Id say pick up a bunch of free vst fx, pick up a good vst like massive pr onmisphere and get familiar with it . pick up a midid controller like a launchpad or apc40 in a month or two to help with your work flow(not having to touch the computer all the time really opens up my creativity personally) and watch a hell load of Youtube tuts
Check out his intro to digital audio production videos. The first 2 parts are free on youtube, but you have to buy the rest. Definitely a great investment for learning your way around Ableton if you aren’t familiar with it already, personally it was one of the few resources that really put me in the right direction.
In regard to your question, notice how when you load up Ableton it has a list of devices and effects that came with Ableton. VSTs are a type of third party plugin synths/effects/devices/etc made to work within your DAW. The most important thing I’d get is a synth like you said. For an all around versatile one Sylenth is definitely the way to go. Massive is another good choice. Both have demos so you can try them out before you need to drop money on anything.
So it seems like I need a load of free time, and luckily I do! How many hours a day do you guys put in?
I will watch you tube as much as possible for now before I do anything with Ableton. Do you guys recommend I do a course to get familiar with it? I know a place running a intro to ableton course over 1 day (5hours) for 100 euro, worth it?
I also read that its best to use samples just to get going with Ableton, what ya think? hence why I bought Vengeance sample pack
I’m approaching the one year mark of using ableton and even then I haven’t used it as much as I’d like to. I just finished up my first produced track and I’d say the best way to learn it is by getting comfortable. Learn shortcuts and keyboard tricks to make workflow less and that way any ideas you have you can get them out much faster.
Been at it for a year or so, but really hunkered down in the last 6 months. As others have said, LOTS of time.
The other thing I’d suggest is some sort of “school.” For the longest time I considered going to Dubspot, but it’s $5K for the “full” production school with Ableton.
Ended up finding Sonic Academy (www.sonicacademy.com) and am REALLY stoked I did. Paid the $165 for the full membership for a year and it’s been really, really worth it. My learning just went through the roof from watching their tutorials and just following along.
They have a series of “How to Make” tutorials for specific genres which are just fantastic. Really give you an insight into how to get genre-specific sounds, and they go into extreme detail, even down to specific mastering techniques, etc. etc. Basically every single detail of making a complete song, which I can’t stress enough how amazing that is when you can imagine something but have no idea how to translate it.
I just made a track using their Dirty Dutch tutorial and it came out soooooo much better than anything else I’ve done. Just finished it and posted it on SoundCloud about an hour ago. (Speaking of lots of time, this is about 100 hours worth). Have a listen:
Anyway, I know I probably sound like a total plug for Sonic Academy, but I think it’s the best money I’ve spent. Maybe also consider a subscription to Future Music or Computer Music, but I don’t think those are nearly as good a value as SA.
And yeah, again, shitloads of time. Don’t get discouraged, and just accept that your first few tracks are going to sound like dog shit.
Yes, good monitors are critical as is proper room treatment. Both are pricey.
If you’re tight on budget, a good set of monitoring headphones can go a long way. I have a pair of AKG K240 MK II’s and mixes translate really well from them. Also great for when the GF is sleeping.
Also, as far as software / plug-ins, I’m a HUGE fan of Sylenth1 and Aether for reverbs. Also dig Razor for creepy pads and weird textures.
For everything else (compression, EQ) I use mostly Ableton’s native plug-ins. Saving up for Komplete at the moment.
Sample packs might work to get you going…I haven’t found any I liked apart from what came with Maschine and what I’ve occasionally pulled off records/tracks.
Also, I did some more research on those HS50s, and I’m pretty sure I’m getting a pair along with their sub as soon as I get a monitor controller. Apparently if you switch the mid EQ to +2 on the back and the LF rolloff to 100Hz, they have a very similar sonic profile to NS-10ms, which is actually really cool if you like that kind of monitoring. But I already have a pair of KRKs for when I want to hear something closer to what everyone else hears, so……yeah.
If you ordered them, just keep in mind that they’re supposed to sound like crap. If you get sick of it or want to just listen to music, turn off the LF rolloff and turn the mid EQ to -2.
(side note: that type of monitoring is to accentuate everything bad about music so that a mix that sounds good on them will sound even better on the typical scooped mids sound of a good hifi or PA system)
And I’m wearing my HD25s now…they’re amazing headphones, though a bit bassy for production. MDR-v6/7506 might have been better choices, but as long as you’re aware of it, it’s not a problem. They sound great.
Also, a DAW and a computer. But, uhh…isn’t that overkill? V Collection seems like a decent deal, but that alone is $500. Komplete 8 Ultimate is another $1000.
Plus, all you’re going to do is confuse yourself…that’s like 20 different synthesizers that all work a little differently. It’d take forever to learn.
And lots of great music has been made with a lot less. That’s $1500, I’d personally much rather spend on a used virus.
V Collection has ALL your classic synths, your Moogs, Prophets, Arps, Jupiters and so on, so you have all those sounds at your finger tips at a fraction of the cost of just ONE of them. And you will not be able to tell the difference, they are THAT good.
As for Komplete 8 Ultimate, you have all your modern FM synths PLUS the sound libraries that are second to none. Alicia’s Key’s is the best Piano library out there, plus the Session Strings and more. It’s the best deal out there period.
After you get these two you’ll never have to have to invest in any other sample pack/vst/hardware synth again.
[quote=“mostapha, post:15, topic:37031, username:mostapha”]
Also, a DAW and a computer. But, uhh…isn’t that overkill? V Collection seems like a decent deal, but that alone is $500. Komplete 8 Ultimate is another $1000.
Plus, all you’re going to do is confuse yourself…that’s like 20 different synthesizers that all work a little differently. It’d take forever to learn.
And lots of great music has been made with a lot less. That’s $1500, I’d personally much rather spend on a used virus. [/quote] There’s more to Ultimate than VSTs, and that’s where the real money is at (plus Massive and FM8 are solid little synths as well). There is no need to incest in hardware synths now a days when you can get something that sounds the same and is a lot more flexible and you have have multiple instances of it running at once, plus be able to save them all and bring them at a moments notice. It just doesn’t make sense unless your a collector, but then those guys aren’t really making music to begin with.
About 100 hours, total. Maybe a bit more or less. It’s the first dutch house track I’ve ever done; I think I could probably do the next one in about 60, total.
Yes, I think Sonic Academy is the absolute best way to spend your money, no question; I think these days with the prevalence of extremely high quality plug-ins (even those that come with Ableton), it’s way less about the tools you’re using than it is about fundamental knowledge of how to use them.
Also, I should note that I have ZERO musical training except a couple months of piano lessons earlier this year. Used some of their courses / templates on scales and modes to great effect; that alone is worth price of admission.
Seriously, just do it. This is the track I made 6 weeks ago before finding Sonic Academy. It’s fine, but it’s just nowhere close to being on the same level:
