What Is The Best DAW For Music Production 2021

in this video i'm looking at what  the best daw is for music production   for you and you might already have it i'm zane  welcome to audio tech tv where it's my goal to   help you conquer the tech so you can unleash your  creative beast now there's many people out there   who are going to tell you whatever their own  personal favorite daw is they're going to say   well that's the best one for you and that might  not be true the truth is the best daw for you is   the one that you're comfortable with and the one  that you know how to use now if you're new to this   whole world of recording music onto computers and  you don't have a preference yet you haven't really   tried any programs yet i've got nine different  digital audio workstations that i'm going to   recommend to you and these are some of the best  ones that are available right now so you can give   these a try and find out what one might be best  for you now i recommend downloading two or three   of these and giving them a good test drive to see  if you're comfortable with them and then you can   move on if you're not but at least you gave it a  try now links to all of the programs mentioned in   this video are down in the description so let's  jump in and the first program on the list is   cakewalk by bandlab and the reason why  i bring this one up first is because   it's completely free and there's no limitations  so you can have unlimited tracks projects and you   can add third-party plugins if you want it does  come with a decent collection of effects and some   instrument plugins too now i'm going to include  a link to my video showing you how to install   cakewalk so you can make sure that you get all of  those plugins because it is a little different you   don't automatically get them when you just choose  to install it now the user interface of cakewalk   by bandlab is fairly traditional it's similar  to like a pro tool style user interface and it   also features a lot of pro features so you can  go pretty deep into this program if you wanted   cakewalk used to be a premium paid for daw that  was called sonar platinum and then bandlab took   it over and made it completely free and they  don't have any upsell options or anything like   that it's just free with no money expected from  you cakewalk by bandlab is a windows only daw   the next digital audio workstation on the list is  another free one this is tracktion waveform free   again this one is unlimited so you  can have unlimited tracks and projects   plus you can bring in third-party plug-ins if you  wanted to it does include some decent effects and   a couple of instruments but you're likely going  to want to add third-party plugins anyway so   that doesn't really matter too much waveform  free is the exact same base program as tracktion   waveform pro the difference is that waveform pro  includes some added instruments and some advanced   features but not having any of those things  are going to hinder your music creation at all   those are just kind of bonus things so don't think  that going with tracktion waveform free is going to   make you miss out on anything that's important and  if you wanted to upgrade to tracktion waveform pro   it actually doesn't cost a lot to do that either  the user interface of tracktion waveform is a   little different now they deliver everything that  you need on a single screen so you're not hopping   around from screens or anything it's all right in  front of you when you need it and i really like   this approach as it allows me to just focus on  music making and not fussing with a user interface   tracktion waveform free is available on mac windows  linux and there's even options to install on   raspberry pi the next dot is one of the more  popular options this is fl studio from image line   now this one is not free but you can download the  demo for free and it's the full unlocked program   and you can continue to use it for as long as you  like but you can't load any of your saved projects   so you can save them you just can't reload them  but if you plan on buying it then that's fine   as you'll be able to open those projects when you  purchase fl studio later on now the great thing is   you get lifetime upgrades for free when you  purchase fl studio so if they were to upgrade   to fl studio 25 and you bought it at fl studio 10  you're not going to need to pay again and you're   always going to get the latest version now i  bought it years ago and i still enjoy my free   upgrades fl studio includes a ton of effects  and instruments so you can start making music   inside the box right away now the workflow  is fairly different from all of the other   daws now i personally found it pretty easy to get  started with it way back when i got into recording   and if you're looking to use step sequencers  then this one is definitely for you it   really excels at electronic music and  working with virtual instruments or   loops but you can also record into it as well  i've made rock tracks in fl studio no problem   pricing starts at 99 but i do recommend starting  with at least the producer edition which is 199   you can get fl studio on mac and windows all right  before i get to the next one on the list i just   wanna ask if you're enjoying this video so far and  getting some value out of it can you please give   it a thumbs up it really helps my channel out and  i appreciate it so much now the next digital audio   workstation on the list is another one that's  extremely popular for electronic music styles   this is ableton live and ableton live is a very  cool daw it can be used in a more traditional way   with the recording and editing in a timeline but  you also get