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ADreamOfWolves
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue May 22, 2018 11:41 pm
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:46 pm 
 

Looking to start a musical project of mine real soon, but don't have the money to buy all the instruments and equipment right now. That leaves me with my only option being to use a DAW (digital audio workstation) to make my music for right now. The only one I'm familiar with is FL Studio. But, just not sure if that's a good one to use if I'm interested in making black metal. Could anyone give me some tips on what one should I use if I'm looking to write some black funeral doom metal for my band? Thanks!

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Rocka_Rollas
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:08 am
Posts: 1260
PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 3:04 am 
 

So you basically want to know about drum VSTs, guitar/bass VSTs?

Or do you at least play guitar?

DAWs are not genre specific.

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Syntek
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:14 pm
Posts: 655
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:17 am 
 

Out of all the DAWs, FL studio is definitely the one least suited to recorded music (as opposed to MIDI-programmed synthesised music).
Try Reaper (since it's free) or Cubase, they're straightforward enough to get to grips with.

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Rocka_Rollas
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:08 am
Posts: 1260
PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:53 pm 
 

Reaper is NOT free! Why do people keep saying that? This lie is all over the internet and it never seems to end!

I bought it a few weeks ago. Because it's NOT FREE.

(I'm a long time Cubase user mainly, but I installed a couple of other DAWs incl Reaper as alternatives in case I need to use them some day)

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ADreamOfWolves
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue May 22, 2018 11:41 pm
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 1:59 pm 
 

Rocka_Rollas wrote:
So you basically want to know about drum VSTs, guitar/bass VSTs?

Or do you at least play guitar?

DAWs are not genre specific.


I currently only own a keyboard. So, I would use the DAW for all instruments basically.

I looked up a video on YouTube and the person recommended Reaper and Cubase the most for black metal as well. So, looks like Reaper will be the next DAW I try out. I tried a free trial of FL Studio and it was far too complicated for me. So, hopefully Reaper and Cubase will be simpler and easier to understand.

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lithraea
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2018 9:15 pm
Posts: 1
Location: Chile
PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:20 pm 
 

Think in terms of VST's rather than DAW's.
Hopefully you won't stop wanting to buy a real guitar, though. There are really cheap ones; you could save little money on a monthly basis to get one.
Anyway, have fun.

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Syntek
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:14 pm
Posts: 655
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:11 am 
 

Rocka_Rollas wrote:
Reaper is NOT free! Why do people keep saying that? This lie is all over the internet and it never seems to end!

I bought it a few weeks ago. Because it's NOT FREE.

(I'm a long time Cubase user mainly, but I installed a couple of other DAWs incl Reaper as alternatives in case I need to use them some day)


Eh, personally I don't differentiate between "free" and "complete software with indefinite trial period".
But it's very good and quite cheap ($60) so I recommend buying to get rid of the annoying title screen.

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zonfar
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 4:13 pm
Posts: 27
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 12:31 pm 
 

There is no such thing as a best DAW for any genre, except for FL studio as someone mentioned earlier is typically used for more midi notation/beats/etc.. in my experience. I personally use cakewalk sonar, but between sonar, cubase, reaper, logic, studio one, and anything else there really aren't that many differences/limitations. It's more about the user interface and where things are located. Whichever user interface seems to grab you, I would go with. You could watch a couple youtube tutorials on some of those top rated DAW's and see if any of them grab you more than the others :D

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ChernobylStudios
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:32 am
Posts: 41
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:22 pm 
 

Syntek wrote:
Rocka_Rollas wrote:
Reaper is NOT free! Why do people keep saying that? This lie is all over the internet and it never seems to end!

I bought it a few weeks ago. Because it's NOT FREE.

(I'm a long time Cubase user mainly, but I installed a couple of other DAWs incl Reaper as alternatives in case I need to use them some day)


Eh, personally I don't differentiate between "free" and "complete software with indefinite trial period".
But it's very good and quite cheap ($60) so I recommend buying to get rid of the annoying title screen.


Seems you are able to differentiate just fine - you just don't want to pay for it and instead just decided to take advantage of a company's very pro-user policy of not crippling their software.

