Hi! I'm Lee. Welcome to my blog. Here we talk music: news, reviews, interviews, tips, tutorials and more. I'm also working on the upcoming podcast Influenced as a guest, writer and researcher alongside music aficionado Mark Williams and friends. Watch this space! I have been a lover of music for as long as I can remember, an amateur lyricist for 25 years, a music writer for 15 years and a hobbyist musician and blogger for almost 10 years. My tastes range from jazz to house to hip hop and I love helping artists from all genres develop their sound. My music, videos, reviews and interviews have been featured in a variety of magazines and websites, including: B-Boy Tech Report Gimme That Beat Humanhuman Audio Skills Dream House Beats Where Did the Road Go Beat Tape Co-Op Push Power Promo Drum Magazine You can find my music on Bandcamp: Monkey Mind Sounds AKA LeeTNB And you can find me on Facebook: The New Beatmaker page Lee's personal page
So, you have ideas, you have a computer - what now? This is where software Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) come in.
DAWs allow you to do the following:
- Play midi instruments and record tracks
- Edit sound files, samples, etc
- Mix and render your tracks
The Mixcraft series of DAWs is highly popular: www.acoustica.com
There are numerous DAWs to choose from, each with there own strengths and weaknesses. Things to consider when trying and / or buying your first DAW include:
- Initial cost and - if applicable - renewable license fees
- Specification: does the DAW do everything you want it to do? Not every DAW does everything, so check that it does what you want it to do
- System requirements, is your computer powerful enough to run the DAW smoothly?
- Ease of use,
- Plug - in compatibility: what third - party software will your DAW host
- What - if any - instruments come with the software
- What type of music you intend to make. For example, should you be making heavy metal, the style and workflow of, say, Ableton (used primarily in the production of dance music) isn't going to work for you.
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| Cockos REAPER is another DAW always high in the polls: www.reaper.fm |
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| A best kept secret of the DAW world, another one for new beat makers to check out, MuLabs: www.MuTools.com |
I know it's tempting, but please don't use 'cracked' / illegal copies of software. If everyone downloaded products illegally, the bottom would fall out of the industry. All the people who make these innovative products for us to use and love would be out of jobs - bad for them and bad for us too, as there'd be no new innovative products for us to use and love.
Every year, Computer Music magazine asks readers to vote for their favourite DAW. Last years poll featured everything from Pro - Tools, used in practically every professional recording studio in the world, through to Apple's Garageband which, at the time of writing, costs nine quid. So, before you do anything else, head over to the poll to familiarise yourself with what people are using and then - if you're feeling really adventurous - you could maybe start checking out a DAW or two yourself:
Every year, Computer Music magazine asks readers to vote for their favourite DAW. Last years poll featured everything from Pro - Tools, used in practically every professional recording studio in the world, through to Apple's Garageband which, at the time of writing, costs nine quid. So, before you do anything else, head over to the poll to familiarise yourself with what people are using and then - if you're feeling really adventurous - you could maybe start checking out a DAW or two yourself:
Tip options are set at $1, $2, $5 $10 US Dollars.
Affiliate advertisement: Industry Standard drums for hip hop, RNB, Trap, Future and EDM beatmakers and producers: http://bit.ly/2gwptz7
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