Unlimited access to knowledge on the internet has slowly removed seemingly insurmontable obstacles that have overshadowed the music industry, preventing many would be musicians from starting up. At the forefront of this revolution: independent producers and labels of the EDM world.
Such barriers to enter the world of music production have included expensive controllers, instruments, synthesizers, programs, and mastering services… The list goes on and on ever expanding upward in cost. That being said, as the desire to produce music gets stronger and stronger, the numbers of would be customers increases. Thankfully, the market is adapting to this new found demand for innovative solutions and lower cost options. One such new option is the StageLight DAW, which has been championed by none other than Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park.
Shinoda has always a strong activist for equality of all types, his foundation Music for Relief helps support disaster relief efforts and to fight global climate change. Furthering his effect on music and the people of the world, Mike teamed up with OpenLabs and Dell to create a brand new DAW called, StageLight. Acclaimed to be the equivalent of GarageBand for PC StageLight retails at the seriously low price of $9.99. But as most seasoned music producers would testify, low cost generally equates to a lack of features and limited utility. Whether or not this is the case for this new DAW, is at this time uncertain.
StageLight originated software Mike used to play his keyboard live with effects on stage, but eventually evolved into this final product. StageLight‘s compatibility with most 3rd party VST plugins such as FM8, Massive, etc. (also capable of Multitimbral VST Routing) is what sets it apart from budget software such as GarageBand. From the looks of the sequencer and other windows it appears closer to the level that Fruity Loops has been working on; which says something with producers like Zeds Dead, Feed Me and many more currently producing with FL Studio.
Mike talked about his work with OpenLabs on the creation process of StageLight in the interview below and reveals some interesting information about the creative process of Linkin Park. He goes as far as saying “(Linkin Park) we’ve virtually never written anything on analog recording.”
StageLight could be a bust for serious dance music producers much like GarageBand has been, but I’ll be interested in hearing from younger producers that fork over the measly ten dollars to get their hands on the software Linkin Park “uses”. Compatibility with 3rd party VST’s is a huge step in the right direction, but we will wait patiently as all the bugs are worked in and out of this new DAW. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even do a review on it in the near future… Stay tuned!
…you get what you pay for. Looks great for beginners, but I’d consider it questionable for professional quality production. It’s not easy to top Ableton, Cubase, FL, etc.
people should learn to produce on real instruments and syths, the only reason you should be using any sound program is to edit/engineer/ and master tracks, not to produce them, using sound samples that are degraded in fidelity and harmonics is a disgrace to all music.
and how much does that cost?
Haha that’s extremely unrealistic fir most modern musicians. it’s a nice thought, but not practical whatsoever.
If Avicii is capable of producing a massive hit like Levels on FL, I don’t see why some kid maybe 5-10 years in the future can’t do the same thing with this software. It’s all about the time you put into your music anyways and this software opens the door for more kids to at least start getting the feel for working with DAW’s and work their way into using Ableton/Logic or maybe even produce the next big hit!