[Mr_Appleby]

nice idea

i use cubase, a few software synths (the native instruments collection mostly) and some hardware: studio electronics se1, nord modular & akai mpc2000xl are the current mainstays. keyboard i use is a novation sl-37

here's my soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/evansparks/

haven't updated for a while though.

I already own Cubase so that would be the best option (but its the LE version). Is their a better program that fits my needs, I never tried Reaper is it any good?

try sticking with cubase, it's worth learning! i'm sure there's some tutorials out there on the web.

[Teknopathetic]

"Any advice for people (myself included) that want to get into producing? What are some good beginner friendly software to start out on? What is some decent but cheap equipment that one could get somewhat decent results with? I'm really into the EDM scene and have a goal to start learning once I get some money together this summer. Awesome thread btw, subscribed!"


Pretty much each program has a learning curve as steep/shallow as the other, IMO. With Reason, you won't need to muck about with looking for plugins, though that is both a plus and a minus. FL Studio as well to a lesser extent, though FL Studio supports various plugin formats and Reason does not.

There's nothing wrong with starting out straight away on the "traditional" sequencers either. Cubase/ProTools/Logic/Reaper/Studio One/Samplitude/Sonar, etc. etc. Ableton isn't terribly traditional but I'll put it in this paragraph anyway.

There's trackers like http://www.renoise.com/ which seem completely beginner unfriendly due to their interface (Making music with ASCII characters doesn't seem very intuitive), but they're not any more difficult to understand than the "traditional" sequencers, especially if you have no experience with them. I first started producing with trackers (Buzz) and when I switched to a traditional sequencer, learning it wasn't really any easier than it was when I first started learning a tracker.

I would recommend starting now (before you have the money to buy something) and playing with the demos for all of the above. See which one you get on with best. Whichever one you feel is more intuitive to use is the one you should buy. Also, don't pay attention to people who say X Sequencer/DAW has better sound quality than Y. Also, don't listen to people who say "This and that are toys, you should use a professional tool like blahblah." For every sequencer out there, there's multiple success stories of some artists who uses it.

As far as hardware goes, a midi keyboard and a decent audio interface is really all you need to begin. For keyboards look at brands like Novation, Akai, M-audio, Yamaha, Fatar/Studiologic (if you're ballin), maybe some others I'm forgetting. For an audio interface there's E-mu, M-audio, Presonus, Native Instruments, Echo, Tascam. There's also Apogee if you're on a Mac. You don't need to spend terribly much to start out with (as you won't need 95% of the features on the expensive stuff), but don't completely cheap out either (cheap shit is...cheap). There's decent stuff in the 100-200$ range, but there's also some junk in there.

For EDM that's all you need to get started, really. If you decide you really want to keep with it, you'll want to eventually look at things like expensive software synths/effects, monitors (speakers), maybe some hardware synths, acoustic treatment, etc.

[BowieZ]

EDIT: Because it got buried on post #50, here's my Soundcloud/BowieZ. Stuff's probably too pop for most people here, but some feedback would be appreciated. Maybe this thread should have a one-for-one feedback policy? (Although now it sounds like I reviewed all of these for that purpose :P but I think that might encourage contribution and keep the thread afloat.)

Edit: here's a little example (very short) of my style at the moment. (Ugh, it's so hard to get a nice, powerful, clean sound out of Reason :) http://www.speedyshare.com/files/21423948/example1.wav

Very hot, dude haha! Definitely try to expand this loop!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GSTY4HOO - sorry about the megaupload. I'm between project sites.

o_O lol. Props for the bizarre. Have you heard of IAMAMIWHOAMI. Stuff gives me the chills just like that. Very simple and effective, although personally I would like to hear you experiment with a few more melodic/harmonic sounds.

http://soundcloud.com/nyx_1978

Very clean, crisp, chill tracks, mate! Sound pretty much perfect for a 3am loungebar DJ. Love the interesting effects and sampling.

http://soundcloud.com/dj-fist-pump/r...human-resource

You're right, these two tracks do work very very well together, although I don't really know the first thing about remixing, it was very thick, because it sounds like vocals+instrumentals of both tracks were combined at pretty much all times. Shouldn't one have separate acapellas and instrumentals? Also I think there's too much sharp treble in the HR department (pun intended).

here's my soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/evansparks/

Very interesting stuff, dude! My first thought was it sounds like excellent music for a reality show soundtrack, especially the first two tracks, you know, something more of the Survivor realm that has that faux-world/ambient music? The third track was also interesting, but the kick and snare were kinda flat and the mix was very dry in parts. But I totally dig the experimentation. (Didn't get a chance to listen to Starry Nights yet.)

