For Reaper and Ableton as well, you pay only when there is a new major release and you want to get that, but no subscriptions.
Composing is being on a whole different level with how you approach music! And with the availability of software instruments it has become within reach of a single person to create like that.
Thanks a lot! This really points me in a direction to start looking into more specifics. I do bring my own kit as much as possible (left handed drummer using a rack), and one of our sound engineers brings his mics as well, so sometimes we have that luxury.
But to purchase a decent set of mics that are at least the minimum quality of what a regular venue has would also set us back quite some money right? I do love the autonomy of it!
How hard (or annoying) would it be for the house mixer to patch it through? Is that something that can easily be done when it's known in advance?
And in terms of how standard it is, i have talked to other musicians as well, and this seems the general direction to go with, some add a bunch of other things as well (backing tracks, drum triggers, full song clicktracks etc).
Both offering endless possibilities! Although i do like the advancement in software synthezing there is something just better about directly manipulating sound through mechanical means.
Do you play live with mostly acoustic instruments, or is it analogue synths / sequencers? Because then you don't need a DAW. Easiest way to describe it is with the artist LOOK MOM NO COMPUTER. Not sure if you can use that as a verb though. 😁
I have been using Addictive Drums 2 for years now. They have some very nice and heavy kits! I trigger it from my drumkit through midi.
https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addictive_drums_2/adpak/metal
this is their most metal kit they offer!
We all use it for different things! For live playing I used Ableton with a midi controller to trigger a simple sample once. Normally we don't do those, so it was thrown together with what i had lying around.
Garageband is awesome to just do that stuff! This topic is not about bashing DAW's, but sharing the cool stuff, and why, and how you use it.
I have experience with the following DAW's (disclaimer: I am not a recording engineer, i can do basic operations, and a bit of mixing)
Reaper
Starting with Reaper, the one i will recommend first to anybody starting out. It is not the easiest one, also not the prettiest one, but, you can use it for free! And a personal license is only $60 (you can keep using the free version, but it will throw a popup every now and then).
So price is great! Next, it works cross platform, I run it as easy on a Linux machine, as well on Windows and Mac. Getting your audio devices working properly on Linux is a whole different topic!
Currently, we work together with multiple people on demo material and preparation for in the studio, and using Google Drive (i know i know) to sync the files and easily work on top of each others work. I can load the files directly from the sync folder and save when done.
Logic Pro
If you have a mac, and Garaband doesn't give you what you need anymore, Logic Pro is the next logical step. It works great within the Apple ecosystem, it looks nice, and works great. It will cost you $199,99 dollar though. And it only works on MacOS, so forget about easily sharing work files.
Ableton
Price: between 79 euro and 599 euro
If you want the flexibility of using a DAW for live performances (or a non-linear approach) combined with a classic linear approach, Ableton is your go to! Focused more on live performances, solo artists, sampling, sound design etc it is still a very powerful candidate for recording instruments.
limb independence is the hardest part of any instrument it seems. With playing drums it's also throwing feet in the mix (which applies to organ as well).
That is a bunch of instruments you play!
My main instrument are the drums! Been playing those for over 20 years now, never had a single lesson in my life so looking to improve technique every day.
I also play a little bit of keys, which translates to soft synths and samples and ambient. I really want to start proper with analogue synthesizers, but vowed to never do that, because it's a bottomless pit which you fill with money. 😅
With synth, do you mean general keyboards? Or really diving into the analogue synthesizer space?
Which is totally true! That's why I don't want the discussion of which is the best, but: what are you using, and why, to give options.