Noob here, help me out?

[Dj Tangible]

Hey guys,

So I'm really new to this whole world, i have lately been really into different house/dubstep beats. So I decided to try and make my own, I went ahead and downloaded a trial of Ableton. Now this is some serious stuff, and I've been watching some tutorials and such. Im learning but slowly.

I wouldn't mind getting some dj ing equip sometime down the line. But ATM I'm really interested in producing my own music or beats. But if I did want to start of s2 is the way to go based on what I've read?

I guess I'm wondering is Ableton all I need atm, or do I have to get some type of hardware etc.. If so what kind??

Sorry for the beginner question, I did search b4 I posted but its kind of confusing. Anyway any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

[erpi]

Welcome!

If your goal is to create music and you do not know anything about music production, Ableton Live intro is all that you need (A good trackball mouse and learning the keyboard shortcuts is what can give you the fastest workflow). A sound card and monitors will help later but frankly at this point just take time to understand how create simple drum patterns in the piano roll.

Regarding hardware - your second investment must be a soundcard (e.g. Used Apogee Duet 1 or NI Audio Kontrol 1 etc..) and a decent pair of headphones (AKG-BeyerDynamic DT770-880) or better studio monitors but in a treated environment. Then, If you do know how to play keyboards - buy a midi keyboard (more than 25 keys if you plan to play chords), if not, learn a bit about music theory (Scales and Intervals) and just program in Live Piano roll.

You do not need an APC 40, a Launchpad or ... If you do not plan to play live. Ableton is deep, very deep. Just learn the general principles - look for Tarekith tutorials, he is a member here and wrote excellent articles about the different aspects (Compression, Mix-down etc.)

If you plan to DJ and to use Traktor - S2 is great but you can also just stick with live because you are interesting in music production and use a Launchpad and a Nanokontrol which is a much cheaper alternative and very powerful.
Enjoy!

[Dj Tangible]

Thanks so much, thats what I was looking for. Now ill just do some more research on what I really wanna do, and I can also compare different things you mentioned.

Just for note, I'm using a Macbook air 15inch.

[dripstep]

Erpi has some really good advice. I would recommend the launchpad though. I picked one up when I started making tracks, and it is invaluable. Just the ease of launching clips makes it worth the money. I've got a bcd3000 set up with ableton as well to control volume levels and FX parameters, but its not necessary. Launchpad is a good investment though imo.

[botstein]

erpi is right that at present, working in the piano roll editor with a mouse is probably enough. If you're still serious about beat making after a while, some controller with 16 pads might feel more natural. Controllers like Launchpad or the Akai APC 20 or 40 are the weapons of choice for the Ableton crowd.
I don't know which version of Live you're trying, but I would recommend that you take the trial period as an opportunity to try out the different parts of Suite 8 to see if Live Intro might be enough, or if you'll need more than just that from Ableton.

[Otacon]

i got Ableton about 2 years go and dabbled in it just messing around when i wasn't spinning and it fun and stuff, but when i decided to pick up a launchpad about 4 months ago it really started getting more fun. Id say like everyone above, work with it and get the basics and make sure you wanna use Ableton (there are more REALLY good companies out there like Reason and Logic) then get a Launchpad or APC40

[Dj Tangible]

Great advice everyone, I will def play around till I figure things out. Aside from Ableton, Otacon suggested Reason and or Logic, why are they "better"
In the mean time ill google away :roll eyes:

And thanks for your suggestions its really helping me figure out what I need etc

[Otacon]

I didnt mean they are "better". Just saying some match peoples workflow better. Im an Ableton guy ^_^

[Dj Tangible]

Thanks again 4 the input guys, so far I've been trying to learn ableton n I must admit it's quite intimidating. I am learning slowly, I would say the hardest part is trying to figure out each affect and how to control it, n what affects they produce

I want to learn how to produce music like I mentioned above, but I'm also staring to realize how much fun djing is as well.

That being said would u still recommend the traktor s2, with Launchpad n a soundcard still? Or might there b other options?

[Dj Tangible]

Bump

I'm heading over to the music store this weekend just to get a feel what's out there and what I find enjoyable. In sure that could help narrow down some things. ATM in flustered so many things terms to learn n understand lol
I'm trying though