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I want to start making trance music and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if the products I'm thinking about buying are a good way to start.

The program I'll be buying is Acoustica Mixcraft 4:
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/

and I will buying the 25 key Oxygen 8 v2 by M-Audio
http://www.guitarcenter.com/M-Audio...648-i1154827.gc

As far as I can tell it seems to be a pretty solid set but I'm only a beginner so if someone can tell me different, please do. Also, I'm looking to spend no more than $200. The subtotal for what I'm buying now is $177.05 so it's a pretty good deal for me. Also, will I have to do any complicated programming? I had an Axiom 25 which I returned because it was too complicated. What can I expect with the above setup? And, is this program (mixcraft 4) good for creating trance and dance music? That's what I really want most of all. Is the Oxygen 8 v2 compatible with Windows Media Center? The Axiom 25 wasn't and I had to return for that reason also. Should I even buy another program or is the stuff that comes with it alright?

What are you trying to do with Windows Media Center?

Nothing, it's just what I have. I really just need to know if this is good or not. Please?

EDIT:
I should mention I'm 16 so it's not like I have a steady paycheck to buy expensive equipment with. My computer has Media Center so that's what I have to work with.

seriously? no one can tell me anything? I thought that this place being called trance addict there might be someone who could help. I just don't want to make a stupid mistake (like with the axiom)

.

Re: Is this a good setup?

quote:

Originally posted by floyd741 I want to start making trance music and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if the products I'm thinking about buying are a good way to start. The program I'll be buying is Acoustica Mixcraft 4: http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/ and I will buying the 25 key Oxygen 8 v2 by M-Audio http://www.guitarcenter.com/M-Audio...648-i1154827.gc As far as I can tell it seems to be a pretty solid set but I'm only a beginner so if someone can tell me different, please do. Also, I'm looking to spend no more than $200. The subtotal for what I'm buying now is $177.05 so it's a pretty good deal for me. Also, will I have to do any complicated programming? I had an Axiom 25 which I returned because it was too complicated. What can I expect with the above setup? And, is this program (mixcraft 4) good for creating trance and dance music? That's what I really want most of all. Is the Oxygen 8 v2 compatible with Windows Media Center? The Axiom 25 wasn't and I had to return for that reason also. Should I even buy another program or is the stuff that comes with it alright?

If you want to know whether or not a keyboard is going to work with your computer, look up the required specifications.

Second, you don't necessarily need a midi keyboard to make music. You can just paint notes in the piano roll.

You'll want to try any kind of music program before you buy it. You might want to give Fruity Loops a try. Different versions run from $50 to $300 dollars. I would think there are a ton of tutorials for using Fruity Loops.

http://flstudio.image-line.com/documents/what.html

I hope that helps.

I know I don't need a MIDI controller but I want one. I've heard good things about FL before but I didn't know they had a $50 version, will probably get that. I asked about media center compatibility because guitar center doesn't say it ISN'T compatible, but it doesn't say it IS compatible either. Is there any other controller someone might recommend that's no more expensive than $150? And preferably xp media center compatible?

dang, looked on the m-audio website and it seems nothing is compatible with media center. might as well forget about it since that probably means nothing by any brand is.

damn.

Media center edition is just windows xp home but a tad different. It will work if it works on XP. And it does.

The m-audio keyboard should work fine with Windows Media Edition, which is essentially the same as XP. You could email their support just to verify this, but I don't think that you're going to have any problem. My old laptop had Media Edition and my Novation, E-mu, and Akai controllers all worked perfectly with it.

I am 15 and just started producing about a year ago, if you need some help pm your aim/msn/email.

As for what your thinking of buying now, i have never heard of the program so probably not the best. If you need a sequencer for cheap Reaper is a great option. I know many memebers here use it. It is $50 for a non commercial use version, meaning you can't release tracks with it, however by the time you are ready for that you probably will have moved on by then.

As for the keyboard go for the M-Audio Oxygen 49 its $139.99 at guitar center but i got them to match the price for me so i got it for $110.00.


Edit you will also need some software synths and effects to get started so here are some really ace freeones:

Ichiro Toda Synth 1 This is a great synth another user gave away a soundbank of theirs i'll see if i can dig it up.

Fuzzpilz oatmeal This is a pretty versatile synth, a lot of members swear by it but i never got into it.

Smart Electronic Ambience is a great reverb plugin.

Kjaerhus Audio Classic Series A bunch of super great plugins; delay,reverb,chorus, filter.


Camel Crusher one of the best freeware distortions.


