|
Ableton Live is probably the most complete package and it scales pretty well to most computers. $100 isn't much, but you could probably find a key for Ableton Live Intro (a limited demo version) from someone on here (they give you a key with a lot of MIDI controllers so a lot of people have multiple keys for Intro). Actually, this : https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Keystation49 $100, 49 keys and include Live Intro. There's other similar ones with more buttons / knobs and less keys or a Bitwig (Ableton-like software) key, so there's a few options Personally, I'd find a spare key for Live Intro online and try it out, following along with some youtube vids to get a feel for it before investing your hard earned $100.
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2017 09:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 15:49 |
|
|
Akai APC Key 25 + free Ableton live intro
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2017 14:02
|
|
|
well why not posted:Ableton Live is probably the most complete package and it scales pretty well to most computers. $100 isn't much, but you could probably find a key for Ableton Live Intro (a limited demo version) from someone on here (they give you a key with a lot of MIDI controllers so a lot of people have multiple keys for Intro). Awesome. What would you recommend for budget monitors? I'd ideally like to use headphones.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2017 16:08
|
|
|
I've used KRK Rokit 5s and M-Audio BX5-As. I've liked them but they're not accurate. I usually do my mixing in my Audio Technica m50s. Again, not super accurate, but for the price they're solid. I'd recommend you buy a nice-ish set of headphones before almost anything else, because if you stop making music, hey no big deal, they're useful to have around. Less so a giant MIDI controller or huge powered monitors. Also, If you really wanted to get started, you could download REAPER right now for free and get started. You can switch to other DAW software down the track if you don't like that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2017 16:24
|
|
|
well why not posted:Also, If you really wanted to get started, you could download REAPER right now for free and get started. You can switch to other DAW software down the track if you don't like that. I'll echo this. I'm still pretty new, but I've had a lot of fun with just Reaper and its built-in software keyboard and the Serum softsynth. I'll admit that reaper is not as immediately intuitive as Ableton Live, but if you stick with it and just Google any questions you have, you get the hang of it pretty quickly and it's very powerful for a very low price. Alternatively, Ableton Live also has a free 30-day trial. 30 days is probably plenty of time for anyone to decide whether they like music production, and it's nice to get a feel for it without spending a penny.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2017 20:47
|
|
|
giogadi posted:I'll echo this. I'm still pretty new, but I've had a lot of fun with just Reaper and its built-in software keyboard and the Serum softsynth. I'll admit that reaper is not as immediately intuitive as Ableton Live, but if you stick with it and just Google any questions you have, you get the hang of it pretty quickly and it's very powerful for a very low price. The only thing I would say about the 30-day Live Trial is that the full version of Ableton just has so many more features and native instruments/effects than the Lite version. For someone on a $100 budget, it would suck to use the full version and then after 30 days realize you need to pay $800 to continue using all of the same functionality. Don't get me wrong, I am a Live user and I absolutely love it, it's just not cheap.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2017 20:51
|
|
|
Just a note that the Demo, Live Intro and Live Lite are all a little different. Intro is the cheapest SKU you can buy whereas Lite only comes with a purchase of certain hardware. Lite has more features that intro-level Ableton SKUs but has different limitations (like a max eight tracks). It doesn't have a time limit like the demo. https://www.ableton.com/en/products/live-lite/features/#key-features I have an extra Lite license kicking around if you want to try it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2017 21:30
|
|
|
Thank you for the helpful responses! I think I will try that Reaper program, because I don't feel like grabbing a license off somebody when I'm not even sure yet if this hobby is for me. So you can still make music with it even without a MIDI controller? Also, one more thing I'd like to know is: how long does it generally take to make a song from start to finish? I mean, to get a song to a state where you could proudly put it up on Soundcloud or something. I have a bit of a perfectionist streak so I'm concerned I might wreck myself just producing one track...
