Ok it’s my birthday soon so a present is coming my way. I’m in ireland by the way.
I’ve recently started producing using reason 4 but i hate it, have used ableton at a friends house and loved it, I’m planning on producing minimal, acid house, tech house, techno & deep tech house. Maybe some french when i get some way good.
But anyways back to the problem i have a choice between a birthday present of,
A:
Novation launchpad Around - €185.
Second Hand Roland MC 303 - €150
Ableton Live Intro Version + Akai Lpk 25 - €150
OR
Novation Launchpad + Ableton Live Intro Version - €259.
What is the best thing to get ? Bareing in mind the MC 303 could be bought at any time by someone else.
Dude, 185 euro seems really steep for a launchpad, I’m pretty sure they’re like 150USD?
As for your gear choices? I have no clue as I don’t produce but just thought I’d give you a heads up about the price of that Launchpad you were looking into.
Ahh I see, I stand corrected
Good luck with the decision, anything keyboard like might be a good idea if you have experience playing piano or stuff like that.
Might be worthwhile getting something bundled with Live since you said you loved it when you tried it.
Also depending on how good condition it is the Roland looks like a good piece of kit, keep in mind you could always expand your equipment later to suit your needs.
I’d probably go for the Roland and get the Ableton Intro Version separately, but that’s just me lol.
+1 - The launchpad is really a performance tool when playing out, I don’t think it has the scope the others you mentioned performance-wise unless you are planning to play out?
Just remember that the intro version can’t use external VST’s (not sure about Ableton Instruments), so you may want to bear that in mind. If you are a student, uni or school, the full version of ableton live is only $269 otherwise i think its around $400.
But as has been said, the launchpad is a performance tool so just ableton and a keyboard would be ideal.
The MC303 would be great but keep in mind it’s a standalone groovebox and won’t allow you the expansion possibilities of a DAW system. That being said, I’ve found over years of production that having limited resources can force you to be more creative, really get to know your instrument, and spend far more time actually making music than looking through drop-down menus of 200 VST synths. Grooveboxes are fun as hell and you can make a lot of great music with them. However, if you don’t like Reason you may not like a groovebox either.
If, however, you want to go the computer route you will definitely want a keyboard interface but pass on the LPK. It is more or less a toy and you will outgrow it very soon. My recommendation is the Akai MPK25 (MIDI Controller with MPC Pads MPK25 | Akai Pro) it has semi-weighted keys, MPC pads, knobs, buttons, transport control, etc. Check out the M-Audio Axiom series (http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.family&ID=USBkeyboardcontrollers) as well, I used one for a while as my main production controller and it’s great for getting started. If you have no desire to use a keyboard interface check out the APC20 (APC20 Compact Ableton Live Pad Clip Launching Controller | Akai Pro). All of these come with an introductory version of Live that will be sufficient until you figure out if you really want to drop the cash on a full version. Don’t worry about VSTs at first, get to know the Ableton effects and instruments REALLY well before you start to mess with anything else. A lot of them are really great and it’s veeeeery easy to get bogged down in VSTs very quickly.
If you need to use the intro software, get the MPK25. Going to have the most solutions.
I think it might be a good idea, though, to get the full Ableton and learn how it works with a cheap midi controller, and then move to something more complex.
But the full version is like $500 and has WAY more functionality than your average “getting started with production” user will need for a while. Ableton has a very easy upgrade path when you do actually reach the limits of lesser versions.
I’m using a M-Audio O-25 right now, getting my APC40 on Thursday. If you’re set on LPK25 you might as well swing for an APC20 or APC40 for a couple hundred quids more since they come with Lite.
the mc303 would be fun for a few hours but
the sounds are dated and the sequencer is a pain to use.
akia apc20 might also be worth a look, its got the same grid as the novation but also 8 sliders but isn’t bus powered. it too comes with a version of live.
also the bundle versions will allow you to upgrade to the full version at a discount so dont plumb for both at once.
I just noticed something guys on the ableton website.
In this link i am about to post half way down the page it says free upgrade to intro from LE. If i buy a launchpad does this mean i get a free upgrade from the supplied software to ableton live intro ?
I hate to doubt you in any way. But are you 100% sure you can upgrade for free from the ableton included with the launchpad with to the Intro version ?
And to answer your question i want the intro version for production work.
