After investing in the hardware required to get quality recordings, the next step is the software that will help take advantage of these recordings. This is not a list of necessity and will require some discernment on what will benefit your overall goals the most. These posts are to provide direction and clarity to a confusing field with endless options. Producing quality results requires a bit of investment, and my intent is to help reach your goals efficiently without wasting money on things that won’t help move the needle. The order of this list should be rearranged based on your direction. For example - if you are producing beats/tracks, I would prioritize the sounds and instruments over plugins. If you are working with recording and mixing I would focus on plugins before samples and plugins. Disclaimers aside - lets dive in.
DAWS
Digital Audio Work Stations. There are several options and the difference is simply workflow. Any difference in sound is not consequential and will make no difference on a quality result. Every DAW has strengths and weaknesses. Don’t let anyone tell you one is better than the other. A few considerations based on my personal experience.
Pro Tools - Industry standard for audio production. Every professional studio you go to uses Pro Tools. It is great with Audio and editing. It is meant to replicate signal flow in an analog aesthetic. I love how it works with audio takes more than any other DAW. If you intend to assist on records or pursue a job at a professional studio, there is no other option. When you hire a mixing engineer, it makes it extremely easy to simply send them your session VS having to stem everything out. Pro Tools is not awesome with beat production and midi. Of course it does these things, its just not a strength for this DAW. Pro Tools also has an option to pay a monthly subscription for $25, making it affordable to try out and get to recording. I am a big supporter of NEVER GOING INTO DEBT in this industry.
Ableton - Industry standard for live performance. It is built for triggering tracks and not requiring a ton of computer power to run. Ableton also has the edge on in the box production. It is great with midi and loop recording. Its extremely easy to move things around, and build an arrangement quickly. Its not great with mixing, or recording - again doable, just a weakness to be aware of. I describe Ableton as an ocean you get tossed into with no life preserver. You can do anything in this DAW and it can be difficult to learn. For the fully functioning software you are looking at $750.
Logic - This is a great middle ground. Logic is the most user friendly DAW I have used. Their instruments are decent. Its decent working with audio and midi. Mixing is fine in Logic. I despise how Logic does takes and it is very difficult to edit audio on a meticulous level. Logic also comes in at $300. Like I said - the middle ground on just about everything.
LUNA - Brand new DAW and it is unproven and untested. It seems promising and very closely related to Pro Tools. I only mention this DAW because it is free if you read my previous blog post and went out and bought yourself an Apollo Twin.
There are plenty of other DAWS, and it doesn’t matter which one you get. Get one that fits your budget and seems interesting for you to create in. Many will argue this point to death - just get one and start creating.
Plugins
This list could go on for ages. There are really good ones out there and really bad ones. The great ones are not cheap and you could easily spend five grand on software. This is another subject that will take a well dialed room, incredible monitoring and years of experience to determine which ones are good and bad. Like gear, the best plugins are useless if you don’t know what you’re listening for. My suggestion here is based on getting tools to start learning and experimenting with.
Slate everything bundle
This bundle is $15/ month and gets you everything you will need. All the classic EQS and compressors. It has reverbs, analog harmonic replications, limiters, compressors and gates. These tools will suffice to get you a quality mix. Learning these tools inside and out will help you develop your ears and help identify what tools you would like to add to your arsenal down the road.
Bare in mind - the best mixers in the world could still create an amazing mix with stock plugins. When you hire a mixer you are hiring their ears and taste, not their tools.
Splice
Splice is the largest sample library I’ve seen. It’s $8/month and allows you to start building a sample library you’d only get if you knew the best producers in the world. Samples are everything in production. Quality samples take your productions to the next level. This gives you an endless supply of new sounds. Your monthly credits roll over, and you get to keep your samples if you end your subscription.
Arturia V Collection - $500
This is another investment, but worth every penny. This goes on sale a couple times a year, so you can find it cheaper. This is a collection of software instruments. It is ALL of the most iconic synths and pianos. They are great replications and the amount of sounds it gets you is overwhelming. In the world of keys, this is the way to go. I have an analog Prophet and Juno 106, and the software versions get the job done. The difference we are talking about between the analog synth and the software replica, is 2%, and you’d never be able to pick out the difference without comparing them side by side. These analog synths price point is $1500 a piece. $500 gets your hands on all of them, and they get the job done.
Melodyne - $300
Not a sexy investment, but something you can’t live without as a singer. All pride aside - everybody gets tuned. Its apart of it. When I am producing vocals my focus is on the performance.
I can fix a flat note - I cant fix a flat performance.
Melodyne is transparent, and versatile. You can fix timing, tuning and timbre. If you’re looking for an effected auto tune sound, go with auto tune EFX. Melodyne is the most transparent out of all the pitch correction programs, and nobody wants to hear a great song with horrible intonation. It can take some time to learn how to finesse a vocal, but this tool is invaluable for high quality productions.
These tools are the next step in elevating your productions. We will discuss more in depth techniques and tools down the road, but these tools will move you in the right direction. Until you address your room acoustics, I wouldn’t suggest anything further. These tools will get you far, and the only thing that will get you to the next level at this point is time and mentorship. Next week we’ll talk about free resources. Please reach out if you have any further questions.