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-- easiest way to get started

Posted by stevebutabi on Aug-02-2004 19:17:

easiest way to get started

i want to start producing my own techno/tech house tracks... what's the easiest way for me to get started

-note-
i'm not very good with complicated computer programs

thanks!

Posted by Tranc3 on Aug-02-2004 19:25:

Re: easiest way to get started

quote:
Originally posted by stevebutabi
-note-
i'm not very good with complicated computer programs

Then you might want to reconsider

Posted by Bren-F on Aug-02-2004 19:32:

Re: Re: easiest way to get started

quote:
Originally posted by Tranc3
Then you might want to reconsider

I'll second that !

Also -> http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=152236

Posted by Massive84 on Aug-02-2004 19:50:

Re: Re: easiest way to get started

quote:
Originally posted by Tranc3
Then you might want to reconsider

actually no

logic is what i consider complicated.

Fruity can do the job very well, look at Icllit, and i don't think it takes ages to the learn basics for fruityloops.

Posted by DJ-Igloo on Aug-02-2004 19:55:

first off main thing before u start producing is study up on production and mastering. Then get u a good starter program like reason or fls to start working with study the tutorial files and download some allready done works and study how the arranged the tracks and how the created their sounds in it. Then spend countless hours playing around in the program really self teaching ur self how and what does what. Eventually u will learn the programs and baddabing baddaboom ull be producing. ^_^

Posted by djdustx on Aug-02-2004 20:16:

Omg lol damn nice pic...im a big fan of A Night at the Roxbury myself it was actually the thing that got me into producing

Well man

Dj-Igloo has some good points

But really u dont have to study mastering...producing because it then strips the fun out of producing...reading 500 page books when only 75 pages actually give the information u need

I would definitley say go with FL Studio 4 (fruityloops). Reason is much more technical and in order to work with reason u need to read lots of reason based material and that would take a couple of months...and well why would u want to create high obsticles for urself

So jus get FL 4 round up a couple of Vsti/Vst's (Synthesizers - Albino Absynth FM7 etc) and read Fl Studio's manual this is a pretty good read and half of the manual is pictures.

I Started with no knowledge in music theory/piano theory etc...i jus studied the tracks in the Projects/Cool Stuff file on the tab on the left of the screen and jus read the manual...and things came out fine for me

I created so far 4 unfinished tracks (not any finished cuz i have a shit supply of soundbanks)

Study how to make melodies/chords/arps/strings/elevations and that would already be a good start

Good Luck on ur journey bro

Sebastiano

P.S. heres a free tutor site which teaches music theory...also provides a more in depth tutoring service which has a 5-day demo

http://www.chordwizard.com/theory.html

Posted by postman on Aug-02-2004 20:48:

if you wanna create easy stuff get a yamaha r1x, roland mc505 or 909. easy and fun to use.

after a while get more complex hard-/software.

Posted by Mr.Mystery on Aug-03-2004 03:04:

quote:
Originally posted by DJ-Igloo
first off main thing before u start producing is study up on production and mastering.

No way. First learn how to build a tune (knowing music theory will help here).
After that you can concentrate on the sound quality.

Oh, and furthermore:
The first few months will not be easy, and your first tune will most likely suck. But it's all part of the process we've all been through. Don't get discouraged.

Luckily this process will weed out the people who only want to produce cause it's considered "cool" from the people who do music for the love of it.

Posted by KilldaDJ on Aug-03-2004 08:42:

get fruityloops or something and just piss around in that, make up some beats etc then move on to adding synths and shit to it.

i find that mastering and EQing just takes the piss.

Posted by thecYrus on Aug-03-2004 08:53:

you don't need eq'ing and mastering for the beginning.. just do your tunes
it'll take you months to understand how music really works in the technical way.. and with the time you can use more of those magic tools like compressor, limiter, eq, ... then if you don't know what you are doing, your tunes will sound much worser than without..

Posted by stevebutabi on Aug-03-2004 13:20:

thanks for the tips

Posted by danxxx on Aug-04-2004 23:32:

FL Studio or Cubase I would say.

Posted by Nsonic on Aug-07-2004 14:22:

just fiddle around with FLS, and make something that you think sounds good...then show it to someone, then if they liek it, show it to us...

