Yeh but a mouse will never inspire you like a keyboard.
I'm sure a carpenter can hammer nails with his forehead, but generally the right tool is gonna get you there quicker, and less painfully.

I do think too if you are just starting out, and don't know a single thing about music theory, it would be extremely stupid to try punching in melodies with a mouse.
With a keyboard you have 10 fingers working, with a mouse you have 1. You have a much higher chance of accidentally finding melodies (10x) compared to a mouse. And as a newb, you really need all the leverage you can get.

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Sequencers: FL Studio 9XXL & Reason 3.
Main Synth Bass GTs - Pro-53, V-Station, Sytrus, Subtractor, Trilian, Blue, Sylenth & Z3ta.
Main Synth Lead/Pad GTs - Z3ta, Sytrus, Sylenth, Vangard, Albino & Nexus.
Main FXs GTs - Waves Plugins, Soundtoys, Volcano, FL Native FX.
Hardware - Truths, Echo Audiofire, Virus Snow, & Novation Xio Midi-Synth.

quote:

Originally posted by IceColdWater I remember Andy Blueman saying in an interview that he doesn't have Midi keyboard. But that was probably years ago.

It wasn't too long ago but his new massive fame probably got him enough money to get one.

He said most of what he came up with was through playing on a qwerty keyboard, though, which is actually how I do a lot of it. Though he's not an ideal example, he started out writing orchestrated works (not surprisingly) and his works in that area are much more complicated than anything he's done with trance.

Thank you for your input guys, I really appreciate it.

I'm currently using Cubase 5 (I should say learning, more so than using) and using the soft-synths with a qwerty keyboard. It seems to work well enough, although I would imagine that a midi keyboard would make finding and hitting the appropriate notes/chords way easier.

That piano belongs to my girlfriend and it's kind of just sitting around so I was hoping it was possible to put it to use as a substitute in the meantime of acquiring a midi controller proper.

Thanks again for the advice!

Cheers!
-Ankh

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If you say "Beer Can" in a British accent, You're also saying "Bacon" in a Jamaican accent. =)

heaps of people, including a number of pros don't use them..

i rarely use one, unless i'm in the mood for some loose, live-feeling strings/pads or lead sounds...

it's nice to have one, but unless you can play the piano it's really not a necessity... just type em in

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-Everything I Say is a Lie-

quote:

Originally posted by Ankhsunamun I was wondering if anyone could offer an opinion about writing a track with their software alone, without the help of a MIDI keyboard. Is this method a viable option? Would you most likely or prefer to download a soft-synth as your alternative? Also would this keyboard be considered good enough/just as good/better than a standard midi keyboard? (As far as getting started is concerned) http://zeneszmagazin.hu/uploads/RD-300SX_1.jpg Any input is appreciated. -Ankh

not sure if this helps, but if you dont have a midi keyboard, there are vst's that can turn your computer keyboard into a midi type device that will let you play notes. you just have to learn where every key. not nearly as good as having a midi keyboard, but works if you dont.

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commercial and underground electronic music (house/techno/trance/other) will surpass today's hip hop/pop/rock/country in worldwide interest...if it has'nt already.

Isnt that already done for you...? My DAW has it built in to program your keyboard to do that when you enter the piano roll.

quote:

Originally posted by Kismet7 not sure if this helps, but if you dont have a midi keyboard, there are vst's that can turn your computer keyboard into a midi type device that will let you play notes. you just have to learn where every key. not nearly as good as having a midi keyboard, but works if you dont.

Yes, I can already do this with my QWERTY board. I didn't touch any settings, since I'm still an utter newb, but all I have to do is open a synth and my qwerty works just fine.

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If you say "Beer Can" in a British accent, You're also saying "Bacon" in a Jamaican accent. =)

the cubase getting started page used to say something like "having a midi keyboard is almost essential, while it is possible to make music without one, any serious musician should have some sort of midi keyboard" it made it sound like it was the number one priority of thingy to buy, perhaps the number two being a set of monitor speakers.

So I bought one, and it has collected a lot of dust over the past 6 years. I mostly use it to twist knobs and tap notes while im trying to program a synth or figure out the notes that correspond to whatever melody I thought of in my head. It helps to have it but I don't think it is as necessary as that help file told me it was.

one of these days I would really like to learn how to actually play it like a proper instrument though.