@augustus @sun Agreed, especially on the JUST, and that's why I always try to warn people when they are interested in music that it is not the only path.

many people have this idea that theory is fundamental to being a musician and learning music. many people get a little exposure to theory and start to think well I could never be a real musician then, because it would be too far a path to travel.

my development in making music was held back for many years because I struggled trying to apply theory and practice traditional techniques, and I am fairly nerd brain. I have seen so many people give up on music going the traditional theory and rote practice based path.

and I know from experience that, as cool and interesting as they are, that trackers are just a hard way to reason about music, especially as a beginner, and a hard way to sequence music more complex than single loops. I would recommend them over study theory first, but not by much.

I personally think products like synthesia, and Rocksmith 2014 (now abandoned but piratable) are much better path to developing physical music skills than traditional lessons or theory study.

but at the end of the day, an agile and visually experimental path is the most friendly to beginners who aren't focused on tangible skills.

That's why I like and recommend FL studio, especially newer versions, while many prefer more musician friendly or simplified takes on the process. I think it is the best avenue for starting out from a fresh pallette, offers the most versatile options for changing modes of development, and acclimates you to all of the DAW skills that would be more streamlined in other software for specific modes of thinking.

People who already have some training already would probably be best to consider something like reaper, which is less complex and streamlined towards their existing process.

People who are toy players are probably best to get into ACID or Ableton, but those are hard to get into for free and are best if you have invested in the toys already, imo.