I know there are a lot of DAWs (Digital Audio Workstation) around, they can be daunting to the newcomer but IMHO you can't beat Reaper for value (It's on permanent free trial if you can wait for the countdown each time you start) and IMO well worth buying after you've tried it.

There's a great support community too and some students here use it. It costs around $60 and is very very powerful and customisable.

Check out this video

https://youtu.be/vfF2SevYFFQ


You can get it here https://www.reaper.fm/download.php
The forum is here https://forum.cockos.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20
Some help videos here https://www.reaper.fm/videos.php

Check it out

This post has been edited by Phil66: Nov 26 2021, 09:55 PM

Cool post!!! The only reason to own a macintosh IMHO is to run logic. Otherwise, just get a PC and run Reaper. Logic is the most complete daw for the money imho but it does require a mac as a dongle

You can run Reaper in Mac too

You can run every major daw on a mac Including reaper. But you can only run LOGIC X on a mac.

Don't forget about Bandlab's re-release of Cakewalk which is completely free!
Find it HERE!!

Good call. I cut my teeth using Cakewalk, it came with this https://www.roland.com/uk/products/v-studio_20/

It was a great set up and made you feel like the real deal with the sliders

It came with Boss guitar fx with a ui that was similar to the ME80 and loads of backing tracks and drum loops. Shame it's not still available, I sold mine and still miss it sometimes.

This post has been edited by Phil66: Nov 29 2021, 12:49 PM

I know what you mean Phil!! I miss the physicality of moving sliders and tweaking knobs!

That's one of the reasons I like my Akai MPK88. It has 8 faders (or 24 as they can be programmed as control bank A, B and A+B ), 8 knobs, and a few other bits and bobs. I can program them as I like of course, even from project to project, which is nice too. Takes a bit of setup and I haven't used it much, but I like having the option and I should probably utilize it a bit more.

Fully weighted keys too etc.



Something like the Arturia Keylab 88 mk II is similar, and if I'm ever to upgrade I might go for the Arturia:



I also realized not long ago that I can use my Akai LP25 for controls too. Or more controls than I had originally thought of. I had printed labels like "rewind", "pause", "record" and put on 5 of the keys, but you could use it to mute an effect on a specific channel etc. too or anything you can imagine really. Probably easier than having to click on a specific button in a DAW and so on, move the mouse. I should look more into what I think might be useful



Same goes for using the FCB1010 I have for more things. It can even be used to control OBS (video/streaming software) making it hands free



This post has been edited by Caelumamittendum: Nov 29 2021, 02:09 PM