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 06:25
|
|
|
Schneider Heim posted:Thank you for the helpful responses! I think I will try that Reaper program, because I don't feel like grabbing a license off somebody when I'm not even sure yet if this hobby is for me. So you can still make music with it even without a MIDI controller? Impossible question to answer really, too many factors to consider. Just play around with whatever you get for a while, before heading to soundcloud. It's not going to happen overnight. I had fun using Renoise, which is FREE (in demo version). It's a tracker based DAW with MIDI support. http://www.renoise.com/ BeigeJacket fucked around with this message at 09:46 on Sep 11, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 09:43
|
|
|
Schneider Heim posted:Thank you for the helpful responses! I think I will try that Reaper program, because I don't feel like grabbing a license off somebody when I'm not even sure yet if this hobby is for me. So you can still make music with it even without a MIDI controller? MIDI controllers are completely, 100% optional. There's been multiple #1 records made using a macbook pro on an aeroplane. They're fun, cool and useful but you can just punch in MIDI notes in any DAW worth it's salt. Artists like Skrillex & Diplo do most of their productions on a laptop during travel. I'd say the majority of producers don't rely in any real capacity. As far as time, it can be between 20 minutes and 20 years. Perfectionist streak is good, but you need to know how to manage it and finish tracks.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2017 10:09
|
|
|
Schneider Heim posted:Also, one more thing I'd like to know is: how long does it generally take to make a song from start to finish? I mean, to get a song to a state where you could proudly put it up on Soundcloud or something. I have a bit of a perfectionist streak so I'm concerned I might wreck myself just producing one track... I'm not really sure there is a general or average time. Sometimes I can knock out an entire track in a night or two, and there are some things that it's taken me years to perfect to a point that felt finished. You'll know it's done when it sounds right to you. A lot of times if I feel like I'm stuck on something, I set it aside for a while and work on other music, or do other things entirely, then come back to it days or even weeks later with fresh ears and that often helps.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2017 16:43
|
|
|
well why not posted:As far as time, it can be between 20 minutes and 20 years. Perfectionist streak is good, but you need to know how to manage it and finish tracks. Perfectionism is a huge trap for producers. I can say for certain one of my biggest productivity aides as of late is knowing when each stage of production begins and ends. Sound Design/Arrangement -> Pre-Mix/Mix -> Master. If you're anything like me, you need to learn to take off one hat and put on another at the right time. For years I used to get bogged down on arrangements, leaving me with dozens of half finished songs and mediocre 8 bar loops. Most often the reason was getting lost in a black hole of minor volume and parameter tweaking and completely losing sight of my original vision. This was exacerbated or triggered anytime I got somewhat frustrated with my lack of process on a melody or chord progression or arrangement- tweaking knobs endlessly was a way of feeling like I was still doing 'work', even if that work wasn't ultimately productive. After all, you can't mix productively or effectively until the elements of your song are mostly already set. Nowadays when I'm doing creative stuff, I restrict myself from doing any mixing work besides dropping volume if it's too loud. I even forgo automation/transition effects until the latter stages of the arrangement. Loop sitting ok but not perfect? Move on to more important elements. Annoyed that your bass is mostly what you want, but not perfect yet? Move on, layer it later. When Steve Duda was describing deadmau5 incredible productivity, he emphasized this was the key; let yourself be ok with 80% good, and move on The old parable about the clay pot class comes to mind: quantity>quality posted:The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A". PoizenJam fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Sep 22, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2017 17:40
|
|
|
Do you guys have a recommendation as to a book or lecture series for learning composition (as in chord changes, key selection, melody creation) within the realm of Electronic? All the books out there that are composition specific seem either too academic or too focused on theory rather than practical experience. I have been taking lessons on piano for about 2 years now so I'm definitely not a beginner at this point (I can do a little improv as well, but I'm not amazing). I have an Ableton Live Lite key with my MIDI keyboard and I want to be able to play the sounds I can think of but can't quite seem to create. (Ninja Edit) It can focus a little bit on theory and sound synthesis, I'm not shy there. I guess what I'm saying is, how do I elevate my learning so that I'm thinking about the same things as the pros do. Right now, all my improv and chord progressions seam to resolve on the drat root. (Edit #2) Sorry for the multi-post but any thoughts on this guy? Composing Electronic Music: A New Aesthetic https://www.amazon.com/Composing-Electronic-Music-New-Aesthetic/dp/0195373243 From the sounds of it's reviewers, I'll either cream myself in melodic ecstasy or be bored to tears. MrPeanut fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Sep 25, 2017 |
|
#
?
Sep 25, 2017 20:37
|
|
|
Sent you a PM, MrPeanut.
|
|
#
?
Sep 25, 2017 23:31
|
|
|
If I'm trying to write something pure electronic I still often think of it in terms of "band", so there's a bass instrument, a lead, a 'rhythm' (harder to define, I guess chords). Depending on genre you don't always need a lot of parts, a few well picked sounds will more often than not sound better (and bigger) than a kitchen sink approach. Some genres seem to prefer certain keys, for example drum n bass and dubstep will generally have the root be between E and G# because thats where the boomy subs are in the lower register. Something I've found handy to break away from C (in part due to adding synths to guitar music) is transposing my midi controller- I'm not a keyboardist really and its only 2 octaves so if I'm playing along to a riff written on my 7 string I'll transpose it down a step. What DAW are you using? I don't know about the others but Cubase has Chord Pads which I keep meaning to get to know better. Along those lines, its probably better to get to know a couple of synths well than to download tonnes and not venture much beyond preset tweakage. You should be able to find videos of 'how to make that sound' for most big producers/genre staple sounds on YouTube, its a good way of learning what waveforms etc will typically work well for your music; unless its some crazy wavetable or FM thing, many of the principles apply across synths.
|
|
#
?
