Help with getting into home recording - what do I need?

giovanni said:
Your library has the Stompbox book? That’s surprisingly cool.
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It's got at least two copies, maybe three. Not bad for a small-town library.

Alas, they no longer carry proper music magazines such as Guitar World etc, just some bubblegum-pop fanzines.
At least they still have HotRod. I used to be a magazine junky, but prices are now insane and I'm not buying an entire magazine when I only want to read one of the articles after flipping through it at the news-stand.


On topic, a friend gifted me a Motu something something. It's a paperweight, 'cause I've nothing computer-wise old enough to run it and the associated software that came with it.
 
Reaper is only $60 but I don't think it comes with all the bells and whistles as Logic.

Garageband is great but it irks me that it doesn't have a proper mixer. Still, I think Lee Sklar records his remote sessions on it using an SSL 2 interface, and I think John Oates uses GB as well. For simple audio tracks it's perfect. If you want to delve into proper mixing then Logic is the next logical step on a Mac. For mastering you're never really gonna be able to do much unless you have a treated room and the right monitors but you can at least use limiters, exciters and so on and publish a good sounding demo.
 
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Reaper has bells and whistles in a different way. Tons of options and configurations, and a built in scripting language for writing plugins. And there’s no limit on the trial- you can try the full version out as long as want. But it’s $60, so I did buy it- eventually…

Personally, I use Ableton for basically everything. The last version of logic I used was 7, when I made the switch. I still think logic has better native instruments. But I’m not really into software instruments.
 
jcpst said:
Reaper has bells and whistles in a different way. Tons of options and configurations, and a built in scripting language for writing plugins. And there’s no limit on the trial- you can try the full version out as long as want. But it’s $60, so I did buy it- eventually…

Personally, I use Ableton for basically everything. The last version of logic I used was 7, when I made the switch. I still think logic has better native instruments. But I’m not really into software instruments.
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I saw some click bait videos about how Reaper is better for track management and more modern than Logic. I think Logic's strength is the sheer amount of software instruments and plugins it comes with. It makes little sense to buy it if those aren't necessary so your point is great.
 
Since you're on Mac, I vote for Garageband to start with. You can look at other DAW's later on. Logic is a great option on Mac, I use Reaper but I'm on Windows.

I pretty much agree with all the other stuff said here too, although FWIW I've done all my recording, mixing and mastering on headphones (I do check with the living room speakers though, which are not great either), and feel like the quality is good enough for me.

One thing I would focus on more than others is that you get a good workflow down that helps you get stuff recorded. Having a low barrier to firing up a session and recording something valuable, because you get more done. Sometimes you might not feel like doing it if the barrier is higher (you need to move stuff around or plug/unplug things, for example).

Like others said, don't stress about having fancy plugins, complicated tools or mixing techniques. Panning and levels does a lot, add a little EQ and you're cooking, a bit of compression (although it can be tricky as a beginner) and reverb, and you can get a really good result. Especially if you're not recording drums - but that is a whole another can of worms anyway.
 
I have been using Logic to learn to write music scores to picture. For that job, it’s really hard to beat, with Cubase and Pro Tools being good alternatives. And it does have a ton of virtual instruments and lots of features. I remember Cubase having a similar feature set. That’s just to say Logic is useful when you have very specific professional needs but it may be overkill otherwise.
 
giovanni said:
I have been using Logic to learn to write music scores to picture. For that job, it’s really hard to beat, with Cubase and Pro Tools being good alternatives. And it does have a ton of virtual instruments and lots of features. I remember Cubase having a similar feature set. That’s just to say Logic is useful when you have very specific professional needs but it may be overkill otherwise.
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That is valid, but then again, wouldn't be the first case of overkill over here... Quite a lot of wants vs. needs around this, and hobbies in general - and that's completely fine IMO.
 
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