DAW OF CHOICE? .... I've been a Cakewalk user for decades

[Trajan]

I am this very moment updating SONAR Platinum using the Command Center .. Lots of new bells and whistles this month ...

It got me thinking: What DAWs do the other DU Musicians use ? ...

ProTools ? ... Logic Pro ? ... Studio One ? ... Cubase ? ...

What say you ?

BTW: I noticed there has been one single post since June 11 in the Musicians Forum ... WAY too little activity here ... Let's change that ....

[GReedDiamond]

1. I too use Cakewalk Sonar...

...I haven't upgraded for a while, though.

Here (at ReverbNation.com) is the full CD by my band Green Sparkle Frog.

Before I got Cakewalk, I had two synced adats, and before that, going back into the 80s, I had a Tascam 80-8 which we used for almost ten years. We recorded several vinyl LPs and 45s using the 80-8.

[Trajan]

4. Coolness

I have been a steady owner since Pro Audio 7, back in the 90's. While I have never tried ProTools, I have tried Cubase and Studio One. Cubase is simply not as intuitive as Sonar, and so I turned away from Steinberg long ago ... I have tried the demo version Studio One, and it didn't impress me enough to justify switching .... Cakewalk SONAR has had nearly everything I need.

They have a new ownership program now ... You can either pay in full or make monthly payments .... Being a previous owner, you will get a great upgrade price .... I opted to pay in full ... They now use a 'Command Center' application to manage authorized programs and plugins, etc ... It automatically checks for any new versions of any installed products, and will update everything in one session .... They have been offering decent monthly goodies as well ... I'm a happy owner ...

I have used a number of different pieces of software and hardware over the years ... From the old 4 track machines (I owned the 'cheap' Dokorder 4 track reel to reel - We named it the "Dodeeohdoh" recorder) to the Atari 1040ST w/Music Studio app ...

Frankly, I have never produced anything that meant anything to anybody but me ... my work is amateurish, but, it challenges me daily and makes me happy ...

Good enough for me ...

Here is one of my pieces on SC:

[GReedDiamond]

5. Thanks for the info on the Cakewalk ownership program...

...I'll look into that. Sounds like what Adobe does with Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.

I'm a monthly Adobe subscriber, so I get all the updates whenever I want em.

You say "here is one of my pieces on SC" - I assume SC means SoundCloud.

Was there supposed to be a link to some music there?

If so, I'm not seeing it.

[Trajan]

6. Hah ... Sorry

I was going to share on SC, but my real name was present.

Here is a link to one of my pieces ... mind you, these are primarily sketches, and none are complete, except this one is nearly there ...

https://soundcloud.com/trajangregory/orchestral-poem-i-jlsb-submission

Let's see how this opens up ...

[Trajan]

7. This is a link to a number of pieces

Again ... no vocals anywhere, although the songs were written with the intent to add them (except of course the classical pieces) ... Some are merely a couple of ideas in a binary form. Others are more fleshed out ... There are quite a few mistakes ... consider these as works in progress ...

https://soundcloud.com/trajangregory

[Glassunion]

2. I use a mix.

Digital for guitars and vocals, old school reel to reel for drums and bass. Then mixed down using a combo of ProTools and Logic.

[CaptainTruth]

3. ProTools here

With a 002, & Behringer DDX3216 for routing sources & outboard effects.

Before PT I used ADAT (with a dataSYNC to sync MIDI tracks on my W-30 sampler, remember MIDI tempo maps? what fun), & before that, back in the OLD days, a pair of Teac 3340s 4-track reel-to-reels with "simulsync" so you could overdub. I still have both decks & a case of unopened vintage Ampex 456. Who knows if the oxide is still stuck to it, or a gummy mess!

[kooth]

8. Finale for Me

Because I concentrate more on charts than playback, I use Finale. I know that Cake Walk rocks, however. I also use Pro Tools.

[trebordet]

10. DAW OF CHOICE?

Hi,

(first post)

I started with the Turtle Beach (I forget the name of it) that had a humongous PC card and operated on the GEM interface (pre-Windows), early 1990's I believe. Before that I used a Hi-Fi Stereo VCR, then a Sony DAT recorder. Currently use Pro Tools.

[Trajan]

11. I think my first actual recording setup ...

Was an old stereo reel to reel ... It was a vacuum tube based machine ... I used to plug my cheapo electric guitar directly in, and boost the input to saturation for the smoothest, most dense distortion I ever played through until this last year (when I finally bought a kick ass tube amp) ...

Since then, I used a Dokorder 4 track reel to reel, a Fostex 8 track reel to reel, a TEAC 234 Syncassette (?) ... And a Yamaha 4 track cassette recorder of which I have forgotten the model type ...

My first computer based recording wss through an Atari 520 ST, using an application, Music Studio ... It was quite limited, but was a good exposure to the technology ... I started using Cakewalk Pro Audio in the mid 90's .... Cakewalk has been my platform ever since ... I cannot afford the ProTools stuff ...

I was going to share my latest piece, but, it had my real name attached to the link ...

[Trajan]

12. I just uploaded 4 new pieces/sketches/musical ideas

Any vocalist/lyricists out there ? ...

How bout guitarists or synthesists ? ...

I could provide an MP3 or WAVE to interested parties if they wanted to musically experiment ...

https://soundcloud.com/trajangregory

[KatyMan]

13. Wow, great stuff!

Doesn't sound like you need any help Sounds like some good soundtrack work.

[Moe Shinola]

15. K&R!

Dude, that Orchestral Poem III is just beautiful. What's your musical background, college, or self-taught? I'd love to write for orchestra like this.

