I’m not a full-time music producer. In fact, I am actually a full-time content creator who used to write a lot of songs. So, from time to time I will write songs again, and I want to record them. The last time I recorded songs I used Garageband for my iPad but while it has some great tools, it is very limited for a full production of a song. So, this post is about all the DAW’s I tried, and which one ended up being best for me. Hopefully, by explaining my needs here in the beginning, it will help you decide if this journey will help you out in finding the right DAW for you. Oh… I started out wanting a free DAW but in the end, I actually will be buying the PRO version of the one I tried, and I think if I had to choose from the other professional DAW’s I would probably still have chosen this one.
So here are my parameters:
- Fairly powerful Windows computer
- Must be a good workflow for me as a part-time muso
- Preferably a nice-looking interface
- Needs to be able to assist with creating drums and other instruments
The test:
I will be creating a short snippet of a song in these DAW’s and decide which one is for me.
Logic Pro / GarageBand for iPad (and your Mac)
As mentioned I have the first iPad Pro 11 inch (the newer shape / the one just before they started with the M1 chip). When I bought it, people said we would never need that much power in a tablet… it can’t run Logic Pro for iPad! And I do think, had it run nicely I would have just gone with this. It is PERFECT for a casual producer, although it does have a monthly subscription. However, this subscription is less than Bandlab’s new subscription and I definitely think it is worth it.
Honestly, if you own a decent Mac or iPad, I’d say just use Garageband or Logic, they’re SO good.
What Logic for iPad has to offer:
- Auto musicians: bass, drums, synth/keys are all available as interactive automatic musicians. I don’t think anything beats this (scuse the pun). Especially the drummer.
- Presets: For a low stress, easy entry system, Logic Pro and Garageband are the best (for iPad and for your Mac). Record a vocal, slap on a preset and move on. You won’t be world-class but you’ll be halfway there
Downside:
It’s actually the ease of use that’s the downside for me. The challenge of finding chord theory, working out a groove and learning how to produce a good vocal is what sparks creativity, and it’s the main reason I would have gone for my final choice even if Logic did work on my iPad.
Bandlab
I’m kinda pissed with Bandlab. I have been on their platform since the launch. And I really like what they are trying to do AND you get a lot for your subscription.
Bandlab offering:
- Record and store all your initial song ideas for free
- Get a basic production going with their browsers-based Studio app
- Lots of free loops and samples
- Autotune is free on the Studio
- For the subscription you get: no ads, their two DAW’s and a lot of extra plugins and services
The downside:
I have been using Bandlab for a long time and it always feels so promising and then you reach a point where you know you’re not going to get a final product out of it. I think the new modernised version of Cakewalk will remedy this, but the subscription was just a little too high for me.
FL Studio
Now this was a close one for me, but FL Studio is not free, and it is NOT cheap. It was the first DAW out of this list that just clicked. I do have a history with this app in the fact that I produced an EP on it back in the day. The barrier of entry to creating a song is very low. Although it has a weird workflow, when you understand it, it is really nice and intuitive. However, a lot of people say it’s not conducive to a singer/songwriter style of production, but I like it. I like breaking my songs up into segments, especially if the song isn’t fully formed yet.
What’s on offer with FL Studio:
- ALOT of instruments and plugins
- A big library of loops and samples
- A paid cloud service with a bunch of samples and presets
- A really great looking interface that inspires creativity (in my opinion)
- FL Studios famous sequencer
- “New” (new to me) singer/songwriter project preset that opens up with their very intuitive chord creation tool. Simply choose an instrument, create your chords and get the melody going immediately
I will share a sample of the short track I created when testing FL Studio at the bottom of this post.
The downside:
This workflow is not for everyone and it’s also really expensive to buy, but if you are researching DAW’s and you don’t mind spending some money, I highly recommend downloading the demo and watching a few tutorials to give it a fair shake.
Reaper
As many are quick to announce, Reaper is NOT free. However, they have a “use as long as you like” policy on the demo with a little nag screen when you open it. I approached all these DAW’s with the mindset that I am going to try them for free but if they work for me and the price is right for my casual use, then I will pay them, so if you decide on Reaper… consider paying them!
Reaper is nice because it has a classic DAW layout with audio tracks, FX, record button etc. on the left. I also really like how you just stack effects on top of each other which some of the other DAW’s don’t do as well.
Reaper has a special place in my heart because it’s the DAW that introduce me to making music on a computer with the old Computer Music magazine tutorials.
