What’s Your “Desert Island DAW”?
If you were stranded on a desert island (yeah, I know—cliché), and you could only have one DAW—the last DAW you'll ever use—which one are you choosing, and why?
And yes, let’s assume your laptop never runs out of battery, and the island has an infinite supply of coconuts and rum (thanks, Jack).
Would you go with:
Adventurous Ableton Live
Crafty Cubase
Funky FL Studio
Legendary Logic Pro
Precise Pro Tools
Reliable Reaper (like me)
Or maybe something else entirely?
But here’s the thing—don’t just pick the one with the most features or the trendiest name. Think about the one that feels right. The one that gets you into that magical headspace, where your brain syncs up with your tech and creativity flows effortlessly. Which DAW would you get a tattoo of? Which DAW do you name your first born child after?
So… I’ll ask again:
What’s your desert island DAW?
What’s your ride-or-die?
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Hey Zachary Pilz, great question!
I’ve worked on a bunch of DAWs over my long music journey—starting with the early versions of Cakewalk (yep, the ones you had to install using a stack of 3.5” floppy disks), then moving through Sonar, Cubase, Nuendo, Studio One, and of course, Pro Tools. These days, I feel most at home in Pro Tools. I know the system inside out, have my templates ready, the shortcuts I need are second nature, and I can work fast and comfortably.
Pro Tools has also been rolling out some really solid updates lately (yeah, I know—kinda late to the party compared to other DAWs), but now it’s packed with tools that help me get top-notch results.
So yeah, Pro Tools is my desert island DAW—both for composing and for sound post.
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Walder Martinez,
Sounds like you have depth of experience. Thanks for sharing. I find it ironic starting on floppy disk and now a single music project couldn't fit on one.
I just checked out some of your work. Impressive. But I am now on the hook for watching 7 Grandma's with my wife.
I see that you are a Foley Artist too. That is where my love of creating sounds started as a hobbyist and seeing it on Disney. Now my 12 year old son wants to be a Foley Artist and Voice Actor. He is such a creative soul. I'm concerned what the industry may look like for his dreams with the dark side of AI but I hope creatives will be able to chart a way forward.
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Been using SIlbelius for over 20 years and aside from the VST3 issue which stops me from some kontakt sets which I can't currently use but don't have the need to, Sibelius and Kontakt with all my current sample sets has and continues to serve me well through all my music (scores, jazz lead sheets, big band arrangments, 'suites', backing songwriting/singing music). About the only thing I am currently on the lookout for is a virtual vocalist. I have been documenting my journey here :)
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Right now, Logic, because I know it and I don't feel like learning something else right now hahaha
That's awesome, Zachary Pilz . Working as a Foley Artist is amazing! You can have a lot of fun and also contribute to film productions at the same time. I know what you say about AI. It's an uncertain scenario these days. I'm currently working with some AI-based tools just to improve my skills and work faster, but I strongly believe that we need to keep up-to-date with that. Creative people usually can easily adapt to changes and new ways of work. I hope we can do it this time too.