You folks who make music on computers

[abcdefz]

...tell me about it. Not just programming, but being able to record music digitally as well.

Talk to me. What do I need, what do I avoid, etc.

Yes, I did think about putting this in the "other music" section, but figured that's about other artist's recorded music. But if we need to move this, feel free.

[Planetary]

...tell me about it. Not just programming, but being able to record music digitally as well.

Talk to me. What do I need, what do I avoid, etc.

Yes, I did think about putting this in the "other music" section, but figured that's about other artist's recorded music. But if we need to move this, feel free.

a brand new mac g5, a guitar, reason3 and protools.

[King of Rock $]

They'll never go anywhere

Anyone with fruity loops on their PC think they're gonna be the next DJ Premier these days, its disgusting

You can't just fuck around with fruity loops and expect to make real music it doesn't work that way any idiot can chop up a sample you're not a real producer and you'll never amount to shit, bitch.

That wasn't aimed at anybody in particular

[Planetary]

you don't actually know what you're talking about, do you?

[abcdefz]

a brand new mac g5, a guitar, reason3 and protools.



...I'd probably have to go with a keyboard rather than a guitar. A drum machine, too, right?

How much memory do I need? 8 gigs? More?

[King of Rock $]

you don't actually know what you're talking about, do you?

The question is, does it matter?

An even better question would be, who are you?

[abcdefz]

KOR, go run some laps and burn off your sugar high or something, dude. Seriously.

[King of Rock $]

You're gonna try to record music and its gonna be crap :)

[abcdefz]

You're gonna try to record music and its gonna be crap :)

Pfft. I recorded good music for years, just all analog.

Suck me sideways, dork.

[King of Rock $]

People just say its good music because they don't want to hurt your feelings.

[Planetary]

who are you?

that's the question. now you're mr famous just 'cause you start about 10 bullshit threads every five minutes that no one cares about. fuck off.

anyway, yeah, go with whatever instrument you want. you wont neccesarily need a drum machine, you easily get drum machine software, or use the programmers which come with reason, which are really great. you can also download extra sounds (not just drums) just as easily.

as for memory, i'd advise a 60-80 gig hard drive, minimum 512 ram, i'd advise 1000. and around a 2-3 GHz proessor. thats all sufficient for whatver you want and remember you can always upgrade. when i said mac g5, i was joking really. they quite expensive, and usually only studios use them. a pc will do you fine. only you'll have to get the pc friendly version of protools-PROTOOLS ME.

[King of Rock $]

I listened to your latest mixes, and they all suck

[abcdefz]

anyway, yeah, go with whatever instrument you want. you wont neccesarily need a drum machine, you easily get drum machine software, or use the programmers which come with reason, which are really great. you can also download extra sounds (not just drums) just as easily.

as for memory, i'd advise a 60-80 gig hard drive, minimum 512 ram, i'd advise 1000. and around a 2-3 GHz proessor. thats all sufficient for whatver you want and remember you can always upgrade. when i said mac g5, i was joking really. they quite expensive, and usually only studios use them. a pc will do you fine. only you'll have to get the pc friendly version of protools-PROTOOLS ME.



I'd kinda rather just go ahead and sink the money, if I'm going to do this. It's better than getting frustrated by a slow computer or something. Like: it drives me nuts when a computer takes a full day to render some ten minute video, you know?

Thanks for the tips. Any other advice is much appreciated, too.

[Planetary]

ok thanks for the input. shame it's from someone who i just lost any respect or interest in.

[Planetary]

I'd kinda rather just go ahead and sink the money, if I'm going to do this. It's better than getting frustrated by a slow computer or something. Like: it drives me nuts when a computer takes a full day to render some ten minute video, you know?

Thanks for the tips. Any other advice is much appreciated, too.

don't get me wrong, a pc with that spec will take barely any loading time at all, if any. i'm just saying, at the mo' a macG5 is best of the best.

[abcdefz]

don't get me wrong, a pc with that spec will take barely any loading time at all, if any. i'm just saying, at the mo' a macG5 is best of the best.



Good advices. (y)

[Planetary]

thanks. you can also get really good dvd's to teahc you how to use these programs. i learnt in college but they're very good.

[jennyb]

...I'd probably have to go with a keyboard rather than a guitar. A drum machine, too, right?

How much memory do I need? 8 gigs? More?

If you get a good enough keyboard you shouldn't need a drum machine. You can always MIDI up your drum beats. My gear consists of an Alesis Keyboard (weighted keys of course!), a tascam US-428 mixer, a fender strat, a nice Shure mic, and I'm runnin Cubase on my PC. All this was recommended to me from my brother. I'd like to be able to check out ProTools, I think it may be easier to navigate. I often get frustrated with my recording equipment cuz I unfortunately don't have enough time to dedicate to figuring it all out completely. I'm seriously about to choke my brother if he doesn't get his butt over to my place soon to skool me completely!!!!! :mad:

And I think one can never have enough memory. It depends of course how much toolin around on it you're gonna do. My advice... go big or stay home!

[deadbeatz1]

I don't see the supposed "King of Rock$" offering any mixes on here... My experience has been that most of the critics are jealous, and most artists appreciate others' stuff, even if it isn't their style, so to speak. Computers have definitely added precision to my mixes. I used to do it analog and syncing was very, very difficult. I use Acid 4.0, along with Boss sampler, DR-5 drum machine, Stanton STR8-80, and many, many MP3's, vinyl, and CD samples... Dig the crates. Find obscure samples and effects. Then, play and have fun. (Believe it or not, it ain't a real competition. I don't think Picasso entered his shit in the county fair...) Peace.

