A Step Into Production

Of course, each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses.

I personally prefer Ableton, but that is not from having a lot of experience with the others – I have been composing for a long time, but prior to this stint, I was using hardware workstations and synths, so I didn’t use a lot of software DAWs.

I like Ableton’s workflow because it allows me to do some really cool automation tricks, but one thing that I do find mildly frustrating about the automation is that there is no type-in for values… you have to manually drag the envelopes around (though you can have precision when doing said dragging around).

What I would suggest might be a good way to start is, before you settle on a package, start watching videos on YouTube about production using the various packages. This should give you a good idea the workflow for each, and help you to make a semi-informed decision.

For Ableton, I quite enjoy DJ Vesper’s videos, that’s probably a good place to start for it. I can’t give recommendations for the others, though, sorry.

And then there is Bitwig Studio, which basically can do anything 😉

@NGDJ : How did you choose Traktor, Mashup and Audacity ?
I would put that into practice when choosing your DAW

Based on your preferences you might want to check out Fruity Loops, a lot of Traktor folks chooses that DAW

I personally use FL studio, by far the best workflow for me. I’ve heard some good things about ableton and logic, but they weren’t really for me. I also use traktor so I guess that might relate to the DAW somehow???
I’d say download the demo of all of them, try each out for a week or two to get a feel of it then try and narrow it down to just one. Ableton, logic, FL Studio are great places to start but studio one might be good to have a look at too.

Also keep in mind that some midi keyboards and audio interfaces come with some basic versions of ableton live and studio one.

Hope this helped 🙂

I haven’t had much chance to play with it yet, but I have the Maschine Mikro and it’s pretty cool. Since you’re a NI user already, you should definitely look into Maschine, and how you could possibly incorporate the two into one setup. I’ve thought about giving Traktor a go and trying to do just that, but for now the Mikro is under a decksaver and I’m focusing as much as I can on DJ practice. I have 3 small children so time is limited, and lots will be required to master the Maschine, or the others. Time with full concentration and focus, locked into my cave upstairs…LOL It’s a big manual, and I’m far from done reading it all, but still do that about once a week or so at night, even though I’m not using Maschine, just reading.
There are great videos on YouTube, and that might help you get a feel for the workflow with Maschine, or Ableton and certain hardware for that, such as APC40, etc… Andrew Chellman (sp?) has some good videos on Maschine, and there are numerous performances to keep you entertained for hours, just remember to watch what/how they’re doing it so you are getting more than entertained…. I had to watch a few more than once… Just thought I’d chime in as a Maschine user(almost…LOL), even though I use Serato DJ for that side of things. Take my .02 for what it’s worth, I’m a NOOB and that’s US currency we’re talking about….. Keep us posted.