[Trajan]

17. Thanks for your generous words....

My recordings have improved, but mostly by trial and error.

I've always loved music - The Beatles started that, and I've certainly enjoyed the evolution of rock music since then.

I've got a few years left, and I hope to improve yet ... One of the few areas of my life where I can be honestly optimistic ...

Thanks again ...

[Moe Shinola]

14. DAWs I use and have used

I now use either Sonar X3 or Energy XT 2.5.2 for just about everything. Audacity is my audio editor, but I used to do that in Sonar, too. I've used Sonar since version 3 in 2005, and have used XT since 2007. XT is great for anything synth-related, with it's great browser that allows you to drag and drop VSTs, samples, and loops so quickly. You can also save to mp3, which Sonar still will not do unless you pay extra. I still use Sonar for recording my voice or guitar, and for editing audio and MIDI tracks, and for doing mastering, especially with the new channel tools in the left-hand pane. The visual of the wavefile in Sonar is great. It's great for doing fine adjustments to MIDI notes and fine trimming of audio parts. The Zoom function is great. Sonar also seems easier to grasp than Cubase, which is just confusing to me, though they have a similar layout.
I bought Orion Platinum a few years ago and was disappointed with it. You can't, say, adjust filter cutoff and resonance on one of their Generators from the front panel, you have to program it into some sort of timeline, like I think trackers do. That's too much effort, it's not fun at all. It had some good points, the included Generators were fantastic, but I think FL Studio would have been a better call.

Here's some things I did using Sonar:

https://soundcloud.com/one-deep-breath/fairytales-daffodils

https://soundcloud.com/one-deep-breath/when-the-bastards-get-you-down

Here's some things I used XT to make:

https://soundcloud.com/moe_shinola/the-mind-keep

https://soundcloud.com/moe_shinola/return-to-outer-darkness

There's a difference in workflow that I think shows in how the music came out.

[Trajan]

16. Those were pretty cool ...

I especially liked the two XL songs ... even though I'm a Sonar guy ...

I tried Cubase a number of times, but like you, I just didn't relate to it. When windows introduced 'right clickability', bringing up context based menus made Cakewalk so much easier to use, and Cubase didn't use right click functions .... I'm sure they do now ...

I played in a band for about 16 years ... didn't go anywhere, but we did party hardy ... I learned to compose classical music from textbooks way back in the seventies (I was a progressive fan, ala Yes, Tull, Floyd, etc, which increased my interest in the classical style) ... I'm self taught, so my knowledge is incomplete about the subject, but hey, I can wing it sometimes ... I had stopped playing or writing for 5 years (I deeply regret that), but I started back up again a few years ago, and I am just now becoming able to get my musical ideas from my head to an actual recording. I use software synthesizers driven by MIDI data created in staff, piano or step sequencer views. I am just learning to use automation and some of the other tricks in Sonar - Lots of features and plug ins I don't understand yet how to use, but I'll get around to each eventually.

I'm gonna keep chugging away ... I'm gonna check out more of your stuff when I get a chance ... nice to meet ya !

[Moe Shinola]

18. Danke

The pleasure's all mine.

[bullimiami]

19. Logic

There is just so much bundled in with all the instruments and effects.

The comping tool I think is brilliant.

For what Im doing. Creating backing tracks mostly and simple mixes its great.

[Trajan]

20. I've never been exposed to Logic

Other than seeing it running on a computer in Guitar Center ...

Most of the major DAWs are similar enough ... I guess the price point and your personal preferences will guide you in that case.

Any material you would like to share ? ... You don't have to, ... All my music is devoid of vocals (and therefore lyrics), because I suck at both, so I have instrumental stuff that ranges in styles .... links above ...

[OxQQme]

21. Tracktion is mine

Behringer FCA-1616 interface & Composer Pro-XL between the outer world and an ASUS i7 laptop running Tracktion.

Also I have 'Band in a Box' for playing around with song ideas. Running any midi output of that through a Roland SC-55 from my desktop 'puter.

Recording in my band's practice space, we run 2 gits, bass, a keyboard and E-drums all direct into the FCA/Tracktion and also live into the room, capturing only the DI's. Adding vox and overdubs later. (Absolutely love e-drums for recording)

btw, I'm impressed with my MonoPrice active monitors. http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=605800

[Trajan]

22. Cool stuff ...

A friend uses Traktion for dance music ... I think he uses a DJ style user surface as an interface ... It's a very effective rig ...

Band in a Box is pretty cool as well ... This is fascinating stuff ...the technology keeps advancing by leaps and bounds ...

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

23. Sonar Platinum

[Trajan]

24. Awesome!

I'm about to re-up on the yearly subscription ... I think I like the new subscription format ... The updates are coming about once every quarter ... Some juicy stuff too ....

Check out my sound cloud links above ... I usually have a new piece every couple of weeks ... The latest piece has lots of potential ... Lovin it ....

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

25. Yeah, my script ran out a few months ago - have to renew the sucker!

Keep making music!

[Hoyt]

26. You guys are way above my league. I'm 2-8 tracks, acoustic instruments with overdubs. Used Sonar

for awhile, but way to much fuss for my simple needs. Now if I use a DAW, it's REAPER. I usually just use a 4 tracker. Have some decent mics and preamps, but don't need much else other than my instruments and something to sip.

Interesting to see so many DUers doing serious recording.

[Trajan]

27. A couple of updated sketches today ....

See what you think .... There's actually a brand spanking new guitar solo .... It's bona fide !

https://soundcloud.com/trajangregory

[jpmonk91]

28. Pro tools

It seems like it would be a good choice since it's the industry standard