in this video i'm looking at what the best daw is for music production
for you and you might already have it i'm zane welcome to audio tech tv where it's my goal to
help you conquer the tech so you can unleash your creative beast now there's many people out there
who are going to tell you whatever their own personal favorite daw is they're going to say
well that's the best one for you and that might not be true the truth is the best daw for you is
the one that you're comfortable with and the one that you know how to use now if you're new to this
whole world of recording music onto computers and you don't have a preference yet you haven't really
tried any programs yet i've got nine different digital audio workstations that i'm going to
recommend to you and these are some of the best ones that are available right now so you can give
these a try and find out what one might be best for you now i recommend downloading two or three
of these and giving them a good test drive to see if you're comfortable with them and then you can
move on if you're not but at least you gave it a try now links to all of the programs mentioned in
this video are down in the description so let's jump in and the first program on the list is
cakewalk by bandlab and the reason why i bring this one up first is because
it's completely free and there's no limitations so you can have unlimited tracks projects and you
can add third-party plugins if you want it does come with a decent collection of effects and some
instrument plugins too now i'm going to include a link to my video showing you how to install
cakewalk so you can make sure that you get all of those plugins because it is a little different you
don't automatically get them when you just choose to install it now the user interface of cakewalk
by bandlab is fairly traditional it's similar to like a pro tool style user interface and it
also features a lot of pro features so you can go pretty deep into this program if you wanted
cakewalk used to be a premium paid for daw that was called sonar platinum and then bandlab took
it over and made it completely free and they don't have any upsell options or anything like
that it's just free with no money expected from you cakewalk by bandlab is a windows only daw
the next digital audio workstation on the list is another free one this is tracktion waveform free
again this one is unlimited so you can have unlimited tracks and projects
plus you can bring in third-party plug-ins if you wanted to it does include some decent effects and
a couple of instruments but you're likely going to want to add third-party plugins anyway so
that doesn't really matter too much waveform free is the exact same base program as tracktion
waveform pro the difference is that waveform pro includes some added instruments and some advanced
features but not having any of those things are going to hinder your music creation at all
those are just kind of bonus things so don't think that going with tracktion waveform free is going to
make you miss out on anything that's important and if you wanted to upgrade to tracktion waveform pro
it actually doesn't cost a lot to do that either the user interface of tracktion waveform is a
little different now they deliver everything that you need on a single screen so you're not hopping
around from screens or anything it's all right in front of you when you need it and i really like
this approach as it allows me to just focus on music making and not fussing with a user interface
tracktion waveform free is available on mac windows linux and there's even options to install on
raspberry pi the next dot is one of the more popular options this is fl studio from image line
now this one is not free but you can download the demo for free and it's the full unlocked program
and you can continue to use it for as long as you like but you can't load any of your saved projects
so you can save them you just can't reload them but if you plan on buying it then that's fine
as you'll be able to open those projects when you purchase fl studio later on now the great thing is
you get lifetime upgrades for free when you purchase fl studio so if they were to upgrade
to fl studio 25 and you bought it at fl studio 10 you're not going to need to pay again and you're
always going to get the latest version now i bought it years ago and i still enjoy my free
upgrades fl studio includes a ton of effects and instruments so you can start making music
inside the box right away now the workflow is fairly different from all of the other
daws now i personally found it pretty easy to get started with it way back when i got into recording
and if you're looking to use step sequencers then this one is definitely for you it
really excels at electronic music and working with virtual instruments or
loops but you can also record into it as well i've made rock tracks in fl studio no problem
pricing starts at 99 but i do recommend starting with at least the producer edition which is 199
you can get fl studio on mac and windows all right before i get to the next one on the list i just
wanna ask if you're enjoying this video so far and getting some value out of it can you please give
it a thumbs up it really helps my channel out and i appreciate it so much now the next digital audio
workstation on the list is another one that's extremely popular for electronic music styles
this is ableton live and ableton live is a very cool daw it can be used in a more traditional way
with the recording and editing in a timeline but you also get the session view and this can help