Now that you have a few plugins you'll need to learn the basics, so here are some things that helped me out.


http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...7&forumid=48&s=

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=224021

WIll edit this later. good luck

I use XP MCE and it works 100% like normal XP does.

quote:

Originally posted by pwnage1 I am 15 and just started producing about a year ago, if you need some help pm your aim/msn/email. As for what your thinking of buying now, i have never heard of the program so probably not the best. If you need a sequencer for cheap Reaper is a great option. I know many memebers here use it. It is $50 for a non commercial use version, meaning you can't release tracks with it, however by the time you are ready for that you probably will have moved on by then. As for the keyboard go for the M-Audio Oxygen 49 its $139.99 at guitar center but i got them to match the price for me so i got it for $110.00. Edit you will also need some software synths and effects to get started so here are some really ace freeones: Ichiro Toda Synth 1 This is a great synth another user gave away a soundbank of theirs i'll see if i can dig it up. Fuzzpilz oatmeal This is a pretty versatile synth, a lot of members swear by it but i never got into it. Smart Electronic Ambience is a great reverb plugin. Kjaerhus Audio Classic Series A bunch of super great plugins; delay,reverb,chorus, filter. Camel Crusher one of the best freeware distortions. Now that you have a few plugins you'll need to learn the basics, so here are some things that helped me out. http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...7&forumid=48&s= http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=224021 WIll edit this later. good luck

So Reaper, the Oxygen 49, and those plugins. Sounds good. And the price of the Oxygen is actually at $118.15 now so that's cool.

Thanks! This definitely helped out a lot.

AND, For those who say stuff worked on Media Center, do you hav M-Audio products that you use on MCE? I know that other products might work, but do M-audio (specifically) work. the website says no, that's why I'm wondering.

Go HERE and look at the lost of stuff that doesn't work.

And M-audio says it's not compatible either.

So unless someone can say differently, from experience, I need to get a different controller. So if someone could help me out there...

Otherwise, I THINK I know a person who can get it to me for free, so it won't be a big problem. I still have to talk to them, I'll update on this later. Because if the DO have it, I'm buying the Oxygen.

you should also definitly look into propellerhead reason 4.0. its a all-in-one software and ive made all my tracks up to now with it. its really great, stabile, PC-friendly and theres alot of support/knowledge to gain on these forums if ur stuck, caus so many are using it. and its cheap i think its 399USD?

quote:

Originally posted by palm you should also definitly look into propellerhead reason 4.0. its a all-in-one software and ive made all my tracks up to now with it. its really great, stabile, PC-friendly and theres alot of support/knowledge to gain on these forums if ur stuck, caus so many are using it. and its cheap i think its 399USD?

No. I said in my first post that I was spending no more than $200. $400 > $200. And I like the way Reaper looks, haven't gotten the free trial yet but I will later to see if I'll buy it. Probably will, it's full functionality at $50. With FL Studio, you can only get the Express version at $50. Express is definitely not full functionality.

I still want to know if anyone has successfully used an M-Audio product on XP Media Center.

For $200 i reccomend not buying anything and save up for some better gear. If you want to make electronic music then i would reccomend going for one of the DAWs with more advanced features such as Cubase, FL, Reason, Ableton or logic (if you were willing to upgrade to mac).

You'll probably need more than 25 keys on your keyboard if thats how you write your melodies as well. You can write your melodies with the piano roll but it will take much longer doing it by trial and error rather than simply playing out a melody, recording it and the quantizing it.

Also, something else you will definately need is a synthesizer(s) of your choosing. I recommend searching these forums for people recommended synths. If i were you I'd go for a software synthesizer at this stage, theres tonnes of good ones available most of which come at under �100, which is quite cheap.

Youll also need a good pair of studio monitors, a good set of effects and plugins (reverbs, delays etc.), and of course dedication. If you're unwilling to spend any more than $200 or to wait until you have enough then youre unlikely to get anywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Scott For $200 i reccomend not buying anything and save up for some better gear. If you want to make electronic music then i would reccomend going for one of the DAWs with more advanced features such as Cubase, FL, Reason, Ableton or logic (if you were willing to upgrade to mac). You'll probably need more than 25 keys on your keyboard if thats how you write your melodies as well. You can write your melodies with the piano roll but it will take much longer doing it by trial and error rather than simply playing out a melody, recording it and the quantizing it. Also, something else you will definately need is a synthesizer(s) of your choosing. I recommend searching these forums for people recommended synths. If i were you I'd go for a software synthesizer at this stage, theres tonnes of good ones available most of which come at under �100, which is quite cheap. Youll also need a good pair of studio monitors, a good set of effects and plugins (reverbs, delays etc.), and of course dedication. If you're unwilling to spend any more than $200 or to wait until you have enough then youre unlikely to get anywhere.

Completely agree with all of the above.
With $200 you arent going to be able to buy anything decent that you can continue using over time. I highly recommend reason, it is easily the best all in one piece of software out there. And to top it all off they even give you a bunch of free samples that are pretty when starting off with.

Reason will teach you the basics of synthesis and pretty far beyond to be honest, there are tons of professional artists in the EDM scene that use it to great success IE: Daniel Kandi, DJ Eco, Re Ward, Claude VonStroke, so many others as well.

