The Song Fight Bulletin Board

right now i'm using adobe audition and FL studio.

this is not that bad of a set up. the only thing i don't like is that i can't play VST (?) synths or program drums in adobe audition. so i have to do these things in FL Studio, and then import it into audition. this means i have to do everything at one tempo, and i can't listen to other tracks while i'm recording synth/programming drums.

i used to use acid, which let me record synths directly, but it had a lot of problems, like freezing and stuff.

what's the best recording software that will 1) allow me to play synths and, if possible, 2) let me program/record drum sounds?

thanks.

Adobe Audition will resample loops pretty well. So you can easily change tempo (though the global tempo setting and metronome will become useless) by changing the looping properties of different instances of the same samples.

The VST thing is sad for me, too, but I still don't own a MIDI cable, so the whole concept of softsynths/drums is pretty outside my range. I do have a MIDI-capable keyboard now, so I will (one day) go to the store and buy a cable. Then I will lament the lack of VST in Audition. 'Til then I'll just resent that I can't use all those free effects.

FL Studio puzzles me. I've used it to generate short drum patterns and bass riffs, save them as WAVs, and import them into Audition for looping. But it hardly seems like less work than pasting individual drum sample WAVs into Audition and saving those patterns for looping, which I've done, too.

i used to use that exact same setup (with acid, not audition) a couple years ago. i had to make my beats and stuff in fl while writing the song. i had to make sure that the track was the exact length of the song. man, i'm glad i don't have to do that anymore. though, fruity loops was really easy to use for beats and gave me a lot more freedom than what i currently have in garageband.

man, that was a long time ago.