What Reaper offers:
- A clean, familiar layout
- Essentially free if you are a cheapskate 😀
- Quite a few useful plugins and instruments
The downside:
I had quite a bit of fiddling to do for my MIDI controller (Korg NanoKey2). Also, in today’s landscape the UI is a bit old school and uninspiring.
Waveform by Tracktion
Waveform is completely and truly free. They make their money with their affordable expansion packs with plugins, loops, presets and instruments. This, on paper, is the best option for new music creators or part time music creators BUT – the user interface was very confusing for me. So much so that I never spent too much time digging into it. I think if a person gave it time this one could the THE ONE for you. It’s just got a weird way of doing things. Plugins are slapped together in a bunch with very little visual feedback. The UI is so unified that you struggle to know what is going on. Sorry to fans of this DAW but it just wasn’t for me – I think I am a very visual person, and this system just didn’t spark my creativity.
Luna by Universal Audio is the one for me
At first, I didn’t like Luna. I had to fiddle with ASIO drivers to get my audio interface to work well and not get audio crackling (I used ASIO4ALL instead of Rode’s ASIO driver) but every time I circled back to Luna, I liked it more and more. But it is not without its concessions. I am not sure if it is because Luna was initially a Mac only DAW, but they don’t support old (VST 1 and VST 2) plugins. So, my EZ Drummer plugin which I bought years ago wouldn’t work. I was going to give up and then I started producing a song in it…
Firstly, the interface is SO good. Well designed, it looks great and although some aspects are clunky, it is very well thought out and the most intuitive system I have created music in over the years – yes it rivals Garageband.
Secondly, the basic plugins are exceptional. Each track gets a vintage preamp, compressor, tape saturation and noise gate. So, you’re kinda set on that front. And then everything you plug into that track can be found on that strip. This is the part that put me off of Luna and it’s now one of the reasons I like it so much. The tape saturator goes a long way to adding a warmer sound to your digital audio, especially as part-time musicians who don’t have the best gear!
Ableton Live style production: while I am not an Ableton fan, I do like how it flows. You simply add what you want on the timeline whether it’s midi or audio and it all just seamlessly works together. And then you switch to the vertical layout where you get your mixer and you’re able to manage your effects and busses etc. And it all looks really nice too.
It’s aesthetically stunning which I think is underrated in the music world. I find the UI inspiring. There’s a lovely nostalgia to old audio gear which I love.
No EZ Drummer support: I spent quite a bit of money on EZ Drummer a long time ago, but it is also a very handy songwriting tool. I discovered MT Power Drum FREE – it only has one drum kit, but the magic is in its midi library, you can drag those grooves onto any drum sampler or synth and play those grooves to the sounds you like. This is a great starting point and VERY (suspiciously so) similar to EZ Drummer 1.
The standard synth that comes with Luna, Shape, will cover so much of your needs, with a small but great sounding selection of bass, piano, synth pads and more to get you started (sorry this sounds like an ad, but it really is nice).
And then lastly, if you go pro, you get a larger suite of preamps, tape saturators, EQ’s, echo, reverb, another synth and a few more. But the functionality remains the same for pro and free. So essentially you can use this and a host of free plugins that are available (another post coming soon on that).
Ableton Live is not on this list
I have never been a fan of Ableton live. I have tried it many times and I just don’t like it. But it must be famous for a reason, right? So, if you are on this DAW journey, definitely try Ableton.
I found the perfect Windows music making setup
I have been avoiding music production on my Windows computer because of how unreliable it has been in the past. I have lost entire projects due to its glitchy interaction with DAWs and plugins. Luna it fairly glitchy in terms of it acting weird if other programs are using the audio interface. It also crackles here and there if ASIO hasn’t initiated properly. But just mess around with a setup and leave it and you should be fine.
That being said, I am SO happy with this new setup. I have all the instruments and plugins I need, with a workflow that feels easy and non-restrictive.
Here is a quick list of free plugins I found:
- MT Power Drums
- 1176 FET Compressor
- DeeDoubler
- Amplitube 5
- Ozone Imager 2
- Warmy EP1A V2
- HaNon B70
- Fresh Air
- TAL Vocoder 2
- T De Esser 2
- TDR Molotok
- TDR Nova
- Tyrell N6
- Valhalla Freq Echo
- Valhalla Supermassive (Fantastic Reverb!)
- Vital
I will make a post about all these plugins eventually.