with composing songs or performing live you load samples or midi clips into the tracks and then you
can trigger the tracks as you like and you can record this which puts all of those clips that
you trigger in the order that you trigger them into the timeline so you can go back and then
you can listen to what you just created and you can edit it as you like and sometimes the best
beats and sounds come from freestyling and ableton allows you to easily capture your freestyles and
transform it into a song ableton live is very popular with beat creators djs and pretty much
any electronic music style but you can use it for recording bands or whatever else you want too it's
extremely versatile now you get a lot of effects and instruments with it and you can bring in
third-party effects and instruments if you want pricing starts at 99 for the intro version and
they even offer payment options for all of their versions to make it even easier for you to get
into their software you can also download a 30-day free trial and give the full version a good test
drive but if you purchased an audio interface or midi keyboard you may have gotten a license for
ableton live lite which is the complete program but it has an 8 track limit ableton live is
available on windows and mac the next daw is one that more and more studios are switching to this
is presonus studio one i really like the workflow of this one it's designed to help you quickly
record edit and mix music it takes the classic daw layout but it adapts it to a more modern workflow
beat makers and electronic music creators will feel at home with this digital audio workstation
along with bands and more rock focused musicians the chord track can be a great way to come up
with chord progressions or you can audition some progressions before you commit to them
it's a great songwriting tool that can take your songwriting to the next level and it comes with
some great quality instruments and effects that can be used in a variety of situations
including the integrated melodyne pitch correction which is a great tool pricing starts at just 99
and they also have monthly membership options that will keep you always up to date plus you
get all the presonus plugins and much more for just 15 a month there is a free version called
studio one prime and that one has some limitations but you can download it and see if the workflow
works for you presonus studio one is available on mac and windows this next one has been around for
a long time this is avid pro tools now this used to be considered the industry standard
and many pro studios likely still think of it as the industry standard as the old school guys will
still be using pro tools because this is what they know and it's a solid program so why learn
something else but it definitely doesn't have the stranglehold on the industry like it used to
pro tools has been used on a huge amount of hit songs and if you're thinking of getting
into audio engineering more seriously or maybe you want to work in or own a studio one day
then you should probably learn pro tools even if you're not going to use it as your main daw
as you're likely going to run into it quite a bit and the skills that you learn in pro tools
are going to translate into other music production software pro tools comes with 150 plugins and this
includes an assortment of professional quality effects and instruments this is a great choice
for home studio owners that plan on recording bands or large numbers of inputs at the same
time but it can also be a great choice for solo artists and electronic music creators as well
you can actually download a free limited version called pro tools first and you can take that for
a bit of a test drive to see if it works for you now the free version doesn't include all of
the plugins but it does come with some great effects and a library of loops and samples
avid likes to work on their membership model so pricing starts at 29.99 per month but they do
offer perpetual licenses if you want to purchase it outright and they also have annual pricing as
well pro tools is available on mac and windows next up is a digital audio workstation that
i don't think gets the recognition that it deserves this is the reaper daw even though
it's making its way into more and more studios reaper for some reason gets frowned upon in forums
but this is an incredible dot and it doesn't cost a lot of money reaper gives you that traditional
workflow that some musicians really like and if you've worked with pro tools or you like
the look and feel of pro tools reaper has a very similar feel and most of the shortcuts are the
same as well you get a large variety of effects with it but no instruments however you can find
free instrument plug-ins all over the internet so that's not really a negative now i'm going
to include a link down in the description to my video that has 50 of the best free instruments
reaper is a great choice for bands and home studio owners that want a budget friendly
but very powerful digital audio workstation and of course solo musicians and beat creators can take
advantage of this powerful daw as well and you're going to get great results with it a license for
reaper is just sixty dollars for an individual or just over two hundred dollars for commercial use
by commercial use this means for more pro studios that charge money to bands or artists to record
you can download the reaper demo which is completely unlocked for 60 days which gives
you plenty of time to give it a good test drive and then you can continue using it in trial mode
for as long as you like but if you do enjoy the software and you continue using it as your main
