Total amateur! Help me setup! - Computer music & technology forums

Forums - Computer music & technology

Subject: Total amateur! Help me setup!

Pages: 1 2 3

Original Message 1/25 25-Nov-03 @ 05:50 PM - Total amateur! Help me setup!

Badmanspirits

Posts: 5

Link?: Link

File?: No file

Hope you don't mind providing a kind of idiots guide to setting up a studio but i'm trying to get into producing from DJing (drum'n'bass) and all the tech jargon's proving a bit of a brick wall. Everyone's raging about Cubase 5.0, Reason, Recycle etc, etc. What do I need first and what can I add on later as I get to know all the gear? Any help much appreciated and hey, talk to me like a 5 year old - I'm a total beginner. Cheers!
Badmanspirits@aol.com

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 2/25 25-Nov-03 @ 06:34 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

Influx

Posts: 7627

Link?: Link

File?: No file

if theyre sayin cubase 5 theyre trippin because thats a discontinued unsupported setup.

you need:

sequencer (cubase is one, logic, performer, sonar, yamaha RS7000, akai MPC series)

sounds (synths and or a sampler. a sampler is a good way to start)

a controller keyboard

a way to record/mix/burn cds (a PC/MAC with a good audio interface)

you can do it all with software, all hardware, or a combination of both. If youre PC savvy then SW is the way to go, if you dont know how to work out PC problems on your own, then HW is a better starting point perhaps

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 3/25 25-Nov-03 @ 06:35 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

craig

Posts: 2707

Link?: Link

File?: No file

Read this site for like a month before you buy anything.

Best advice I can give you.

-Craig

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 4/25 25-Nov-03 @ 08:29 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

Influx

Posts: 7627

Link?: Link

File?: No file

heh.

good point

also check out Sound on Sound website...

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 5/25 26-Nov-03 @ 09:20 AM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

R.A.T.

Posts: 392

Link?: Link

File?: No file

Another link to help, although frowned upon by many here for being a bit too noddy, Computer Music (UK Mag) is a great help to the absolute beginner too. Although it focuses on PC music it is a great help for those who are starting from scratch and can't afford to put in a load of cash until they are able to get a few results.

There is loadsa free sequencers, syths and samplers availble through this mag and across the web. And they are not low quality either. In fact if you can find a copy of Computermusic where you are they include a decent set of these on the free CD with each mag + guides etc.

If I remember back to my days as I started out, SOS (although an excellent mag and resource which I now buy monthly) can blow your mind a little

.

Good luck mate.

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 6/25 26-Nov-03 @ 03:04 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

Posts: 12353

Link?: Link

File?: No file

so BadmanS' - do you have any gear now already? - perhaps a list of what gear you do have is a good start

frankly you can chuck out good drum and bass with either a PC and a few freebie softwares plus a host sequencer (which can start low in price for something like Orion or Fruity etc)

or you could do it with a few bits of outboard

___________________________________

I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 7/25 26-Nov-03 @ 06:33 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

Badmanspirits

Posts: 5

Link?: Link

File?: No file

Nice one, Fellas. All advice gratefully received. All I've got at the moment is a little brother who's a software engineer and who'll be easily bullied into sorting me out a PC that's swift enough to run whatever software I start with + he's savvy enough to fix any startup bugs.
I wanna do d'n'b/jungle and I think (hope) I've been DJing long enough to know what sounds pukka. I just need something that's simpleish to get to grips with. Is it Cubase that I'm looking for? I've also heard a little about Fruity Loops. Crackin name but any good?

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 8/25 26-Nov-03 @ 07:51 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

craig

Posts: 2707

Link?: Link

File?: No file

Cubase is probably a bit more than you need.. Look, the best advice I can give you is to read, read, read. Read all the info on the net. It's gonna take a lot of time, but it's worth it in the end in that you'll not waste your time trying to learn things you don't need, or waste money buying things you don't need.

For now I would concentrate on software. Read all you can about the software that's available. There are many classes of software music applications. Something like Kontact or Pro-52 is a plug-in software synth, which require host sequencers to use. Fruity Loops and Acid are compositional tools that are fairly easy to work with for building songs out of loops or hosting plug-in synths. Stuff like Reason or Project-5 are kind of all-in-one sequencing and synth apps, a step up from Fruity and Acid. Sonar, Cubase, and Logic are big packages. They have features for doing things like recording guitar bands and the like.

You should read enough about all the stuff above until you can identify what kind of software a particular package is, how it fits into the picture, and whether or not you have a use for enough of the features it provides to know if you need it or not.

I'm not trying to turn you off like "You gotta know all this shit"! I'm trying to help you find the knowlege to make informed decisions so you don't waste money or give up trying because you bought something too complex.

-Craig

PS - If I were to take the extreme easy way and just recommend something to you, I would advise you to look at Project-5 or Reason.

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 9/25 26-Nov-03 @ 07:58 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

Influx

Posts: 7627

Link?: Link

File?: No file

is the newer DnB done in software? I know breaks almost all is...most at least...

but all the classic Drum N Bass was done with midi and some synths and samplers

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Message 10/25 26-Nov-03 @ 08:54 PM - RE: Total amateur! Help me setup!

craig

Posts: 2707

Link?: Link

File?: No file

What difference does it make? We all know you can make just about anything in software these days.

[ back to forum ] [quote]

Pages: 1 2 3

There are 25 total messages for this topic

Reply to Thread

You need to register/login to use the forum.

Click here to Signup or Login !

[you'll be brought right back to this point after signing up]

Back to Forum