When Producing...

[DJCraig Ryan]

Just trying to get some ideas in my head...On average when producing how much software/hardware are you looking at in order to be producing decent releasable tunes in the long run?

Will you always need hardware or nowadays can the PC/Laptop and right software do everything required when producing a tune??

Is the Laptop the better option than a PC??
I
m after getting into production soon, so any help to a newbie in this field greatly appreciated...


Cheers, Craig.

[nova]

hey there. a lap top is just easyer to take round with you i think. if your gonna play your music out from a computer. then a laptop will be easyer to move. think the dedet is a desktop pc is abit more power ful then a laptop. laptops are fat now anyway init. some whould hav both im sure. with abit more power somtimes chould be less work. like having more plugs running with out the need to bounce as much to free up the power.

alot whould say hardware and software together i think. but software is cheaper to buy.

ok man. theres my bit

[DJCraig Ryan]

hey there. a lap top is just easyer to take round with you i think. if your gonna play your music out from a computer. then a laptop will be easyer to move. think the dedet is a desktop pc is abit more power ful then a laptop. laptops are fat now anyway init. some whould hav both im sure. with abit more power somtimes chould be less work. like having more plugs running with out the need to bounce as much to free up the power.

alot whould say hardware and software together i think. but software is cheaper to buy.

ok man. theres my bit

Cheers for the reply man ;)

[nova]

no probs dude

[DJCraig Ryan]

39 views and nobody apart from Nova to reply...

[RDR]

Well im here to remedy that...

The hardware vs software debate has raged since the dawn of time, but there is one thing that really rings true - the combination of both is the real king. So WHAT combo?

IT is down to your personal prefence, there is no one piece of software that will provide you with instant satisfaction and no one piece of hardware that gives you instant massive sounds.

Here are some basic tips for you.

1. Download and play with some sequencers (im not advocating software piracy as the end all, but if you treat it SOLEY as a try before buy solution you can really get the feel of each sequencer over a few months)
2. Then BUY the sequencer, the support and feeling is worth it.

Here is a breakdown IMO of what each sequencer is good for

Cubase - Excellent in place editing and support for PC/MAC VST support and great project management
Logic - Not as accessible as cubase, BUT way more configurable and with vastly better built in synths MAC ONLY
PRO-TOOLS - recording and editing quality brilliance - mac/pc and m-audio hardware/digidesign dependant, VERY stable
Sonar - No comment, dont know it enough
Ableton - Superb live but not my choice for production
Fruityloops - A loop sequencer PAR excellence, internal routing possiblites to make you weep.

Generally each of these have their own plus/minus faults etc, so its best to find out by trying which ones make you feel GOOD.

Whichever one you choose you must learn it inside out, get a decent interface and RTFM. If you learn it to the point you dont need to think about it then it becomes an instrument in itself and thats when the composition really starts...

Platformwise it depends on your finances, although the new iMACS cost only 700 or there abouts and are not as portable as a laptop, but more portable than a P.C. Expect to spend at least 700 on a decent computer to run things. Personally speaking i dont really care about which OS as it doesnt matter.

What does matter is the quality of your soundcard, get the best you can afford, it will reap rewards later. In playback of sequence and recording of those synths.

If you are new to synths then i recommend a basic virutal analog, second hand, spend 400 and you could get a Nord Rack, a K-Station or even a Acces Virus B. Spend time learning how to program it and the sounds will start to flow.

Other things to learn

Compression
Subtractive EQ
effective FX editing

and FINALLY

LEARN AN AUDIO EDITOR...

HTH

[nova]

fecking mixer is easyer on logic then cubase. it gets so big in cubase

[RDR]

fecking mixer is easyer on logic then cubase. it gets so big in cubase

You can configure the mixer if memory serves...

[nova]

maybe another day lol!

[DJCraig Ryan]

Well im here to remedy that...

The hardware vs software debate has raged since the dawn of time, but there is one thing that really rings true - the combination of both is the real king. So WHAT combo?

IT is down to your personal prefence, there is no one piece of software that will provide you with instant satisfaction and no one piece of hardware that gives you instant massive sounds.

Here are some basic tips for you.

1. Download and play with some sequencers (im not advocating software piracy as the end all, but if you treat it SOLEY as a try before buy solution you can really get the feel of each sequencer over a few months)
2. Then BUY the sequencer, the support and feeling is worth it.

Here is a breakdown IMO of what each sequencer is good for

Cubase - Excellent in place editing and support for PC/MAC VST support and great project management
Logic - Not as accessible as cubase, BUT way more configurable and with vastly better built in synths MAC ONLY
PRO-TOOLS - recording and editing quality brilliance - mac/pc and m-audio hardware/digidesign dependant, VERY stable
Sonar - No comment, dont know it enough
Ableton - Superb live but not my choice for production
Fruityloops - A loop sequencer PAR excellence, internal routing possiblites to make you weep.

Generally each of these have their own plus/minus faults etc, so its best to find out by trying which ones make you feel GOOD.

