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Studio Equip
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| joegalvan |
Ok , so I am inquiring on making a studio. I am thinking about synths, a Mackie mixing board, monitors, and other various devices. I am defiantly open to suggestions on the hardware along with software. Also, I will be wanting either the Pioneer cdj-1000 mk2 or the Newmark CDX.
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| DjArTiN! |
| Get the Pioneer. It's better than the Numark. |
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| Nemesis44 |
Might wanna give us an idea of your budget, as there are tons of things which would be nice to have but might not be cost effective.
If you are talking studio hardware and you want to get into producing then one of my favourites is the Access virus C (Lead sounds a la M.I.K.E) or the Nordrack. You might also want to consider going the software route, just as good and perhaps a little cheaper.
As for the CDJ, forget the Numark if you can afford the Pioneer.
Cheers
Nem |
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| joegalvan |
Well , when the time comes... I should have close to 15 - 20k maybe more. I do want to get into producing but i also want to do recording as well. I would also like a vocal room for some tracks as well.. My main use will be for recording and producing, but i also want it to be a multi-purpose studio as well, I.E visual and want not
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| Derivative |
i can definitely help you out on the production side of things...
hardware synths:
access virus - very very prominant bass on this machine. owing to the number of DSP effects you can put on each voice - up to a total of 32 voices with 4 oscillators and 2 filters per voice. thats a ridiculous number of effects on a ridiculous number of simultaneous sounds for every patch you make. you can hear the factory presets on the the access website and the presets are better than what i can make using a stack of 10 or so vanguards (a decent, cheap VSTi). needless to say. EVERYONE and their mother has one of these. if you are looking into persuing DJing in the studio you should deffo consider this machine if you can afford it cuz it does cost an arm and a leg. the reason why? you can route any external sound source through the viruses LFO and filter and effects unit. that means if you have a sampler you can loop a beat, send it into the input on the virus and filter sweep it. make it sound like its underwater and gradually rising to the surface. or distort it. LFO sweep it. you can do this from a turntable too so a virus makes for interesting live DJing possibilities once you get used to how subtractive synthesis works. its got a pretty decent vocoder on it too. this is one of those synths that you can put right in the front of your mix and it wont sound tinny or hollow or cheap. however, theres a tendancy to overuse this machine. already ive heard some virus presets in well known tunes. it wont make you a better producer if you start out with one of these because you will be less inclined to program other synths when you can get fab results just by randomizing presets. if you do get this synth i urge you to build your own instruments - in the long run it will make you a better producer than those virus preset wonders VNV nation.
roland JP8080 - THE trance synth. every song on clubbers guide 2003 has one of these. you can here it because it has an unmistakable sound. its been discontinued so the only way to find one is second hand or on ebay or something. it has a vocoder on it so you can do live vocal improvisations on it nicely. if your DJ kit is all midi compatible you can hook this up to your rig and do your own filter sweeping fills just like half of every trance anthem under the sun. this is also the only synth where you can get the famed supersaw. other synths like the virus can do multiple detuned saws but it never sounds the same as the JP. lots of producers in the production forum have this although in production terms its really showing its age, with only 4 parts multitimbrality. if you plan on producing on the side you may find this restrictive. it doesent flatter you like a virus can. but if you work with you can make some gorgeous sounds out of it. its also a damn sight cheaper than the virus.
novation supernova - expensive and hard to find but its a beast. its not as aggressive as the virus but it has a thick full bodied kind of sound that is very flattering (like any great instrument it makes the player sound better than they actually are. heheheh). insane number of effects per voice (more than the virus i believe). the supernova 2 has a higher polyphony too which is useful if like creating lush, huuuuuge epic pads.
sequencers:
in your case i have only 1 suggestion:
ableton live - this thing is a dream come true for live performers. i have the delta version from m-audio, a slightly cut back edition i got with my soundcard. its easy to use, well layed out. the drum loops that come with it are good so its easy to get started. its very easy to rearrange patterns and loops on the fly making this a perfect compliment to DJs who want to keep forging away at their trade but also want to bring production into a live environment. if you get good with live and you plan your sets in advance and are willing to the instrument programming and arrangement at home you can virtually remix songs live. lovely peice of software that has already got a cult following.
software synths:
theres alot here so i cant go too in depth.
reFX vanguard: my softsynth of choice. easy to program. the layout is clean and it makes sense. its cheap at only 60 quid and its extremely versatile owing to the built in effects (delay, reverb, arp, trancegate, distortion) and the number of oscillator settings (including some very unique ones like r2d2). the presets on this machine dont do it justice because they are very singleminded (i.e. hard trance). you can get a mind boggling variety of souns out of it. vanguard likes to sit back in a mix cuz it has a characteristically warm and blurry sound. when you make leads out of it you really need to work with them to get them to sit comfortably at the front. this synth is a MONSTER for pads. pretty much all my pads are a combination of vanguards. watch the cpu load. with high polyphony, vanguard can crush your PC.
rgc audio z3ta+ - one of the few softsynths that i have used that has a hard clean kind of sound, suited to aggressive leads. 6 oscillators, huge effects unit. definitely one of those synths that like to be at the front of your mix. like the nord lead and access virus it has this unique kind of quality whereby you can put it in an old song and it can just cut straight through it. this synth can be complicated and requires a lot of knowledge of production and subtractive synthesis to really get the most out of it. it wont flatter you instantly. you really need to work on it. the CPU load is gigantic so you cant have more than a few of these running before it gets unbearable. i made a very aggressive drum and bass track using just the zeta demo (4 instances) and free drum single shots. the sub bass on this synth is very tight, clean and prominant. bass in general is much tighter than vanguard. it can do pads very well too but they are characteristically clean and hard (and as a result can sometimes sound cold in comparison to vanguard which sounds like its every at once in the pad department). this synth is on my to buy list and i really recommend it.
