Which DAW should i use between FL and Reason given my goals

[Basshunter36]

Hey guys, new to the forum, seems like people here have some pretty insightful information compared to most forums i visit. So here's more depth to my question.

I wanna produce electronic music, period. Whether dubstep, house, trance, electro, techno whatever i feel like.

I got Reason 5.0 and FL studio both. But I wanted to focus more on reason because it simply appears to be capable of more quality wise and i love the interface. Problem is the learning curve is steep and it's hard to feel like i'm actually progressing or just playing with knobs without being too sure of the result, even if I have the manual that explains in depth what every knob I tweak does.

FL studio has an appealing interface too, but what i'm scared of is if I do become attuned to using FL studio, will it be hard to transfer my skills over to Reason once I become more attuned to how DAWS work? I really wanna end up working with reason but the learning curve is somewhat discouraging at times.

In this situation, would you suggest me to start with FL and swap to Reason once i'm better? Or are the 2 so different that my knowledge will clash and i'll be still stuck on Reason no matter how good I get with FL studio.

Also i wanted to point out and ask. in either FL or reason I always choose a synth, put everything to default sound, and try to build my sounds from ground up. A lot of people seem to use VST's in FL and samples in Reason. Is this a necessary obligatory process or can i really master synths and the tools themselves enough to never have to depend on a VST or sample?

I would really like to be capable to always build my sounds from the ground up, if anything i save some sound banks of my own overtime, and tweak them as necessary, but the idea of using predefined settings, sounds, etc, is very unnapealing as I feel i lose a lot of my personal touch in the creative process. Even if I made a sound that exists already from scratch, the fact that I would have worked it myself is much more rewarding that just choosing a sample/vst that has it defined already.

Thanks in advance for the feedback

[Phase Down]

A synth is a vsti, an effect like delay or reverb is a vst, and rewire reason into fruityloops and your set.

Also if your comfortable in a DAW then there might never be a time for you to switch, they all do basically the same. It is completely up to your preferences.

[lyons238]

well if you want to use reason and like it i would suggest just sticking with reason. plus reason 6 is coming out sept 30th which adds all the features of Record + more so reason is finally a fully capable daw (with the addition of being able to have audio tracks etc).

reason is also very good to learn on. once you get the hang of it its very nice. also a lot of people agree that the way reason is laid out it teaches you the flow of an audio signal, which information can be used in other daws, or anything audio related.

so i suggest you stick with reason and forget about FL (at least for now). also if you really do like reason id suggest upgrade to version 6 which is much more capable.

and yeah as said above a VST is a synth or an effect, etc. in reason you wont need VST's since it has its own amazing plugins.

[RandoRando]

How about you just rewire reason into FL . Reason has great synths Nd effects but I hTe the interface and sequencer. My blind grandmother could sequence a song in FL . so if you rewire it Ito FL you get the best of both worlds. That's what I do. And FL comes packed with really good synths. Sytrus is an amazing FM synth capable of making teh skrillecks bass. Also 3xosc a great subtractive synth . I recently started getting Ito the wasp synths in FL . they are great for electro house basses, they Are heavy and gritty it's great. So yeah, just rewire.

[wub]

Try both, see what works for you.


Nothing more to say really. Though I would question as to why you've "got" $900 worth of software and are still deciding which one to use.

[Manic Harmonic]

well if you want to use reason and like it i would suggest just sticking with reason. plus reason 6 is coming out sept 30th which adds all the features of Record + more so reason is finally a fully capable daw (with the addition of being able to have audio tracks etc).

reason is also very good to learn on. once you get the hang of it its very nice. also a lot of people agree that the way reason is laid out it teaches you the flow of an audio signal, which information can be used in other daws, or anything audio related.

so i suggest you stick with reason and forget about FL (at least for now). also if you really do like reason id suggest upgrade to version 6 which is much more capable.

and yeah as said above a VST is a synth or an effect, etc. in reason you wont need VST's since it has its own amazing plugins.