the session view and this can help   with composing songs or performing live you load  samples or midi clips into the tracks and then you   can trigger the tracks as you like and you can  record this which puts all of those clips that   you trigger in the order that you trigger them  into the timeline so you can go back and then   you can listen to what you just created and you  can edit it as you like and sometimes the best   beats and sounds come from freestyling and ableton  allows you to easily capture your freestyles 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 for  recording bands or whatever else you want too it's   extremely versatile now you get a lot of effects  and instruments with it and you can bring in   third-party effects and instruments if you want  pricing starts at 99 for the intro version and   they even offer payment options for all of their  versions to make it even easier for you to get   into their software you can also download a 30-day  free trial and give the full version a good test   drive but if you purchased an audio interface or  midi keyboard you may have gotten a license for   ableton live lite which is the complete program  but it has an 8 track limit ableton live is   available on windows and mac the next daw is one  that more and more studios are switching to this   is presonus studio one i really like the workflow  of this one it's designed to help you quickly   record edit and mix music it takes the classic daw  layout but it adapts it to a more modern workflow   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 you can audition  some progressions before you commit to them   it's a great songwriting tool that can take your  songwriting to the next level and it comes with   some great quality instruments and effects  that can be used in a variety of situations   including the integrated melodyne pitch correction  which is a great tool pricing starts at just 99   and they also have monthly membership options  that will keep you always up to date plus you   get all the presonus plugins and much more for  just 15 a month there is a free version called   studio one prime and that one has some limitations  but you can download it and see if the workflow   works for you presonus studio one is available on  mac and windows this next one has been around for   a long time this is avid pro tools now this  used to be considered the industry standard   and many pro studios likely still think of it as  the industry standard as the old school guys will   still be using pro tools because this is what  they know and it's a solid program so why learn   something else but it definitely doesn't have  the stranglehold on the industry like it used to   pro tools has been used on a huge amount of  hit songs and if you're thinking of getting   into audio engineering more seriously or maybe  you want to work in or own a studio one day   then you should probably learn pro tools even  if you're not going to use it as your main daw   as you're likely going to run into it quite a  bit and the skills that you learn in pro tools   are going to translate into other music production  software pro tools comes with 150 plugins and 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 large numbers of inputs at the same   time but it can also be a great choice for solo  artists and electronic music creators as well   you can actually download a free limited version  called pro tools first and you can take that for   a bit of a test drive to see if it works for  you now the free version doesn't include all of   the plugins but it does come with some great  effects and a library of loops and samples   avid likes to work on their membership model so  pricing starts at 29.99 per month but they do   offer perpetual licenses if you want to purchase  it outright and they also have annual pricing as   well pro tools is available on mac and windows  next up is a digital audio workstation that   i don't think gets the recognition that it  deserves this is the reaper daw even though   it's making its way into more and more studios  reaper for some reason gets frowned upon in forums   but this is an incredible dot and it doesn't cost  a lot of money reaper gives you that traditional   workflow that some musicians really like and  if you've worked with pro tools or you like   the look and feel of pro tools reaper has a very  similar feel and most of the shortcuts are the   same as well you get a large variety of effects  with it but no instruments however you can find   free instrument plug-ins all over the internet  so that's not really a negative now i'm going   to include a link down in the description to my  video that has 50 of the best free instruments   reaper is a great choice for bands and home  studio owners that want a budget friendly   but very powerful digital audio workstation and of  course solo musicians and beat creators can take   advantage of this powerful daw as well and you're  going to get great results with it a license for   reaper is just sixty dollars for an individual or  just over two hundred dollars for commercial use   by commercial use this means for more pro studios  that charge money to bands or artists to record   you can download the reaper demo which is  completely unlocked for 60 days which gives   you plenty of time to give it a good test drive  and then you can continue using it in trial mode   for as long as you like but if you do enjoy the  software and you continue using it as your main   daw please purchase a license as it's going to  help them to keep it up to date and to continue to   add more great features you can get reaper on mac  windows and linux plus you can even install it on   a usb drive for a very portable option