linplug albino - sort of somewhere between vanguard and zeta in that it neither seems to sit as far back as vanguard or jump at you like zeta. its a middle row kind of synth. bass reproduction is a little bit blurry in the sub range and the cutoff on the filter has this weird resonance kind of effect which makes it hard to make basses with bite. very versatile instrument that has a huge mod matrix where you can program your own arp patterns, something that lal the above synths cannot do. it is however confusing as hell and i find programming it awkward owing to the fact that it likes to hide most of its features in little tabs. the filter on this thing is weird and i dont particularly like it. very good for sequenced sounds though.
software romplers:
these are essentially synths that dont get their sound source from a flat frequency oscillator but rather from a sample. they are sort of hybrids between samplers and synths that very often sound fantastic but are less versatile than both.
spectrasonics atmosphere - very popular in the production studio. if you want lush pads and choral sounds then this is the rompler for you. costs 200 quid. gigantic library of samples (something like 6 gigs) but has the brilliant quality whereby you can add it to older tracks and it just seems to slot in nicely more often than not (whereas most of the time when i do this with other synths it just upsets the mix and everything sounds blurry or muffled or it obscures some other instrument in the mix). this is a pad machine only though.
USB ultra focus - gigantic rompler with an even bigger sample library than atmosphere. in the same league in sound quality terms but much more versatile. ultra focus can kind of do everything. basses, leads, pads, you name it. its more expensive but lots of people on KVR regard it as easily one of the best softsynths of 2004.
samplers:
korg electribe (hardware) - you will want one of these. either the emx-1 or the esx-1 if you afford it although there are still alot of cheaper, older models available. has a step sequencer on board so that programming your own percussion loops is logical and easy. wide range of on board effects and a synth filter section for some warped fills. extremely good for sequenced sounds which you can layer over a song in the mix, provided all your gear is midi synced. this toy is also fun to play with.
native instruments kontakt (software) - the advantage of this over the electribe is that its library of samples is limited to the size of your HD which is many many many times bigger than the memory of any hardware sampler and, if you got your rig on a PC or laptop its very convenient. ive been using the demo for a while and i admit to finding it difficult to use. all of its features are hidden within sub menus and sub sub menus and windows and tabs making it frustrating to use when you first start out. the CPU load isnt too bad though (a suprise from NI!)
if i assume you will be purchasing maybe one from each category id be prepared to shell out around about 3 or 4 grand. which is alot of money and alot of stuff you are gonna have to learn to scratch even the surface of all this gear and what it can do with your DJ rig. one of each would also make it a better studio than mine by quite a long way. certainly more versatile. but alot of this stuff is already very highly regarded and future proofed for at least the next couple of years so there wont be many who would say you are making a bad purchase.
my recommendation. dont go blowing 20 grand in one go. you will have more toys than you know what to do with and you wont even touch the surface of 1 of those instruments. it is far better that you accrue them 1 by 1 giving yourself time with each to really get into the instrument, get an idea of the possibilities of it and master some of the basics of it before moving onto a new toy. if you get them all in one go you WILL be less inclined to really get underneath the surface of each one. ive had vanguard for a year and im constantly fiddling with it. every song i write i find something new i can do with it and after a year i still dont feel like ive made the most out of this instrument. i havent even touched the surface of albino or z3ta+.
its entirely possible to get amazing results out of just those 3 synths and a PC and free drum samples off the net. but if you got a virus from day one its highly unlikely you will use any of these instruments when you can get out of the box what normally takes these softsynths, several years of experience. |
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| djkoolaide |
| wow, great post Derivative!! |
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| Derivative |
| sometimes i get a bit carried away... |
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| cheesy |
I've played with the Korg Electribe EMX-1 and ESX-1 for a few minutes, and they're a lot of fun. At what point would you recommend a newbie producer like myself purchase one?
I'm thinking about first buying a MIDI/USB controller for use with Reason and whatnot (like the M-Audio Ozone/Oxygen/Radium/Evolution/etc series controllers). I imagine that I could then use the MIDI keyboard to control the EMX-1.
Another question, can I use the EMX-1 as a MIDI controller for my computer? It would be cool to map the EMX-1 knobs and whatnot to the corresponding controls on Reason instrucments, etc. |
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| Derivative |
you cannot use the electribe as your midi controller because it isnt really a midi controller. it has a step sequencer. at least the emx and esx-1 do. some older models have a piano octave (like the roland tb303) although it functions like a step sequencer and isnt really suitable for playing on. its only got 1 octave!
you can hook it up via midi and play sounds from the electribe on the keyboard but i dont find that this has much use. the main strength of the electribe is sequencing your own loops and patterns either for use in production or to add a new dimension to live sets. you dont actually need a midi controller for use with reason or any sequencer although it is useful. you can however map every rotary or slider in your host to a rotary or slider on your midi keyboard.
with regards to purchasing an electribe, if you are into DJing and have always wanted a sampler, this one is a popular choice. if you can afford it and you are willing to sit down and take the time to learn what it can do and really try to use it to its limits then id say go treat yourself to one for christmas :D the thing i like most about the electribe was that it was fun to use. one of my mates has the emx-1. i have to say it looks better next to my rack gear in my room than it does next to his turntables. ehehehehh :p . i borrow it occassionally in exchange for my alesis rack EQ cuz he knows dual 31 bands are better than the 3 hes got on his djm500 |
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