I second rewiring reason, if you're a beginner though it's a bit of a pain. I've never used fruity loops, but from what I understand it's a very capable DAW, one of the advantages over Reason. That being said, even though Reason can't load VST's, it's a very capable program and I love a lot of the stuff in it. With the ability to use audio in the new Reason, that gives you a whole new world of options. everybody has a preference, if you like the workflow, stick with it. You can always learn another DAW later. I used Garageband for a very long time, and learned the in's and out's of it, and along with some record samples and AU plugins, I manage to make some decent music with it. I was hesitant, but I eventually moved on to Logic and I haven't looked back. I also use Reason sometimes. I have Pro Tools, but the only thing i use from it is the MBox and some plugins it came with because I couldn't wrap my head around it. I can always learn it at a later time though, just because you're used to one DAW doesn't mean you can never switch, but it also means you might never find it necessary to.

[Towany]

I was also torn between 2 programs as well man but i made the best decision ever when i just decided to stick with both reason and logic. When i found out i could rewire reason into logic shit got serious. So i would recommend sticking with both man, there would be more weapons to use and the possibilities would be endless, since both are really good programs.

[Phase Down]

Try both, see what works for you.


Nothing more to say really. Though I would question as to why you've "got" $900 worth of software and are still deciding which one to use.

I reckon borrowed from the interwebs

[lyons238]

yeah ^ do try both. but the reason i suggested sticking with reason first is because you already like the layout and such. plus as i said before its a good place to start learning production. also once you master reason you could always rewire it into another daw.

on a side note i really cant wait for reason 6 to come out. i already have record so i can already edit audio and use the ssl mixer. im just really looking forward to the pulverizer unit (finally reason has a separate filter unit with compression, distortion, and some nice modulation options). also the alligator looks tits for trancy leads. and that delay unit is also dope. finally an advanced delay unit without having to wire up like 10 delays in a combi with many fx and the right settings.

oh and also just another thought. if you ever plan on switching to mac at least reason is multi platform.

[Basshunter36]

Thing is i like the interfaces in both Reason and FL. But FL seems easier to learn, while Reason has got me scratching my head. No matter what i do with maelstrom I end up creating similar sounds, It just looks like the learning curve is steeper but I want to ultimately learn Reason because it appears to me as to be that much more powerful sound quality wise than FL in the long run. Without denigrating still that FL is a powerful tool itself. Just learning from scratch is so hard, i don't know how to grasp the learning of making sounds when the number of combinations on knobs is limitless, starting to learn music production just seems hardcore haha, but I really wanna get into it seriously.

[RandoRando]

Definitely learn reasons synths cause they are cool.

[lyons238]

Thing is i like the interfaces in both Reason and FL. But FL seems easier to learn, while Reason has got me scratching my head. No matter what i do with maelstrom I end up creating similar sounds, It just looks like the learning curve is steeper but I want to ultimately learn Reason because it appears to me as to be that much more powerful sound quality wise than FL in the long run. Without denigrating still that FL is a powerful tool itself. Just learning from scratch is so hard, i don't know how to grasp the learning of making sounds when the number of combinations on knobs is limitless, starting to learn music production just seems hardcore haha, but I really wanna get into it seriously.

its very overwhelming at first. just stick with it and dont get discouraged and within a couple of months you will at least be able to work your way around the daw and create something that sounds OK.

as far as the learning curve. really all concepts are the same its just the way you do them that is different. since i learned in reason other daws are obv more confusing to me. but imo once you get the hang of reason its just as easy to use. some people claim easier. just dont let the routing intimidate you. keep things simple for now and watch loads of tutorials.

oh and as far as sound quality goes. really all the daws are capable of making the same sound quality so dont go off thinking reason is better. maybe you should try using reason for a couple of weeks and then decide if you want to stick with it or go FL. and if you do stick with it you can get reason 6 which is a charm to work with.

[Basshunter36]

In the end, can I just choose to learn both? I guess learning to use several synths will just broaden my range of sounds i can create no? Or should I take one at a time?

[lyons238]

In the end, can I just choose to learn both? I guess learning to use several synths will just broaden my range of sounds i can create no? Or should I take one at a time?

its usually a bad idea to try and learn several synths at first. your going to want to pick 1, maybe 2 synths and learn it inside and out. because all synths are capable of producing almost any sound. so if you learn one synth inside and out your going to be able to create a wider arsenal of sounds and everything in between. where if you just dabble with several synths your only going to be able to create random bits of mess.

i suggest you pick 1 daw to start with. then once you've got your head around production tackle learning another. but until then, only you can decide which daw to learn first based on how you feel and some of the things we have said. good luck!