Check out some Beastie Mixes (and a few others)
http://www.soundclick.com/deadbeatzorijinal

[abcdefz]

If you get a good enough keyboard you shouldn't need a drum machine. You can always MIDI up your drum beats. My gear consists of an Alesis Keyboard (weighted keys of course!), a tascam US-428 mixer, a fender strat, a nice Shure mic, and I'm runnin Cubase on my PC. All this was recommended to me from my brother. I'd like to be able to check out ProTools, I think it may be easier to navigate. I often get frustrated with my recording equipment cuz I unfortunately don't have enough time to dedicate to figuring it all out completely. I'm seriously about to choke my brother if he doesn't get his butt over to my place soon to skool me completely!!!!! :mad:

And I think one can never have enough memory. It depends of course how much toolin around on it you're gonna do. My advice... go big or stay home!


Thank you. (y)

[King of Rock $]

Damn, that deadbeat stuff was horrible.

[Planetary]

i'd also advise getting a good 40-or-so midi controller. they come with loads of assignable faders, knobs, and assignable drum pads, which are sometimes pressure receptive.

[synch]

Knobs.

Heh.

atoz, what are the specs of your current pc?

[b i o n i c]

my question is how you plug all the instruments into the computer? from the amps to the computer? what do you need to get for that

[jennyb]

my question is how you plug all the instruments into the computer? from the amps to the computer? what do you need to get for that

I plug, for instance, my electric guitar and keyboard directly into the back of my mixer (http://www.tascam.com/Products/US-428/us428-rear-panel.jpg) which then plugs into (via usb) to the computer.

[burbboi]

You need a professional grade audio card. Something like a Turtle-beach brand card to name one company. Even the Audigy line of cards are getting there as far as inputs go. The Audigy 2 Platinum for instance...it has a card in the traditional sense. You plug it into a PCI slot on your computer and you get the 1/8th inputs in the back. Nothing earth-shattering, but you also get a front-loaded 'input rack' which gives you addition input such as optical, midi, and the larger input jacks like you would see on amps and guitars as well as volume controls.

Speaking of quality, generally speaking as far as live recording goes you want an audio card with good DSP(digital signal processing) capabilities. The better the capabilities, the quicker it computes which leads to lower latency. The lower the latency, the quicker the computer responds to midi controls. That's what it's all about. VST/VSTi/DXi plugins are what give the midi notes a sound. If you want say, a whole orchestral complement you could use something like Edirol Orchestral. It gives pretty much every instrument you could hope to hear in an orchestra at your fingertips. Anything from an oboe to a violin ensemble. It is just a matter of setting up whatever programs you are using to make use of the plugins and the notes coming in from whatever midi devices you might use. And that is the hard part in the early goings...figuring out how to 'route' shit to where it should go to do what you want.

I just fuck around with this stuff in my downtime. My best advice is to pick a program and go with it until you find your bearings. I chose Cubase SX2 along with an assortment of plugins and a crappy old casio radioshack jobby (which has midi support). Ideally i want to get a decent midi controller with pitch contols and control wheels which can be mapped to control surfaces in many programs to facilitate making cool effects but that will come later as i'm trying hard to learn as much as possible without paying out my ass for hardware.


P.S Reason is a really cool program as well. Reasonstation (http://www.reasonstation.net) for tutorials and info

[jennyb]

... And that is the hard part in the early goings...figuring out how to 'route' shit to where it should go to do what you want.

Fuck, you can say that again! *rips hair out* Frustrating as hell if you don't know what you're doing.(!)

[Nygel]

what i use at my house (im 16... remember this) is simply Acid music studio (5.0) and fl studio 6 or somethin (fruity loops latest edition). And i used some other tools here and there, but rarely, if you spend time on fruityloops its really all you need, but its hard to learn fast. I don't mess with it too much.

at my friends house (better pc) we use acid music studio (mine) fl studio (mine) and then we have a ton of cds and limewire and such to sample random stuff, my friend brings his numark 1700's over (suck, but still spin, so its cool... old too) then we have a keyboard (nothin spectacular) an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar... and we record with some shitty mic that plugs into the back of his pc. Its not pretty... but it really gets the job done... im investing in probably some turntables and a drum machine-type thing soon though... its on my list.

check out my remixes at beastiemixes.com, just click the 'nygel' link. (http://www.beastiemixes.com) and remember.... i just turned 16... im not the next dangermouse

[paul jones]

I put a pound in the internet jukebox tonight as well as lots of other opounds but I put one pound on 'VITAMIN' by Kraftwerk and I was in robot heaven

[synch]

Knobs.

Heh.

atoz, what are the specs of your current pc?
In anticipation of the answer I'm going to go against the trend in this thread and tell you that you don't need a spanking new computer to record music, especially with when you want to record with an electric keyboard.

You can get a usb midi keyboard for around 50-100 us$ and try out the different types of software with it. When you find something that works well for you and you realise that your system isn't up to par for your specific needs you can do a targeted upgrade instead of just getting everything new. It could be for example that the program of your choice runs fine on your current computer but you only need a new sound card, or that it needs a bit more ram but nothing else.

You can save quite a bit of money this way, especially if you aren't exactly sure yet what it is that you want.

[Planetary]

I put a pound in the internet jukebox tonight as well as lots of other opounds but I put one pound on 'VITAMIN' by Kraftwerk and I was in robot heaven

i love those internet jukeboxes. i wanted to put beethoven's ninth on, but it was blocked :(

[deadbeatz1]

KOR, do you need a hug? You're so angry. Have you discussed this with your therapist? Where'z your mixez?

Everyone else, Rock On! I don't even go directly into my PC. I go analog, then burn it to disc, then rip it and sync it... Straight up McGyver mixin' shit.