I’m planning on making a video that illustrates how EVERYBODY can make a song, a good song! My first problem now is, which daw should I use? GarageBand would be perfect if it was multiplatform, but it isn’t and I don’t want people to think that Apple is the way to go, if you wanna make music. I mainly use Ableton and so far my best alternative is the trial of Reaper. But please hit me op if you know some nice, creative, free or almost free daw that runs both Mac and win!

From my perspective it really depends on how far you want to go and how much time you are prepared to spend developing product knowledge and designing your work flow.

Reaper is very powerful with a huge user base and heaps of useful tutorials, particularly the stuff by Kenny Gioia. Cakewalk by BandLab is really great also once again there is a fair bit to learn and a lot of useful information with a huge user base.

They are two DAWs that I tend to use I have looked at others but am happy with these. Lately I tend to use Reaper for most stuff.

Either way whatever you decide if you go into correctly you’ll learn heaps. Funny stuff knowledge, sometimes hard to acquire but usually easy to carry.

Have fun

Tony

Edit: Forgot to add Cakewalk by BandLab is free, Reaper is US$60 but cheap at half the price.

How about Audacity? It is free and easy to use.

https://www.audacityteam.org/

...Deb

Audacity is free and it does have its uses I often look at stuff in Audacity but I would not describe Audacity as a full blown DAW. There are many things a good DAW can do that Audacity (to me as least) seems very limited at.

Editing audio for video can be fairly easily achieved in Cakewalk or Reaper as I understand it.

My thoughts

Tony

Cakewalk Free download and support.

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

It's my understanding that Reaper and Cakewalk are good for this, but I can't speak too much on how well they work - I've never used either. I've heard positive things though.

He asked for a DAW that works on both a PC and a Mac. Cakewalk is PC only but Reaper will work in both OSes.

Check out this guy's blog. He does videos like that all the time. That should give you some good ideas.

Recording Revolution Blog

I would have thought it would be obvious......

Real Band. It's a DAW, it's got a ton of useful features, you just have to take the time to learn them, and...... you already have it if you have Band In A Box.

At the risk of starting yet another argument I would not put RB in the same league as Cakewalk by BandLab which is also free. I tried RB and to get a workflow like I had in Sonar, Reaper or any of the other DAWs I have used. I found RB laking in functionality. Things like the channel strips in Cakewalk or all the plugins that come with Reaper.

Sorry RB loses for me in the DAWs stakes.

Tony

And I totally agree with you. No question. But the OP was looking for a reasonably good DAW for free. He already has RB.

I don't consider RB to be a full featured DAW but it does a good job if you're short of money for one of the big names.

Yeah... I've been a Cakewalk user and still am.... Sonar X1. Love it. But.... I'm also seeing where lots of people are having issues with BLCW. I was considering the jump but decided to stay with my "works perfectly" X1.

Again guys he is looking for a cheap or free DAW that runs on both Win and Mac OSs.

Following

At US$60 I consider Reaper really cheap for what you get and it will run on both. Functionality wise I think Reaper is right up there. However, learning wise there is a bit of work.

Tony

Probably Reaper. Reaper runs on a PC or a Mac, the price is right, and there are a lot of folks here (not me) who use it if you need help integrating it with BIAB.

I’m planning on making a video that illustrates how EVERYBODY can make a song, a good song! My first problem now is, which daw should I use? GarageBand would be perfect if it was multiplatform, but it isn’t and I don’t want people to think that Apple is the way to go, if you wanna make music. I mainly use Ableton and so far my best alternative is the trial of Reaper. But please hit me op if you know some nice, creative, free or almost free daw that runs both Mac and win!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

If one googles/bings free daws that work in both mac and win oss you will find a few. Note that I have no experience with any of these but the price is right so you could DL them and decide if one is OK for you.

I recently started using Cakewalk from bandlab. I'm really liking it and it's free.

Cakewalk by BandLab is just SONAR reborn and as such it’s very good, but it isn’t available for a Mac.

Here are two excellent resources:

Wilkipedia Digital Audio Workstation Comparison

Wikipedia Digital Audio Editor Comparison

I wouldn’t worry so much about cross platform. Mac users will have GarageBand and if they are recording their first song ever even their first ‘good’ song, they will almost assuredly be using GarageBand. They would be way outside of the norm if they chose something else.