Sep 25, 2017 23:56
|
|
|
NonzeroCircle posted:If I'm trying to write something pure electronic I still often think of it in terms of "band", so there's a bass instrument, a lead, a 'rhythm' (harder to define, I guess chords). Depending on genre you don't always need a lot of parts, a few well picked sounds will more often than not sound better (and bigger) than a kitchen sink approach. Thanks for the tips. As far as DAW, I'm using Ableton Live Lite 9 for the time being because well... it's free. In all honesty, it's all I need to play around in, as it allows for extensions which is where most experimentation comes in. MrSargent recommended me a book that I think will cover quite well on a "how to make sound good" level. From here I guess the hardest parts comes synthesizing. YouTube is not a route I've heard yet for making a particular sound so thank you on that. How does one go about shopping for VST's? There's so many drat ones out there that I don't even know where to start, especially when starting on a budget. Would hate to pay for one that I don't end up using. Any go to's?
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 04:05
|
|
|
What's the book???
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 04:32
|
|
|
Music Theory for Computer Musicians Amazon - http://a.co/aA95Yge
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 04:48
|
|
|
Depending on what sort of sounds you want, look at one of Native Instruments' Komplete bundles, they normally go on big sale soon. Even the smallest ones have a wealth of stuff including Massive which can do about anything and imo has a nice visual interface. A lot of goons swear by Serum, though that could be overwhelming if you are still fairly new to synthesis. There's lots of freeware out there that is good, Uhe do a couple of stripped down versions of their payware synths for free. What sort of music are you writing (roughly)? That often informs the kind of synth you'd be looking for.
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 08:36
|
|
|
Looking for a nice blend, starting with the structure of a 4/4 beat in an electro/deep house feel, then branching into a more general electronic, airy chill music (with some silky female vocals at some point). Artists of inspiration for me: EDM side - deadmau5 basically, but occasional tracks pop out for me in the general spectrum of dance Electronic - Air, Royksopp, Zero 7, Hot Chip, and Massive Attack
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 15:34
|
|
|
MrPeanut posted:Looking for a nice blend, starting with the structure of a 4/4 beat in an electro/deep house feel, then branching into a more general electronic, airy chill music (with some silky female vocals at some point). If mau5 is one of your main influences, I can't recommend Serum enough. Also, you can go to Splice.com and sign up for their Pay-to-own subscription plan which is 10/month until you pay off the VST and own it free and clear, no interest. Serum is incredibly versatile (although a tad heavy on the CPU use). Edit: This youtube series by Steve Duda (creator of Serum) is a really good look at the synth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf4Dj3FSCjc
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 17:08
|
|
|
Like most of you, I assume, I produce from a small bedroom studio. My studio is on the 18th floor with a westward exposure, so it gets unbearably hot from about 2:00pm onward each day- especially when the CPU gets to working on mixing/mastering projects. It also gets quite stale and stuffy, since the two rooms on either side have 'portable' air conditioners set up (they aren't very portable). Is there any sort of cost-effective, quiet cooling solution that would work in this case? Fans provide some relief, but leave the room feeling stuffy. Desk fans pointed directly at me tend to require me producing at an uncomfortable volume to hear everything, especially drowning out quieter elements in a track. A/C is way too loud and expensive for such a small room. And I'm somewhat worried a swamp cooler would pose a risk to my electronics, particularly my hardware.
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 17:55
|
|
|
I'm sure you're aware of the classics, freeze or flatten tracks when you can, that sorta stuff. Would it be feasible to exhaust your PC's hot air right out the window?
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 18:37
|
|
|
well why not posted:I'm sure you're aware of the classics, freeze or flatten tracks when you can, that sorta stuff. I religiously flatten tracks these days. Once I started using hardware synths, I grew very accustomed to rendering loops and using those rather than raw midi. This also hearkens back to my earlier post about knowing where one stage of production ends and another begins- committing my loops keeps me from constantly oscillating between sound design and arrangement. As for venting the PC's heat outside- this isn't impossible with my current setup- I'd just need a filter and some way to prevent water from getting in. Of course, the main issue here is the 2 portable A/C's elsewhere in the apartment. Portable A/Cs are notorious for creating negative pressure zones, so air gets sucked in from every accessible crevice to the outside. This could easily overpower my CPU fans, resulting in a reversal of the exhaust fan.