It is extremely versatile because when you decide that you would like to buy a new DAW that allows for VSTi and VST support, Reason is fully integratable as its own instrument via the rewire function.

reason also very often comes in bundles with midikeyboard and soundcard. when i got reason first time i got a edirol midikeyboard and m-audio 2496 soundcard at a very good price. but if u dont have 400-500 usd just use reaper and the internal soundcard on your comp until u have that money. dont get the hardware 1 and 1.

quote:

Originally posted by Stef Completely agree with all of the above. With $200 you arent going to be able to buy anything decent that you can continue using over time.

You can't buy any thing you will continue using, well skills aren't something you can buy. When i started producing i was on a pentium 4 1.8 ghz computer with an echo audiofire and a cracked version of fl studio. Also, i was using all free plug ins. From this i was able to learn synthesis, i was able to learn mixing, eqing, what sounds good together, drum programming, and plenty more.

I don't think you should hold off on producing to save money. That defeats the purpose really. Producing electronic music used to be about cool music on shit equipment. You can make a high quality production on anything but most of all you can learn on anything. By the time you are good enough you will already probably have moved on and have learned a lot.

Ps. Your sixteen go get a job.

quote:

Originally posted by pwnage1 I don't think you should hold off on producing to save money. That defeats the purpose really.

I agree 100%. Buy what you can afford, download freebies (check out kvr.com's huge database of free plugins), and get busy making some music. You can always upgrade as you go along - that's what we all do, right, guys?!

A MIDI keyboard/controller, Reaper or FLStudio, and some free plugins will get you going without a big investment.

One last word of advice - it's very easy to get lost in the sea of free plugins available on the web and become totally counterproductive in trying too many of them out. I suggest starting with the ones that come bundled with your DAW/sequencer and/or just downloading the basics until you get them figured out, then decide what your needs are. That said, there are a handful of widely used freebies out there (e.g., Kjaerhus Classic plugins, Synth1, Crystal, Glitch, etc.) that are excellent starting points.

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik I agree 100%. Buy what you can afford, download freebies (check out kvr.com's huge database of free plugins), and get busy making some music. You can always upgrade as you go along - that's what we all do, right, guys?! A MIDI keyboard/controller, Reaper or FLStudio, and some free plugins will get you going without a big investment. One last word of advice - it's very easy to get lost in the sea of free plugins available on the web and become totally counterproductive in trying too many of them out. I suggest starting with the ones that come bundled with your DAW/sequencer and/or just downloading the basics until you get them figured out, then decide what your needs are. That said, there are a handful of widely used freebies out there (e.g., Kjaerhus Classic plugins, Synth1, Crystal, Glitch, etc.) that are excellent starting points.

I know that it is silly to save money for stuff but you see, a lot of sound hardware isn't compatible with my current version of Windows. (XP Media Center) So until I have money to buy XP Home or Professional, I'm not buying anything.

It's not a terrible thing though. I'm in a class at school called Music Technology where we make music with GarageBand. I can still make music but unfortunately, the projects aren't always trance-friendly. I dislike the fact that we aren't given free choice but oh well. Any times that the style is open I try to make something trance or dance like. I'm in the second of three levels of the class so I have this semester of school and next year then I'm done with free music production. Luckily I'm getting a job over the summer so I can begin building a little studio.

So thanks for all the help but with my cash limitations it's tough.

quote:

Originally posted by floyd741 I know that it is silly to save money for stuff but you see, a lot of sound hardware isn't compatible with my current version of Windows. (XP Media Center) So until I have money to buy XP Home or Professional, I'm not buying anything.

quote:

Originally posted by Fledz I use XP MCE and it works 100% like normal XP does.

quote:

Originally posted by Fledz

Obviously you have no idea what you're talking about. XP and XP MCE, although similar, are different. Where XP is the same all around, MCE is customized by companies to fit the needs of their specific products. For this reason, a lot of audio hardware does not work with MCE. This has been explained on different sites, M-Audio warns of it, and Sweetwater has a list of incompatible products. Maybe you're using something that does work. I was going to buy M-Audio and M-Audio does not work and it has been proven that even if it does work it is not uncommon to have a sudden loss of functionality.

quote:

Originally posted by floyd741 Obviously you have no idea what you're talking about. XP and XP MCE, although similar, are different. Where XP is the same all around, MCE is customized by companies to fit the needs of their specific products. For this reason, a lot of audio hardware does not work with MCE. This has been explained on different sites, M-Audio warns of it, and Sweetwater has a list of incompatible products. Maybe you're using something that does work. I was going to buy M-Audio and M-Audio does not work and it has been proven that even if it does work it is not uncommon to have a sudden loss of functionality.

Experience > Warnings

As well id like to point out that you cant really say someone doesnt know what theyre talking about when you don't either (hence you asking on forums). Im 16 and i have cash limitations, I just work more and work harder for the cash.

quote:

Originally posted by pwnage1 I don't think you should hold off on producing to save money. That defeats the purpose really.

I agree as well, that wasnt what i was trying to say, you definately shouldnt hold up on something you want to do, but there is an entry level for everything and you can't really start producing unless you have at least an entry level DAW and equipment; i.e FL Studio (an easy to use example)

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