I have been recording rap and hip hop music for almost 5 years.
My first year was hip hop ejay and than I have got my hands on fruity Loops which I was using for almost 4 years and now I want to go for a more professional option but dont know which program is the best: cubase, cakewalk or reason?
Prefer to use program that rap stars use, money is not the issue. Please help!

I've found FlexiMusic Composer a music improvising software really useful, and easy to operate, give it a shot.

You should look into Sony's Acid. It has a great loop engine that should integrate well with fruity loops.
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yeh i would agree with sony acid.... but i have a m-audio axiom 61 key plugged into pro tools and i use Xpand plugin and make killer sounding beats you should try that

If you want to use Vocals with your loops, Sony will not quite cut it. Cubase 5 has a new Audio engine that is excellent!

The other program widely used is Pro Tools, and is very clean and easy to use, albeit a tad more expensive than Cubase.

These 2 programs make the vast majority of what the 'pros' use.

Acid will work great. Its the only program i use. I primary do electronic down tempo stuff and add tons of vocals. It works perfect. I've also multi-tracked drums, multiple voices, and many other multi-mic set ups. This program does a heck of a lot more than loops!
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It works, but it is not near the same quality.

[quote="RhoneRanger"]It works, but it is not near the same quality.[/quote]

How so? As long as you have a good A/D D/A converter you should be ok. I'm not trying to compare Acid to a Pro Tools HD system.
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There are plenty of articles on the net about your q. Acid is really loop based, designed for electronica and techno etc, but the audio engine is not well suited. There really IMO is nothing special about Pro Tools, especially when compared to Cubase 5. Acid does work for audio, but like I said prior, it is not near the quality of recording compared to either Pro Tools, Nuendo, or Cubase.

Eel wrote:

I have been recording rap and hip hop music for almost 5 years. My first year was hip hop ejay and than I have got my hands on fruity Loops which I was using for almost 4 years and now I want to go for a more professional option but dont know which program is the best: cubase, cakewalk or reason? Prefer to use program that rap stars use, money is not the issue. Please help!

Use the program that you feel the most comfortable using, and be open minded enough to learn any program. It doesn't matter the program, the musician matters.

RhoneRanger wrote:

There are plenty of articles on the net about your q. Acid is really loop based, designed for electronica and techno etc, but the audio engine is not well suited. There really IMO is nothing special about Pro Tools, especially when compared to Cubase 5. Acid does work for audio, but like I said prior, it is not near the quality of recording compared to either Pro Tools, Nuendo, or Cubase.

Protools is just a big name. People think they can just buy the best package and all of a sudden be able to make great sounding music...it is not always so, in fact pretty much the majority of the time it isnt so.

I use Roxio for all my music burning and converting needs.
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audio engineering

Wow, this is a topic I hear on the streets as well. This is what I do know:

The quality of your sound going in will be based 95% on the sound interface you use. While it is true some software processes audio better than others, the interface (pre-amps, mics and other sources) will ultimately determine your quality.

If you connect a 16bit Sound Blaster to Protools (just an example, this is not possible), it's not going to even compare to a higher quality card.

The software basically just captures what the sound interface feeds it.

The sound engine of the software can have an impact on your sound as well, but today just about every manufacturer has that part down now and it's left up to the audio interface you use.
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