WHICH MUSIC PRODUCTION SOFTWARE IS BEST FOR YOU?

Find out how to choose an audio software for you, which is the best for each type of music production studio and home studio.

PRO TOOLS

Pro Tools was one of the first audio software that appeared on the market some 20 years ago. It dominated the market because it was really the first, if you wanted to record digitally,

It was the Pro Tools you had to use. At the time you needed to have hardware from Dig Design or Avid and it was very expensive.

Nowadays, Pro Tools works on any interface, and it’s leaving a lot to be desired in terms of features, because the new software that started to appear, put innovative features, and how Pro Tools came from a very old code base, it was very difficult to adapt.

Pro Tools took a while to adapt, practically had to start the software from scratch to be able to add these new features and technologies and they lost a lot of time with this, including Avid, which is the Pro Tools factory, has the shares horrible, she bought MAudio, and I made crap with her, in my opinion Avid is digging her own grave, she doesn’t listen to users, and she doesn’t respect users. I for example have Pro Tools that I spent a lot of money to buy and I can’t use it, because my machine is too new for the version I have.

Despite being a traditional software, very good for recording and studio, I do not recommend it, unless you want to work in a professional studio already established with this software.

FL STUDIO

FL Studio is software that has also been around for a long time, but has evolved a little more than Pro Tools. It was one of the first software to be pirated, and that’s why a lot of people started with this software, especially in Brazil when 10 years ago, nobody bought software because it was too expensive.

FL Studio is used a lot by Rap and Hip Hop producers, and I think it’s really cool software, especially since it now has the Mac version. It has some very complete versions, with a lot of plugins, virtual instruments and loops, which was actually the basis of FL Studio.

FL stands for Fruit Loops and this was one of the first softwares to work with loops and samples. The most complete version has a lot, but it is not cheap software, so if you are not thinking of investing a lot of money to get the top version, it may not be the best option. The advantage of FL Studio, is that you buy only once and the software is yours forever, the vast majority of other software, when they change versions, you have to pay for an upgrade.

ABLETON LIVE

Ableton Live, for many years, was my favorite software due to the quality, lightness, quantity of resources, effects, sounds and loops. Despite having a flat interface that a lot of people don’t like, I got used to it and I like it.

It is very robust software, I remember when all other software was 32 beats, and you couldn’t have many virtual instruments within the same project, you had to process the tracks to put more virtual instruments, Ableton Live was the one that could handle more instruments virtual. Now with 64 beats, this is much easier with any software, you can have as many virtual instruments as you want, as long as your machine can handle it.

One thing I don’t like about Ableton Live is that it is somewhat limited in its routing part, not only limited, but also not intuitive. Routing is when you are going to do internal wiring, connect one channel to the other, make a side chain. So for more advanced mixing or side chain operations it is not my favorite, although you can manage.

Another good thing about Ableton Live is that it has a partnership with Focusrite Most Focusrite interfaces come with a light version of Ableton Live, which you can get started with. The light version has a limitation on the number of tracks, but you can upgrade at an affordable price.

STUDIO ONE

Studio one is Presonus software that I find very complete. The Presonus is a highly regarded hardware factory, which makes the sound mixer, digital, audio interface, speaker, Headphones and many other cool stuff.

In my opinion it is one of the most modern software, as it is one of the newest software on the market, they built the software the right way from the beginning. They learned by looking at all the other software and built Studio One on top of a great foundation it makes all the difference in the lightness of the software and the amount of resources. Studio One has 3 versions and one of them is free.

It is a great cost / benefit and is cheaper than FL Studio. Since Studio One is from Presonus, if you purchase a Presonus interface, it will likely come with a version of Studio One. I highly recommend this software it is one of the most modern today and fits any style.

LOGIC PRO X

Logic Pro X is one of the most efficient software, because you only pay once, it is the cheapest software of all and there is a version for education that is cheaper and comes with Final Cut, which is software video editing, comes with the Main Stage that is for you to play live and with Motion to make animation.

For the price, there is no more complete software. The only thing is that you need to have a Mac, it only runs on the Mac because it is Apple software. I think it is even more complete than Studio One because it comes with a version of Melodyne, Studio One has a version of Melodyne too, but it is very limited, in Logic, the version is much more complete.

REAPER

Reaper is software that you can use for free if it is not for commercial use. It will never block, it will ask you to buy it, but you can ignore the message and keep using it, but if you want to buy it, it is very cheap.

It is very powerful software, fully customizable and it is the software that is taking over the market for its ease of use and lightness. In addition, it is software that runs on almost any computer. You can run with Linux, Mac, Windows, there is no audio software more democratic than this.

I highly recommend it regardless of style. The only thing that Reaper doesn’t offer you, are very nice plugins, his plugins are a little simple, if you want extra plugins, there are many free ones that you can use inside Reaper.