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Setup Question (from a newbie)
good evening all.
i usually am not very active in this thread, as i used to spend most of my time straight spinning; and i was never that interested in actually producing music. so i'm sorry if posting a thread of this nature in here violates some unspoken rule.
anyways, times have changed to put things simply, and i'm now getting interested in making music of my own. i've been reading a lot of threads on here, and hearing the names of what would appear hundreds of programs (cubase, reason, etc) 
my question is, does anybody have any reccomendations on where to start as far as getting a decent set up for starting to produce music? i'm currently running a windows machine, but i'm looking into getting a new mac; because that's what it looks like the majority of this software runs on. as of right now, the only program i've really researched heavily is logic pro.
again, i'm sorry if this is seems like a repost to the veterans of the forum. i tried a search and didn't really come up with any newbie threads. i'm just trying to get a strong footing on the goods before i jump in head first if you know what i'm saying. thanks!
There is a lot of PC apps that arnt on the mac that are pretty good. If I were you I would stick to my PC and get Reason and learn how to use that befor eyou buy any gear or anything. Learn the basics with reason. Don't bother with the mac just yet. PC is awsome for audio too.
I think If your starting out. Stick with Pc cause there is alot of programs on that platform. Don't jump. Take small steps at a time
I think you should check out FruityLoops. Once You get the understanding of making music then use reason. Cause i think
reason is a difficult program if your just starting out.
Or you can check out there demos. And play around with it and see what u like.
http://www.flstudio.com
http://www.propellerheads.se
Once u get a software the first thing u need is a midi controller
like edirol pcr 30.
http://www.edirol.com/products/info/pcr30.html
any other questions just post it up.
as DJ infraRed stated thats a good set up. Deff say starting with fruityloops is alot easier then starting with Reason heres some comperisons
FruityLoops = Easy to learn all software Base
Reason = Medium learing curve Also is like working with Hardware but its good at teaching the basics of hardware programing.
Id deff say start with Fruityloops to also because eventually you can move to VSTI usage that is the one thing reason doesnt offer so you allready have a powerful peace of program.
i'd like to start out by saying thanks to all those who've given their input thus far. 
i'd heard of fruity loops before posting on here, and i've messed around with it before. however, i was not quite sure as to whether or not that was widely used.
from what i'm gathering, the general consensus would be to start out on fruity loops to learn the basics. and then move to reason, given the steeper learning curve. i've been looking over the propellerhead software websites, and it seems like they do offer a decent amount of tutorial based guides (either in cd or book format).
i'm a stubborn learner, meaning that i won't give up on something until i finally understand it. so i guess my next question would be, would anybody recommend maybe starting on reason and grabbing some tutorial based learning materials and working my way from there? i'd normally just go from point a to b, but given the steep price of some of the software, i'm limited in may how many steps i can take in all 
and (tentatively last), but not least, does anybody know of a good site somewhere that maybe goes through and details a lot of these technical terms i've been seeing thrown around? (e.g. VSTI, MIDI...) thanks so much again.
ya if you are down for some hard work go for reason it wont fail you in the long run good software.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJ-Igloo ya if you are down for some hard work go for reason it wont fail you in the long run good software. |
I started basics, (screwing around) with FL, mainly finding out rythems, finding out what a bass is lol..etc.
My musical knowldge is 0, and my technicall knowldge about sound is -100. but after 2 years i feel i know alot, due friends, due TA etc.
Making music is not something you can learn IMO, you can learn to EQ, you can learn to make a bass synth , you can learn to mix...but eventually it's all about arranging, melodies, and the atmosphere you make in your music.
THis is something you have to find out, and thats where FL can help, even if 3osc sounds cheap, you can still learn to find out how to arrange things. Of cource your a DJ, you know the structure of music well so it will no take ages for you, it did for me.
I recommand Reason as well, i find Logic soooooooooo complicated, but it's really powerfull, even more than Reason.
The learning curve goes fast in Reason, because it is a closed software, for example take the supersaw topic of Dj igloo.
You see Reason don't use VSTs or any other external things, so the rns you take from someone to learn, will open for you, you won't miss a VST for example. Maybe a sample, but you can contain those or download the refill .
