3 Best Music Software Suggestions for Sound Designers

There is no program that can ever replace our ear, our musical culture, and our imagination, but we have to admit that today’s digital revolution applied to sound design made things a lot simpler, although certainly not immediate. To become a truly professional sound designer you must be a “Yoda” (Jedi Master) of your software and after creating dozens of soundtracks, because “practice makes perfect”.

Also see: 5 Tips For Effective Sound Design

Next, I will present you with three software that you should learn to use if you want to become a sound designer. You can download manuals, begin to become familiar with their use and maybe start to develop some of your projects.

AVID PRO TOOLS

Developed in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks under the brand name Sound Designer, and then he finally arrived, Pro Tools, the first real DAW (digital audio workstation), and nothing was the same.

The first version of Pro Tools was launched in 1991; this software has completely revolutionized the field of digital audio production since its debut.

In 1995 Digidesign was acquired by Avid Technology, which makes it the foundation of his Audio division. The success among the general public and among the experts is that in 2001 Pro Tools even won a Grammy for his role in completely redesign the way of music-making.

Pro Tools is by far the most widely used software in the world by sound designers who work for television, cinema, the recording industry, and video games. Accompanied by a rich library of sounds, such as the BBC library, Pro Tools is or must be one of the first choices of any sound designer.

ABLETON LIVE

The first release, written in C ++, dates back to 2001. Since then Ableton Live has become a real totem for all music production enthusiasts, amateurs, and professionals. Live in fact was the first sequencer to break the wall of the recording studio and break into the world of live music. Ableton Live has rapidly become a vital tool for every DJ and electronic music producer.

The most appreciated feature of this DAW is the structured user interface with two windows, Arrangement and Session view, which make it very easy to use; and auto-warp function that greatly facilitates beat-matching making mixing a possibility, even for a 7 years old child.

These are the main qualities that make Ableton Live a music software so multifaceted, not surprisingly, the favorite DAW of DJs like Daft Punk, Skrillex, Deadmau5, Armin van Buuren, Paul Kalkbrenner, Liam Howlett of Prodigy, and more others.

STEINBERG CUBASE

A timeless classic, the first version was actually native to the Atari computer. Cubase is essentially a sequencer, obviously very versatile and proven.

From the point of view of a sound designer this software has many strengths:

• the so-called plugin or virtual musical instruments with which you can record or edit an audio or MIDI track
• the import of many different audio formats
• the possibilities of advanced editing
• adding basic effects to tracks
• the grouping of tracks into groups and subgroups
• the ability to export to virtually all existing formats
• the ability to capture video tracks to be synchronized with the audio

Certainly, there are other music software alternatives for sound design, feel free to leave your opinion in the comments section.

You may also like to read: 5 Best VST/AU Plugins For Sound Designers