Starting in music production...

[Kwal]

Why does no one mention FL Studio?

[ImNotDedYet]

Why does no one mention FL Studio?

I rock the FL Studio, but I left my one half-finished song when I got tables cause all I want to do now in my spare time is spin vinyl. For me, FL Studio does the trick. I know what the hell I'm doing in it. Workflow is good for me, piano roll is rockin and I can control everything I need in FL studio using my MIDI controller. At this point, I haven't run into any limitations with it.

It's not the tool you use, but how you use it that makes the difference. At least that's what I tell the girls I'm hitting on at the moment.

[Daily Crisis]

Why does no one mention FL Studio?

I think FL Studio is brilliant. Very beginner friendly.

[dripstep]

Not trying to sound elitist, but yes it is personal preference, but having used flight, reason, ableton and mtv music generator (playstation), reason is more involved, takes more time to learn, but let's you pick every little bit of sound apart on every level. The rest produce music just as well, but seem so beginner easy to me. Loops and clips seem like the "I want to be a producer and make edm", and programming synths and building drum lines in reason is the professional choice.

Disclaimer: personal preference only, don't flame me over this or turn this into a Mac vs pc/ traktor vs vdj style debate. Use what works for you, some software has a huge learning curve, and not everyone wants to put that level of effort/time into making music.

[arsman]

mtv music generator (playstation)

this and a dj arcade game (way before dj hero on playstation/xbox/wii) was my first real encounter with music making and djing. lol

[grazz16]

All personal preference IMO... I've tried a lot of DAW's and Ableton was the best fit for me.

Yeah the DAW thing is really just a matter of which you decide to stick with. They all pretty much do the same thing and starting out you probably don't have much of a clue as to what you really need anyway. So best bet is to pick one and just roll with it. Bouncing around between DAWs is probably a waste of your time. Best to just get your hands dirty with one and learn it well.

[dripstep]

It was a fun game.

OP, to answer your question, neither of those controllers. Check out videos and demos of the different DAWs, and see what you are most interested in trying. A controller comes later on, or not at all. Production is a deep pool, and there are many things to learn, don't rush to gear too fast.

[Nick V]

I haven't played around in Reason since they added the SSL style mixer but I had a lot of fun even with the more basic mixer. The audio routing is unlike any other software. The one down side to Reason is that - even though they added plug-in support with rack extensions, you can't use them anywhere but in Reason. There is also a more limited selection (no NI). With VST and AU plugins, you can use them in Logic, Maschine, Live and any other software host. The only up side is that the rack extensions tend to be a bit cheaper than native plugins.