Techno Production (BEGINNING)

[tekboi]

Hi Guys,

There might of been topics on this area before but if its ok I would like to start a fresh one, I am just curious on exactly what I need to produce high quality material. I already have a monster machine of a PC, I have a Delta Audiophile soundcard and have cubase running which I am already getting use to. What other software and hardware will I need to have the power to produce quality (techno) music.

Hope alot of you can recommend, thanks ;)

[miromiric.]

good monitors, accurate unfatigued ear and some good will.

[Barely Human]

To be honest, you already have everything needed to produce quality tracks as everything can be done in software these days. But its all down to personal preferance and money! One thing you are deffinately going to need are a decent set of monitors, as these will really help your production. If your going down the software route, then get yourself SX, FL studio, Wavelab, Soundforge, V station, Bass station, Z3ta, waves plugings pack, and anything else you stumble across. If you are going down the hardware route then its going to be expensive. You'll deffo want a Desk,(maybe a beringer), Synths,(Virus c?),midi controller,(evolution?).

Really you need to specify what budget you are working on. And one piece of advice i can give you - Get to grips with some software first, and get to know what you like and want. Then you can decide what to shell your hard earned cash on.

[Jimfish]

yeah, let the first thing your budget thinks about be a good set of monitors.. spend as much as you can afford.

[DJZeMig_L]

Monitors, headphones (good 1s) and a Midi controller... Novation Remote 25 is a good bet!

Z

[Jimfish]

yeah, i bought one of them remote 25's, still waiting for the ****in thing though :(
i totally f*cking cant wait to get my sweaty little palms on it!!

[EmotionComplex]

like the guys say, monitoring is the most important thing, amount of equipment hoewever isnt, which i have learned from the fact i have spent a fair bit on synths and other things only to listen to other peoples music that has been created entirely on a pc that is sounding better quality then mine.

If youve got a powerful pc use it to its fullest :)

also if u have any money left over and you dont allready own one, invest in a nice comfy adjustable chair ;)

[Barely Human]

also if u have any money left over and you dont allready own one, invest in a nice comfy adjustable chair ;)

Neccesity mate! I wish i had one!

[EmotionComplex]

also if u have any money left over and you dont allready own one, invest in a nice comfy adjustable chair ;)

Neccesity mate! I wish i had one!

ive got a massive studio chair my folks got me last chrimbo, fully adjustable and on wheels and super comfy , one of the most useful pressies theyve ever got me :lol:

[go|plastic]

also if u have any money left over and you dont allready own one, invest in a nice comfy adjustable chair ;)

Words to live by right there!

[DJZeMig_L]

yep...


I gues most of us forgot about that basic, very important fact eheheh ...

Good PC monitors r also important... some time in the near future (fingers crossed) i am 2 invest in a Parhelia Video Card and another 17" tft Monitor... 3 monitors is tha shi* :)

Also think about CPU cards like TC Powercore and UAD1...


Z

[Barely Human]

Three monitors!! Bahhh!! I used to have a dual screen set up! Missing it like crazy now!

[tekboi]

Is the Novation Remote 25 midi controller better for hardware or software or is it a beautiful that suits both hardware and software. I roughly know what a midi controller is but if someone can just go into a little more detail on what the controller does it would be helpful :)

Also does the midi controller enable me to work off that rather than the knobs on the cubase platform, I mean do I need to get a seperate knob controller box so I can control the knobs in real time rather than from the cubase platform with my mouse? Or is this what the midi controller does?

I hope this makes sense, get back to me on this guys, thanks for all the feedback so far, I have only been mixing for the time being, so I am new to the production side of things but very interested.

[EmotionComplex]

Is the Novation Remote 25 midi controller better for hardware or software or is it a beautiful that suits both hardware and software. I roughly know what a midi controller is but if someone can just go into a little more detail on what the controller does it would be helpful :)

Also does the midi controller enable me to work off that rather than the knobs on the cubase platform, I mean do I need to get a seperate knob controller box so I can control the knobs in real time rather than from the cubase platform with my mouse? Or is this what the midi controller does?

