It's all on one screen.
Whichever free version is available now is a fully functional version, it is of course upgradeable to the bells and whistles.

Tracktion Music Production Technology | audio editing, virtual instruments, plugins

 

[dkelley]

OTOH, I would say that as a reasonably capable DAW user (Cakewalk, Ableton, Reaper) I find Garage Band, which I'm admittedly not super experienced with, maddeningly difficult to do what I would consider simple stuff with. I would never call it an obvious DAW, it has a learning curve like anything else. I have it on an iPad Mini 4 for use when I travel. I primarily use Amplitube and an iRig pro on the iPad for that purpose but have tried to do what I would consider pretty simple stuff with Garage Band ... like loading an mp3/wav file and adding a bass track to it ... or even tying to use some of the smart instruments to add a layer to a basic track. Not at all obvious how to do either of those things .. at least to me.

so, I'd say (again) that all these great tools with tons of features and capabilities and just need to be learned. None of them, IME anyway, are just install and go type tools unfortunately.

100% true.

Garageband is legendary for being incredibly difficult to use if you are a recording engineer. It's INCREDIBLE software, but the UI is just convoluted, as is it's workflow, when compared to a DAW - since DAWs are pretty much all based on how a recording engineer works.

I'm a huge Apple fan. But I can't understand garageband at all. Seems really basic and frustrating, but it's nice that it has all of those built in virtual instruments and stuff for sure.

In reaper (on mac or windows or linux) I can add an mp3 (create a new project (you don't have to choose some template like you do in garageband), track import (choose your mp3), track new, click the record button on the track and make sure your bass is moving the meters and being heard in the daw. If not, right click on the record button on your new bass track and tell it which of your inputs you're recording from. But as long as you configured your audio interface with reaper properly, it will probably "just work". Anyhow, then you hit record on the main daw transport controls, and you should hear your mp3 that was imported and automatically created a stereo track for it, while you are currently recording your bass onto the track you manually created.

If you haven't already setup reaper with your sound card then you'd have to configure it - which maybe is your problem?

It's EXTREMELY easy to use and fast, but does require that you follow tutorials.

 

[dkelley]

You like GB. Then, get Logic Pro X.

I found logic pro x to be a great daw, very professional, and literally nothing like GB at all. So I guess your mileage may vary. To me, logic is very much like cubase, sonar, reaper, pro tools etc - the workflow is designed for a rec. engineer. For me that's what I want, but for someone who isn't a rec. engineer, yea I totally get how every daw available for pro use is confusing - not just at first, but before every single thing you want to do that you don't know how to do.

I actually foudn logic more complicated to learn to use than some other daws. Works great though.

 

[Kevorargh]

I started out on Tracktion when Mackie was packaging it with one of their interfaces, and it was a breeze to use. Pro Tools followed and it was a steep learning curve. I now use Reaper, but it took a while to get used to the workflow. Reaper is (I believe) more Linux based, and designed so that you can do whatever you want with it, really, which ups the learning curve enormously. It's really for computer programmer recording geeks, but I will say at its most basic, it's pretty easy to get the hang of. Plus, it does come with a number of good plug-ins. I, too, have found GarageBand difficult to navigate.

YMMV

kevorargh

 

[AngelCrusher]

Just to be clear maybe it’s just me and coming to a new DAW. Curious if other people feel the same way I do.

it takes a long time to learn a new daw and produce quality tracks on it. There are so many options and included plugins that you have to allow yourself the time to really experiment. The good news is that knowledge does translate over so i can go to a studio and use about anything now and get the results i want.

But yes there is a pretty big initial learning curve. No real way around it.

 

[p12bassnut]

If you want a no frills daw with an easy to use interface for ipad then look at
Multitrack DAW by Hermoicdog

 

[Highroler79]

Tracktion (Waveform) is the daw I've found to be the easiest to get a grasp on. It's all on one screen.
Whichever free version is available now is a fully functional version, it is of course upgradeable to the bells and whistles.

Tracktion Music Production Technology | audio editing, virtual instruments, plugins

Is that DAW still around, I remember like 10-15 years ago, our drummers dad who was audio engender used it.

 

[smtp4me]

So I’m coming from 20 years of GarageBand and with a gifted PC ( just a sixth gen i3 ) I am finding through my research that there is no substitute for GarageBand. I just need plug and play with things like chorus, reverb, compression, delay, and some echo. I also need and use about 4-10 tracks. I downloaded reaper to test and watched a hour long tutorial on how to use it. I understand that it is a mature DAW in garage fan is seen more as an entry level. GarageBand however does everything I needed to do and very easily. The quality as far as I’m concerned is very good and just about anybody could plug it in and figure it out without any help. The problem is the tutorials that I’m finding most of them their reaper screen looks different and set up different than mine. They are running windows 10 as well. I’ll probably be able to figure it out at least once I understand how reaper works. The problem is the first video didn’t explain that you need to set up a folder on your desktop and tell reaper to send your work to said folder and that fine but would be the thing I would have started with if I were the one making the video on how to use it. There is a part two in the video tutorial and maybe he will get into that but again that should have been in the first one. The second video seems to get more into things outside the basics. I just wish there was a program that has what I need and doesn’t cost over $100, or to mention works easy so I can concentrate on creating music. I’m not so old as I cannot learn but seems like GarbageBand has no competition in this category. Sorry, just ranting !

You probably already know - GarageBand is the free/light version of Logic Pro. I used GB for a while and eventually bought Logic. For me, it was worth every penny. There are significantly more features with Logic, which means more to learn, but it also means the software (basically) looks, feels, and works the same. The whole recording thing is a hobby for me, so it didn't make sense at all to spend 4x as much on that other well-known, industry standard product.