Hello everyone, I've been fooling around with garageband for a while and want to get back into making music with my computer, and was wondering which program would be good to buy!
I use to have cubase but now i just fiddle around on garage band on my pod but am really annoye by the lack of brass/woodwind emulators.

Im looking for something that can be handled by a laptop with a 1.3ghz dual core and is similar to garageband but with more instruments. Im still pretty new at this so anyone who's willing to share their expertise would be great!

Thx

I really recommend trying the demo/trial version of a few DAWs for a few days each. Whichever you have the most fun with and you find the easiest and fasted to set up audio routing is probably the way to go without considering budget. I would start with the following...

Studio One
Logic
Cubase
REAPER
Ableton Live

As for the woodwinds and brass, many of the major DAWs have Suite/Producer/Complete branded bundles that include large sample libraries. Another option is to purchase a third party sample library with quality samples. The advantage of the "native" sample libraries is that they usually have useful presets created for the DAW's native sample player.

When I was starting from the ground up a few years ago I hated Cubase and Cakewalk, enjoyed REAPER a bit more, and found Ableton Live to be absolutely the most intuitive as far as audio routing and setting up instruments and effects. I hear great things about Logic, but I'm on Windows.

If I were making my investment fresh today, I'd have a tough choice between Ableton and Studio One. I am yet to hear a bad comment about Studio One and enjoyed my limited time with the trial version a few weeks ago. They incorporated some Ableton like concepts to the workflow.

Im presuming your on windows on your desktop...so that rules out logic, which is mac only....

you then have a decision to make.

propeller head's Reason may be ideal...it has the sample library your looking for...the internal virtual synths, samplers etc and a fully fledged recording system.

Reaper could be considered a more 'traditional' type of DAW...but is cheap and reliable and well regarded...i don't think you'll get the range of instruments and orchestral samples that you require, so you'd have to budget for them

Ableton Live is a different beast - it's plus points (IMHO) are the clip session views and workflows....although this may be perfect for you...a lot of folks rave about Ableton, and rightly so

you are quite lucky really......your in a 'period of time' where there are a lot of very good programmes which are relatively cheap but very effective

reason and ableton live cost around £250 - £300....reaper is much cheaper at $60 (£45??)
you can get very good demo's of each of these programmes...well worth exploring

you also say you've used cubase in the past - cubase is a very capable programme.....due to move to version 7 next month i believe......

it is a more complex programme and has features the other programmes don't...which is reflected in price. It also may have moved on in looks and workflows since you last used it...but i'd demo as well

i think you'd like reason tho.....especially since you've been using garageband....i think you'll find the workflow to your liking......although as with anything, practice makes perfect...and it's bonus for you is the amount of instruments and sounds available.

just me hapeths worth....


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http://soundcloud.com/seaapes

Thx for the answers you two! Seems like i have alot of demos to go through
I forgot to mention that i want to plug in a midi keyboard to play for recording and just to use as a regular keyboard to practice, so i guess my question is which DAW would have a good piano suite as well

I also keep hearing people reccomending pro tools cuz its what people use in the biz. Is it worth it and does daft punk and hans zier use it lol, don't have to answer that last part

Thx again

Get out of the idea that you choose a DAW based on the instruments you get with it. You may get some basic tools, but the better virtual instruments aren't going to be bundled with the DAW. As already mentioned above, you may need to budget for these separately.

And ignore the "Pro Tools is what the pros use, so..." argument. I make a good living with my DAW and I avoid using Pro Tools as much as I can. What really matters is finding a DAW that works FOR YOU.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Why not buy a MIDI keyboard with brass and woodwind sounds you like, and carry on using GarageBand? IMHO you cannot replace GB on iPad with a full-fat DAW, it's like saying you can move on from playing an acoustic guitar by buying an electric guitar plus a Marshall stack.

If I was upgrading from iPad/GB, I'd be buying a Mac and Logic. I have never used either (I was always a PC until I went iPad), but the fact that Logic will import GB songs would swing it for me.

Before I used GB I was a fan of Reaper and Native Instruments - I have Komplete 6 and it is very good.

But you can't use it on the bus or take it on holiday with you!

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Battle flags are flown at the feet of a garden gnome.

don't worry about any 'use that, cause that's what the professionals use' gubbins......pro tools is very very capable - but probably wouldn't work well on your computer...and would require a lot of money and time invested.

you want a tool that works for you....and is enjoyable to use - do you like garageband?
I personally think your the sort of person who reason is squarely aimed at - and the recording aspect has added greatly to the package.

I brought Reason (before the joining of record) and although i have other virtual instruments, reason still gets a look in..its a good bit of kit!

try them...have fun....see if your computer can handle all your trying to do with the DAW and use the one thats most fun and productive!

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http://soundcloud.com/seaapes