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 19:19
|
|
|
Is it possible to relocate the core PC to another room?
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2017 19:41
|
|
|
Schneider Heim posted:Hello thread! Unless you're planning to use Audacity as your DAW (http://www.audacityteam.org/), you're going to need a bigger budget. Which DAW to use could be another whole thread by itself. I can't speak as to any one besides Sonar, but it has some versions that won't set you back too much but include a lot of the plugins you need to make music. A MIDI controller is a must, even if you don't play. A 25 key controller should be sufficient. That's all the wisdom I have to share at this point.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2017 01:50
|
|
|
So, I've done audio recording before (quite a while back), mostly of the acoustic variety, but I want to get into sample-based electronic music, towards the realm of ambient/experimental/glitchy kind of stuff as a background for semi-live vocal and bass performance. I have a passable knowledge of music theory and performance, but absolutely no knowledge or experience wrt sampling/chopping/etc. I'm really into the stuff Reggie Watts is doing in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEW7e9CZE9I, although I dont need to be able to do it nearly as 'live' as he does - I need multiple takes if I'm off-pitch or what have you, and I want to mix that idea with more sampling instead of looping everything on the fly. He seems to be using a Teenage Engineering OP1, a Line6 Delay Modeler and some sort of looping pedal in that video. I used to use a ProTools MBox with PTLe, but I sold the MBox about 3 years ago. Current gear list stands at: MacBook Pro (brand new, no touch bar but upgraded RAM/Processor) Sennheiser HD280 Event Electronics 20/20BAS Monitors Oktava MK219 + Oktava MK-012 Pair Shure SM87 TC Helicon VoiceTone Ampeg BabyBass Electric Upright My considerations for immediate purchase to get started are: Logic X (Ableton Live is just too expensive) Maschine Mikro MKII Apogee Duet I'd be really interested to hear what people who have more experience with this kind of production think. Logic seems like the best for the money, given that Ableton is more than twice as expensive, but I know Ableton is better for beat-making. I figure the Maschine has enough built-in software devoted to this kind of thing that it should suffice? I was weighing the Maschine vs the Akai MPK225, which would give me a nice keyboard but sacrifices a lot of control and flexibility for 25 keys. I'm a shite piano player anyways. TheQuietWilds fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Oct 6, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2017 17:55
|
|
|
Logic is fine, but Ableton is the best for what you want to do. You're right that it is expensive, but if you want to do live sampling/chopping/ etc it's Ableton in the #1 spot. Logic works like a fancy recorder, Ableton you can actually play as an instrument. It sucks to get advice that's contrary to what you said, I know, but I'm of the opinion that if you bought Logic there's every chance you'd end up buying Live as a replacement eventually.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2017 09:35
|
|
|
well why not posted:Logic is fine, but Ableton is the best for what you want to do. You're right that it is expensive, but if you want to do live sampling/chopping/ etc it's Ableton in the #1 spot. Logic works like a fancy recorder, Ableton you can actually play as an instrument. Thanks, but I had $150 in iTunes gift cards, and I ended up buying Logic with them, and then picked up a nearly new Akai MPD226 for $80 - a grand total of $130 cash spent. I've decided not to get into the NI stuff for now, because it doesn't seem worthwhile without upgrading to Komplete, and that gets expensive on a level where I would have just wanted to buy Live+Push2. I'm going to spend some time working on learning what I'm doing before I drop big money on something like that. Also a good friend is doing beats/rapping in Logic so it will be nice to be able to work on poo poo with him even if it's different styles. I would be interested in a reasonably priced beat production plugin (crossposted in the hip-hop thread), if anybody knows one. TheQuietWilds fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Oct 17, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2017 15:28
|
|
|
that makes is a pretty sweet deal then! Logic is still awesome, no doubts about that. $130 to get a setup is super low, nice.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2017 16:30
|
|
|
What's a "beat production plugin" supposed to be? Isn't the whole sequencer there for producing beats?
