Music Making

waximus

Hey,
Im looking for some help and advice. I used to have a copy of Fruitty Loops pro, I loved it. Ever since then Ive wanted to get serious about producin music from home. I was goin to do a sound recording course but never 1 got the money 2 had the time. I reckon if I got the right equipment and programmes I could learn quick enough. Im gonna come into a bit of money soon and Id like to put it into music making. What better hobby could you have.

So if anybody could tell me what equipment i need and what programmes I need to set up a class home recordin studio?
Id be greatful.
Tks

Anima

I'd just getting a load of softsynths, a host program that you know, a few decent effects and a load of samples and just go from there. Theres no point investing now if you dunno how to use the stuff or know if you really want to do it.

waximus

Thanks Anima,

Any suggestions for a host programme?Probably Reason. I used fruity loops and it was so easy to use. But reason, I tried a trial version and I hadnt got a bog what I was looking at.

lucifers303

Your host program has to be Ableton Live 5. It rocks, was rcommended to me from a mate at work who was told about it by a producer here up north. I have been using it for about a couple of Months now tho still much to learn. You should be able to download a version via Limewire/Torrents sites etc. As far as soft synths goes try the following VST plug-ins
Vanguard
Native Instruments FM7
rgc audio z3ta+
Absynth
Luxonix Ravity
Steinberg Hypersonic
Again these will avalable via FTP / Torrents.
Good Luck Dude!:cool:

lucifers303

Forgot to mention some Ableton Live users:
Pete Tong, Coldcut, Dylan Rhymes, Shaun Pelton and I read that liam Howlett did most of Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned using Ableton Live.

jimi_t

lucifers303 wrote:

Forgot to mention some Ableton Live users:
Pete Tong, Coldcut, Dylan Rhymes, Shaun Pelton and I read that liam Howlett did most of Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned using Ableton Live.

Howlett sketched out the ideas in Reason and then used Pro Tools (I think) in conjunction with proper analogue synths. Not to say that Ableton Live isn't a great program.

If you want to go Legit you should buy a little M-audio keyboard controller - they should cost about e100-200 - and this will come with a slightly stripped down version of Ableton Live (Ableton Live Lite) which should be more than enough to get to grips with. Download some free samples and vst's/vsti's and you're away

Helix

ableton is absolutely horrible for production, really is useless imo

superb for the live thing tho

lucifers303

Helix wrote:

ableton is absolutely horrible for production, really is useless imo

superb for the live thing tho

What version of Live were u using? Myself and others ive spoken to think Live 5 really is the puppies parts, suppose its up to the individual really. What would u recommend Helix?

I stand corrected jimi t your're right it was Reason and a midi controller keyboard is a must. I use the CME UF6 61 key cost £155 from dolphin music it has assignable sliders, knobs and buttons for your effects etc ,I bought it after checking out the reviews it got on some sites and certainly im well impressed.

Helix

i use live 5, just think its horrible for production

i use cubase sx2

eddyc

Get a decent soundcard from someone like m-audio, actually native instruments are making them now and theyre meant to be pretty good, get a midi controller keyboard like the korg microkontrol or something, for sequencing get something like cubase or sonar, also reason is is great but only good when used in conjunction with a dedicated sequencer, for softsynths ya cant go wrong with the native instruments stuff, linplug, rgc audio.
For fx your best bet is WAVES gear or PSP.
And most importantly if you cant already learn how to play the keyboard and also bit about music theory, it will save you hours of trial and error and dull sounding repetitive tunes,
Buy a copy of computermusic magazine its great for learning the ropes lots of reviews tutorials etc, good luck!!

waximus

Hey,

Thanks for the advice, Theres a lot of suggestions there so I have my work cut out for me. Gonna go visit a few of them sites now. Its probably gonna take me a few weeks to get myself sorted but Ill let you all know how I get on. Im sure Ill have plenty more questions. Thanks again.

Anima

If you want to learn synthesis and general kind of sound design, I'd suggest looking at the soundonsound site here: http://www.soundonsound.com/search?page=3&Section=8&Subject=12

jimi_t

Helix wrote:

i use live 5, just think its horrible for production

i use cubase sx2

Only thing I'll say there is that Live is a LOT more intuitive and has a far better learning curve than cubase - as a beginners app the best choice would be something like Sony ACID or Ableton Live by far, and out of those two I think Live would offer the most user-friendly interface for learning the ropes - plus it comes packaged with most of the M-Audio gear so it's a single purchase for hours of fun

Helix

i dunno, i found it quite the opposite to be honest

probably coz ive been working with cubase for 4 years now, and before that reason since late 00

Alan Smith

Ableton Live is the way too go as someone said above you will find them on a torrent site avoid limewire though :P

Personally im using ableton and fl
I tried suing cubase but found it very ocnfusing also if your into mixing up your tracks ableton will do it all for you

waximus

Hi all,

Yea appleton is very good. Theyve good tutorials so I reckon I could put together a track. Only problem is my pc, it keeps stalling. But Ill keep learning cause Ill be gettin a new system soon.

Thanks for your advise lads.

jimi_t

Be sure to get your hands on the Crystal VSTi from kvraudio or a similar site. It's as good as it gets for a free VSTi. Here's a quick demo I knocked up yesterday using one of the presets

http://www.geocities.com/synthi_t/SwirlyQ-CrysalVST.mp3