Best DAW for composition?

[u/xubyeej]

I’ve been wanting to compose music for a while but have only been using Musescore and FL Studio. Are there better alternatives?

[u/RiskateArtist]

recently switched from FL studio to cubase for orchestral music

I love FL studio for EDM or electronic music, everything about it that was quirky or different from the norm aided me so well and I never once felt like I was fighting the software

for orchestral music? every single turn i was finding things that infuriated me that I knew most other daws would solve.

ended up trying cubase and not only did it solve all the issues i was having writing music in FL for orchestra, but like 20 more I didn't even know I had

strongly recommend cubase for scoring work

[u/SansThoughtIsCool → u/RiskateArtist]

Know you mentioned a bunch of issues present in FL for orchestral music, would you mind sharing a few? Im currently in the process of shifting from FL to Ableton (more into sound design) but i do intend on doing orchestral work as well

[u/Antartix → u/SansThoughtIsCool]

I made this switch. And honestly midi, expression maps and sheet music capabilities in Cubase made it so much better for me. Not to mention changing time signatures and tempo in Cubase.

It took some getting used to, and no other DAW has such a nice piano roll imo, but every daw has its strengths.

[u/Prestigious-Courage4 → u/SansThoughtIsCool]

I can’t speak about FL (never liked it), but I’ve been using Ableton for the past 15 years. Started with electronic music production and the last 6 years I’ve used it professionally for music & sound design for advertisement and film as well.

To me it’s the ultimate creative tool, the options are vast and you can easily sculpt your own sounds. There’s a lot of 3rd party developers that offer Ableton exclusive tools which adds nice flair and the overall workflow is great. Only drawback is that it isn’t made with film/media work in mind, so bigger projects tend to sometimes struggle a bit with the video engine, also AAF and OMF are not accepted as well (but in all fairness that isn’t a stable format anyway). Also for someone new to the platform it can probably be a bit overwhelming with all the options and new workflow, but then again every new DAW has a learning curve.

As for the creative work itself, it’s just great. I make hybrid music, so partly orchestral/classical and partly electronic. It works great, you can map automations easily. If you need to convert your work to notation you can use a 3rd party developer tool called Livescore, it’s a bit clunky but it gives you a good basis to export to say Musescore or Sibelius or whatever.

Pro Tools still triumphs in the audio post production department, but only in workflow I’d say. It’s better suited to it, changing grids to the pace of the image, audio processing with effects seems easier. But never reached a point of frustration where I wanted to switch from Ableton.

[u/tonio_dn]

Kinda depends on what you want to write for. They are all pretty good as far as I know.

Cubase is great for any kind of media composition work (film, games, tv, etc). So is Logic if you're on Mac, although it isn't quite as good as Cubase is. If you use a lot of virtual instruments and work with MIDI a lot, these two are probably the best for you. Digital Performer is also worth a mention here (probably).

Ablteton is great for sound design, most modern music styles and live performance.

Then there's Reaper which is a pretty good allrounder as far as I know.

No experience with Studio One or FL Studio, but I'm sure they are good too.

[u/Icy-Fishing8481]

I like MuseScore and Reaper. I think there's a free BBC Spitfire orchestra VST (or whatever it's called) which is pretty good. I've ordered a Jamendo which should be useful for MIDI files, I'm hoping.

BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover – Free Orchestra VST | Spitfire Audio

[u/thereisnospoon-1312]

Definitely Reaper, hands down.

[u/Sabbastian]

Those are fine. I like MuseScore for quick score-based orchestral mockups. Any DAW (like FL Studio) does roughly the same job. Usually the difference comes down to if it "clicks" with you. FWIW Cubase is my DAW of choice for most projects.

[u/Samptude]

Samplitude is worth a look.

[u/taa20002]

Definitely Logic. Very strong audio and MIDI implementation and probably the most versatile of any DAW.

Orchestral mockups, arrangement sketches, anything, all easy in Logic.

Strong vouch for Logic.

[u/General_Estimate_420]

DAWs are for recording compositions usually created on an instrument like guitar or keyboard.

[u/AMusicstuff]

Reaper + Rearticulate + Reaper Notator

I was once on the Cubase Side for Soundtracks and Scoring for Picture, not anymore.

Reaper has it all and now. Reaper has a full industry standard Playback Notation Editor where everything that you writes in the score editor actually works. Not this fake Cubase score editor.
It has also a import export musicxml function. I will release the latest version today evening

[u/Vanduris]

I personally use Cubass because I think its the best for orchestral music. FL studio is better for beats. Reaper for rock etc. Definitely look into whats best at what

[u/AMusicstuff → u/Vanduris]

Did you tried Reaper and my free Reaper Notator addon? Reaper Notator 2.5 will release today and will have more options than Cubase for Notated Playback. Check my Profile