For price/performance ratio, you really can't go wrong with a Scarlett, but this German dude has a great YT channel you might wanna check out where he compares all the popular interfaces in terms of technical performance other great choices are MOTU and Audient's intro models. It all depends on budget.įor the interface, make sure you look into whether it has any known issues with the kind of computer/hardware you have for instance, I know lots of interfaces don't or barely work with M1 Macs right now (Focusrite seems to be the exception to this). If you have lots of cash to spend, you could look at the Claret range or Universal Audio's Apollo range. These things usually bundle some sort of software to get you going. They might even come with a basic version of Ableton. You mention mic'ing instruments, they have pretty decent preamps for a home studio. If you want an actual recommendation, the Focusrite Scarletts are good value for money. My advice is, buy one with more I/O than you think you need. When it comes to an interface, there are plenty to choose from. It's a different world, and possibly overkill for someone who just wants to lay down some tracks with mostly real instruments. With Ableton you have to consider how many virtual instruments etc. Logic is an absolute bargain for the money though. Honestly you can't go wrong with either, and they both have free demos you can try out. Me, I tend to just reach for Logic for guitar stuff because I just want multitrack recording in a "fancy tape" kinda way, with some editing facilities and virtual instruments. If you like to focus more on tracks as per traditional multitrack recording, it can do that too, although it's a bit quirky in that respect. Note that plenty of DJs use it as their tool of choice for live performances. If you want to build up tracks from a bunch of scenes you've put together, really get creative with arrangements and slicing songs up, it's fantastic. Its entire approach is incredibly different and versatile, and there's a lot going on. They took the opportunity to say "Hang on, we don't need to be bound to the 'multitrack recorder' metaphor". The thing about Ableton is, it isn't like other DAWs. I love being able to, say, track some bass through an external preamp, compressor, and hardware tape emulator one minute, then turn around and use all that same outboard gear for a different purpose the next in just a few mouse clicks. Takes a while to get used to the layout, but once you've got it it's super easy. I like the MOTU stuff, although I do use external pre-amps for "color." It's affordable, it always works, I can make numerous round trip in/out of the DAW for hybrid mixing with no problem, and their built-in routing/mixing software allows me to easily track guitar/bass through multiple outboard processors with no need for a patch bay. It all depends on what you want in terms of pre-amps and channel count. Also quite useful as a drum pad (I use it a lot for composing percussion parts).Īs far as interfaces, I've used a little 2 channel Steinberg (when I was first starting), a MOTU 624 (added a little bit of outboard), and now have a MOTU 16a. It can act as a keyboard for guitarists in the way it lays things out. But, I do use some of their stock effects regularly and they work great.Ībleton also has the Push 2 MIDID controller, which I find super useful since I'm a primarily a guitar player. I haven't gotten super deep into a lot of that stuff as I'm pretty happy with 3rd party plugins. I work alone, so no problem for me, in that regard.Ībleton allows you to get VERY deep into sound design with all their plugins and "devices," as they are called in the Ableton world. It has some quirks that are 2nd nature after you get to know it, but if you are working with others it can be confusing for them. The only argument against Ableton (to my knowledge) is that it is different than other DAWs. Patching in outboard gear for hybrid mixing is VERY easy. I've read some people like to use Ableton for recording/arranging but then switch over to a different DAW for mixing. I record live instruments into Ableton (acoustic + electric guitar and electric bass) and use a variety of soft synths, drum loops, and Superior Drummer. I like using "session" mode when I'm first starting a new song, then I switch to "arrangement" mode later. It gives you the option of using "session" or "arrangement" mode, which are different ways of working. I knew nothing about DAWs (or recording/mixing) and I liked that it had the 2 different modes for recording/arranging. I've used Ableton Live 10 for 3-4 years now.
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