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Im considering getting into some home studio stuff and would like to find a great program to use...the tricky part...I need to be able to use it without internet connection and also would need one with great drum loops. I'm a guitarist and singer/songwriter, so all I need is a drum solution to start tracking songs.
Appreciate your help!

Comments

pcrecord Sat, 12/01/2018 - 12:59

Hi Andrew and welcome to RO !!
Most recording sofware we call DAW (digital audio workstation) work without internet.. Yes they sometime need internet for licence activation but usually they do not need to connect other wise.. Also most of those activation can be done offline using a second computer.
What you must avoid is subscription softwares. I do use Samplitude but many others can do the job.

Drum loops are a part of the past in my opinion. Most musician that doesn't have access to a real drummer use virtual instruments. Instead of having hard to modify loops, many software are implemented around midi data control. So in term you can write your own paterns or modify pre-made ones. Look at addictive drums, you'll have a better idea of what I'm talking about. It comes into plugin format that you open in your DAW and can created your own beats.
The big difference is that each note you play in them generate a hit on the drum so they can have any speed and any velocity without being affected in quality..
If you slow down a drum loop, at some point the quality will drop and frequencies too. Of course there is ways of splitting them instead of streching.. but it's far more complicated.
This is just my own opinion.

You are at the right place to get help !!

paulears Tue, 12/04/2018 - 02:24

I'm not so sure about subscription software. I've always bought my software - music and video, and vowed never to go to a subscription, but I took one out for Adobe products and to be honest, I'm glad I did - I don't miss the monthly fee and I get access to products I'd never have even tried. Given choice, I prefer to buy, but with new updates not being exactly cheap, spreading the cost has worked for me. If Cubase went subscription, I'd moan and groan and then get used to it. Younger people already live their lives on monthly subscriptions - Netflix, Spotify, phones etc etc, so it's not too bad. Our Government are making me change my accounting software from April to comply with their new digital tax system, and I now have to pay for that monthly too - life sucks sometimes.

Software - however, is very individual. I love Cubase, and it's been my primary product for nearly 25 year! Loads of course hate it, as it's not that easy to use. I'd advise a download of the demos for all the popular ones. Spend two hours WITHOUT the manual, and see if you can make music intuitively - for you, not me. If you find one that works as you want to work, and creates your music quickly and effectively, that may well be the software for you. Once you learn it, you get fasters and better quickly and then it's very difficult to jump to something new.

miyaru Fri, 12/07/2018 - 13:22

I used Cubase in all kind of flavours for 20 years, and switched to Ableton Live Suite 9.7 about 2 years ago...... A big step, as Cubase and Live are so different! Now I use Ableton Live 10 suite with the Push 2 controller, and I'm hooked to it now. Most software can be dowloaded as demo to try and see what you like best. I have to say Ableton is very good with loops and stuff, but is one of the most expensive ones.

Best is to try some DAW's and see what you like best in the way of workflow GUI etc.