aez10119600
Joined: 03/02/06
Location: my crib
Posts: 1
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start making music?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 10:21 PM
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Hey, I've always been into music...but lately I thought I'd like to make some of my own. Does anyone know a good way to get started? I'm fairly tech savvy and I learn quickly, however I don't know jack when it comes to making music like the artists on this site (love it, keep up the good work). I just really want to do this for fun, but thats no reason for me not to want to do it right. Whats some good software? I'd like something with some good capability so I can grown into and not out of it. I'd appreciate some advice, thanks
Allan
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: start making music?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 3:06 PM
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First of all, welcome to the forum.
There's so many different digital audio work stations (DAW) out these days that you'll have to elaborate more on your wants, needs, skills and/or limitations.
1. What kind of setup do you have to make music on? Computer specs please (especially sound card). Also, are you able to invest in a better setup, if not now, when?
2. Do you want a simple program to learn and use, or are you ready to dive into something more intensive and complicated?
3. What kind of music genres do you want to work on?
4. What kind of environment will you be making music in? Room size, volume limitations, etc.
5. Do you have any audio hardware right now such as keyboards, fx, mixer?
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reconsiderate
Joined: 09/29/07
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 76
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RE: start making music?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 5:22 PM
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aez10119600 wrote:Whats some good software?
Always gotta go with Reason.
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: start making music?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 5:57 PM
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reconsiderate wrote:aez10119600 wrote:Whats some good software? Always gotta go with Reason.
Many people think reason sucks because it sounds digitally cold, can't use vst's and has a muddled user interface.
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(((stereofect)))
Joined: 09/02/01
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1333
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RE: start making music?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 6:38 PM
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You might try this method.
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Albert Einstein
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: start making music?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 6:50 PM
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Least confusing to use: acid pro, ableton live, fruity loops studio
Most confusing to use: cubase sx, pro tools, reason, most tracker software
Best sound quality: cubase sx, pro tools, acid pro, ableton live
Worst sound quality: fruity loops studio, reason, most tracker software
You want to use a program that can use vst's. Programs such as reason cannot use vst's.
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: start making music?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 6:55 PM
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(((stereofect))) wrote:You might try this method.
The free part is good, but don't you think that's a little confusing for a beginner?
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hellscion
Joined: 04/05/06
Posts: 338
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RE: start making music?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 7:28 PM
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reason.. um 
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." - Frederick Keonig
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Michael Chocholak
Joined: 01/14/04
Posts: 135
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 12:10 AM
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fwiw I like Audiomulch. fairly easy to get the hang of it. you can do straight ahead or abstract, wire it up tight or let it spin things out on its own. its got a 90 day trial period so you can decide if its your thing before you buy. and its open to all sorts of vsts.
Que la musique sonne - Edgard Varese
You don't need a mouth to communicate, you don't need rules to create. Anything is a potential instrument. Play it. - MC
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(((stereofect)))
Joined: 09/02/01
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1333
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 5:22 AM
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Subtronik wrote:Whoa, don't you think that's a little confusing for a beginner?
Inna word... no.
And he did say...
Quote:I'm fairly tech savvy and I learn quickly
So...
It's not as involved as it seems. The Savihost site has all the info you need for that one. The TechnoToys apps are easy to use and have been around for years and MidiYoke is a simple install. All you have to add are any number of freebie VSTi's that are out there on WWW and you're good ta go...
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Albert Einstein
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(((stereofect)))
Joined: 09/02/01
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1333
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 5:34 AM
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Oh, and I totally disagree with the Reason comments. The combi feature in Reason 3.0 is wicked and the NN-XT sample player is amazing. And it syncs with Seq303 (or any other sequencer FTM) quite nicely. I use Seq303 to drive all my external hardware and to start/stop Reason.
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Albert Einstein
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(((stereofect)))
Joined: 09/02/01
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1333
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 5:58 AM
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I forgot to mention that I do like Ableton Live as a performance app. I know a couple people that have it running on their craptops and use it exclusively for shows. And I like what Lustmord did with it for the show he did at the 40th anniversary of the Church of Satan. He used nothing but Ableton Live and to great effect too.
So... yeah...
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Albert Einstein
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Kylo
Joined: 02/16/05
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 787
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 11:19 AM
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All my tracks are produced off of Reason. 
www.propellerhead.se
"Energizer bunny arrested- charged with battery."
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 11:21 AM
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My recommendation is Acid Pro 6.0d.
I've tried cubase sx, pro tools, abelton live, fruity loops studio, reason, and renoise.
The most stable one of them all has always been acid pro.
It has best loop previewer, more rendering options, easiest interface, and is able to use more vst's than any other DAW I've tried due to the fact most DAW's bug out on many of them.
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 11:28 AM
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Bottom line Allan is that you should check out everyones music who posts a recommendation here and go with the advice of the one that has the best audio quality.
At the end of the day, audio quality is what should matter most (next to talent) for a pro musician.
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Michael Chocholak
Joined: 01/14/04
Posts: 135
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RE: start making music?
Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 12:54 PM
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Quote:At the end of the day, audio quality is what should matter most (next to talent) for a pro musician.
well said. and from a composing point of view what matters most is communication of ideas.
the suggestion to check out the music and compare it to the software is an excellent one.
look forward to hearing what you come up with 
Que la musique sonne - Edgard Varese
You don't need a mouth to communicate, you don't need rules to create. Anything is a potential instrument. Play it. - MC
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(((stereofect)))
Joined: 09/02/01
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1333
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RE: start making music?
Friday, December 7, 2007 at 5:38 AM
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Subtronik wrote:Bottom line Allan is that you should check out everyones music who posts a recommendation here and go with the advice of the one that has the best audio quality. At the end of the day, audio quality is what should matter most (next to talent) for a pro musician.
Since the bar has been set so high I suggest avoiding my page as the audio quality of my MP3s is definitely not up to standard.
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Albert Einstein
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: start making music?
Friday, December 7, 2007 at 7:40 AM
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(((stereofect)))
Joined: 09/02/01
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1333
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RE: start making music?
Friday, December 7, 2007 at 7:58 AM
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“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Albert Einstein
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Sonic Wallpaper
Joined: 05/22/01
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 1266
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RE: start making music?
Friday, December 7, 2007 at 10:12 AM
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If you are just starting off - you probably should work in an application which makes the music very accessible and something that relies less on you having music composition and production knowledge.
Like Subtronik and many others here, I've tried several music apps over the years and continue to experiment with music apps to this day. I find the application can often create and remove obstacles that other music apps don't have, and that some apps will tend to generate music which sounds like it came from that app. The one app I've felt was really a blank canvas, where I wasn't being influenced by the software, is ACID - which I've used now since version 1 back in 1999.
But... ACID may not be the best place to start, especially if you don't play a musical instrument. What I do suggest, is REASON, which I'll explain below:
1. in 1 app, you have all you 'really' need
2. what you learn here will transfer to other apps
3. what you learn about the softsynths can be applied to almost any softsynth
4. the app comes with loads of sounds and loops to play/work with
5. it's actually a fun app to use
6. it allows you to focus on making music instead of finding sounds, loops, etc.
7. it is expandable
One thing about Reason, is that many artists can hear the song and say, "Yep... that's from Reason" - but... most 'people' won't notice this.
Don't be afraid to ask for more help or for feedback. All of us here at one point in time couldn't compose or create a song - we all went through a learning process - and we all created some bad tunes along the way.
Making music is a very rewarding experience, I hope you enjoy the ride and welcome to ArtistServer (who is now 7yrs old!).
If you have questions about the site - just ask, I'm the site Admin.
Enjoy!
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