WHAT?

What projects are you planning to work on?

SCENARIO: I want to record my traditional blues band.
SOLUTION: Pro Tools will function like a traditional studio allowing you to record edit and mix audio tracks without MIDI features getting in your way. Cubase, Sonar, Adobe Audition and Pyramix also shine as a simple digital audio processor with minimal amounts of compositional features getting in the way.

SCENARIO: I want to be a film score composer.
ANSWER: Digital Performer and Logic are very commonly used by film composers to score to picture, but many will also have a Pro Tools system in order to create stems for the re-recording mix of the film.

SCENARIO: I want to be a music producer creating tracks for artists.
SOLUTION: Cubase, Sonar and Logic are often used for this type of music creation because of their great virtual instruments, loops and music creation features. Reason is also very often used in conjunction with these three or Pro Tools for music production.

SCENARIO: I want to do audio editing and restoration of conference calls, etc.
SOLUTION: Adobe Audition and Sound Forge are great DAWs for audio editors and also have many great restoration plug-ins and tools built into the software. Pro Tools is arguably the simplest audio editor, but doesn’t have any restoration tools built in. They would have to be purchased as additional plug-ins.

SCENARIO: I want to do audio for post-production of film, television and video.
SOLUTION: Pro Tools and Nuendo (Cubase’s older sibling) rule the audio post world because of their rock solid performance, expandability and integrated audio for picture features. Adobe Audition is also popular when used in conjunction with video edited in Adobe Premier.

SCENARIO: I want to record music of the highest quality without all the superficial bells and whistles.
SOLUTION: Sadie, Samplitude, Sonoma and Pyramix seem to be aimed towards the audiofiles of the recording world with rock solid programming dedicated to providing the best sound quality, a simple yet functional set of tools and some even having support of recording DSD and DXD formats.

SCENARIO: I want to have fun making some music as a hobby.
SOLUTION: Budget constraints really dictate what to get so FL Studio, Ableton Live and trimmed down versions of Sonar and Cubase become better choices. Free options like Audacity and Ardour are simple yet powerful.

WHO?

Who are you going to work with?

SCENARIO: I am going to collaborate with my other band members working individually in each of our studios on our album.
SOLUTION: You probably want to make sure that you are all using the same program because compatibility between DAWs exists but is pretty limited. You then want to answer some of the ‘what’ questions above to decide on your DAW.

SCENARIO: I work with professionals who demand delivery in Pro Tools.
SOLUTION: This is the case in a lot of the professional audio world so you have to decide if you are going to fully commit to Pro Tools or work in another DAW and then port stems or individual tracks over to Pro Tools for delivery.

SCENARIO: I work with vocalists and songwriters who don’t know anything about technology.
SOLUTION: Use whatever you feel comfortable with as long as it runs smoothly and looks professional, which is the case with most of the mainstream DAWs already listed minus some of the open source and trimmed versions.

SCENARIO: I am going to work with artists who will take their tracks into large studios during and after the production process.
SOLUTION: You will first want to check what DAW the large studio is using, but it will most likely be Pro Tools. Pro Tools will be the best choice to make interplay between your sessions and the large studio sessions as simple as possible.

SCENARIO: I am going to compose and create music on my own maybe bringing in a musician to play on things every now and then, but I will just deliver stereo mixes.
SOLUTION: Digital Performer, Logic, Cubase and Sonar are all going to be great programs that you can customize to your production style. When people come to record just make sure that you are comfortable enough with the recording features to make the process smooth and hassle free for the performer.

WHERE?

Where will you work?

SCENARIO: I am setting up a dedicated spot in my basement where I can record.
SOLUTION: Any of the DAWs can work great for a home studio.

SCENARIO: I am building a large multi-room production facility with investors and a business plan.
SOLUTION: Multiple Pro Tools systems with the main system running Pro Tools HD will be required in a facility of this size. It would also be wise to install multiple DAWs in smaller Producer rooms to facilitate working with people who use other DAWs.

SCENARIO: I will be creating music on the fly during live performances.
SOLUTION: Ableton Live is the definite choice for live performance production.

SCENARIO: I will be creating backing tracks and elements to dynamically use and interact with in live performance.
SOLUTION: Ableton Live is great as well as Logic (with Main Stage) and even Reason. All of these have great tools like virtual instruments, guitar amp emulators and MIDI controllability to create a dynamic and changing live performance.

HOW?

How do you like to work?

SCENARIO: I like to sit down and start composing without any setup.
SOLUTION: Many of these programs can be customized to your composing style with a little setup, but Digital Performer, Cubase, Sonar and Logic are some of the best for this. Each function like an instrument, helping the user to create music with a seamless integration of art and technology.

SCENARIO: I like to make templates for whatever I am going to do so I can get going quickly.
SOLUTION: All DAWs nowadays let you create templates or choose from system templates to get you started quickly.

SCENARIO: I like to be meticulous in everything I do from setup to processing.
SOLUTION: Pro Tools, Reaper and Samplitude are some of the DAWs that cater to the meticulous engineer mentality. Each are very machine-like in how tracks are setup and used without hidden features happening in the background or being called by non-technical creative sounding names like warbler in place of LFO or HiFi in place of EQ.

SCENARIO: I like to work quickly, not having to worry about editing breaths on a vocal or quantizing slightly off MIDI events.
SOLUTION: Ableton Live is the best program for this mentality, but Logic, Cubase and Sonar can be configured to work this way as well.