Whichever one you choose you must learn it inside out, get a decent interface and RTFM. If you learn it to the point you dont need to think about it then it becomes an instrument in itself and thats when the composition really starts...

Platformwise it depends on your finances, although the new iMACS cost only 700 or there abouts and are not as portable as a laptop, but more portable than a P.C. Expect to spend at least 700 on a decent computer to run things. Personally speaking i dont really care about which OS as it doesnt matter.

What does matter is the quality of your soundcard, get the best you can afford, it will reap rewards later. In playback of sequence and recording of those synths.

If you are new to synths then i recommend a basic virutal analog, second hand, spend 400 and you could get a Nord Rack, a K-Station or even a Acces Virus B. Spend time learning how to program it and the sounds will start to flow.

Other things to learn

Compression
Subtractive EQ
effective FX editing

and FINALLY

LEARN AN AUDIO EDITOR...

HTH

Nice 1 fella! Some good advice there for me to look at, will take this into account ;)

[danielmarshall]

I'd reccomend starting with Reason 3. The erm.. reasons for this are that it

1.) is a fairly easy DAW to learn if you don't know anything about writing electronic music
2.) has a large support base with lots of tutorials on the interenet
3.) follows the hardware paradigm quite closely and teaches you how more or less how stuff in the "physical world" is set up/ routed

I personaly don't use the package, but it's not bad at all in terms of the quality of the synths/ samples you get with it. You will most likely want to move on to another system when you have the expertise to do so or are sick of being crammed into a Propelorheads-only world (it doesn't let you use any external software, a;lthough you can control it through another application if you want).

FL Studio is another program worth checking out, though it's quite different to almost everything else out there. A bit of a bastard hybrid between a step sequencer and a traditional sequencer. I use it a fair bit although my main weapon of choice as of a few months ago is Cubase SX2. Allot of power under the hood there, and good for more than just doof doof.

[DJCraig Ryan]

I'd reccomend starting with Reason 3. The erm.. reasons for this are that it

1.) is a fairly easy DAW to learn if you don't know anything about writing electronic music
2.) has a large support base with lots of tutorials on the interenet
3.) follows the hardware paradigm quite closely and teaches you how more or less how stuff in the "physical world" is set up/ routed

I personaly don't use the package, but it's not bad at all in terms of the quality of the synths/ samples you get with it. You will most likely want to move on to another system when you have the expertise to do so or are sick of being crammed into a Propelorheads-only world (it doesn't let you use any external software, a;lthough you can control it through another application if you want).

FL Studio is another program worth checking out, though it's quite different to almost everything else out there. A bit of a bastard hybrid between a step sequencer and a traditional sequencer. I use it a fair bit although my main weapon of choice as of a few months ago is Cubase SX2. Allot of power under the hood there, and good for more than just doof doof.

Thanks for the reply man ;)
I'm just a bit stuck now deciding on whether to buy a laptop or desktop! I want a laptop for the obvious reasons - size/playing out etc but in your opinion what is the best choice?? Because some 1 has told me for the price you pay for a laptop you can put the money to a more powerful pc/you will get a better spec! But i really wanted the laptop so i can play out etc etc

[nova]

he's probo right. you can still play out from a desk top pc. i whouldnt want to take my carillon desktop out it weighs a fecking ton. if you realy want a laptop. why not!. get best spec you can afford. or just spend more time at home on a desktop making music. at the end of the day it doesnt realy matter long as its powerful anoth and you get the job done! chould spend a year on making your tracks. then buy that time chould of saved for a laptop. it makes no odds as long as the music is getting made. lap tops are cool tho. can just whack it in ya bag. pull it out roung ya mates house and start making a tune.

[danielmarshall]

What kind of setup do you want to use to play out live? Final Scratch won't chew up much resources and you'd be able to get away with a pretty cheap machine. Same story with Ableton Live, though if you're sequencing virtual instruments live you should look at something with a little more grunt. Make sure it's from a quality manufacturer though.

I'd reccomend a Mac for doing the live thing as the PC version of FS is awefully buggy, not to mention OS stability. For studio production I'd use a PC since there's gernally more software available for the platform (especially freeware stuff :) ), and a stability isn't the be and end all if you get into the habbit of hitting Ctrl-S every minute or so.

[Jay Pace]

Learn on software, then buy some hardware.

Since buying some proper hardware (decent compressor and sherman filterbank) I'm finally making music at a standard I could consider releasing at.

BUT

Buying hardware should come last IMO. Learn what everyting does first. Learn the fundamentals (EQ, Compression, FX, Filters, Synthesis) and then start identifying what hardware does what.

Buying hardware first off is a very expensive way to collect machines entirely unsuitable for what you might end up wanting to do. Figure out what you need first.

[RDR]

Nowt wrong with a good synth tho jay, it really does pay dividends, and also gets him away from a screen for a bit and thinking about sound rather than picture.

BTW - DOH! i forgot about reason... an excellent package indeed, capable of quality results... cant think why i forgot it, been teaching with it for 5 years..

[DJCraig Ryan]

Thanks for the replies everyone!! ;)