Posted by robin on Aug-07-2004 16:38:

i must agree with whats said above. the first months or even year will suck simply becouse you have an idea but just can't turn it in to reality (that might be a sound, melody, overall 'flow', buildup etc etc) or will just go by unnoticed! thats pretty much how it is for me, now listening back and rns file i made a couple of months ago make me go but at the time i was doing it, i really enjoyed myself.

all i can say is i hope you enjoy yourself, don't worry about profs or tunes in the amature section, its a proces that takes YEARS. dont putt presure on yourself, just enjoy.

things i can say that have helped me are looking at midi files (to see how melody's work etc), finnish project files (too see how its goes together overall) and listen to music (i must say it really chances the way you listen) reading other peoples questions in here doesn't hurts either

Posted by Hugo-G on Aug-07-2004 22:03:

Hi guys,

As you can see, i'm not a regular poster, but I do read these forums basicly every day. I'm replying because this topic is about something i'm struggling with for some time now.

I started "producing" about a year ago, using FL and some plugins, and finished like, two tracks with it, which sucked big time. I knew that producing good music wasn't a matter of months, but of years, but the frustration of not being able to create what was in my head made me quit for a few months.

The feeling got to me, that working with FL just wasn't "my thing". On the other hand, I knew I loved music so much, and I really wanted to learn to make tracks. A couple of months ago, I decided to pick it up again, but this time using Reason. I heard a lot of good stories about it, knew that a lot of great producers used it, so I bought a MIDI-controller and started again.

Now here it comes, you guessed right, after a few months with Reason, with a few finished tracks, and the basics of the program in my mind, I seemed to get stuck. I just couldn't get any fat sounds out of the devices, for instance, using Subtractor with EQ and Compression, and several bass tutorials, all that I got out was some fuzzy stuff. Not comparable with pounding bass that guys like Lemon8 and Markus Schulz create.

It isn't like I do not understand how the program works, because I do, and I have finished some tracks with it, and also seen great improvement. It's just that I seem to be stuck on a certain level. When I hear tracks from a guy like Perry O'Neil (who's said to be working just with Reason), I cannot imagine that those tracks are made with it. I'm a pretty down to earth guy, so I know it's my capabilities that are weak, and not those of Reason itself, but still, the program just does not seem to fit me.

Now here's my question (nice to see that you even got this far in my "novel" =)): I'm thinking about trying out Cubase SX, using VST for synths and stuff, and Rewire it with Reason, to use the Redrum as percussion. I hope that this will fit me better than the programs I used before. Would this be usefull, or do you guys think that I will end up in Cubase just as in FL and Reason? Also I would like to mention that i'm absolutely no guy that tries to produce because it's "cool", but just because I love music and I want to transform the inspiration I have in tracks.

Thanks in advance!

Posted by robin on Aug-08-2004 11:56:

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=194445

some reason sounds. and yes its harder to get a phat sound out of reason but there's alway layering, that helps a lot (2 or more synths playing the same notes at the same time)

lets see what reason 3 brings

Posted by Zombie0915 on Aug-09-2004 15:48:

You have to find the toold that work the same way your head does. I find things much easier to work with when they are all separated and disected into their individual pieces, and when I can see what path my sound is taking and change it freely.

I prefer using Buzz for my shitty attempts at music making, some of the synths in it are really simple and great ways to figure out synth programing. I bought fruity before I knew about buzz and made a couple songs which ended up sounding pretty awful, but it was really weird cuz I got several emails from people who found me on mp3.com and said they liked my sound and were looking for more music of the same style. I haven't made a finished song since those first attempts a few years ago, since then I have been reading and expirimenting like a fiend.

Now I find myself playing with reaktor, I like this program alot, I hope I can afford it one day, until I can afford it I wont use it's sounds in my projects, I just like playing with it because it helps me learn how everything works.

When you build a device, you almost automaticly know how to use every part of it, because you were the one that put it together, tools like buzz and reactor allow you to build things with little pieces in this way. For me, it works with the way I think, and hopefully will make me a good producer in the end.

I suggest that you download buzz(its free! go to buzzmachines.com) and start making simple arrangements and using simple machines, try to figure out how everything works and gradualy make more complicated arrangements until you have the sounds you want.

Be very patient, take breaks from tweaking and take the time to think long and hard about the sound you are aiming for and what pieces it consists of. Record yourself mimicing the sounds you want so that you don't forget them while you are trying to recreate them in the programs. Write ideas on paper, anything thatis in any way related to your song, write it all down so that you have room in your head to figure out everything, eventualy it all comes quiker and you can get away with writeing and thinking less, but it takes a lot of time for that to happen.

Good luck!