[Outdoor Miner]

Hey Bowie I'm currrently reading this. If you can get past the cheesy title it seems quite informative. I just finished the section on compression and it explains exactly everything you were wanting to know about it in a previous post.

[Tr4nce]

Hey Bowie, I've listened to Burst I think you're at a really good level at the moment. Your stereo imaging seems very good and overall the sounds are good and nice, and clear. They could use some more power however, if you ask me. And is it possible that there's too much compression on it? The kick gets way too drown out right after the start. Outside of that, your volume levels seem ok, maybe use a little more fx to spicen things up? :)

[AVclub]

I can't wait to hear some of the stuff linked in this thread. Forgot my headphones at home today. So it will have to wait until after work.

By the way: I noticed the "Electronic Musicians" thread is back on the front page again. I've looked there before and they have some really interesting information as well.

[Nyx]

Very clean, crisp, chill tracks, mate! Sound pretty much perfect for a 3am loungebar DJ. Love the interesting effects and sampling.

Thank you.

And I hardly used any EQ or compression, so just to say it again : do not overestimate the need for EQ/Compression, surely you can do cool stuff with it and make your tracks sound even better, but it's really not always nescessary.

The 2 tracks that were released (RUTA and Dancing in my Mind) went to a mastering-company, and those guys complimented me for the sound quality as I told them I hardly know anything about frequencies and such.

[Tr4nce]

Well in my humble opinion, there's only one rule when it comes to EQ'ing: less is more. Ofcourse it also depends on how many tracks your project file contains. My trancey tracks usually have about 50 channels, so EQ'ing is inevitable, otherwise everything will clash or sound muddy. I'm a big fan of subtractive EQ'ing; instead of boosting everything (which I used do to when I was younger, and it doesn't help at all), cut frequencies you don't need in a synth/sound/sample. And also cut everything below 40 Hz. Human ears can not even pick up these ultra low frequencies, so it's better to remove them in your mix. They just take up space otherwise and clutter the low end.

:)

[Truant]

Anyone using Pro Tools here? Thinking about converting from Cubase, but as far as I can tell, LE with the 003+ rack isn't worth it compared to the gear I have now.

Oh, I want an HD3 system!

[Pepto]

And also cut everything below 40 Hz. Human ears can not even pick up these ultra low frequencies, so it's better to remove them in your mix. They just take up space otherwise and clutter the low end. :)

Humans can hear sounds well below 40Hz.

[Carlisle]

Wow, awesome OP, awesome idea, awesome thread. I've been a bedroom musician for 10 years now, but I admittedly know little about the field. So this thread is right up my alley. I really want to learn more about the production/mixing side of things.

I'm also a fan of the hardware posts as my setup is now 8 years old. It's held up surprisingly well, as it cost a fortune back then, but I'm definitely looking for some upgrades.

[soundahfekz]

I produce mainly, rap occasionally. Here's a snippet of both together.



http://www.zshare.net/audio/73777871d140f447/

[Tr4nce]

Humans can hear sounds well below 40Hz.

Most human beings can NOT hear below 20 Hz mate.

[Truant]

Even though you can hear below 40hz, the fact remains that a lot of musical styles will benefit greatly from a 40hz high-pass. It will tighten the low end quite a bit. Some very busy records even cut at 50 or 60hz, and they still sound powerful.

[Whoompthereitis]

I use Ableton, LOVE the Akai MPC-40 controller. Also have a Prohet 08 Analog Synth. Record live bass, live guitars, xylophones, horns, vocals- pretty much ANYTHING using the Shure SM7B. Great mic.