I hope this makes sense, get back to me on this guys, thanks for all the feedback so far, I have only been mixing for the time being, so I am new to the production side of things but very interested.

basically a midi controller acts as the main interface between you and your pc, sequences can be recorded that you play via its keyboard into midi tracks within the sequencer and sequencer/software instruments parameters can be alterd with its controls.

The novation controller has a number of template layouts it supports including cubase but you can customise these also, so the sliders might operate seperate volume channels within cubase, knobs assigned to filter controls etc.

there are all sorts of midi control interfaces though that can work together, say if u wanted a master midi controller keyboard for notation input then a second control surface to operate the main sequencer controls on but cost wise, and simplicity wise id say the novation controler would be excellent for you.

[Barely Human]

Is the Novation Remote 25 midi controller better for hardware or software or is it a beautiful that suits both hardware and software. I roughly know what a midi controller is but if someone can just go into a little more detail on what the controller does it would be helpful :)

Also does the midi controller enable me to work off that rather than the knobs on the cubase platform, I mean do I need to get a seperate knob controller box so I can control the knobs in real time rather than from the cubase platform with my mouse? Or is this what the midi controller does?

I hope this makes sense, get back to me on this guys, thanks for all the feedback so far, I have only been mixing for the time being, so I am new to the production side of things but very interested.

basically a midi controller acts as the main interface between you and your pc, sequences can be recorded that you play via its keyboard into midi tracks within the sequencer and sequencer/software instruments parameters can be alterd with its controls.

The novation controller has a number of template layouts it supports including cubase but you can customise these also, so the sliders might operate seperate volume channels within cubase, knobs assigned to filter controls etc.

there are all sorts of midi control interfaces though that can work together, say if u wanted a master midi controller keyboard for notation input then a second control surface to operate the main sequencer controls on but cost wise, and simplicity wise id say the novation controler would be excellent for you.

Couldnt say it anymore complicated myself ;)

[DJZeMig_L]

Lol... Tekboi if u get that great... if not let us know what u didn't understand! ;)

Z

[professor]

I agree with Miro and the second post on this topic.

You need an unfatigued ear and some good will. You really gotta be willing to invest some serious time and energy in order to make
"high quality material". For lots of people it takes years before they are making stuff that sounds good to them. Be careful not to fall into feeling the need to get more software/hardware because you can't get the sound your looking for, or your tracks aren't turning out the way you want them to. Spend time getting to know what you have, inside and out.

Gear isn't gonna make you sound like a pro. Only dedication will.

Now that I've said that...I agree with everyone else that monitors are probably the single most important part to sculpting killer tracks.

[romelpotter]

good monitors are important, but their job is to give a flat freq responce so that you can mix a track to sound averagley good on any sound soruce you play it through. you can make a killer track through your own set up but play it elswere and it may sound a little flat or just not as good. to make a killer track you need good monitors, good computer set up and a little knowlage about phyco acoustics and the limits of a sound wave gong through different types of audio set ups eg club system, home hifi and car stereo. You can get this from books and there are many quality studio cources out there these days. hmm maybe one day i will learn to spell !!

[tekboi]

Then on top of the midi controller and already cubase software, what pieces of software would be best to link up with cubase sx???

Whether it be soft synths or samplers or compressors, need some names so I can go find them, hope uz can help.

Hardware to link up with my PC would be helpful too if possible but want to start off all software apart from the midi controller. Is a knob controller box useful?

Thanks again!

[Iron Lee]

Everyone,
Midi this, monitor that, blah blah blah. I use Acid 4 and a cheap laptop. I have good headphones. I have 1200's too which I sample from, plus old video game systems and a vcr and dvd / cd player to sample from. That's it. I pump out great tech-acid house type stuff with that. Don't be fooled into thinking you need all this stuff. I'm not quite sure what midi is or why I would need it. If you want to produce tracks that a dj would want to mix into a set at a rave, you don't need midi. I'm sure of it! This music is meant to be produced this way guys. Don't scare people away thinking they have to spend a fortune.