A friend i learned from TA, DJSimonB also a DJ, was intrested in producing. He started just with Reason, skipped the FL, i approached him my self to offer any help i could, and he just made his fouth tune, and i must say it is quite good.
If you can get guides, or help(am sure thats not hard) Reason is really a great way to learn and even KEEP producing on it, but once the basics are done, the rest is just a Journey good one to .
hope this helped.
Again, I really appreciate all the input. I am usually one who does not turn away from hardwork, so I think I may end up taking the road towards Reason. I agree with Massive84 when you say that you can't learn how to make music. I think what I need to learn is how to put all the things I get running around into my head, down into some audible format. So it's not learning how to make music that I'm looking for to say exactly, more so I want to learn how to manipulate software to get the music I want. I don't know if that sounds right or not, but whatever
Due to the bandwidth restrictions on my network (stupid network administrators), I'll have to go download the demo for Reason in the library. I think I'll grab the Fruity Loops one while I am at it, as the old version I have is on my desktop at home; not my laptop I have now. I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes! That, and I'm going to be hanging around this forum a bit more now.
Thanks again!
well ill be rather honest reason, yeah its nice and sexy at first but really really a bitch not as much as a learning curve mostly becuase you are limited. i honestly belive you dont need to even botehr with reason at all, just work with fruity loops download a shitload of free vstis which are widely availble and there are sevral threads containting litterly hundreds of them. once you get the hang of fruity loops id say skip cubase and go straight to logic. reason is logic is very powerfull and very verstile. youll find that the vstis you cna get will blow any reason synth clear outta the water. however the problem is with vstis is shittie sound card = shittie sounds outta the vsti. example my friend he was about to give up kus he couldnt get any decent sounds outta any vstis no matter which he used but then he bought a m-audio 1814 firewire card and he litterly shit his pants when he heard the amazing sound differnce. so my suggestion is go onto ebay buy yourself an m-audio card, make sure it cna do atleast 96k sampleing and if you ahve the money get one that can do 192, then get fruity loops download a monterous library of vstis and then start fucken around. when i say fucken around i mean fucken around dive into ti head first till you atleast 100feet under then dont stop till your tracks sound medicore. it doesnt happen overnight for all people but some people it does, you will just have to see. off course this is my opion however to throw in peoples faces how crappy reason is i suggest you search for reason export limitations.... sorry reasons just is shit. yes you cna make alot of really good sounding tracks but people that use reason you can tell rather quickly its reason. many people say this is bullshit but just try it and youll see what i mean. anyhow i hope this helps any deuce... and rember smoking weed all weekend and working on production go hand in hand
Look on any music production forum and you'll see that FLStudio and Reason really are the two top programs for people starting out. Also as you can see here. On top of those two programs you may want to get maybe one VST instrument just to play around with. There are a few good free ones that are available to download like the Superwave P8. But FL and Reason do come with some great on-board synths.
Just something to consider.
On the topic of a soundcard, how might I be able to check to see if the one I am currently using is decent enough to support using a program like Fruity Loops? I ask mainly because I just downloaded the demo and was checking it out, and all the sounds I was getting sounded like crap. Everything was really fuzzy and distorted. Plus, I was reading ZxZDevil's posting, and checking out that firewire card thing mentioned, and my card definitely pails in comparison. However, I'm not sure I need something to that extent. It seemed like that was a good deal for people doing live studio recordings; which is far from where I am right now. Thanks!
