“What Programs Can I Make Beats In?”
It's spelled with a Z
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Seriously? Is this question really still being asked?
Answer: Yes. Oh God, yes.
It’s no secret that music production and recording has hit your home. With hardware like the MBox being insanely cheap and the fact that everyone owns at least one (usually two) computers, it makes sense that music production is now more mainstream than ever. Even so, there’s someone newly interested in making “beatz” every single day. Thus ending in a new “hay guyz what prog can i dl to make beatz in?” thread on your favorite message board every day. Let’s settle this. Let’s take a look at what programs “Beat Masterz” should be using and what they should maybe stay away from (and why).
Programs to Look Into
FL Studio was always kind of a joke among the people I went to school with. I’m not sure if it was sheer snobery because we got to work on Neves and SSLs all day, or if it was because of the userbase (most notably people like Soulja Boy). Either way, we were wrong. This program is immense: all the features you could ever need to ever make beats along with any other type of electronic music. It’s easy to get into, but deep enough to keep you learning about audio production and recording. It also supports the oh-so-popular VST format which is a must for anyone new to production. It’s PC only though. Oh, and free updates for life? That’s unseen in any other DAW. It’s also Rewire-able, so use it inside Logic of Pro Tools.
It’s userbase also consists of people like Deadmau5 and Basshunter. So think about that one.
Recommended level: Extreme newbie to advanced. You probably won’t be mixing a full band in this program, but you sure will be programming 4/4 beats for days.
Reason is a staple in electronic music production. It’s amazingly versatile: it’s got drums, synths, effects, and pretty much anything else you could need inside something so modular. The major thing about Reason is, like FL Studio and other programs, it’s ability to be rewired into another DAW. That way, you can use all the effects and instruments inside Reason, but record the actual audio inside Pro Tools. Or, if you prefer, you can draw your MIDI inside Logic and route it to Reason if you don’t like Reason’s MIDI editor. Don’t get me wrong, though. This program is powerful enough to use by itself. You don’t NEED to rewire it if you don’t want to. The major bummer for Reason: you can’t record audio into it. Can’t have it all, right?
Recommended level: Newbie to the most advanced. When in Reason, you can hit Tab on your keyboard to flip your rack around and see the routing. This is great for newcomers as it allows them to learn a thing or two about signal flow and routing. Once you really get into Reason, check our ReCycle, too.
Beats aren’t everything. Let’s say you’re bored of making instrumentals and you’d like to either drop an acappella over a beat or maybe you want to venture into the engineering world and record some vocals. A great place to do this is Apple’s GarageBand, a pretty powerful tool that comes on every new Mac (I think). It’s simple looking interface and ability to work very easily with loops makes it perfect for beginners in beat making and/or recording. Think of it as Logic Lite.
Recommended level: Newbie to “I kind of know what’s going on.” You won’t see very many experience producers or engineers using this program (mostly because they all moved on to either Logic or Pro Tools), but this doesn’t mean this program sucks. The new version of GB with iLife 09 even comes with beginner piano and guitar lessons. Pretty cool.
This program is great from the get-go: the tutorials and lessons installed with the demo version show you how to do whatever you want in Live. DJ, make beats, record audio. It’s all there.
Live’s interface and amazing MIDI editing capabilities make it easy for novices or pros alike to get going right away and start creating rather than fucking with stuff they don’t care about. In the words of a good friend, “It’s like they got rid of all the stuff you didn’t need and left you with the best.” So true.
Live, in my opinion, is worthwhile to add to your arsenal solely because of how many things it does (and well). With version 8 that just came out, it even gives you the option to build your own Max/MSP patches inside of Live as well as upload entire sets to Abelton’s website so you can colaborate with friends. Live is also rewireable, too.
Recommended level: Newbie to pro. Newbies may struggle with the more advanced features of Live, but out-of-the-box, this thing is a breeze to use.
Pro Tools 8 introduced completely overhauled MIDI editing. They really went for Logic 8’s throat and, in my opinion, did a great job.
With it’s newest inception, MIDI editing is actually possible without having a brain aneurysm. Not only that, but folks at Digidesign have kindly added a suite of virtual instruments aimed at electronic music production. Be forewarned, however: Pro Tools uses RTAS and TDM as their plug-in formats of choice. Therefore, no VSTs without a third-party program. And even then, I’ve had so-so experience with wrapped VSTs inside Pro Tools. You’re also required to buy a piece of hardware before running PT. The hardware has to be made by either Digidesign (an MBox/003 will run LE) or M-Audio (Pro Tools M-Powered). Novices should think long and hard before entering the Pro Tools arena.
Recommended level: Experienced novice/mid-level enthusiast to pro. If you’ve never done anything with music production before, I’d avoid Pro Tools (at least for now). Wait until you understand the basic concepts and then go head first and learn PT.
Coming from someone who holds two certification in Logic 7, 8 is like a breath of fresh air. Way easier to use, way more fun to use. It didn’t loose a lot of depth, but rather mainlined the depth so you could actually tell what the fuck was going on.
This program falls under the same category as Pro Tools. You can do just about anything inside of it and you can do it well. For a long time, Logic held the crown for MIDI editing and production, but as said above with PT8 that crown may not remain in the hands of Logic forever.
Like Pro Tools, people who haven’t done anything in the realm of audio or music may stray away from this for awhile. However, the fact that you don’t need a dongle (anymore) or a real interface to use it may make it more attractive to newcomers when put next to Pro Tools.
Like GarageBand, you can use all your favorite loops inside Logic which makes it a favorite for newcommers. All-in-all, this program is serious business.
Recommended levels: Same as Pro Tools. You should know how to use an EQ and compressor before you venture over this way.
(The screenshot is of Cubase SX, but you get the idea)
Cubase is, from what I can tell, pretty much everyone’s first real DAW. It’s bundled with just about any piece of hardware you can think of and has been around for a long time. Like Logic, it doesn’t require any hardware in order to run and is a very powerful program.
The people behind Cubase invented the VST technology. Needless to say, VSTs are the main plug-in format for Cubase. Steinberg also pioneered much of the grid-based production styles that pretty much any producition utility has available. Cubase, like Logic and Pro Tools, enables you to produce, record, edit, and manipulate audio any way you see fit.
Recommended levels: Same as Logic and Pro Tools.
Programs to Avoid
Pro Tools 7 and below: Like I said above, PT8 introduced a ton of new MIDI-friendly features that aren’t available in versions 7 and below of Pro Tools. If you’re recording, 7 is a great tool. If you’re not, no sense in investing in it.
Logic 7 and below: Logic 7 is a completely different ballgame. Things are immediately much deeper than most newcomers want them to be, so do yourself a favor and instead of getting frustrated with 7, get 8. You’ll be much happier. I promise.
Nuendo: Like Cubase but geared more at post-production and less at music production. You could use it if you wanted, but Cubase is much more well-suited for music.
Programs I Didn’t Cover
There are quite a few programs I didn’t talk about (Sonar, Sony ACID, Digital Performer among others) simply because I don’t know enough about them to comment. If you’re looking at diving into audio production, do yourself a huge favor and do some research. DAWs will be here next week and for years to come, so don’t worry. Take your time, figure out what works for you. Try the demos that just about every program offers and see what you like. Then, only after you’ve done some reasearch, should you invest (yes, it is an investment) in the DAW of your choice.
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trackers, man
@jock:
I told you. Write me an article about trackers and I’ll throw it on the site and give all credit to you.
JUST DO IT.
Hey admin, I think it’s time to update the junk filter. Too many useless replies are being made. I have a few options if you’re interested. Best Regards.