I’ve been lurking around the forums off and on for a while now trying to absorb as much information as possible and decided to register today.
Anyway, I’ve dabbled with Ableton, Reason, Logic, Traktor, etc trying to decide what DAW I felt I enjoyed working with best. Ableton is my favorite but I have been holding off on actually purchasing the program. Currently I mess around with Logic because it seems like it can do just about anything once you learn it well enough.
Long story short.. I’m in the military and have decided to start getting some gear together.. the problem is I have no idea where to start with a mixer, sound card, wires, etc. Basically it all still confuses me >_<
Is there an archive I can be directed to that explains what all I would need?
Seriously:
Traktor isn’t really what is considered a DAW (i think?) because it can’t be used to ‘make’ new songs really.. Traktor is really intended for DJing. Ableton is great for production, and is also used for live sets (kind of djing, but also involves on-the-spot production).
Reason is production software, and I think logic too, but I’ve never used it.
So the question for you is: what is your goal with the software. If you want to DJ (like most people here) and you want to go digital, get Traktor or Serato (two most popular softwares).
If you want to DJ and also produce, ableton is the most complete package but I’ve heard it has a steep learning curve.
Any more questions are of course welcome, but I’d also like to direct you to the F.A.Q. found as a ‘Sticky’ in the General discussion forum
Good night, I’m off to bed
I want something for production which will end up being Ableton and Logic, as Ableton can also serve for the live aspect. I also have Traktor, but only running off my MBP.
I suppose the real question is where do I start as far as gear? What mixer, sound card(s), controllers, etc. I had ordered the Korg Nano bundle which is still backordered 3 months later.. I would like to pick up a Xone 4D as a mixer but the more I look into it the more it seems like overkill, but it will also support forward progression over the years. I have no idea how to hook everything up when I do get it.. Looking at some peoples studios just gives me brain damage.
Well, for production personally I don’t think you need to shell out too much cash if you’re just beginning. What is really useful though is a midi keyboard. It helps with entering notes because you can just play them on the keyboard and they appear in the right timing.
There are some standard sizes which are expressed in the number of keys (25,49, or larger?). But which one to get depends on how much you want to spend and if you want it to be portable. Or maybe you just don’t have the space for a large keyboard. The downside of a smaller keyboard is that you can’t play multiple octaves simultaniously, but usually there is like a ‘octave’ key on midi keyboards to jump between active octaves.
Long story short: keyboard is useful for production. Get a small one if you must, or a larger one if you can.
Brands (to get you in some direction, in no particular order): Akai, m-audio, novation, korg, yamaha, behringer. I think m-audio and behringer are ‘budget’ options (doesn’t mean bad).
sorry mum, it’s late, I’m off to bed.
And sorry for you too, tweak. I hope this somehow helped you.
You could do wonders with just a keyboard and Abelton. Maybe later add an APC40. Watch some videos of what you want to do and check what gear they’re using.
