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Noob to productions...info please
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| orange_j |
Hello,
I have been into music for as long as i can remember and EDM since a young age. I Know the structures of songs and what elements comprise a good track. I Have also been a drummer for sometime and have made some really cool drum lines and hi-hat patterns. Through out the day i have basslines, melodies and percussions pounding through my brain. Being an amature DJ as well, i have always been interisted in creating some original productiuons.
Anyways, my delimma is that I am not soo good with computers and with so many music production programs and elements to those programs it all seems so overwhelming.
I also have a full professional recording studio at my disposal (rec. booths, mac G5, yamaha synth, waldorf sampler, A&H pro studio mixer etc) The main program used is digital performer.
I am looking for info (ie: book) and a suggestion as to what program I can start on at home to gain some knowledge.
Any input appreciated |
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| anjunaaddict |
hey dude.
the initial shock of "where the hell do is start" isnt as overwhelming as you might think. in tiem you will come to appreciate this.
anyways, i started at the very bottom on a drag and drop bassed porg called "Ejay". i thought me alot about structure and a little musical theory too. after a fair few years with that from the age of 14 or so (now 21), it braced me for actual mixing. so i thought sod it, im going to go for soemthing a little more advanced, and here i am on Fruity Loops.
you can start anywhere you like really but realise that its going to be tricky if you havent got any previous music experience.
these are the 5 most used programs; Fruity Loops, Cubase, Reason, Ableton and Logic (Mac only). FL being the cheapest ;)
id also recommend that, if you can, you get someone to show you the basics in this studio. it will really benifit you to get some basic hands on tips.
good luck with the future :) |
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| orange_j |
hey
thanks for the reply. I have been reading/reasearching about these programs and i think cubase might be the way to go for my home purposes. I am wondering what if any plug-ins i will need. im not quite sure exactly how this prog works. I have CDs full of samples/loops/kicks etc...What else do i need? Can i even create original sounds in SX3?
Sorry for such noobi-ness |
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| orange_j |
am i going to need a midi keyborad, like m-audio radium 49? For using cubase?
I have used digial performer a bit, and cubase has the same type of interface. That is why i may stick with it. |
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| dj_kane |
i started with cubase and reason. i ended up making the majority of tracks with reason as cubase was quite complicated. after a few months of asking so called 'dumb' questions on this forum i finally got my head around cubase. i now use cubase solely and have ditched reason.
cubase is a struggle to begin with but one day things just click with it and it becomes an awesome program. would definately recommend it. |
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| DJFreaq |
Ok. What is complicated about Cubase. For the love of Christ... if I hear one more complaint about it I'm going to stab someone.
Please rephrase your ASSESMENTS into COMPLAINTS.
Cubase isn't hard, it just isn't your thing and there's nothing wrong with it.
Personally, I love Cubase, and the work flow in it is JUST fine for me.
I love Reason as well. But let's not be retarded here.
It's either your thing or it isn't, don't whine about it being too hard too, you pussies. Music production isn't supposed to be easy, it's supposed to be a rewarding challenge not instant gratification.
If you want instant gratification. Go masturbate, and save yourself some time.
Love,
Adam Wrzeski |
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| Logout |
In my opinion Cubase SX is no more difficult than Fruity Loops.
Whichever program you use, you might want to begin by:
- Learning how sound in the real world works by oscillating air pressure.
- Learning about how digial audio is represented inside a computer. Learn what bit depth / sample rate means, what a nyquist rate is and what it means. Learn about oscilltors such as sine/triangle/sawtooth/square waves, and how these are used to create sound by synthesizers. Learn that amplitude is relative volume, and frequency is tone or notes.
- Learn how big the frequency range people can hear, and what we have to work in is.
- Learning about the different sorts of modulation, AM, FM, RM, what an LFO is, what a phaser, flanger, reverb are really doing.
- Learn about how two different sources of audio are mixed together by adding their waves amplitudes together, and become annoyed and enlighted when you learn what clipping is.
- Learn what MIDI is, and how it works.
- Learn how sound frequency relates to actual music notes, learn what the tempered scale is and how the frequency spectrum is divided in an even way. Learn some music theory, what octaves are and how the 12 notes in each octave relate to each other, how some notes will sound great together and others won't, and why that is.
- Get some software synthesizers and effects, and read the manuals. And read the manuals, and also read the manuals. Soft synths are honestly almost all the same stuff over and over again, just with different combinations of features, and different sound due to how the people who made it went about implementing the features. Try to learn one soft synth you really like really well, and then when you use ones you don't know, you will honestly see the same stuff again and again.
You will also see tons of things you learned above. Turn the knobs randomly, turn them with a specific purpose in mind, experiment, this is one of the funnest parts of electronic music.
- Find some tutorials for whatever software you're using, Cubase or FL or whatever.
- Want to get some insight into song structure? Drop an mp3 into your software, set the tempo the same, and measure out when things happen, and what order. Remember what you liked when you make your own tracks.
- There's more...
Learning all that seems like a lot of work, but it's not really work if you're interested in the topic. The above things have been written out by like a billion people on the net, so if you don't get something, just read someone else's descriptions.
I don't mean learn all this first and then try to make music, please around at making stuff while you learn.
With this small list you now have a really good starting point. Have fun. |
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| farris |
| quote: | Originally posted by Login
In my opinion Cubase SX is no more difficult than Fruity Loops.
Whichever program you use, you might want to begin by:
[Long rambling starts here]
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So, basically what you are saying is Music Production FAQ and The Tutorial "Master List"? :eek:
And +1 to DJFreaq. It might be overwhelming the first day maybe.
But hard? No.
Just remember: RTFM+Google are your friends.
- farris |
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| Logout |
Yeah that might do. :P |
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| orange_j |
HEYYY FIRST ALL,, i am not complaining about anything being hard. Nor is this a debate about which program is better.
I like the way cubase works and was simply inquiring about the m-audio controller. After researching, cubase seems to click best with me and i feel comfortable with that set up.
Logout: thanks for the input. You suggestions will be put into action. And just for the record i am not that much a noob. I know about sound waves, frequencies and depth to some degree. I also understand timings and structure of various genres of music.
tomorrow i will get battery from the studio to install on my home comp to use with cubasse. Im sure they'll be more questions. |
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| Logout |
| Nice. Good choice with Battery, I really find that program useful, even for things other than drums. It is rad. |
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| vccv |
Hi!
I found these books very useful:
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The trance Experience
http://www.sound.org/titles2.html
Dance Music Manual
http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Music-M...ie=UTF8&s=books
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The master tutorial list is also a very nice resource, but
theres something about reading on a piece of paper :)
Step 1
Start to play around in some "Click and Go" program like Fruity loops and go trough some of the included productions.
Step 2
When and if u find Fruity loops somewhat limiting move on to some more versatile sequencer like Cubase/Logic/DP.
Step 3
Get some nice samples like the ones from Vengeance. And get some nice Vstis like V-station which sounds great, is ez to program and cheap. Play around with the presets and start to alter them to your taste.
Step 4
Start producing.......
gl |
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