Same with iOS users. You can make great songs on iOS GarageBand and that’s where newbie songwriters will go if they aren’t using Apple Music Memos first, which exports into GarageBand.

So I would limit choices to PC platform if I was you.

I would NOT recommend Reaper for first timers. It has far too much tweak ability up front if your purpose is to teach assembling a good song right from the start without having to go download a bunch of instrument plugins and to decide on templates and what not.

Cakewalk is an entire package. DAW and all the plugins you need and notation editing and entry and available to anyone, rather than requiring a BIAB purchase.

I assume that your goal is affecting the largest number of potential people new to DAW use, that want to make songs on their computer but have never done that before.

I don't want to start an argument either but RB has some quirks and is inconsistent for many of us. Some others have no issues but it is unpredictable for me. As soon as I finish the project I am working on, I will be learning something new.

2b

+++ Audacity +++ is great if all you want is a free audio recorder. However be aware it is a waveform editor and not a DAW.

The BIG limitation with Audacity is that it does not work with midi. MIDI and computers go together like peanut butter and jelly. That's why Audacity is considered a waveform editor and not a DAW. Though you may not think so in the beginning that is a huge limitation.

The BIG plus is it is as simple as it gets if all you want and need is to be able to make any computer into a digital audio recorder and playback machine.

Anyone that has ever used a CD, DVD or DVR will instantly understand the transport controls. Delete, cut, copy and paste are as easy to use, and work the same, as a text editor or word processor.

Most of all, the program is rock solid. Audacity is very stable and crash resistant.

+++ Audacity +++

REAPER is cheap or Free, both WIN LIN MAC.
REATRAK for REAPER integrates with Band In A Box
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=2049656#post2049656

If the only factor is a cheap DAW, then Audacity and Reaper are good choices.

But if you are trying to show how anyone can make a song, there are a lot of questions that need answering, such as:

• Do you plan to explain how to use a DAW to newbies, or point them to on-line tutorials?
• What level musical skills do you assume your users have?
• Will they be recording their own instruments, MIDI, or loops?
• Should the DAW come with instruments or loops? Audacity and Reaper don't.

How far you want to get into the weeds with your viewers will determine which DAW fits your needs best.

AND THERE IT IS..... Look at the signature. SPAMMER


Now...read the post carefully and see if it makes sense. In the context of the whole picture. It doesn't.

Evidently the signature or footer Herb found has been removed so the op is monitoring the post.

Spammer or not it's been a fun conversation.

I assume the original poster meant for 'good song' to be quality of sound recorded rather than quality of content. That said, DAW or OS platform is irrelevant to his objective to show that anyone can record a good song. Anyone and everyone wanting to record a good song will start recording songs with the equipment and software they own or have access to.



A DAW or computer is not required to make a good recording. Commercial releases were made in the 1990's with digital eight tracks like the Tascam DA-88. Alesis, Foxtex, Roland and other manufacturers made similar models. Some of that equipment is still around and useable today. It's entirely possible to make as high quality recordings with analog mixers into digital recorders as can be done with any DAW.


A beginner will likely make faster progress and better recordings starting off with simple digital recorders like the ones by Tascam and Zoom. A Tascam DP004, 006 or 008 are readily available used for less than $75. Especially if they know the equipment well and are adept at studio recording techniques and standards.


Both Presonus Studio One and ProTools have free DAW versions that are cross platform and are capable of commercial grade recording capability. They are similar to PGMusic's BIAB that the core is there and the paid versions provide more features and content. But the core is there and completely capable of outputting top quality sound.

I've been of the opinion for years that Bill Szymczyk could produce the Eagles using Radio Shack hardware and could obtain radio ready, commercial quality recordings. I say the same today using entry level, consumer grade equipment and software.

It's never the gear. It's always the people and the knowledge and skill they possess.

Amen to that Charlie, once you get to a minimum competence level. Same thing happens with guitar players. 80-90% of it is the player.

2b

OP didn't do the edit.

Edited by Andrew - PG Music (02/23/19 02:39 PM)
Edit Reason: spam

Herb,

That is so strange. My screen doesn't show Andrew's edit at all.

I had a post that showed an edit by Andrew, but to my knowledge, my content wasn't changed. I assume Andrew must have removed some comment a hacker added?

Hey Jim, it's not the original post you need to look at. It's that user's 2nd post about half way down the thread. Once you get there, you will see the edit.

Thanks Steve!

I found it.