download as many trials as you can, im not sure who does trials and who doesn’t… but use each of them for a couple of weeks and just go with what feels comfortable for your workflow.
you’ll need to keep in mind some are all in one’s, and some are better for building tracks, and others are better for final mixdown and mastering.
(now that I’ve found that my topic was moved … grrr)
Cheers guys - played with Reason bleenty years ago - as I have no background in drum machine programming the ‘turn it round and wire the back up’ seemed odd.
As I’m PC based, seems to be Ableton really doesn’t it - I’ve got some friends who’re shit hot on it though, so I’ll hopefully get a leg up from them.
Now, what do I control it with … hmm
So, looks like I can bag a second hand Maschine for around £300, or a copy of Ableton Intro & APC20 for £229 (rapidly rising to £429 for a full copy of Ableton and the APC20)
Decisions, decisions (and yes this will all be funded by the ‘not going out to the pub beacuse my wife is having a kid in a couple of months’ arguement)
Ahhh…I’d say PT is more a multi-track editing program. You can record audio or midi instruments and buy software that you can control via a midi interface. For example strike is a drum program. You can go in and make your beats. Downside is the extra software is expensive, you need a bit of talent and it’s not set up to be a sequencer.
Ableton is great BUT is expensive. 8 comes with a large amount of samples but lite does not. Um, I’d say Ableton is more a sequencer than an editor. It does both but if you’re composing a lot of your own work it might get up your nose a bit.
To paint a bigger pic, you need a midi controller like a keyboard, this will control your software instruments. You need a sequencer, a midi editor and audio recorder/ editor. Put them together and use Ableton. You need an audio interface to connect your keyboard. You need samples (or the ability to create some). This is very expensive so if you can spring for Ableton 8 you will actually save money otherwise lite will do you fine!!
Starting out in Music Production
Cheers - managed to pick up Ableton Live 8 Intro for £50 so I’ll give that a crack. I’ve got an NI Audio 8 which I assume will suffice as a soundcard?
As far as a controller is concerned I was thinking APC20/Korg padKontrol or microkey,
Might even just use the Korg NanoX series or Akai LPx series to see if production suits me, rather than splashing out - I was a drummer for years so I’m quite tactile when messing about with tunes …
I would recommend the Akai MPD18 over anything in the Korg Nano series. I use an MPD 18 right now (about US$100, I think) and I love it. I had a Nanopad, and like so many others, it broke in a few months.
Good luck man!
Also, though I’ve never used one, I would recommend looking at this: it’s got pads, keys, and knobs, all for US$100!
Starting out in Music Production
I have actually been looking at that MPK actually …
Starting out in Music Production
Any Thoughts on the Korg Microkontrol? Ish the same price as the Akai mini MPK but is listen as bring plug and play the Ableton …
Starting out in Music Production
In fact scratch that - looks like someone got an eBay bargain - they usually go for a ton more …
In fact I think I’m going to bugger off down the local Digital Village store and have a play with the AKAI MPD range … on the advice of a bunch of mates it seems to be the best for beatmaking, and I can always augment with a midi keyboard later on.
Almost completely the opposite of reality. Live is actually one of the weaker DAWs since they still don’t support 64 bit systems. Once if your OS takes a gig to load into RAM, that’s 3 gigs max to support all the audio clips, plugins, and midi clips in your arrangement. Once you hit that limit, the set will crash every time you open it. Beyond that, it has some good native plugins, but some sound fucking awful. The EQ is decent for touchups, but isn’t suited for major cuts and boosting anything by more than 2 db sounds awkward. The db meters are minimal and give barely enough information, and there’s no dedicated mixer style interface. All mixing has to be done in the plugin gui for individual tracks. It’s a pain in the ass, believe me. Automation curves have to be drawn in, so any kind of non linear automation is labor intensive. I don’t know where you picked up that industry standard bit, it’s only industry standard amongst minimal loop jockeys and producers who ironically don’t mix their tracks live. But it’s still popular in home studios because it’s so fucking fun to use. Nothing has to be set up, just load up a VST, arm it, and you’re good to go. Everything’s neat and tidy in the interface, and anything you want to do is possible, usually exactly how you think it should be. But you’re right about the price, it’s expensive as all hell.
FL Studio’s instruments kind of suck, so 3rd party softsynths are a must. Other than that, it works as a sequencer and is cheap as dirt. Can’t ask for much more if you’re on a budget, but its Fisher-price of $99 and the fact that it was once officially named Fruity Loops give it a bad rep.
No, it’s tied to Avid, the original dongle mafia of anti-piracy. You can’t use it unless you’ve got one of their interfaces, and if you buy one of the “cheaper” sound cards, you get a less powerful version. Pro Tools HD is the industry standard, and requires you to buy a sound card that costs more than your car. Fun. Never used it, but I know a fucking ripoff when I see one.
It’s a software sampler with matching controller.
As for the Maschine, it’s a great tool to tap out beats on, but if you really want to produce you will have to (well atleast this is what I do) drum out beats and rough ideas on the Maschine, then fine tune it with Ableton (or whatever you choose to go with).