what is the best DAW for music production well there is no
one-size-fits-all best DAW what might be best for me may not be best for you
so in this video I'm going to look at some of the best daws available in 2020
and this isn't a be-all end-all list there are definitely more out there
these are just some that I'm familiar with and other musicians and producers
have recommended to me all of these programs have demos that you can
download and try and some of them even have free versions of their program I
suggest downloading a few of them giving them a try and seeing what works best
with your style in your workflow I'm Zane and on this channel I do weekly
audio tech tips tutorials and reviews to help you conquer the tech and unleash
your creativity and just so you know I've included links to all of the
programs mentioned in this video in the description so you can go down there and
check them out and there's also time codes for each one down there as well
and this list is in no particular order now let's jump into the best DAWs of
2020 and first up is a digital audio workstation that I left off of my
previous best da video and after using it for a bit it definitely belongs on
the list this one is reason from reason studio
there's three versions of this daw so if you're a solo artist just starting out
or your track count needs aren't too high yet you can easily start with the
intro version and then upgrade as your needs grow with reason 11 which is the
current version as of this recording you get some very high quality instruments
and effects in addition to your traditional linear audio editing
timeline you also get access to the studio rack where all of your
instruments and effects will be housed similar to a real world studio also the
console style mixer is similar to a real studio giving you a cool classic vibe
with high quality sound and there's an easy-to-use auto-tune pitch corrector
tool that's built right in 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
next up is a digital audio workstation that's really become a
favorite amongst many home studio producers and musicians this one is FL
Studio this one is great for people that want to work with virtual instruments
and loops as FL Studio makes it very easy to work with MIDI and you can
record audio into FL Studio too so create a backing track of virtual
instruments and then sing or play another instrument over top of it with
ease this DAW allows you to easily become a one-man band or you can
actually use this in conjunction with your band to add some extra layers in
live performances or in the studio one of the best parts about FL Studio is you
get lifetime upgrades so you buy it once and you can always download the latest
update for free you also get some decent instruments and effects to get you
started this digital audio workstation doesn't have that traditional workflow
and layout that a lot of the other programs have but if you're a solo
musician and you don't care about the traditional workflow FL Studio might be
the best daw for you you can download the FL Studio demo that gives you access to
pretty much everything but if you save a project you won't be able to open it
until you purchase a license the next one on the best daw 2020 list is reaper
this one has been making its way into more and more studios all the time it
gives you that traditional workflow that some musicians really like and if you've
worked with Pro Tools or like the look of Pro Tools Reaper is very similar and
most of the shortcuts are the same - you get a large variety of effects with it
but no instruments however you can find free instrument plugins all over the
internet so that's not really a negative reaper is great for bands and home
studio owners that want a budget-friendly but very powerful
digital audio workstation but of course solo musicians and beat creators can
take advantage of this powerful da and get great results as well the reaper
table will give you professional audio recording and editing a license is just
$60 for an individual or just $200 for commercial use you can download the
reaper demo and it's completely unlocked for 90 days you can actually continue
using it in trial mode for as long as you like but if you do enjoy the
software please purchase a license and help to support it next up is the one
that was considered the industry standard for years this one is avid Pro
Tools this was one of the first widely used DAWs in professional Studios which
is how it got the title of industry standard it's being used on a very large
number of hit songs but there are more and more Studios switching to other
digital audio workstations these days so don't think you need this to create
great music however if you are thinking of getting into audio engineering a
little more seriously maybe working in or owning a studio one day then you
should learn Pro Tools as you'll run into it quite a bit and the skills that
you learn on it will translate into other music production software - Pro
Tools comes with a hundred and fifteen plugins 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 a large number of
instruments at the same time like a full drum kit but it can also be a great
choice for solo artists and electronic music creators - you can actually
download a free version called Pro Tools first and take it for a bit of a
test-drive the free version is limited to 16 tracks and you can't add any
third-party plugins but it does include some great effects and a library of
loops and samples the next one on the list is one of the programs that many
studios are switching to this one is presonus studio one the workflow is
designed to help you quickly record edit and mix music it takes the classic da
layout but adapts it to modern workflows 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 audition some new progressions before
you commit to them it's a great song writing tool that can take your
songwriting to the next level it also comes with some great quality
instruments and effects that can be used in a variety of situations including
integrated Melodyne pitch correction which is a great
there is a free version called Studio one prime that has some limitations but
you can download it and see if the workflow works for you
up next is a DAW that's been around for quite a while and is a favorite amongst
many producers this one is steinberg cubase for years this was the software
that people debated on being better than Pro Tools Cubase is a very powerful
digital audio workstation that works very well with the modern musician it
comes with several 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 editions
