Software Advice - Making Music For Commercial Use, Music Generators / Samples / Loops Options

[hardluckdrive]

Hi,

I have some musical experience with real instruments but little experience in software. I have been getting pulled in so many directions in trying to search for information on good software for my purposes that I am basically standing still.

I am looking for the best options for free software that will allow me to make make music for commercial use.

Are there any you can recommend that have good virtual instruments?

Also, are there any good free options that provide mixable loops that are available for commercial use?

Thanks for any advice.

[houstonmusic]

for a mix of instruments, loop content, and arranging flexibility all in one professional package i'll recommend either Reason or Ableton Live. take a look at both, as they use very different conceptual approaches.

[deaconblue]

I second houstonmusic's suggestions. If you're used to live sound production, racks, patchbays,, etc, then Ableton's latest should be a little bit quicker to pick up. But both are great for getting started quickly with those tools.

peace.

[hardluckdrive]

Thanks for the recommendations.

I looked into them and they seem like good products.

And while the prices aren't exorbitant, they are a little higher than what I was hoping for to start out with.

I may be looking for something that doesn't exist (and heaven knows I wouldn't develop an awesome program just to give it away) but is there anything free that produces decent stuff to get the ball rolling.

I would very much like to graduate to one of your recommendations, but would like to test the waters (and myself) before breaking out the credit card. If I saw right, the demo version of the first program was $450.

[houstonmusic]

well, you could do a lot worse than Garage Band. honestly.

[mortalengines]

I second houstonmusic's post. Ableton and Reason are very good for exactly what you want to do. I don't use it myself (I use Ableton) but, Logic in conjunction with the Apogee Symphony converters (if you plan on recording live instruments and need a certain amount of I/O) will put you on the same playing field as just about ANY professional recording studio. Digital Performer is another very good Mac based platform that will do the same. Both Logic and DP offer a wide array of virtual instruments and plug-ins that are of a very high caliber. I've never been a fan of Pro Tools...I took some classes that used it and frankly hated using it. If you go to other sites that discuss this, you'll find that most of the professionals out there are using any of the above and it just depends on what you are looking for in terms of application and utility (and learning curve). Reason and Ableton are about the shortest in terms of learning curve and ease of use.

All of these programs have demo versions that are free. If you are concerned with a budget, check out Reaper. It is very much like Ableton Live or Reason and is very inexpensive. It has a fully functioning demo and when the demo period is over, all you get is a "nag screen".....you can continue to use it.

This post has been edited by mortalengines: Sun 18 Nov 2012, 20:36

[midiwife]

As someone who's used and taught a wide variety of music production software over the years, I have to say that Garageband is incredibly feature filled.

The other great thing is that if you exhaust its possibilities then you can upgrade to Logic and open all your Garageband projects up straight into Logic.

Come on my Garageband course in central London! ;-)

Or, come to my college and learn Ableton, Reason.

We've even got a 2 day course in Ableton coming up in early December!

We're here:

www.citylit.ac.uk

And my apologies if I'm not supposed to give such links!

[mortalengines]

Yes it's true if you already own a Mac. Garageband is a really good way in. Especially considering that it comes free with the Mac. It's very easy to use (I learned it in an afternoon) but it's a little limited in terms of instruments and effects (though there are free AU unit plugs out there). If you want something with a little more, you should really check this out:

http://www.reaper.fm/

Again, even if you don't pay the 60 dollars you still have a working version. You just get a nag screen that comes up every time you start the program.