While I’ve written for this magazine for over a decade now (it’s true that time does fly when you’re having fun), my history with music production goes back much farther — farther than I generally care to admit in public, in fact.
And if there’s an advantage to that long history, it’s being able to appreciate just how much things have changed over the years when it comes to options for making and performing music.
These days, we have numerous DAWs, tons of virtual instruments, endless arrays of sample libraries, and both hardware and software designed to make it even easier. But the barrier to entry for music-making is still high, so not surprisingly, there are companies aiming to make it all easier still; witness the new Serato Studio, from the makers of Serato DJ.
Unsurprisingly, given the company behind it, Serato Studio is designed specifically for DJs who want to get into music production. It’s intended to dramatically lower the barrier to entry into beat-based song construction by adopting — and adapting — a DJ-like workflow.
Like Serato DJ, you have what appear to be two decks, some mixer controls, a library, along with DJ effects. But instead of loading whole tracks (although you can, given the product’s support for your Serato DJ libraries with all your crates, cue points, etc., intact), you can load samples, drum machines, and instruments, and begin your music-making journey with speed and ease.
