pro~grams

[W4E]

What programs do proffesional music artists use? Specifically for techno or dance where they're almost completely made digitally.

eg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOsLVIuedDg

 

[StardogChampion]

Cubase, Reason and FL Studio.

 

[W4E]

really? I doubted commercial music makers would use those.

 

[Vegeta897]

Ok, well you didn't ask what commercial music makers used, you asked what programs. A lot of commercial music makers that make digital music use hardware, like the MPC samplers or synthesizers. But yes, lots of them use software, but mostly for mixing and stuff, like in Ableton Live.

 

[W4E]

yeah i meant what programs they use, but in addition to the hardware i thought they would use specialist software, not commercial stuff.

 

[StardogChampion]

Well design companies use Photoshop and Maya etc. I wouldn't think professionals use FL Studio though.

 

[Absinthe]

There are some artists who use FL Studio. Not many though.

Reason is a completely viable commercial program for professional music production. Same with Cubase and Ableton. No point in mentioning obvious ones like Pro Tools and Reaktor.

Thing is, there's no need to confine yourself to one program. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but with software like ReWire, you can pretty much do whatever. For instance, I think Reason is an absolutely solid package. Its instruments are versatile and it has an intuitive, fun way of handling routing and sequencing. But it doesn't have VST support, it's not too great at mastering, and the overall mixing can be muddy. Solution? Route my shit through Ableton, which has better mixing, VST support, and sample management. Conversely, I find Ableton to be far more difficult and a pain in the ass to sequence and the default instruments and effects sound weak (sans a few). Ableton is really better suited for live work. This isn't even getting into hardware.

It is highly unlikely that you will ever find a program that supports every need to your satisfaction, unless you're a prodigy that can pull some amazing magic tricks out of your ass in Reaktor or Max/MSP. It's somewhat rare to come across a professional artist who only uses only one piece of software. As far as I know, there is no secret "professional program" that isn't available to the public, except perhaps a few programs self-made by diehards (might as well include Max/MSP users here). Native Instruments makes stuff that is used widely by many artists. You've probably heard quite a few commercial songs that utilized Reason. The only limit here is your budget and PC power.

 

[CrazyHarij]

commercial music makers use max/msp and you shouldnt go anywhere near that, start out with reason and move onto ableton live after two years or so

 

[Reaktor4]

There are many sequencers and I guarentee you they are all used by at least some professionals: Sonar, Cubase, Logic, Digital Performer, Reaper, Abelton Live, Rosegarden, Samplitude, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Reason, energyXT, Ardour, Orion, SAWStudio, Nuendo and others. Take your pick. For a beginner it doesn't really matter what you use. It is possible to make professional quality music with all of them. Most will produce identicle output quality.
But I recommend Reaper for many reasons. First of all it's price is waaaay more than generous ($39 for a personal license). It is also unexpiring shareware with no copy protection bollocks attached, so if you were a bit of a twat you could use it for free forever. It gets updated all the time. Good multi-core support. The interface and colour schemes are easy to reconfigure. Not to mention that it is very powerful and similar to the other high end sequencers. People are starting to flock to it from other apps.
Also I would stay away from Reason for various reasons.
[edit] if you just want to make something like the faux-hardstyle cheese you linked to, something like Dance eJay will do the job.