Originally Posted by jaycallahanart
Thank you, this is very helpful. I appreciate everyone's time responding. What beginner DAW do you recommend. I've downloaded Ableton Live Lite. I would like to start with the DAW I'm going to be with long-term then add more advanced feature$ as I go.

Asking for what DAW should I use is like asking for what car should I buy as you will get every car on the market, i.e. everyone has a favorite. I use Fender Studio One 8 but many here use other DAWs. I would DL trials of various DAWs and see which one works best for you.

BUT, if you are on a Windows machine you have a DAW called RealBand. I strongly suggest starting with that one. If that one doesn't fit your workflow then look for another DAW. The basic functions of all DAWs are similar so if you learn one the learning curve on another is not as steep. The one exception is that RealBand can except BiaB files as is whereas other DAWs you need to drag and drop BiaB MIDI and WAV files.

PS - the term long-term-DAW is a dream. I have been through a number of DAWs since the 1980s. I didn't change because I wanted to change I had to change because they either went out of business or had major upgrades that changed a lot of things!
The latest was just last year when Fender purchased Presonus. The major upgrades that I have been through were major improvements well worth the small new learning curve.

Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware