KVR Audio

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:19 pm

Hi Everyone,

My 13 year old son took up the bass this year, and he is already pretty good. He has expressed an interest in recording himself, and he will be getting a new laptop this Christmas. I have several (too many) DAWs, and would like to install one of these on his new computer to get him started. Which of these, all of which I have available licenses for, would you think would be best for a beginner to learn on?

Waveform 8
Harrison Mixbus
Studio One 2 Producer
Reason 10

Is there another that you might think would be better? I could also install one of the limited versions of the big ones I have (Ableton Live Lite, Bitwig 8 Track). Again, he will not be working with MIDI, nor many synths (of which I also have too many) - mostly tracking audio. I plan to install a few bass amp VSTs for him, but will probably let him start with the stock EQ, compression, reverb and delay plugins so as not to overly complicate matters.

Any advice/thoughts that you have would be appreciated!

Thanks!

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:22 pm

Of the ones you mentioned - Studio One, although I'd definitely upgrade it to current version, ideally 4.6 Pro - it's $85 right now here: https://www.jrrshop.com/presonus-studio ... al-upgrade

Reason 10 isn't a half bad choice either, because it has comping & pitch-edit AND a bunch of instruments & FX already in place. And you wouldn't have to upgrade it, because 11 is only useful (IMO) for using Reason devices in other DAWs.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:33 pm

If you want it more for audio I'd say Studio One (not that it can't do electronic music of course). It's routing and set up are a breeze.

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:38 pm

I was thinking Studio One, as well. How is the take system - relatively intuitive?

rmacattack · Post by **rmacattack** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:44 pm

Stay away from Cubase/DP. They aren't easy to learn and bloated. I would say FL or Studio One.

Passing Bye · Post by **Passing Bye** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:46 pm

Cakewalk by Bandlab

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 5:08 pm

bharris22 wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:38 pm I was thinking Studio One, as well. How is the take system - relatively intuitive?

Cooker · Post by **Cooker** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 5:20 pm

bharris22 · Post by **bharris22** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 5:48 pm

I have Reaper, too - it was my first DAW, and I love it - but there are so many options I am afraid it might be overwhelming for him.

Cooker · Post by **Cooker** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 6:41 pm

bharris22 wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2019 5:48 pm I have Reaper, too - it was my first DAW, and I love it - but there are so many options I am afraid it might be overwhelming for him.

I'm also a member of a rather well-known guitar learning website (where recording is highly encouraged) and we recommend it all the time. They record over backing tracks and thats pretty much it (no mixing or anything), I never noticed they felt a need to get into the depths of reaper.

Actually, a fresh install of reaper is pretty basic. I mean it doesn't come with loops, tons of vst(i) (optional when installing), flashy colors...not much to distract a young beginner.

AngelCityOutlaw · Post by **AngelCityOutlaw** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 6:58 pm

Reaper is the only way to live

harvon · Post by **harvon** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 7:18 pm

bharris22 wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2019 4:19 pm Which of these, all of which I have available licenses for, would you think would be best for a beginner to learn on?
Waveform 8
Harrison Mixbus
Studio One 2 Producer
Reason 10

Why don't you let him decide? Show him how each DAW does that what he wants do do and ask him which one he likes.

A christmas present doesn't have to be necessarily a surprise I think.

toddbooster · Post by **toddbooster** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 10:13 pm

I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna throw in Mixcraft, provided we're talking about a Windows laptop here.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 10:40 pm

bharris22 wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2019 5:48 pm I have Reaper, too - it was my first DAW, and I love it - but there are so many options I am afraid it might be overwhelming for him.

You can customize it to appear simple. Reaper is very stable and efficient. It’s also minimal cost and long lifecycle before further cost... so a good option for working with others

hlecram · Post by **hlecram** » Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:09 pm

Tracktion seems simple and straight forward to me, as well as Ableton. When it’s just about recording some bass/guitar and maybe firing up some loops to get a little song going, I think the less distraction the better.. if I try to put myself in the mind of a younger guy who just wants to make some music (basically some kind of time travel to my former self

) there is to much risk of getting lost in all those functionalities. If I had to decide it would be Ableton. I find it pretty much self explanatory, creative and most important, fun. I have a lite version myself and give it a spin every now and then. It all works pretty great until one point where I’m missing something from other daws, but just because I’m used to those things from other daws... other than that, I can’t say anything bad about it.

Good DAW for a beginner (mostly recording audio)?