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opinions needed about a troublesome situation...
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| Paradigm |
I've looked through several previous posts and have found situations similar to mine, but not quite the same. I have an idea of what most of the answers to my questions are, but I'd really like to hear the answers given by people who have actual experience. (I guess I just need to hear it from someone else.) I'd ask someone I know but, quite frankly, I don't actually know anyone that produces any kind of EDM and the few people I know who claim to like trance think of it as "that trippy club music that's always like, 'oohm,chi,oohm,chi'". :o Those things said...
I'm an undergrad college student with most of my trumpet performance degree and about 1/3 of my electrical engineering degree finished. I've listened to and wanted to produce trance for about 5 years now, but always dismissed the production part as something I just plain couldn't afford. Among the rest of my music classes, I've had 2 years of theory, ear training, and piano as well as independent studies in composition and orchestral conducting. The situation I'm in now is this: I have a well-built (if rather old) pc with a $30 Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit sound card, some Logitech X-530 speakers and a used copy of Reason 3 from a friend(as well as ReBirth). I've screwed around off and on for a good while with the synths and effects in Reason and have become familiar with how trance is put together as well as many of the stickies/guides/etc from TA/TweakHeadz/FutureProducers. The library here is also ranked 15th or so in the nation. Honestly, I have yet to really get serious about learning any techniques since the huge amount of information at my disposal has made it all a bit daunting.
My (elongated) question is this: with my current budget ($100-200ish) I'm thinking of getting a keyboard and maybe scrounging up enough money for some sub-$100 headphones a little later (if it's worth it to get cheap ones). My girlfriend has some Bose QC-3s that she might let me borrow (doubtful though). Should I go ahead and do this now, or forget it and wait a few years until I'm out of school and have a few grand in disposable income? Would I really be able to get some good experience out of this setup with such low sound quality or would I just have to re-learn everything when I got better equipment? (I'm a little gun shy about things like this since, because I had no formal music training before college, I had to fix many bad habits and half-learned fundamental techniques in my playing... That was a TON of work and a generally bad experience. :nervous: ) For the keyboard, I'm considering either an oxygen 8/49 or an XBoard 25 (I'm thinking the extra keys won't make that much difference).
Sorry for the autobiography and thanks for any input. :happy2: |
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| Mr.Mystery |
I'd say get yourself a pair of proper headphones/monitors and a decent soundcard and worry about the keyboard later.
On "re-learning aspect" - experience is experience. It most certainly isn't wasted time if you stick to what you have for now (I've been Reason-exclusive myself for years and never even felt the need to upgrade) as most software and synths do pretty much the same thing in the end. Only the methods change. I think it's also better to progress in baby steps rather than get all the top-of-the-line stuff on one go, then find it all too daunting and give up (I've seen it happen way too often).
I just woke up so I'm not sure if I'm making any sense here, but that's my 2 cents anyway :p |
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| Eldritch |
| Get the headphones first. I recommend the AKG k240s. |
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| Nightshift |
Okay well since you do have a 24-bit soundcard and some speakers those should be fine as long as when you are mixing you use the correct speaker placement.
I think you should get yourself a pair of monitor headphones. The Audio Technica - ATH-M40 should be good. A producer friend of mine uses them and really likes them and they are pretty cheap.
As far as a keyboard I really don't think you should get either of those because neither supports USB 2 from what i understand (I read up on their specs for ya). I'm not sure if you're dead set on getting a midi keyboard with knobs and faders, but in the beginning you most likely won't need them you can just use the mouse to do everything so I would recommend the M-Audio Keyrig 49 to start out with because it supports USB 2.
If you do decide to do the headphone + keyboard/midi controller route then I think after you get the couple grand of disposable income you can upgrade things if you feel you need to. IMO once u get the money you should first get an audio interface such as the Echo Audiofire4 and then a nice pair of monitors and a sub before you go upgrading ur headphones or keyboard unless of course one or the other so happens to get wrecked for some reason.
I hope this helps you man. |
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| Nightshift |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mr.Mystery
I'd say get yourself a pair of proper headphones/monitors and a decent soundcard and worry about the keyboard later.
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I think he should get a keyboard because piano roll in Reason is not very fun at all when you are creating new melodies. I find it to be a hassle. Recording melodies by playing them is all the better especially since he has piano experience.
Monitors should not be a worry right now i believe because as long as he has speakers and can train his ears to produce his own music to sound alike mastered trance productions on his speaker setup then theres no problem there. Plus he will also have his headphones to guide him for in-depth EQ analysis. And considering some artists such as Daniel Kandi don't even use monitors then I believe that it is possible to get an awesome sound without them. |
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| echosystm |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nightshift
I really don't think you should get either of those because neither supports USB 2 |
usb1 is already alot faster than you need for midi, so there is absolutely no point in getting usb2.
OP: if i were you, i would get a 49 key behringer controller and a pair of akg 240 headphones. your soundcard is crap, but it will be ok for now. that will be the next thing you will want to upgrade. after that, get a pair of monitors. |
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| Nightshift |
| quote: | Originally posted by echosystm
usb1 is already alot faster than you need for midi, so there is absolutely no point in getting usb2.
OP: if i were you, i would get a 49 key behringer controller and a pair of akg 240 headphones. your soundcard is crap, but it will be ok for now. that will be the next thing you will want to upgrade. after that, get a pair of monitors. |
Only problem with this is that he's on a budget. AKGs average around 120$ and the Behringer keyboard is around 130. He's got a budget of 200$ max it seems and thats around 250+tax+shipping (unless he uses ebay or craigslist). If he has the extra 75-100$ then i agree with you 100%, but what i've given him is around a 170$ total if bought from ZZsounds and a lil extra room for tax+shipping and it will be all he really needs for now.;) |
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| Paradigm |
Thanks very much for the input, guys!
What about the behringer and the ATH-M40s? I'm thinking that sometime within the next 6-8 months I might be able to scrounge up enough for an audiophile 2496 or a emu 0404. The monitors may have to wait awhile longer though...
Btw, what's the difference b/t the berhinger 49 and the xboard? (besides having more keys) |
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| Nightshift |
| quote: | Originally posted by Paradigm
Thanks very much for the input, guys!
What about the behringer and the ATH-M40s? I'm thinking that sometime within the next 6-8 months I might be able to scrounge up enough for an audiophile 2496 or a emu 0404. The monitors may have to wait awhile longer though...
Btw, what's the difference b/t the berhinger 49 and the xboard? (besides having more keys) |
Honestly I dont think much. But since they are the same price (according the ZZsounds.com) I would go with the Behringer because from what I hear they are excellent with midi controllers and devices. I haven't heard much about Emu so I can't say much. But other benefits to the Behringer is the 49 keys instead of 25 given with teh Xboard because if you ever want to practice your piano fingering technique (via through a virtual piano VSTi) then you will want at least 49 keys. Also if you are indeed producing trance then 25 keys is often not enough to properly record pad sections without having to hassle alot with a piano roll. Unless space is a serious issue or you need to be frequently moving the device taking it places with you then I would go with the Behringer because overall you will get more use out of the extra keys that you dont get in the Xboard. |
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| RichieV |
| my god i expected you to have cancer or something. I don't know something about the way you went on and on , i thought it would be more than , i need a soundcard , type thread. Are you still tripping balls or something ? |
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| Paradigm |
1) Music is a very important part of my life and 2) $200 for something that may or may not work out is probably nothing to most people, but it's a big deal for me...
Sorry you wasted your time reading it... |
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| RichieV |
| why don't you work for a month ? I mean if music is really that important to you. I had about 20 000 in equipment at your age. Surely you could work the odd weekend ? |
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