I think I'm a little different than most in this thread in that I don't really do electronic music. I make funk music- stuff that has a classic sound mixed with analog synths. Everything is played live except for some of the drums. I do a lot of arranging and songwriting, usually have 2 or 3 girls do the vocals. I like my shit funky.

Here's one tip for anyone recording live bass: do not underestimate how much better it will sound if you use an actual bass amp and mic it- recording direct is not the way to go when it comes to bass. Night and day.

Used to make hip hop on an MPC-2000XL.

[Pepto]

Most human beings can NOT hear below 20 Hz mate.

You don't think 20Hz isn't well below 40Hz?

As a side note I think you should absolutely cut the subs if you don't need them.

[Nyx]

The thread can't die this fast!

1) Reason users: what do you think is the best way of routing your 'main setup'? I do it like this:

I think the best way is the way you like it. ;)

I never even thought about the best routing setup tbh, I just use the standard Mastering Suite and 14:2 mixer below it, adding 6:2 line mixers when I use a lot of channels.

2) What do you reckon would be the best way to handle FX, like reverb and delay? I've seen some producers who usuallu have like one main reverb and one main delay sticked to a 'Bus' so they can give every instrument the same sort of reverb or delay. 7 Skies for example, likes to give everything the same fx, so as to create a sort of one main room sound. However, in Reason i can never get thsi right, so what i usually do is insert different fx for different instruments. This is not very CPU power saving though :(

Also here I think there is no single best way, it's all about what you would like to do with the track you're making.

Sometimes it sounds right when you grab a group of channels (percussion stuff f.e.) and use the same FX on them, but other times it sounds cool when all the percussion has just slightly different FX going on.

Edit: here's a little example (very short) of my style at the moment. (Ugh, it's so hard to get a nice, powerful, clean sound out of Reason :) http://www.speedyshare.com/files/21423948/example1.wav

Wow that was 6 seconds of a music style I really despise :lol
No offence ofcourse, to each his own, especially with music.

Anyway, did you use any exisiting loops in that or did you make those beats and stuff yourself ? If you did it yourself, then I think you're doing very well.

Would like to hear more than 6 seconds though. ;-)

Last but not least, get a soundcloud account if you don't have it already, it's an awesome site when you want to upload music and find other (unknown) artists.

@ BowieZ :

Your music also isn't really my cup of tea, but it all sounds good enough to me.
The moaning woman in Convertible sounded a bit off though. :P

And to end my post with a point of discussion, what do you guys start with when making a new track ?

Percussion?
Bassline?
Melody?
Just what comes to mind first ?

[Whoompthereitis]

Percussion? Bassline? Melody? Just what comes to mind first ?

Usually we program a drum track, then lay down some live bass. When we get something good, we loop it. Then at that point, guitars and/or synth lines get added.

At that point I usually hear a melody in my head, so I pick up the mic and sort of freestyle/write on the spot. I'm not the best singer, but I do think I'm pretty good at songwriting and vocal arranging. After that, we quickly sequence the track, I take it home and start writing to it. Then we bring the girls (vocalists) in and I tell them what and how to sing.

It doesn't happen like this all the time, but occasionally it works out this way.

[The Lamonster]

I used to use ACID Pro 4.0-6.0

Why no mention of ACID Pro?

[BowieZ]

@ BowieZ : Your music also isn't really my cup of tea, but it all sounds good enough to me. The moaning woman in Convertible sounded a bit off though. :P And to end my post with a point of discussion, what do you guys start with when making a new track ? Percussion? Bassline? Melody? Just what comes to mind first ?

Thanks bro! And yeah the orgasm effect was hastily mixed.. <_< and no it wasn't a personal field recording... The effect fits in with the temp lyrics/vocals I worked out but I most certainly am not posting that version -- I'm a terrible singer.

I always try to start songs with a concept in my mind first, and then from then work out a catchy hook and fit everything to that. Otherwise, I'll just be experimenting with stuff and something "clicks". But usually it's chords and a bass line for me.

