My DAW Recommendations

Learning to use a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) can be very formidable and oftentimes confusing.  I have now learned to use Sonar 8 Producer Edition, Fruity Loops v20, Pro Tools 2018.12, and Ableton Live 10. While all of these DAWs had their own learning curves, and technical challenges, I would rank their ease of use as follows:

1. Sonar 8 Producer Edition
2. Ableton Live 10
3. Fruit Loops v20
4. Pro Tools 2018.12

I initially started using Cakewalk software early in my career and moved up eventually to Sonar 8 Producer Edition. During this time, the software could not handle VST3s, so I had to move on. Next, I tried Fruity Loops, and found as its name says, a little fruity and lacking good documentation and confusing tutorials.  Since all of my music  friends had tauted Pro Tools and it seemed to be the music industry standard, I bit the bullet and tried Pro Tools 2018.12. Pro Tools seemed to have many versions, features, and nuisances with hidden tricks that are not fully documented, which made it difficult to learn and grasp in a timely manner. Don’t get me wrong Pro Tools is great software, if you can afford the expense and have time to burn.

I now use Ableton Live 10 with Push 2. Ableton has a learning curve too, but with all of its great tutorials by great producers on YouTube, I was able to learn and use it very quickly. Although Push 2 is a great tool, I suggest that you get very familiar with Ableton Live 10, before using Push 2 with it. Push 2 is very useful, but its interface requires some time to fully grasp.  I am very satisfied with Ableton Live 10 with Push 2, and maybe someday soon I will consider myself a Super User.

Some Ableton Tutorials I recommend:

Your First 15 Minutes in Ableton Live 10 for Beginners by Collective Intelligence

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H83TxBL3yOE

Ableton Live 10 for Beginners – How to Create a Song Part 1 – 10 (2019) by Collective Intelligence

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj9TxqhVDAA

Beginner Mixing Masterclass 01 – 05 – Getting Started (2019) by Collective Intelligence

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4L7uvwj0uE

Ableton for Beginners – (An Introduction to Ableton Live) by InspirAspir

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLHovADrV-Q

Making Your FIRST Song in Ableton Live 10 (Using Default Ableton Plugins/Instruments) by InspirAspir

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGUdDgKdEg8

How to use Ableton Push 2 with Julian Gray by Sonic Academy

URL: https://www.sonicacademy.com/courses/ableton-push-2-with-julian-gray

Ableton Live: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide by Joe Coburn (Makeuseof.com)

URL: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ableton-live-tutorial/