Remember Alan Cross? He is Canada’s most treasured music historian. I wrote an article looking back on the interview I produced on him and took a heavy angle on digital instruments. I spoke about the technicalities, but if you were looking to actually use these instruments, where would you begin?

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Audio production begins with a digital audio workspace (DAW). There are so many out there, ranging from free to thousands of dollars, all for computer software. The one you’ve most likely seen the most or even used yourself is FL Studio. It is free and extremely user friendly, but when you’re looking for a DAW, you need to set your intentions. Are you a live band or artist, are you recording directly into it, or are you playing midi notes and arranging them by hand?

I find FL Studio to be more post-production focused, so the latter of the three. I got my start on Cubase’s free trial. Cubase was beautiful to work with and understand, and then my trial expired and I was hit with a price tag racking thousands of dollars. As a beginner, I would not spend that money on a DAW. Cubase is fantastic for live recordings, like live-to-tape or editing imported audio. I miss it to this day, it was a smooth experience.

Reaper is the next DAW I used, and the one I recommend to you to try out. It is not a free software, but the license is under $100 CAD. However, I managed to stay on the trial version for up to 2 years after mine expired thanks to a handy, “I’m still evaluating” button. I find Reaper to be great for midi or imported audio, playing live directly into it isn’t as easy as other DAW’s, so I recommend trying something else if that is your style.

Lastly, my beloved Ableton Live. Like many others, Ableton isn’t free. I paid a little over $300 for an “educational license,” which is essentially the entire software at a cheaper price. It is extremely user friendly, including a session view and arrangement view, allowing you to produce live and prerecorded audio seamlessly.

Making music has never been easier and bedroom producers are on the rise!