What do you use to make usts?

[OngakuCD]

Im not much of a ust maker, but when I do make one, my method is a bit unconventional and time consuming. I know some people use FL studios to make midi's, but what else do you use to make a ust?

 

[Kiyoteru]

As a music producer, FL studio does end up very much part of my workflow. What I do is have a placeholder instrument for the vocals and use that to lay out the notes (melody/harmony/etc.) From the piano roll I export the midi to use in UTAU, so that I can do the actual lyrics+tuning. You can do this in any DAW, really.
If doing a cover, the most important thing is to make sure that you have the correct tempo. That way, the notes will line up with the song much more easily and be friendly lengths. The convenient thing about starting from a MIDI in a DAW is that you can save your project file, and then later come back to it when you start mixing. That way, you could take advantage of effects synchronized to the tempo, like delay.

My usual recommended free daws are Podium, LMMS, and Tracktion. Podium can export midi (but you'll need to download a VST instrument to make the midi in the first place). A recent beta of LMMS can export midi as well, but Tracktion 4 seems to have problems. They're probably fixed in a recent version, but the recent version isn't available for free.