Anyway, REAPER is the best DAW when you factor in price: a very affordable $60. The stock plugins are good to chew your teeth on, and REAPER literally supports every type of plugin format on the market. If you're going to record guitars, you'll need an audio interface. The starter audio interfaces from Focusrite like the Scarlett Solo will get you started. You may also want to invest in a good quality DI-Box, and good drum samples. If you're not recording bass, then I'd recommend Loki Bass by Solemn Tones, using the Finger Bass setting. I have a video reviewing it. Drum samples for doom metal could even be Mjolnir Drums by Solemn Tones or Perfect Drums 1.5. The point being that they are stand alone products, not requiring Kontakt.

That's pretty much everything you need to get started. If you're looking for synths - there are tons of free VST synths that you can check out at VST4Free.com I believe.

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ADreamOfWolves
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue May 22, 2018 11:41 pm
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 1:01 am 
 

ChernobylStudios wrote:
Seems you are able to differentiate just fine - you just don't want to pay for it and instead just decided to take advantage of a company's very pro-user policy of not crippling their software.

Anyway, REAPER is the best DAW when you factor in price: a very affordable $60. The stock plugins are good to chew your teeth on, and REAPER literally supports every type of plugin format on the market. If you're going to record guitars, you'll need an audio interface. The starter audio interfaces from Focusrite like the Scarlett Solo will get you started. You may also want to invest in a good quality DI-Box, and good drum samples. If you're not recording bass, then I'd recommend Loki Bass by Solemn Tones, using the Finger Bass setting. I have a video reviewing it. Drum samples for doom metal could even be Mjolnir Drums by Solemn Tones or Perfect Drums 1.5. The point being that they are stand alone products, not requiring Kontakt.

That's pretty much everything you need to get started. If you're looking for synths - there are tons of free VST synths that you can check out at VST4Free.com I believe.



I appreciate all the advice. My music will definitely be synth/keyboard heavy, so I will check out that website. Thank you!

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headbangersahoy2022
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:20 pm
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 7:03 am 
 

I use a combination of Ableton and Pro Tools. But I also produce genres outside metal/rock (EDM - yeah).

Here's my take:

1. Ableton is great for virtually everything. I love the interface, love how modern it looks and acts.

2. Ableton has two views. The Sessions view is great if you're going to launch clips and be a DJ (but you're not). So there is the Arrangement view which is just like your standard recording view.

3. The Arrangement view is great for pretty much any genre. I've recorded metal, hard rock, and heck, even hip-hop with it.

4. Pro Tools is something I use only for vocal processing. Don't kill me for it, but I use AutoTune on some of my tracks (I'm not the greatest of singers) and it doesn't work on Ableton.

5. ProTools arguably feels more "pro", but I don't like the overall performance and outdated UI.

Outside of the guitars/amps, here's my current setup:

1. PreSonus Eris 5 studio monitors (decent budget monitors for a 10x10 room)

2. AudioTechnica M50xstudio monitors (good budget studio headphones, though the high end is a bit tinny)

3. Akai MPK249 MIDI keyboard (most people agree it's one of the best DAW controllers around)

4. Scarlett Focusrite 2i2 audio interface


That's the hardware (I also have a MOOG Minitaur synth), but the more important bits are the software. Here's what I have:

1. XLN Audio AddictiveDrums (great for putting together some drums for test tracks and practicing riffs)

2. Valhalla Vintage Verb

3. iZotope Nectar 3 (really makes vocal processing easy as a pie)

4. Sausage Fattener (makes bass REALLY jump)

5. Guitar Rig 5

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Woutjinho
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:28 pm
Posts: 130
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:16 pm 
 

I'm using Magix Music 2003. Been using it for 15 years now and I'm happy it's still compatible with Windows.
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Lord_Of_Diamonds
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:23 pm
Posts: 1618
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:15 pm 
 

I don't do black metal that much, but I use Ableton Live for everything I do. It handles audio in particular a lot better than many other programs out there. As far as virtual instruments go, I used Shreddage 2 Bass on my last two black metal tracks (because I was too lazy to record a bass) and Toontrack RockSolid EZX (sounds loud, thick and overproduced) for drums. FL Studio sucks. Not suited to audio, inconvenient workflow, etc. It's good if you want amazing synthesizers right out of the box, but if you're looking for beginner-level software? Nope. I'd recommend Ableton all the way, but just buy the Standard version, since it'll give you all the capability you need without the 800 dollar price tag.
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