daw please purchase a license as it's going to help them to keep it up to date and to continue to
add more great features you can get reaper on mac windows and linux plus you can even install it on
a usb drive for a very portable option too up next is reason from reason studios with reason 11 which
is the current version as of this recording you get some very high quality instruments and effects
now in addition to the traditional linear audio editing timeline you also get access to the studio
rack where all of your effects and instruments are going to be housed and this is similar to a
real world studio also the console style mixer is similar to a real studio giving you a cool classic
vibe with some high quality sounds and there's also an easy to use auto-tune pitch corrector tool
that's built right into it and this makes pitch correction very easy reason 11 can appeal to bands
beat makers and solo artists that want something a little different and more analog feeling with
instruments and effects that will help you to stand out from the crowd reason for years
has been looked at as mainly an instrument as it does include some very nice sounding instruments
and you can also load the reason rack into your main daw and then you can use it as an instrument
but with this latest version of reason it's become a very nice daw all on its own pricing starts at
399 dollars and reason is available on mac and windows the next daw is another one that's been
around for a long time and has really built up a following this is steinberg cubase now i've
said this in previous videos but for years cubase was the software that people debated about being
better than pro tools and people still debate that but with pro tools not being as popular and there
being more and more daws out there it's not as huge a debate anymore steinberg cubase is a very
powerful digital audio workstation that works very well with modern musicians it comes with several
great quality instruments and effects the layout is similar to the traditional style of pro tools
but with its own unique twist that's intended to help speed up your workflow cubase can be great
for solo musicians bands electronic musicians and home studio owners there are several additions
depending on your needs the pro and artist options require you to use a usb e-licenser which can be
annoying for some users but if you don't mind that this is a great program and pricing starts at 99
for the elements version which you don't need a usb e licenser for and you can also
download a 30 day free trial of cubase elements steinberg cubase is available on mac and windows
now i just want to give out a little bit of advice if you're just getting into music production
or maybe you've been at it for a while and you've been hearing some different things
now the first piece of advice is don't let anyone tell you what the best da for you is unless you're
asking some questions and they're being honest with you saying it sounds like you might like
this daw based on whatever you told them but if they're just saying the best offer you is
this because it's the best and i use it all the time doesn't mean it's the best for you
now this next thing is a lot of us watch youtubers making music or maybe you see them
on other social media platforms making music and you see their dawn you're like oh i want to sound
like that guy and if i get that dawg i'm going to sound like them but what you're forgetting about
is the experience that that person has and they know right away how they're going to approach the
mix how they're recording things in and maybe they're using some parallel buses to get the
sounds that they want and you can do all of this in your daw as well the more comfortable you get
with your dog the more you're going to learn all these little mixing techniques that are going
to get you to sound more polished like whatever youtuber or social media person you're watching
so it doesn't necessarily mean that it's the daw that they're using that makes them sound like that
unless it could be a specific plug-in like an instrument that's included with that daw and if
you like that instrument then you might have to get that daw if it's only included in there but
a lot of the different software they will offer their instruments and plug-ins as separate
purchases if you just want those instruments or plug-ins so you don't need to get that specific
daw so my big piece of advice is don't jump around from program to program try sticking with one if
you find one that you are comfortable with you're able to make some music with it stick with that
one try to learn every little detail about it and try to learn all the little tricks that you need
to make your mixes sound more pro and you're going to get there there's going to be a learning curve
for all of these programs it doesn't matter which one you choose there's a
learning curve for it and the learning curve is about the same for each of these programs
but do try to get past that initial learning stage where you're just making music in the program
and you're not thinking so much about how do i do this you're just recording music you're mixing it
and you're not worrying about the software now if you want to check out that video with 50 of
the best free vst instrument plugins click up here or click down here to see what youtube recommends
if you like this video please give it a thumbs up also subscribe to the channel for more videos
like this thank you so much for watching for audio tech tv i'm zane keep creating and we'll talk soon