depending on your needs the pro and artist options require a USB elicenser
which can be annoying for some users but if you don't mind that this is a great
program you can download a 30-day free trial of Cubase Elements unless you
already have a USB elicenser then you can download a free trial of Cubase Pro
this next one is really geared towards loop based music creators or people that
want to remix music this is MAGIX acid Pro one of the cool features of acid Pro
is the synaptic stem maker this allows you to take any song that you want to
remix or just grab a sample from and it separates the components into individual
tracks so you can remove parts or just extract the instruments or vocals that
you want you can also use the chopper tool to not only chop your samples up
but it also lets you rearrange your chop loops by using a MIDI controller want to
use it as a more traditional DAW don't worry acid Pro can handle multitrack
recording with ease too so if you want to take a break from remix in or maybe
you want to add some of your own tracks to the mix it's very capable of doing
that you get some instruments and effects including melody an essentials
which is a great pitch correction tool grab the free trial or sign up for the
Affordable 365 plan to test it out next up on the list of best DAWs of 2020
is Ableton Live if you're comfortable with the traditional linear workflow of
recording and editing Ableton Live can handle that no problem
but it also adds a whole other dimension to it the session view this can help you
with composing songs or performing live you load samples or MIDI clips into the
tracks and then trigger the tracks as you like and you can record this session
then go back and listen to it and edit it sometimes the best beats and sounds
come from freestyling in Ableton Live allows you to easily capture it 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 to record bands and
anything else it's extremely versatile you can download a 30 day free trial
but if you purchased an audio interface or a MIDI keyboard you may have gotten a
license for Ableton Live white which is the complete program with an eight-track
limit and speaking of free music production software this next digital
audio workstation is completely free this is cakewalk by bandlab formerly
known as sonar platinum which is a free and powerful DAW it has that traditional
layout and workflow plus you get several instruments effects and analog style
channel strips included with it bandlab updates cakewalk all the time so it's
not like it's an abandoned piece of software the idea is to use it to get
people into their music community there are no limitations with cakewalk you can
record full bands drum sets or whatever if you're a solo artist or someone that
works with MIDI a lot you can easily access the piano roll and all the
features to make music on your own this is a great choice for bands musicians
and home studio owners on a tight budget but don't let the price fool you
cakewalk is very capable of making high-quality music this next program
really doesn't get the attention that it deserves
this is Harrison mixbus Harrison have been making recording consoles for over
40 years this daw gives you the power of an
actual studio console with all of the great features
of a modern digital audio workstation the mixing workflow of mixbus is where
it really shines as the mixer is very well laid out with many of the key
features easily accessible right on the screen
there's no clicking and searching for things this one can be great for bands
musicians beat makers and pretty much any studio if you want to get that
classic analog feel in an easy-to-use program give Harrison mixbus a try next
on the list is tracktion waveform 11 tracktion does have a unique and speedy
workflow everything can be accessed on a single screen and you can easily modify
the UI to suit your style you get some really decent instruments with waveform
11 Pro and some great effects including Melodyne Essentials and auto-tune
waveform can be great for full bands solo artists and beat makers or creators
of other electronic styles the chord track can speed up your music creation
or even inspire it this has become my go-to program lately it loads up quickly
run smooth and I really like the layout you can actually download the unlimited
free version of waveform 11 called waveform free and experience it for
yourself next on the list of best DAWs of 2020 is acoustica mixcraft 9 this
one is fairly popular amongst guitar players and solo musicians but it can be
used with full bands and beat creators as it actually comes with over 7500
loops so if you're someone that likes to work with loops and samples this might
be for you you also get a decent collection of effects and instruments
with mixcraft and where it really shines is its workflow and ease of use if
you're looking for an all-in-one package with an easy-to-use workflow be sure to
check out mixcraft 9 I personally know several musicians that love this
software and it just might be the perfect one for you there are two
editions the recording studio Edition and pro studio edition prices start at
just $75 and you can use their free 14-day trial to give it a test drive
up next is magix AmpliTude Pro x4 this one aims to provide the highest possible
audio quality with up to 999 tracks in 256 physical inputs and
outputs making it suitable for professional applications like film
scoring and very large track counts and advanced routing sampler tube takes a
practical approach to its workflow and you can customize the interface to suit
your needs to make this an even more complete daw you get 17 instruments plus
the full version of the Pro Plus sampler this one can be at home in any studio
and there is a free trial that you can grab to see if it fits your studio the
next one on the list is bitwig this is a very interesting program that's super
flexible and you can adjust the layout to suit your needs
it comes with over 80 instruments and effects the grid is an interesting
concept where you can create a custom synth or custom effect to create a
signature sound that's all your own there are many customization options in
bitwig if you love to tinker with synths and gadgets this da might be the
one for you it can be great for solo musicians beat makers and other
electronic music makers but it can also be used with full bands as well click
here to check out some of the best free DAWs or click down here to see what
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this thank you so much for watching for simple green tech I'm Zane keep creating
and we'll talk soon