Total Newbie to production
Afternoon Chaps,
I currently only dj and have the S4 but I have some money and finally want to start some productions.
I am however, clueless as to what is the best for Deep House, Prog House type work.
Reason seems good but looks highly complex for a beginner no?
Also, do you need to buy a synth keyboard?
Thanks
Magpie00
this gets brought up many times and it tends to be the same anwsers so will help you out
before you go spending money on synths/controllers try out software first
i am not sure if reason do a demo,but ableton live u can try for 30 days from there website
Most people tend to use live or logic(mac) just have alook see what you can find
and you dont need any fancy equitment to start making music
skrillex made the whole of the scary monsters ep with just his computer mouse and live
(check it out if u aint heard it)
then once you have spent some time with the software then its time to start thinking about buying controllers/drumpads etc…
so many people want to start produceing spend £100s on gear only to give up after a few weeks.so just take your time,the more you practice better you will be
reason is very good and very powerful software as well… it can be a little intimidating at first, but the fact that everything is there in front of you kind of helps you work things out a lot quicker also… however, reason is softsynths and samplers only… meaning you cant actually record any audio into it… you can still import wav samples into redrum and the NNXT samplers and stuff… you just wouldnt be able to record a vocal track in there…
logic is also great, some things i find do get a little annoying in logic, and some of the things arent very “logical” but its great software and its all you would need to make descent music… people spend heaps on extra VST’s and soft synths, i dont understand why… you can make all the same sounds in logic’s soft synths if you try hard enough, and logic has a great and complex sampler aswell…
Ableton… personally, not my cup of tea, but great software none the less… ive heard some amazing things come out of ableton and some of the guys on my label use it, and there making some pretty sweet stuff with it. Ableton is a completely different layout to “traditional” sequencers though… and since i am used to these, ableton isnt really for me… but since your just starting out, it might work for u since your not “used to” anything yet… try out the demo and see if you like it…
i think reason has a demo aswel on their site… logic, dont think so, but i think you can get a cheaper version of logic pro called logic express which lets you do most of the basic stuff you would need to do. logic pro is like 700 RRP so if your just starting out, i wouldnt reccomend on spending all that cash if your not sure.
As for a midi controller/keyboard. if you can afford it on top of the software… id say just get a cheap basic one… like a low budget berhinger midi keyboard… you can pick one up for next to nothing and it definately helps for playing around with ideas and stuff, and gives you more hands on control to begin with… but if your on a budget, stick to the mouse and keyboard for a while and if you decide you really like production, then save and invest in a descent midi controler like an AKAI LPK or something simmilar…
if you do like ableton, and DO want a controller for it, I recommend the APC40. it was built/designed with Ableton in mind. Once I began using it with ableton, my productions began to feel a lot more complete.
as a bonus, you can map it for traktor to work in conjunction with your S4.
great buy all around.
I am new member to music production to this forum…please can anyone provide me complete information about music production.
Lol, you wont get the “complete information” on music production here in the forums… you could read several huge novels on music production and still not have all the information… what information are you looking for specifically? if you could specify what you are looking for, then maybe i could help you out… but there are so many different aspects to music production that i wouldnt know where to start…
ill write a few basic topics to get you started… choose one, or make up your own and ill try help you out as best i can.
These are a few topics ive just come up with off the top of my head, and i could write a 1000 page novel on each if i sat down and took the time… but ive been producing for 9 years, studied audio engineering for 4 years at uni and worked in a recording studio for 2 years… but i assure you… you wont learn it all in a weeks time…
These are just an example of SOME of the topics you need to know about in music production, but its a big learning curve… and theres still more to know…
so if you could give me a point of reference of what specifically you want to know, i might be able to give you a hand.
All i can say is Ableton, bought it 6 months or so ago, had 4 one on one lessons and now I am starting to find my way, couple of things i have put together over the last month or so, it’s a step in the right direction, one thing I do is whatever i pick up in a lesson I then make sure to use that in a new track and see what i come up with, take a listen and see what ya think 
https://soundcloud.com/ciar2001/the-ressurection
https://soundcloud.com/ciar2001/londonrain
in additions if your going to get sample packs like myself, been choosy pick the style or sound your really aiming for, on top of that the minimonsta vst is amazing and pretty cheap for a synth.
all in all have fun and best of luck
Tried to check your productions out, but of course soundcloud was down.
hello im messing around with ableton too and i would like some suggestions please.
https://soundcloud.com/andu-tati
and btw filterkat can you help me with this issue? 8. So now my tracks sound pretty good, but they still dont sound quite as good as the tracks on my Ipod
im thinking all the time about that…
sure. so what do you notice doesnt sound simmilar to the tracks on your iPod? Do you notice that they dont sound as loud? dont sound as “punchy”? or do the tracks on your iPod sound a lot cleaner? or a mixture of all of them?