In your mixer try turning down your wave volume and see if that helps. If your producing you will need a good sound-card but it needn't be an expensive one. This guide covers sound card pretty well and the comments by the users are great
| quote: |
| Originally posted by ZxZDeViLZxZ well ill be rather honest reason, yeah its nice and sexy at first but really really a bitch not as much as a learning curve mostly becuase you are limited. i honestly belive you dont need to even botehr with reason at all, just work with fruity loops download a shitload of free vstis which are widely availble and there are sevral threads containting litterly hundreds of them. once you get the hang of fruity loops id say skip cubase and go straight to logic. reason is logic is very powerfull and very verstile. youll find that the vstis you cna get will blow any reason synth clear outta the water. however the problem is with vstis is shittie sound card = shittie sounds outta the vsti. example my friend he was about to give up kus he couldnt get any decent sounds outta any vstis no matter which he used but then he bought a m-audio 1814 firewire card and he litterly shit his pants when he heard the amazing sound differnce. so my suggestion is go onto ebay buy yourself an m-audio card, make sure it cna do atleast 96k sampleing and if you ahve the money get one that can do 192, then get fruity loops download a monterous library of vstis and then start fucken around. when i say fucken around i mean fucken around dive into ti head first till you atleast 100feet under then dont stop till your tracks sound medicore. it doesnt happen overnight for all people but some people it does, you will just have to see. off course this is my opion however to throw in peoples faces how crappy reason is i suggest you search for reason export limitations.... sorry reasons just is shit. yes you cna make alot of really good sounding tracks but people that use reason you can tell rather quickly its reason. many people say this is bullshit but just try it and youll see what i mean. anyhow i hope this helps any deuce... and rember smoking weed all weekend and working on production go hand in hand |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Mr.Mystery That's the biggest load of bullshit I've seen here. Ever. It's obvious the weed has gotten to you. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Mr.Mystery That's the biggest load of bullshit I've seen here. Ever. It's obvious the weed has gotten to you. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJ-Igloo Agreedx2 Reason can put Vsti's To shame if in the right hands As in the group Progression everything is created in reason its self. No other programs used cept to master. Its about the user not the software. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by mellankali On the topic of a soundcard, how might I be able to check to see if the one I am currently using is decent enough to support using a program like Fruity Loops? I ask mainly because I just downloaded the demo and was checking it out, and all the sounds I was getting sounded like crap. Everything was really fuzzy and distorted. Plus, I was reading ZxZDevil's posting, and checking out that firewire card thing mentioned, and my card definitely pails in comparison. However, I'm not sure I need something to that extent. It seemed like that was a good deal for people doing live studio recordings; which is far from where I am right now. Thanks! |
i'll tweak around with the wav settings and see what i can come up with. so thanks for the opinion on that. i don't have a bad computer, (3.02 p4 with 700 something mb ram). so i think that being able to just work with i have for right now is the most appealing as long as my sound card doesn't still suck after i get it to work with fruity loops, i'll be happy. but if it does, i'll search through the threads on here to see if there was a posting in the past.
agreed reason can do good shit but i still state that reason tracks that are done souly in reason are shit. not musically but sound wise it all sounds the same. now if you rewire reason then why even bother with reason just use cubase seriously now, its not a load of bullshit and soundcard does matter quite a bit with vstis. and to clearly say tis load of crap without evens aying whats crap si rather ignorant. what i siad was rather usefull, and no you dont need a bad ass card you just need one that can do higher smaple rates and can produce better sounds.
on another note is your soundcard a built in soundcard or not, usually built ins really suck ass. even going out and buyign a 20dollar sound blaster card will make things sound better
| quote: |
| Originally posted by ZxZDeViLZxZ agreed reason can do good shit but i still state that reason tracks that are done souly in reason are shit. not musically but sound wise it all sounds the same. now if you rewire reason then why even bother with reason just use cubase seriously now |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by ZxZDeViLZxZ agreed reason can do good shit but i still state that reason tracks that are done souly in reason are shit. not musically but sound wise it all sounds the same. now if you rewire reason then why even bother with reason just use cubase seriously now |
??? Sorry 'bout the double post. I really gotta fix my browser, this aint the first time this has happened.
thats why there are numours pdf guides and pressing f1 will point you in the right direction.
@ MASSIVE84 - I don't use Fruity Loops, but should he download the free ASIO driver to improve the latency of his generic soundcard? I use the ASIO4ALL driver on my laptop and it has works great with Cubase SX2. I only use my laptop when traveling but the ASIO4ALL driver seems stable and prevents latency issues.
Here's the link if you need it:
http://michael.tippach.bei.t-online.de/asio4all/
@ mellankali - Your PC sounds powerful enough to run FL for sure.
Get a midi keyboard (Evolution 249C is good) and you're in business. Then if you find that you're serious about making music, invest in a nice set of monitors (speakers) - Mackie HR824's will make you smile!
m0-0n
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