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Top DAW

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Welcome to Top DAW!
For this week’s Noobfest we thought we’d remind some of our guest tutors along with our very own Phil Johnston and Chris Agnelli how it feels to be starting out in music production again.
Each of our contenders received 7 ‘simple’ challenges to complete using their DAWs.

However, there’s a catch.

Our seasoned producers will be using a DAW they are not familiar with AT ALL!
If you want to hear some incredible music, then I wouldn’t get your hopes up as this is an audio car crash waiting to happen!

Sit back and enjoy watching some professional producers battle with their machines and create the next sure-fire hit just for you!

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Absolutely how I felt using FL studio as my first DAW. It was ditched shortly after!

I’ve worked with various DAWs and really like Bitwig Studio - it’s weird when I open up projects I’ve done in Reason and Ableton Live because I feel like a newbie again ( very easy to forget how to quickly do things that you are used to doing in your normal DAW).

I’ve tried all of these DAWs a few years ago and that was my experience with FL as well. I liked the idea of patterns but it feels like that DAW is carrying some legacy stuff from it’s early days that makes it a mess.

Cubase/Studio One were very similar in many ways and both were easy to use very quickly.

Ableton really made things easy for me when trying to create stuff.

In the end, it’s just tools and you should use the one that makes sense to you and if you have to use a different DAW for some reason (like collaborating with someone else, in their studio) it shouldn’t take long to figure it out.

Well, except for FL, that DAW seems backwards to me…

Dom Kane you funny guy hahahahaha this has mad my day thank you Sonic Academy

This was hilarious! Thanks!

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why in gods green earth would they have you doing a track in garage band. lol … and why is garage band in top daw. they could have just had Ableton, Bitwig, fl studio, logic, cakewalk, reaper, studio one, and I would hate to mention, even pro tools … there are plenty. garage band? really? sorry about your luck Dom

Brilliant! Bloody Brilliant! Omg, watching the Cubase guy complain about FL Studio had me falling off my chair. Same with Agnelli doing anything NOT LOGIC LOL - next time give Agnew Reaper for ultimate torture. I am still laughing from the summer when somebody sent somebody else the push and meanwhile we got gaming console updates. Phil, you didn’t fool me - you did Cubase tutorials and Studio One is pretty much a clone. Next time give Phil Bitwig. Wait that’s too much like Ableton. Give Phil FL Studio.

Guys, now you should do a follow up - where the residential “experts” on each Daw come back and “help” the “victims” - so Dom Kane helps answer live the newbie on Bitwig, Owsey helps on FL Studio, Protoculture helps on Cubase, etc. - that way, “newbies” would get their key questions answered quickly - just like real newbies really ask about a new DAW in real life. This is a great concept and I’m glad you guys did this. Phil and co. you guys really did a great job this year with pandemic keeping things interesting. I almost don’t want pandemic to end. Not really.

Reason deserves a shot in Round Two. Reason, Reaper, and Bitwig. I just did some stuff in Reason and I tell you, the “analog” vibe has won me again - Reason is BAAAAAAACK beatches!

Chris Agnelli - hands down - the funniest Irishman since Chris Dowd and Dave Allen combined

Chris Agnelli + Reaper, one thousand percent please. I’d pay 1000 guineas to see that. I have no idea what I just said. I borrowed that line from the best Christmas movie of all time - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. But seriously. Agnelli and Reaper. OMFG. Now THAT would be a RIOT.

Agnelli starting - and he’s ALREADY GOT THE CRASH SCREEN message loading in Ableton, so even before the trouble starts, the trouble has started… this is a real treat. What started as a joke after a couple of kegs of Guinness has become AMAZING

Seriously get Bjork to take Phil thru Studio One. Get Owsey to take Protoculture thru FL Studio. Get anyone to show Agnelli anything - get Dom Kane to take Agnelli thru Bitwig. Live on camera, like a Skype call - do it as “Round two” - this time they get to “call a friend” like a tour guide who can instantly show off how to quickly “resolve” with nifty workarounds. This would show how once you get some fundamentals get under your belt, you’re rockin’ and rollin’

I can predict Phil becoming a convert to Studio One. I think Owsey would win over Protoculture in 5 minutes on FL Studio. Use Patcher to show Mid/side splitting, for instance… versus Cubase… ugh! Dom Kane on Bitwig - Chris would be impressed. Protoculture helping King Unique on Cubase… what a great follow up that would be - a “debrief”

Bjorn Alkesson, sorry, not Bjork lol

Bjorn Akesson. Him. lol.

I have used FL Studio for 7 years and always found it really easy to use.

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For me Ableton Live is the best of all because its simple, atractive and is the only DAW in the world that can be use as a performance software DJ.
In the video the guy who had less dificult and most import ENJOY to use an diferent DAW is the prove of that!
I think the DAW could reach to the Live level isn´t any DAW, but if I have to advice an alternative DAW, Cubase its the perfect choice, but we have to a usb license device, that´s why I quick!
The worst DAW I use, and its free… is LMMS, that crap is such full of windows, that seems we are looking to a building!

i still use FL. tried ableton. Didn’t like it. the default samples are good tho.

Funny to see ya.

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Ableton beast

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