Loudness is an issue alot of the guys on my label struggle to deal with, they finnish their tracks, and then they tell me, well yeah, its good, but its not as loud as the other songs in my iTunes. Higher “loudness” of tracks you hear is due to post mixing compression and expansion of the tracks. If you compress a sound, in theory, it should keep the same “perceived loudness” while clearing a bit of headroom, depending on how you use your compressor. Effective compression is also a way to make your tracks seem punchyer. You have to spend a lot of time figuring out how a compressor works in order to make full use of it. If you just whack a compressor on a track, and use one of the presets, sure it might sound ok, but you wont be getting the maximum benifit that you could by tweaking it yourself. Same thing as all presets. They should just be used as a base or guideline for further development.
When someone masters your track, your supposed to leave them with enough headroom to make some changes and compress/expand and EQ the track, about 2-3 db in my experience is good to work with. then the mastering engineer does what he does, and jacks the track up to peak at 0db.
If your tracks dont sound as “clean” as other tracks on your iPod, try fiddling with each channels EQ a little more, particularly the mid to high frequencies (dont overdo it though) and maybe add some after effects on certain parts. For example, i like to add a little reverb to my clap/snare to make the snare sound “bigger” and crisper. i usually set the dry wet from 6-10% no more. you dont want to overkill the sounds with after effects, just enough to make them sound that little bit better without changing the overall dynamics of the track. Delay is another good after effect to put on certain parts, just dont overdo the delay either… max about 15% wet
With minimal/tech house, a lot of producers often modulate and automate certain paramaters on certain effects, so that the sounds are more dynamic, and it doesnt get too boring and repetitive. this is a good way to spice up your track, without adding any more “elements” into the track. Prime example of this, is modifying the reverb length and dry wet on a track to make it sound more “spacey” and then dropping it back down again, or modulating the rate of a delay. these are both techniques used in almost every minimal track ive heard.
if you want more info, shoot us a PM and tell me what specifically you want to know about making your track sound that bit better.
im not planning on masterizing my tracks yet… or in the next 10 years and i feel that the sound is too repetitive and i dont know what to add,if i add something the sounds will go with each other and make a mess (at least that is what i am thinking). i used a compressor on a track but like you said got a preset and that was all,didn’t tweak any parameters or so. i gotta start reading what every thingy does i guess . and btw where do you suggest to add a delay on a track?on a clap or something? thanks alot and excuse my english
yerr.. reading the manual or instructions about something usually helps you understand it better… (escuse the sarcasm) cant really suggest where to add a delay, as that is up to the artists creative interpretation. but a lot of minimal producers seem to put it either on a mid to high part of the percussion. Just try stuff out, you can always take it off if it doesnt sound good anyways.
but read the freakin manual, or go through the tutorials… most of the info youd be looking for is in there.
Filterkat, where did you study audio engineering? Now that would be something great to go with my production work
SAE, Its a private college/university that does audio engineering degrees, Video production degrees and electronic music production courses. I did both audio engineering, and electronic music production, because the EMP course was cheaper if you did it with the degree. Plus at most of them, when you sign up you get a fully upgraded macbook pro, and logic studio 9, as well as Adobe CS 4, all for only an extra 500 bucks. otherwise you just get a regular macbook with logic express if you dont pay the 500, but its SOOO worth it for 500.
Pretty expensive uni though :S Im pretty sure they have campuses all over the world, im allmost certain i saw that they had one in the netherlands. I did my degree in australia, but im here in brussels now in belgium, and theres an SAE here too. Theres one in Germany, France, UK… all over the shop… check out the website if your interested and see if theres one near you.
www.sae.edu/
yeah just checked, theres one in amsterdam 
Looks really interesting but it is indeed, quite expensive.