How would you build your music production system? (Knowing what you know)

[Lionel]

Title says it all…

With all the knowledge and experience that you’ve gained, if you had to start all over or had to recommend to audio newbies, what would you invest in sw gear-wise(virtual effects, processors and instruments, sample libraries, DAWs)?  And what would you not invest in?

(Also, I didn’t know which section of the forum to post this topic as it encompasses various aspects of software.  Admin, feel free to move this to the correct location)

For me, I would definitely invest in:

• Universal Audio //Top-shelf stuff. Great sounds. I reach for their plugins first usually.
• D16 //Game-changers. Love their plugins.
• Arturia V Collection and FX Collection //Great sounds and useable. I usually start with their VIs before others.
• Ableton Live //Wish I would’ve invested in Live instead of Pro Tools
• Native Instruments Komplete //Great VIs and effects. They’ve discontinued some of my favorite products, though. Remember Kore, Pro-53 and Abynth?
• Melda //Not the best GUIs, but they get the job done. Probably have the best upgrade scheme. Free updates for life
• Softube //Their stuff sounds great
• Omnisphere //So many great sounds! Pricey, though.
• Valhalla DSP //Indie developer that makes amazing plugins. Consistent pricing(no sales)
• Free sample libraries (Kontakt, Spitfire Labs, etc)
• Soundtoys //Top-shelf effects
• Audio Damage //hidden gems
• Reason and Rack Extensions //Best investment I’ve EVER made. When inspiration strikes… Quickest and most unique way to make music.

And I most likely wouldn’t invest in:

• Digidesign/Avid //Wasted so much money on their hw and sw; Plus on Pro Tools, you can’t use VSTs w/o a wrapper
• Waves //Lost faith after that March 26 subscription debacle…and of course WUP
• Plugin Alliance //I own pretty much all of their plugins.  Honestly, I just don’t use their stuff
• IK Multimedia //Same as PA, I have most of their products, but I just don’t use them
• Native Instruments expansions //Should never buy them individually because they usually end up being bundled in the Komplete offerings.
• Certain iOS audio apps (such as NI iMaschine) //Wasted money on the app and the in-app purchases for sounds

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[Peter DeLegge]

I’m going to end up changing this a bunch, but here’s my first try.

I’d still go the Windows route with my machine. I’m not sure about the hardware I’d buy, but I’d definitely want one weighted MIDI controller, semi-weighted MIDI controller, the new DW electronic drum kit and some kind of ribbon controller.

For software — if I could go back, I’d save a ton of money by limiting my choices to these, my go tos:

• DAW: Studio One Pro.
• NI Komplete and the Kontakt ecosystem for most sample libraries
• SoundPaint ecosystem
• Sample Libraries:
  Piano Libraries – NI Noire (comes with Komplete and I love it), OTS Rosewood Grand, EZX Uprights, Pianoverse Pianos
  Electric Piano – AcousticSamples Wurlie (I don’t own it because I already bought several competitor libraries, but AS’ Wurlie’s audio demos is the best sounding Wurly library I’ve heard), SkyBox Audio 145B Wurly, OTS Famous E
• Guitars: OTS Evolution guitars — all of them
  Bass: OTS Evolution basses — all of them
• Drums: SD3 ecosystem, AD2 ecosystem, NI Abbey Road Drummer series, NI Studio Drummer (this is in order of my favorites)
• Orchestral: MUSIO perpetual version (no one touches their price to quality ratio) and Spitfire Abbey Road Iconic Strings 2
• Trons: M-Tron Pro and Sampletron 2
• Synths: Too many to mention. But lots from GForce, the Synthmaster stuff, Arturia, and Vital
• Organ: IK Hammond B-3X
• Effects: Way too much to mention, but absolutely Universal Audio, Izotope, Melda, Sonible and Softube — although I’d still be a sucker for the Waves Abbey Road series plugins because I’m in love with those sounds and they did do a great job with that series, IMO.

LinkedMusicians Founder. Your friend who keeps the beat.

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