I'm a pure software boy - apart from the kit I can scrounge off friends, my trusty Bass-Station and MIDI controller keyboard. I'm running Logic, Cubase, Reason2.5 and a bunch of plug-ins, and using the M-Audio Delta 4/4 audio interface as a good compromise of price/quality.

I'm trying to phase out Cubase, but I like the Malstrom and the vocoder in Reason.

I normally start with beats - software sampler in Logic (these days), with a large collection of drum samples. I'll load in a few that sound good together, and tap out a rhythm on my keyboard. Normally I quantize that and slide the sequence delays around to get a groove, listening for the real start of each sample.

Then I'll run each sample out to a different channel, and apply whatever effects I need to improve the groove - gating is vital, I find, and separate reverb on the clap/snare.

After that, it's just playing with sounds really. No fixed method... Apart from trying to find sounds that 'fit' in the mix and don't clash. Maybe start with a bassline or two, arpeggios (played by hand for preference, as the automatic ones I find hard to work with - and usually uninspiring), pads, whatever.

Tequila