mattmatrice Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Hi, I am brand new to the forums and recording (I have been messing around with Mixcraft 6 for the last few years, even manage to produce a few covers and originals). My question is: What is the standard for producing remixes. I have read the forums and watched tutorials and the main program that I have seen is FL Studios. Is there some specific stuff you can do in FL that you can't in other programs? (I have used a demo of fl years ago but only poked at it) It's also more affordable than the mainstream programs such as Logic and Pro Tools which I would understand why it's used the most. Also what is most used for mastering? Any help will be accepted Thanks! - Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoshihearts Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 i use fl studio because the free one lasts forever and you get full access execpt you cant save progress. you can save sound files though. also i think the best version of fl studio is 300 dollars? not a lot of money. so it's a really good program that doesnt cost too much, has a good demo, and has lots of updates, and a lot of people use it so theres lots of tuorials on youtube and stuff. i think "pro tools" is standard program for professinal recording companies though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 There is no "standard" DAW for writing music with. If it fits your workflow, and you like it, then use it. But download some trial versions and evaluate them first if you want to make a decision early. Even if you do make a decision early, for as long as you haven't bought a DAW yet, you won't have wasted any money buying one you may not like, and you can try a different DAW. I use FL Studio, but that's because I happened to choose it and made it work. (Unlike what you may have seen in tutorials on YouTube, if you gather your own plugins, you can write music other than hip hop, dance, dubstep, "techno", or whatever.) These were written in FL Studio (with commercial and free non-native plugins, but still arranged and mixed entirely in FL): Drum & Bass / Metal Electro / Funk Middle-Eastern Big Beat And these were written and mixed entirely in FL Studio with all stock/native plugins: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02935 http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02876 http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02956 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slimy Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Everything I've written so far was made with a version of Mixcraft. (version 7 now) You'll be fine. I do use 3rd party plugins and instruments, but Mixcraft is my main DAW that holds it all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmatrice Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Everything I've written so far was made with a version of Mixcraft. (version 7 now) You'll be fine. I do use 3rd party plugins and instruments, but Mixcraft is my main DAW that holds it all together. Awesome, thanks for the reply. Yea I currently have Mixcraft 6 (have not upgraded yet) it is the cheapest "DAW" that I have seen so far. My friend says he hates it but for the price, it does way more than it should. I think to have made some decent mixes with Mixcraft so far, but I was just wondering if there was a standard. Also do you do any mastering? If so what programs or plug-in's do you use? Also, do you have any recommendations for third party content for like synth? I just use the Messiah plug-in as well as a random one I found on the internet, and for drums I have addictive drums 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmatrice Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 There is no "standard" DAW for writing music with. If it fits your workflow, and you like it, then use it. But download some trial versions and evaluate them first if you want to make a decision early. Even if you do make a decision early, for as long as you haven't bought a DAW yet, you won't have wasted any money buying one you may not like, and you can try a different DAW. I use FL Studio, but that's because I happened to choose it and made it work. (Unlike what you may have seen in tutorials on YouTube, if you gather your own plugins, you can write music other than hip hop, dance, dubstep, "techno", or whatever.) These were written in FL Studio (with commercial and free non-native plugins, but still arranged and mixed entirely in FL): Drum & Bass / Metal Electro / Funk Middle-Eastern Big Beat And these were written and mixed entirely in FL Studio with all stock/native plugins: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02935 http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02876 http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02956 Thanks for the reply and yes. I have used other DAW's before (including FL Studio) Mixcraft has done the job for me for a little while and I have no problem with it. Do you have any recommendations for plug-ins? So far I just use some pre-installed 3rd party plugins for synth and a random free plug-in I found on the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 If you are willing to buy VST plugins, then I would definitely recommend Zebra2 for its flexibility and ease of use (synthesis demo here), or Serum for its synthesis engine (I have a demo of some experimentation with it). I also rather like Variety of Sounds' free plugins, especially their NastyDLA MKII delay plugin. mattmatrice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slimy Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Awesome, thanks for the reply. Yea I currently have Mixcraft 6 (have not upgraded yet) it is the cheapest "DAW" that I have seen so far. My friend says he hates it but for the price, it does way more than it should. I think to have made some decent mixes with Mixcraft so far, but I was just wondering if there was a standard. Also do you do any mastering? If so what programs or plug-in's do you use? Also, do you have any recommendations for third party content for like synth? I just use the Messiah plug-in as well as a random one I found on the internet, and for drums I have addictive drums 2. Cheapest and easiest to use, compared to FL studio and Reaper IMO. (I won't by trying the demos of any other DAW's until I have cash for them.) Although a few design choices baffle me - for example - I can't edit midi controllers using an automation track, nor can I apply automation for effects over a SubMix track. I've complained about it on the forms though - fingers crossed for a greatly improved Mixcraft 8? Admittedly, I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to mastering, but: The EZQ Equalizer that comes with Mixcraft is a godsend for simple tone adjustment. I really like the Parametric EQ 2 that comes with the FL Juice Pack, but there's some free alternatives you can use, like Blue Cat Audio's Triple EQ - only 3 bands though. LoudMax is a simple limiter that you can get for free. (It has more than 1 knob! It has 2!) timaeus222 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmatrice Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Cheapest and easiest to use, compared to FL studio and Reaper IMO. (I won't by trying the demos of any other DAW's until I have cash for them.) Although a few design choices baffle me - for example - I can't edit midi controllers using an automation track, nor can I apply automation for effects over a SubMix track. I've complained about it on the forms though - fingers crossed for a greatly improved Mixcraft 8? Admittedly, I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to mastering, but: The EZQ Equalizer that comes with Mixcraft is a godsend for simple tone adjustment. I really like the Parametric EQ 2 that comes with the FL Juice Pack, but there's some free alternatives you can use, like Blue Cat Audio's Triple EQ - only 3 bands though. LoudMax is a simple limiter that you can get for free. (It has more than 1 knob! It has 2!) Yea that is a bummer that they left out those features, but for the $60 version of Mixcraft I can't really complain. The EZQ Equalizer is nice, but limited. For EQ I just use the digital generated mixer board within the program and I can get a good sound from it. Also you can mix each track the way you want plus the master equalizer to top it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastnBulbous Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 You might like to check out this handy freeware program for editing individual audio files, useful if you want to make accurate edits to a sound to then bring back into your DAW.http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/ As for a standard program, I'm pretty sure there is none. It really depends on personal taste and budget. It can help a lot to invest in your gear but there's no doubt some really special work can be made on the most basic of tech. Keep doing what you're doing, developing your skills with what you have available but also do your research into the capabilities of other tech because at some point, you may decide to explore other possibilities with more investment and it helps a lot to understand what options are out there.My personal preference these days is Ableton Live for the way it has revolutionised the creative workflow, as well as the pretty advanced community created things going on with Max4Live. There's plenty of other great DAWs out there as well so defo check them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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