DAW powerful enough yet real easy for noobie start!

[ShawnG]

Easy to use, doesnt already have a huge investment in vst's? Demo Reason while you're at it.

[LawrenceF]

He's a talented pianist + gifted composer, been doing it for like 30 years or so already, but never with a computer up to this point.

He should probably be demoing some of those for himself, not letting someone else pick one for him. Depending on who's answering at any given time, they're all easy and great for somebody, with no exceptions.

[jancivil]

Live is not so much a linear oriented paradigm. I remember when some device provided Live Lite or whatever and it was from another planet to me. "Pianist and Composer" tends to indicate the basis in notation. I think Notion might be more apt than most. For instance, I only ever compose in Cubase, but its notation, while pretty robust is very fiddly. But, if the composing is going to be primarily notes on staves, & if the rhythmic style of this individual is very conventional/conservative, such as Cubase [EDIT: ok, scratch Elements, my ignorance] could be an apt choice. I perform in the notes and Cubase display quantization settings don't suit me well, it wants duplet and triplet to say it all.

Notion does a hybrid of notation with adjusting note duration as bars such as in the piano roll, and its internal sounds aren't bad.

[EnGee]

I don't suggest Cubase Elements or Artist if someone wants to use the notation to compose. They have the basic edition which is very limited (even for a beginner!) and also you can't resize it, so you will get stuck with a small view of the staff. While the full Cubase notation is very good compared to Elements and Artist.

But IMO, still buying a specific notation software is essential for someone works with music staff (even if he/she is only a beginner or a student). Sibelius and Finale are the leading ones with a better library than Notion, but they are more expensive. I might crossgrade to Sibelius in the future when I hit walls in Notion but not sure that will happen soon as I haven't need something doesn't exist in Notion yet!
Notion also can be ReWired as slave into a ReWired Master (like S1, ...etc).

There is also another suggestion he might be interested in, and that is "Band in a Box". I know some musicians that plays Sax, piano or Guitar use it (especially for Jazz/Blues ...etc). I will buy it one day, but not before starting the lessons in Blues/Jazz after 2 years or so!

Here is a long video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyIJsCp_rlM

[LawrenceF]

Yes. Other than maybe helping to narrow down the (long, long, long) list of things to maybe demo, because nobody will demo them all, it's kinda like picking a car for somebody else.

He might be completely happy and very productive with something like Mixcraft. Only he would really know.

My question would be "What is your dollar limit, as relates to how much you'd spend on any software DAW", and maybe narrow the list from there. If he says $200 that narrows the list considerably.

[lingyai]

As a user and something of a fan of Sonar and BIAB, I would NOT suggest these for a newb. Neither are very intuitive at all (plus BIAB is not even a DAW). Way too many features to master or just wonder about for someone of your friend's character. I would suggest demoing Studio One and / or Mixcraft and or / Sony Acid Music Studio. In fact I'd have suggested Acid first except that it is crippled by the lack of two key features which, once he got his DAW/ mixing sealegs, he might well want, i.e. 1) no bus to bus routing 2) no recording envelope automation.

[fluffy_little_something]

That BIAB thingy makes the music by itself or what?

[billcarroll]

Yes. Other than maybe helping to narrow down the (long, long, long) list of things to maybe demo, because nobody will demo them all, it's kinda like picking a car for somebody else.

He might be completely happy and very productive with something like Mixcraft. Only he would really know.

My question would be "What is your dollar limit, as relates to how much you'd spend on any software DAW", and maybe narrow the list from there. If he says $200 that narrows the list considerably.

I would ask what do the people he will collaborate with use, and what do the people who will be around to teach him use. Often, the best choice has very little to do with the total feature set.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

does he want traditional notation? as a pianist of 30 years that is highly probably, so we really do need to know that part first as that narrows the field down alot.

You know i'm going to suggest a mac mini and logic right.. and have all the logic advanced options disabled (preferences setting) except for notation.. it's very straightforward to use then.

If he doesn't need traditional notation there are tons of options, like reason/ableton/S1 etc etc

[lingyai]

I would ask what do the people he will collaborate with use, and what do the people who will be around to teach him use. Often, the best choice has very little to do with the total feature set.

Mmmm.. I repectfully disagree. His friends could well be DAW ninjas who got that way after a very steep learning curve with Reaper, PT, Sonar et al. I think the guy just wants to get going quickly.

[jancivil]

the thing of notation and DAWs is, no DAW is that great as a notation solution, and the more robust notation program is simply not where you're going to produce a realistic piece of music. So, in my experience, Logic is fairer than Cubase, but it wouldn't be my first choice to recommend to a noob. But that's just me, I was kind of brain-dead when I started with this tech back in 2003, and Cubase was not difficult. My assessment of Logic's ease of use is too colored by my experiences to really gauge it. If I help with someone else's MIDI from the notation standpoint and I want to hear it, I open it in Logic, never Cubase. (If it's very involved, I open it in MuseScore. I abandoned Finale at Finale 2006, I don't compose via notation for awhile now.) But ultimately Notion is the hybrid, or really you're looking at two applications.

[EnGee]

That BIAB thingy makes the music by itself or what?

You might find your answer here:
http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.features.htm

and here!
http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htm

[fedexnman]

I think you can get Tracktion 4 for free still .

[tatanka]

Dont know if you have any chance to get this from germany:

http://www.falkemedia-shop.de/beat-tons ... -2037.html

But here you get FULL Version of Tracktion 5 !!!!! AND Magix Samplitude X 2 Silver (I think main limitations: only 8 tracks and of course no instruments delivered but vst support) for 10 bucks, should get you started.

[lfm]

If collaboration is important part, maybe OMF import/export is desirable - Sonar Artist provide that also with very little stripped features compare to others daws entry level. Notation is not all bad, at least it has chord diagrams and lyrics and various entry options for notes. And also MusicXML if wanting to move to other notation software. You have quite good comping features for takes and also automation lanes - in other words a lot of headroom in entry version Artist already.

If arranging is major feature - maybe Cubase Elements is really good value. Chord tracks, Arranger tracks to easily repeat sections of a project with good overview etc. But seriously stripped compared to bigger versions Artist and Pro - but also an option to grow without leaving that workflow. But no lanes for takes at all - they all end up on top of each other if doing loop recording, you have to go to Artist for that.

If just wanting straight forward recording/mixing - Mixcraft is good choice. You can later get Pro versions if wanting more extensive set of bundled plugins and instruments and still end up at less that $200. Notation is a joke though, they claim professional looking notation, not so much. But last release was dec 2014, so look what grace period they might have to get version 8 free.