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2017 16:57
|
|
|
wayfinder posted:What's a "beat production plugin" supposed to be? Isn't the whole sequencer there for producing beats? FXPansion Geist, MPC 2.0 and Maschine (the software, not the hardware) are all described as 'beat production' programs, the later of the two are also standalone programs connected with expensive hardware that claim to be usable as VST/AUs but everything I've read suggests that they work poorly in that fashion. Geist is a bit more expensive than I'd like. I'm looking for something to chop/edit samples, assign them across the pads of a MIDI controller, and probably some other features or functions I don't know I want yet. I was hoping to find a stripped down version for less than $200 (the price of Geist). TheQuietWilds fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Oct 17, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2017 17:25
|
|
|
Yeah most sequencers do all that out of the box but with a different UI I guess
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2017 17:51
|
|
|
I mean, NI Battery kinda does that too.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2017 19:23
|
|
|
TheQuietWilds posted:FXPansion Geist, MPC 2.0 and Maschine (the software, not the hardware) are all described as 'beat production' programs, the later of the two are also standalone programs connected with expensive hardware that claim to be usable as VST/AUs but everything I've read suggests that they work poorly in that fashion. Geist is a bit more expensive than I'd like. I'm looking for something to chop/edit samples, assign them across the pads of a MIDI controller, and probably some other features or functions I don't know I want yet. I was hoping to find a stripped down version for less than $200 (the price of Geist). FXpansion periodically have sales. You might see a sale price for Geist 2 in the next 3 months.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2017 20:07
|
|
|
TheQuietWilds posted:the later of the two are also standalone programs connected with expensive hardware that claim to be usable as VST/AUs but everything I've read suggests that they work poorly in that fashion. haha, where did you hear this? Running it as a VST is 100% identical to standalone except significantly better because of routing/mixing etc. maschine is rock solid and the best thing I ever bought. I've had the mk1 for 7 years now and it's still trucking along fine, and is still the first thing I go to whenever starting a new project (e: the vst version) It's what I recommend people buy first before they even have a DAW because nobody needs to work on complex arrangements at first, then when you want to make a song you can open up your old files in the vst version and bounce them down to do some more in depth arrangements. I dont know a single person who has one and doesnt think it's the most versatile thing in their setup. cubicle gangster fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Oct 18, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2017 17:01
|
|
|
cubicle gangster posted:haha, where did you hear this? Running it as a VST is 100% identical to standalone except significantly better because of routing/mixing etc. I have to echo this about the Maschine. My intro to it was the iPad App, which from what I can tell is pretty drat close to the the VST version. I started making beats on my iPad and was really shocked by how intuitive everything was and how easy it is to use and sequence some beats together. It had a surprisingly wide range of features for an app and I recently got to play on the hardware version and had a blast.
|
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2017 17:41
|
|
|
cubicle gangster posted:haha, where did you hear this? Running it as a VST is 100% identical to standalone except significantly better because of routing/mixing etc. The NI community forums, Gearslutz & Reddit all were pretty negative towards the Maschine as a centerpiece of a home studio. Most of the complaints were "it works ok in standalone mode, but standalone mode is pretty limited, and it has a lot of trouble interfacing with real DAWs." The more dismissive (more at GS than the other places, and I generally assume everybody there is a grognard) described it more as a colorful toy for kids to blow their student loans on, and while I took that with a massive grain of salt, I assumed there was a grain of truth underneath regarding how well it was built/programmed and who the intended audience was. My consideration pipeline went: Apogee Duet + Maschine Mikro => Maschine MkIII with a mixer (for mic preamps and monitoring) => Akai MPC Touch + Mixer => Apogee Duet + MPD226 + Geist 2 (or alternative) I wish the Komplete upgrade wasn't so expensive, because Kontakt, Reaktor, Form and Battery all look sick as gently caress. So far I haven't spent the money for an interface yet, and if I end up buying a different pad controller I'm only out $80 on the MPD226. Maschine is still a possibility. TheQuietWilds fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Oct 19, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 19:11
|
|
|
I've never seen GS not be dismissive of something to be fair. They also have a hard on for 'proper' gear and a custom interface for use with software is already in their bad books. There's also vocal minority to be taken into account. anyway, I think it's great and everyone I know thinks it's great too. I know a few fairly famous house / techno producers who use it as part of their early sketching on a computer workflow nearly all the time. I wouldn't buy komplete outside of a sale - in the month before a new version is released you will be able to upgrade for half price. They release every 18 months or so. last one took 2 years and that was the longest, generally they dont follow a set schedule. They did just release a new one so you've got a while to go, but sit tight on it especially if you get a maschine. spending a little over a year with that & an expansion pack here and there before going into komplete will treat you right.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 20:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 15:49 |
|
|
Right now I've got a nice midi controller and a bunch of new software to learn, so I'm gonna sit tight on buying a Maschine until sales roll around anyways, see if I can get a good deal. It's almost that season.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 20:57
|
|