Daw

Hootsmon

Is there something out there that has it all?

In the past when i looked at these things one had to buy the recording software and then look elsewhere for all the sounds  VST or plug ins i think they are called....is there a do it all in one recording thing with  all this combined?

octatonic

What do you need?
They can all make music but some are better at different tasks.
Are you tracking bands, a singer songwriter, an electronic music focused composer?

Logic is probably the most variously featured with the most plugins.
Or Ableton Live.

Hootsmon

I have a Focusrite thing here and a pair of rokit speaker....

I would ideally like something to compose and record on with all the access to synths and drums and bass and so on

perhaps a midi keyboard is required yes?

something that could take care of simple 4 piece rock music composing all the way up to grand synths strings and stuff

octatonic

Logic will do this.
All DAW's are pretty capable these days.
There is no 'best one'- except the one you know best.
The most important thing is how experienced and knowledgeable you are about the DAW you own, not which one you own.

Hootsmon

but do most of 'em have all the sounds VSTs that i require to build a track?

does ableton have that?

octatonic

Hootsmon said:

but do most of 'em have all the sounds VSTs that i require to build a track?

does ableton have that?

I think Logic has more/better plugins but Ableton has a decent amount of built in plugins.
Ableton excels at electronic music.
Logic is better if you want to record performances.

You could produce finished albums with either though- I have.

Hootsmon

Thanks 8

WiresDreamDisasters

Logic, Ableton, Bitwig Studio, Studio One, Cubase, and Reason all have decent stock plugins and sounds for you to be able to make tunes.

For rockish stuff, you're probably gonna end up adding a few extra plugins and sample sets. Native Instruments have some good freebies in the form of Kontakt Player libraries, which are also free.

I wouldn't recommend Reaper, even though it's my main daw. It doesn't come with any libraries or decent stock plugins, and it's obtuse as fuck to use.

I think Cubase or Logic are the best bet in this situation, but Logic has the added requirement of being Mac only.

Hootsmon

Musicwolf

A lot of it comes down to becoming familiar with a certain platform.  I use Cubase and have done for many, many, years.  I couldn't say that it's better or worse than any other DAW (it no doubt is better and some things and worse at others) but I can achieve more with it than any other DAW as I have invested so much time in learning it.  I use Reaper for simple field work and I can just about make it record several tracks and store the results - because that's all that I need from it.

Don't over think it.  Pick one and learn it.  If you know someone who is already experienced in a particular DAW and can help you learn then that's probably a good starting place.

Winny_Pooh

Logic is MAC only.

If you are using that or Albeton instrument's you'll use a midi keyboard to play the samples.
If you're a lite keys player then at least 64 keys. If you are playing simple chords, basslines etc then less keys are fine, but still go for full size keys. (Many controllers for the travelling laptop crowd have mini keys)

spark240

Try out seems demo DAW stuff....or watch people using them on YouTube, ..You will find that just the visual aspect might be a factor....do you like how it looks on the screen...the user functionality will come when you try a demo....some you just gel with others not so much.

I went through about 3 DaWs and ended up with Studio One.

They will all do the basics of what you want, ..then it’s a case of refining your VST,S Fx etc to your taste of music.

Exciting !.....Good luck.
..

WiresDreamDisasters

Winny_Pooh said:

Logic is MAC only.

If you are using that or Albeton instrument's you'll use a midi keyboard to play the samples.
If you're a lite keys player then at least 64 keys. If you are playing simple chords, basslines etc then less keys are fine, but still go for full size keys. (Many controllers for the travelling laptop crowd have mini keys)

Certainly for something future proof, but if you're just starting out then a big keyboard could be a bit intimidating. No shame in just getting a two octave jobby to start with!

WiresDreamDisasters

@Hootsmon ;
Any idea what sort of instrumentation you'd want to be using?

cpcompany

I’ve got Logic X and Ableton 9 Suite and both have every plug in you would ever need.  I’ve been known to buy other soft synths and sample packs but you really don’t need them. 

Ableton is better for getting ideas down and possibly more fun than Logic , but I prefer Logic ‘S workflow. 

LastMantra

I think reapers plugs are quite good. They don't look good and maybe not as user friendly as others but do a good job IMO. The main ones anyway (eq., comp.,verb), not tried them all. Been a long time right enough. I'll have lots of updating to do!

TheBigDipper

Winny_Pooh said:

Logic is MAC only.

If you are using that or Albeton instrument's you'll use a midi keyboard to play the samples.
If you're a lite keys player then at least 64 keys. If you are playing simple chords, basslines etc then less keys are fine, but still go for full size keys. (Many controllers for the travelling laptop crowd have mini keys)

If you use Logic and own an iPad, then Logic Remote (free app) on the iPad will drive the software instruments and drums on Logic from the iPad - wirelessly. It also has a simple mixer and access to the transport controls. I'm not much of a keyboard player, but it's great for bad drumming...  

LastMantra

Don't know about synths either. I have a free one that I can't remember the name of. It's huge I've hardly tickled the surface. 

I'd recommend just downloading stuff as and when you need it, rather than loads at once. There's lots of really quite good free stuff around! Don't need to buy anything till much later really imo. 

https://thehomerecordings.com/free-synth-vst-plugins/

Hootsmon

WiresDreamDisasters said:

@Hootsmon ;
Any idea what sort of instrumentation you'd want to be using?

regular stuff Drew but with some nice orchestral sounds too for my flights of fancy

andy_k

I'd recommend getting into the learning curve of Reaper, free to try--plenty of tutorials around, tiny footprint, cross platform etc etc etc.
Komplete has free software to provide plenty of instrumentation, plenty of other alternatives around.
YMMV 

Yearofthegoat

Best thing is to try a few out. They all have their learning curves and their pros and cons.

I have Cubase (won't retain audio connections, not very intuitive to use) Reaper (looks very barebones, but a bit easier to use), Ableton Live (unfathomable!) and FL Studio (easy to use, great for electronica, but lacks things like chord track, on-the-fly scoring).

TBH I tend to do synth stuff in FL Studio, recording in Reaper, but am hoping to use Cubase more (for more traditional and/or orchestral stuff).

Give the demos / free versions a try.