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Hi Goons, I've read most of the thread (and I'm still reading) but I didn't find these specific questions - but if this is redundant then I apologize in advance. I'm a very competent acoustic musician - classical piano and theory background, and I also play/sing whatever I feel like. Very competent on upright bass, as well. I'm attempting to have some fun composing EDM - specifically hypnotic, progressive stuff. It's very frustrating, because while I can hear my ideas in my head, it's incredibly frustrating trying to input them into Reason. Notes are in a strange grid format, and all the buttons & knobs are confusing and overwhelming. My question to everyone is: Should I be using something else to feel more comfortable as a traditional musician? I've got a 25-key Oxygen and a copy of Reason 4 - would Cubase, Ableton, or something else be more suited to me? I've also heard of people using a technique of recording lines / loops in Finale, then importing them to DAW software - is that the preferred route for someone who prefers sheet music to grid boxes? I've watched the official reason video tutorials I can find on the net, and I've looked in other forums besides this one (TranceAddict, but it was less than helpful), and I still have these basic questions. Also, aside from formatting, would using Cubase over Reason be incredibly more useful to me anyway because of the ability to use plugins? Thanks in advance, and for all the posts that already exists - I'm pretty sure I can learn a lot from this thread. 
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Apr 29, 2008 14:35
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 09:11 |
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Yoozer posted:If you need plugins, then the obvious answer is "yes, it would". Well then I guess my question is, do I need plugins to make decently sounding music with recent sounds and do cool things like sidechaining? I feel like I can't get convincing electro noises out of Reason and I have a hunch that lacking plugins is a big reason why.
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Apr 29, 2008 15:12
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Kai was taken posted:Reason's devices are actually really good, the catch is that you're gonna have to do some clever hacking and stacking of them. If you're just messing around with one device or throwing a preset over it, you're probably not going to get what you're looking for. Thanks for this (and the above response). I'm going to work on finding a copy of Ableton and Cubase and start from scratch. I'll be back when those programs frustrate me as much as Reason has.  Also, could anyone expand on the process of importing finale sheet music into Ableton/Cubase? I realize that the piano roll is like tab and is "easy to use". I'm not trying to sound like a snob, but I honestly have no problems - and actually greatly prefer - a 12 part sheet music score to blip bloop squares. I understand that after it's been imported I will have to learn to manipulate the piano roll to get the perfect edit of my line/loop, but if I could input the rhythm in traditional sheet notation it would be so much nicer for me. Is it slightly more complicated than saving my finale work as a MIDI File, then importing it in Ableton/Cubase? e: If I have the 'importing from finale' process correct, which I think I might, if anyone could weigh in whom is actually using this method with more experience than I have and knows of major drawbacks (if any), it would be appreciated as well. Elephunk fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Apr 29, 2008 |
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Apr 29, 2008 19:09
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WanderingKid posted:Not that I didn't read what you posted, but to use the parlance of the internets, the TL;DR would be: Reason can produce professional sounding tracks, but plugins make life a lot easier and it's recommended that I use one? Also, you seem to be implying that I can't use plugins with Cubase - does that make Ableton the PC DAW of choice for plugin compatibility?
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Apr 29, 2008 20:08
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ManoliIsFat posted:You can. You use a Peak Controller and put it on the mixer channel you want your knob to be affected by. You can then set any parameter (say, the ratio on your compresser) to be linked to the value of the controller. It can take some tweaking of the mapping formula to sound smooth, but it works alright. This brings up another question I have - what are the most essential controls that I should assign to my knobs on my Oxygen? The default ones seem to be random knob as volume control + one or two other things, and nothing else works. So I have to set them myself - I just don't know which effects are the most prominent to deal with, or even what half of them do. How the gently caress do you have a dial for portamento?
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Apr 29, 2008 20:24
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squidgee posted:You should set them whatever you want to tweak on the fly at that moment. The manual is an obvious resource I have been overlooking - I'll make sure to read it thoroughly before I get my copies of Ableton and Cubase running. I'm gleaming that this is a lot like learning Jazz - no "right way" to do it, and learn by trying. Is there a better way to make drum tracks than through the "pad" programs like Redrum in Reason? Not being able to use time signatures outside of 4/4 is irritating.
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Apr 29, 2008 21:29
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 09:11 |
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Been plugging away silently ever since my last post in Reason and Ableton (havent touched Cubase yet). Just coming back to say that I respect everyone in this thread for their immense amount of patience in scrolling through 2000 soundfiles, repetitive and tedious mouse movements, and general immunity to frustration. I'm still having a great time but it becomes so frustrating and tedious very quickly. I'm hoping that will fade once I learn what the hell is going on. to the guy above me: I've always thought of verses and chori (lol whats the plural of chorus) linking together with a cadence as a chain. End you verse in V and you can start on I smoothly for your chorus, same for every other cadence and variation thereof.
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May 6, 2008 22:14
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