This DAW clicked on Day 2. Goodbye, Cubase and REAPER!
Hi everyone! I've been producing music on the side for about 8 years now. Electronic music is my passion.
My first ever DAW was the free trial of FL Studio 12. I specifically say the free trial because, well, I was 15 years old and couldn't afford it. So I would make a loop, save it, and never open it again. I'd leave my laptop on to continue working on a project.
For a while after I got fed up with never seeing my projects again, I switched to REAPER. That free trial is technically infinite, but the $60 as a working college student was nothing so I sent it over. It was my daily driver.
My school had a scholarship that was given to those with research/creative projects, and I got it. With that, I was able to get Cubase Pro 12. Cubase was great in some aspects because I was also doing classical music for undergrad. Recording instrument parts, scoring midi orchestras... brilliant. But the software always felt a little clunky.
Fast forward: I had heard about bitwig, but last week is when I started my free trial. And it's all that I ever wanted. Automation is so easy. The shortcuts, though very different than Cubase, are simple to memorize. The clip launcher reminds me so much of patterns from FL Studio.
I'm loving it so far! Once the trial's up, I'm definitely gonna get it. It's the first time I felt like everything I want to make music is easily accessible without being overbloated. While I'll still have Cubase and REAPER for other workflows, I think a lot of the creation is gonna start in Bitwig.