And no, we mustn't let this thread die!

I'm working on a song called "Original" at the moment, kinda a club-friendly electropop ballad, I've written the demo already but I want to build the final version from the ground up making sure I get the kick, the bass, and everything just "perfect" which I haven't really done yet. I usually construct a demo then try to massage the existing layers into place afterwards.

[BowieZ]

Also, anyone know much about autotune? Been watching this Ian Carey tutorial vid and I notice he's got the same Antares plug-in as standard in Pro Tools, and I spose I can see how it could be used to create subtle effects but how on earth do you use this thing, or other AutoTune/Vocoder plugins, to actually do amazing autotuned vocals? I can't seem to work out the different options in the Antares one at least to get those effects.

PS has anyone heard Har Mar Superstar's Tall Boy? The mix in this track is sensational, to my ears! Crisp, clean, beautifully balanced and fresh sounding. Love to know how to achieve this quality of sound!

EDIT: For instance, one thing I have trouble with is working out the balance between a kick and a bass, especially if it's definitely going to be played both on the radio and in a club where the subwoofers are massive. The kick has to sound good, clean, punchy and subby on its own during sections where there's no actual bass line, yet also mesh well with the bass line when that kicks in. And also the bass has to sound solid when the kick is dropped out. In Tall Boy, there's definitely a lot of nice subs on that natural drum kick he uses at the start, but when the bass line in, is there less subs on the bass, or the kick, at these points?

I guess I should continue reading through some tutorials on this, but any tips or info would be much appreciated!

DOUBLE EDIT: I should have watched further in that Ian Carey video. I've never used a "side-chain compressor" before, which supposedly helps the kick and bass complement each other through a shared/forced compression thing. Hmm... not sure if I have one of these lol.

[Teknopathetic]

"DOUBLE EDIT: I should have watched further in that Ian Carey video. I've never used a "side-chain compressor" before, which supposedly helps the kick and bass complement each other through a shared/forced compression thing. Hmm... not sure if I have one of these lol."


I'm pretty sure some of the compressors that come with ProTools are capable of sidechaining. If not, you can "fake" sidechaining by either putting a tempo-synced LFO on the compressor (if possible, only really works on tracks using a four on the floor beat.) or drawing in volume automation to dip the volume every time your kick hits.

[Nyx]

balance between a kick and a bass

You already know now, but the trick is indeed sidechain-compression.

You have Pro Tools right ?
Found a tutorial :

http://sonictransfer.com/side-chain-...tutorial.shtml

[BowieZ]

You already know now, but the trick is indeed sidechain-compression. You have Pro Tools right ? Found a tutorial : http://sonictransfer.com/side-chain-...tutorial.shtml

Damn, that's thoughtful of you. Thanks, and you too Tekno. Will give this a shot shortly.

What are others working on? I don't want to hog this thread.

[Nyx]

What are others working on? I don't want to hog this thread.

Not working on anything atm, waiting for the recordlabel to give a ''yay'' or ''nay'' on my 2 latest tracks.

[cory]

I put a few on SoundCloud.
I wouldn't say I'm trying to do any genre, I'm just messing around and seeing what happens.
I hate naming them.

Crluxy
Disthwart
Expansion
Sender

I have about 25 more, started in 08.
All done in FL with just a mouse.

[Tr4nce]

I'm pretty sure some of the compressors that come with ProTools are capable of sidechaining. If not, you can "fake" sidechaining by either putting a tempo-synced LFO on the compressor (if possible, only really works on tracks using a four on the floor beat.) or drawing in volume automation to dip the volume every time your kick hits.

This is a real good tip people. Although autoamting the volume is very hard to get a nice sidechained sound with. A compressor can do it way more subtle. Having said that, be careful with compression and sidechain compression. It's a very powerful FX that can make or break your mix. It's like a dark art of some sort :lol

I'm just borrowing this picture, so you get the idea. Sidechaining means that the sound of an instrument always ducks when the kick comes in. To visualize it:

T Wow that was 6 seconds of a music style I really despise :lol No offence ofcourse, to each his own, especially with music. Anyway, did you use any exisiting loops in that or did you make those beats and stuff yourself ? If you did it yourself, then I think you're doing very well. Would like to hear more than 6 seconds though. ;-)

Yeah, I made the beats myself. The lead sound is not very good, and this sample is not really great to be honest. I put a flanger over some of my hi-hats and also panned a few things left and right here and there.

