Recommend me an ent...
 

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[Closed] Recommend me an entry level DAW

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I fancy having a go at some electronic compositions.
I've listened to the genre since I was 11 and now fancy
putting some tracks together.

Up to say, £50 and not too hardware intensive as I'm using an eight
year old laptop. Not too shabby for the time, 8 gb RAM and a Core i5.

Ta.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 12:38 pm
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Get Ableton. It's ace. I think you can pick up a cheap akai or similar USB keyboard/controller and get a free version of Lite or whatever bundled in,and you're away.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 1:21 pm
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As above. I've been running Ableton on an 8 year old machine for a while know although I've recently upgraded as it was starting to go funny but I think that was the usb interface on the machine.  The lite version is ok until you get to the limit on the number of channels you have.  I think reaper is paid now.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 1:25 pm
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Given the music genre you mention I’d second ableton. And I’d second putting your cash into a hardware interface and gaining access to the lite version that way.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 1:26 pm
 beej
Posts: 4120
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Some ideas discussed on here, but a cheap usb keyboard that comes with Abelton Lite is probably the right answer!

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/home-music-studio-set-up-advice/


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 1:26 pm
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Consensus on single track! Can we quickly shut the thread before someone offers an opposing opinion?


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 1:28 pm
 Creg
Posts: 1364
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I might have a free copy of Live Lite you can have, will have a check and see.

EDIT - Yep, will drop you a PM. Hopefully it can be redeemed by yourself (I got it free and don't need it so you can have it)


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 2:25 pm
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Consensus on single track! Can we quickly shut the thread before someone offers an opposing opinion?

Too late.

https://www.tracktion.com/products/waveform-free

Although, Live is VERY good...


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 2:25 pm
 grum
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Ableton is great. Reaper is worth a look if you want a fully featured DAW for cheap/free.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 2:34 pm
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My son is into just this.

He says Ableton.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 3:30 pm
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Another vote for Ableton here.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 3:52 pm
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I use Propellerhead's Reason. Older copies can be picked up on ebay, I run version 5 (was running 3 prior to that).

Very powerful, not sure how it compares to Ableton for ease of use


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 4:15 pm
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Just used reaper and fill it with as many free vat instruments as you can find if you are starting out. Abelton is class but the lite versions are extremely cut down.


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 4:17 pm
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Yep, Ableton.
Been using it for 16+ years now, and version 10 is ace.
Plenty of cheapish midi controllers that come with the lite version.

It is very good for looping/electronic stuff, but it's also a very good (and quite intuitive) DAW.
I've recently recorded and mixed an album for a band - full drums, 2 guitars, bass, and keys.
Something I'd have previously done in Logic, but thought I'd try it in Ableton, and do you know what? I preferred it! 😎


 
Posted : 11/10/2020 4:24 pm
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Ableton Live Lite is free until the end of 2020 here BTW: https://splice.com/daws/38929163-live-10-lite-vst-by-ableton


 
Posted : 12/10/2020 5:24 pm
Posts: 3325
 

I ended up getting a free sample of Ableton from someone on here (thank you George!) but she’s having lessons to get into it - she’s not found it very intuitive. Before she had that she was using sound trap online, which was free and she seemed to find her way round it ok.


 
Posted : 12/10/2020 5:55 pm
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Edit: I see the free offer has been posted already

For training just run through the help tutorials.  It's much better than trying to work it out as it isn't so intuitive until you see how it is trying to organise things


 
Posted : 12/10/2020 9:07 pm
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There’s umpteen tutorials on YouTube regarding a new user to ableton,


 
Posted : 12/10/2020 9:36 pm

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