too up next  is reason from reason studios with reason 11 which   is the current version as of this recording you  get some very high quality instruments and effects   now in addition to the traditional linear audio  editing timeline you also get access to the studio   rack where all of your effects and instruments  are going to be housed and this is similar to a   real world studio also the console style mixer is  similar to a real studio giving you a cool classic   vibe with some high quality sounds and there's  also an easy to use auto-tune pitch corrector tool   that's built right into it and this makes pitch  correction very easy 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 reason for years   has been looked at as mainly an instrument as it  does include some very nice sounding instruments   and you can also load the reason rack into your  main daw and then you can use it as an instrument   but with this latest version of reason it's become  a very nice daw all on its own pricing starts at   399 dollars and reason is available on mac and  windows the next daw is another one that's been   around for a long time and has really built up  a following this is steinberg cubase now i've   said this in previous videos but for years cubase  was the software that people debated about being   better than pro tools and people still debate that  but with pro tools not being as popular and there   being more and more daws out there it's not as  huge a debate anymore steinberg cubase is a very   powerful digital audio workstation that works very  well with modern musicians it comes with several   great 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 additions   depending on your needs the pro and artist options  require you to use a usb e-licenser which can be   annoying for some users but if you don't mind that  this is a great program and pricing starts at 99   for the elements version which you don't  need a usb e licenser for and you can also   download a 30 day free trial of cubase elements  steinberg cubase is available on mac and windows   now i just want to give out a little bit of advice  if you're just getting into music production   or maybe you've been at it for a while and  you've been hearing some different things   now the first piece of advice is don't let anyone  tell you what the best da for you is unless you're   asking some questions and they're being honest  with you saying it sounds like you might like   this daw based on whatever you told them but  if they're just saying the best offer you is   this because it's the best and i use it all  the time doesn't mean it's the best for you   now this next thing is a lot of us watch  youtubers making music or maybe you see them   on other social media platforms making music and  you see their dawn you're like oh i want to sound   like that guy and if i get that dawg i'm going to  sound like them but what you're forgetting about   is the experience that that person has and they  know right away how they're going to approach the   mix how they're recording things in and maybe  they're using some parallel buses to get the   sounds that they want and you can do all of this  in your daw as well the more comfortable you get   with your dog the more you're going to learn all  these little mixing techniques that are going   to get you to sound more polished like whatever  youtuber or social media person you're watching   so it doesn't necessarily mean that it's the daw  that they're using that makes them sound like that   unless it could be a specific plug-in like an  instrument that's included with that daw and if   you like that instrument then you might have to  get that daw if it's only included in there but   a lot of the different software they will offer  their instruments and plug-ins as separate   purchases if you just want those instruments or  plug-ins so you don't need to get that specific   daw so my big piece of advice is don't jump around  from program to program try sticking with one if   you find one that you are comfortable with you're  able to make some music with it stick with that   one try to learn every little detail about it and  try to learn all the little tricks that you need   to make your mixes sound more pro and you're going  to get there there's going to be a learning curve   for all of these programs it doesn't  matter which one you choose there's a   learning curve for it and the learning curve  is about the same for each of these programs   but do try to get past that initial learning stage  where you're just making music in the program   and you're not thinking so much about how do i do  this you're just recording music you're mixing it   and you're not worrying about the software now  if you want to check out that video with 50 of   the best free vst instrument plugins click up here  or click down here to see what youtube recommends   if you like this video please give it a thumbs  up also subscribe to the channel for more videos   like this thank you so much for watching for audio  tech tv i'm zane keep creating and we'll talk soon

Channel: Audio Tech TV

Views: 53,493

Rating: 4.948164 out of 5

Keywords: what is the best daw for music production, digital audio workstation, best daw, what is the best daw, best daw software, music production software, best daw for beginners, music production, daw software, what is the best daw for beginners, music making software, best free daw, free daw, best digital audio workstation, best daw for music production, best music production software, what is the best music production software for beginners, best music recording software

Id: BMhOatiFwXg

Length: 17min 11sec (1031 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 07 2021