Being the gear junkie that I am, I spend far too much time reorganising the studio, noodling with 4 bar loops and thinking I need just one more bit of kit before being able to conquer the charts. This is of course utter bollocks and it’s the classic lack of talent but love of gear.
When vaguely musical talent does strike however, I have a DAW problem. I just can’t settle on one. I have the tech equivalent of ADHD.
Here’s my little journey…
My gear fetish really began when I was 16. I was in a Jean Michel Jarre covers duo (got to to the final of Margate Winter Gardens talent contest no less 
) and was using various workstations and sequencers (Roland MC300 I think).
Soon after I bought an Atari ST with Pro24, later moving onto Cubase on a Mac, then PC. Reason then stole my heart, I moved back to Mac, rewired Logic and in the last year have noodled with Reason 6, Maschine and Studio One 2. Last week I bought Ableton from the proceeds of a backing track for an Elvis crooner 
. Who says crime never pays!
I can hear what you’re thinking – stick with one and learn it inside out. Yes, yes I know that, but I haven’t got the patience or talent and I do firmly believe workflow preference is important.
That said, like a 37 year losing his hair (I’m not), it’s time to settle down and I reckon a combination of some kind is the only way to go. Which combination though is the killer question.
Here’s what I’m grappling with:
Reason is ultra-fast for quick remixes & song writing, and the mixer is the closest to analog workflow of all I’ve played with. It’s self contained & rock solid too, great for portability.
Logic is fully featured and well supported (by users, not Apple) but it never really feels ‘creative’.
Studio One’s workflow out-paces Logic and the Melodyne integration is seamless. Fast becoming my favourite ‘traditional’ DAW although I’m not in love with the mixer yet.
Maschine’s sound library is awesome and with the controller, lively and touchy feely but it feels underpowered for complicated productions.
From an initial play Ableton seems to marry the speed of Reason, has great hardware integration and version 9 promises some cool new toys like the audio to midi conversion.
I can’t learn all of them properly at the same time so I need to concentrate on a select few.
So, how about this…
Ignoring that boring fact that all bar Maschine could do everything I need, I reckon there’s two set ups. One for sessions such as Elvis backing tracks (a growing market, trust me) and one for my superstar EDM aspirations.
Whatever happens Logic gets the chop. Sorry Apple.
Elvis productions get this…
Reason for traditional song writing tool and quick audio capture (it’s comping is beautifully simple)
+
Studio One for when vocals needs some Melodyne or VST assistance (Rewiring & Midi are great in Studio One)
Superstar DJ gets…
Maschine as a beat making notepad with Ableton for more detailed arranging or live play out. Reason may pop in for a guest appearance now and again.
Here’s how I got on with a first go at that particular combination (with some bass duties from the bloody lovely Arturia Minibrute)…
Any thoughts?
Now, where are those manuals…
Ah, the great debate. I’ve always been a Live man personally, all the way back since version 2 actually, but have also dabbled with Reason and Logic. Logic was a complete PITA. Reason, quite interesting. I think you should be able to do everything in Live, but then I may a bit biased…
Oh for the days of Pro24 and Notator
Back in 2002 and early 2003 I did a little bit of research; I knew nothing about recording, audio, midi, or synthesizers. I had a dream, and that dream required that I be able to produce my own music with my own gear.
I started playing the piano when I was 5 and I took private lessons from 1st grade thu the end of 11th grade. Music was my passion during my school years. I expressed this to those around me what I wanted to do, but I was paid no attention.
I consider myself quite lucky because their was one magazine that I had access to at my town’s Barnes N’ Noble, that helped me decide on what DAW to get. The magazine was Sound On Sound and the DAW that I eventually chose was Logic Audio.
I had read somewhere that Logic was my favorite musicians “go to DAW” in the studio. I had also read that it was the most powerful audio & MIDI sequencing application. I remember reading about how difficult it was to learn; Logic was not an application meant for weary.
My personality type took this as a challenge, after taking the bait . Logic is a PITA, but it’s also the only pain for me that helps be more proactive.