Stereo imaging is one of the most underrated or overlooked things when it comes to mixing IMHO. You should really think about where you want your instruments to sit in the mix. There is no hard rule, but generally keep the lower frequencies like kicks and basses dead centre, but stuff like pads can be panned hard left and hard right for instance. But you have to throw fx on one side because otherwise there is no difference in the sound. REally experiment with panning! It can make your mix sound wide which is really nice! :)

[Monty Mole]

Here's my SoundCloud folks:

http://soundcloud.com/djnatebrice

My latest remix of Mojito's "Good Times" is on there, coming out on Daddyfunk Records next Monday. Currently using a combination of Ableton Live 8, Cubase 5 and Sonar 8.5 as my DAWs + shit-ton of VSTs + midi-controllers etc. Spend too much money :)

[Whoompthereitis]

Also, anyone know much about autotune? Been watching this Ian Carey tutorial vid and I notice he's got the same Antares plug-in as standard in Pro Tools, and I spose I can see how it could be used to create subtle effects but how on earth do you use this thing, or other AutoTune/Vocoder plugins, to actually do amazing autotuned vocals? I can't seem to work out the different options in the Antares one at least to get those effects. PS has anyone heard Har Mar Superstar's Tall Boy? The mix in this track is sensational, to my ears! Crisp, clean, beautifully balanced and fresh sounding. Love to know how to achieve this quality of sound! EDIT: For instance, one thing I have trouble with is working out the balance between a kick and a bass, especially if it's definitely going to be played both on the radio and in a club where the subwoofers are massive. The kick has to sound good, clean, punchy and subby on its own during sections where there's no actual bass line, yet also mesh well with the bass line when that kicks in. And also the bass has to sound solid when the kick is dropped out. In Tall Boy, there's definitely a lot of nice subs on that natural drum kick he uses at the start, but when the bass line in, is there less subs on the bass, or the kick, at these points? I guess I should continue reading through some tutorials on this, but any tips or info would be much appreciated! DOUBLE EDIT: I should have watched further in that Ian Carey video. I've never used a "side-chain compressor" before, which supposedly helps the kick and bass complement each other through a shared/forced compression thing. Hmm... not sure if I have one of these lol.

In my opinion, 'amazing autotuned vocals' is an oxymoron. For ultra-stylized vocals, a Talk Box beats autotune/vocoders every time. The only problem is, you actually have to be able to play the melody on a guitar or piano. Well worth it though.

Plugging a guitar into a vocoder however can yield some great sounds.

[cory]

EDIT: Because it got buried on post #50, here's my Soundcloud/BowieZ. Stuff's probably too pop for most people here, but some feedback would be appreciated. Maybe this thread should have a one-for-one feedback policy? (Although now it sounds like I reviewed all of these for that purpose :P but I think that might encourage contribution and keep the thread afloat.)

BowieZ, I love your stuff. I don't really know much about the technical stuff, so I can only comment on the music, which is great. Maybe a little too "shiny" for my tastes, I don't really know how to describe it.

[PhatSaqs]

Sweet thread! Been doing stuff off and on for about 8 years now. Discovering Ableton Live set me back a bit initially but I love it. Dont think I can live without warping and slicing tracks to midi now.

Gear includes a MOTIF Rack ES, Novation Remote SL Compact and plenty of softsynths including Komplete 6, Hypersonic, Kore 2 and Omnisphere.

One tip I'd give to anyone looking to get into making music is that its very easy to get wrapped up in having the latest and greatest gear, especially softsynths.
Get yourself 2-3 go to pieces and learn them inside and out. You'll get much more out of doing this than getting and trying everything that's supposedly the best thing since sliced bread.

Also, whatever DAW you use, I suggest creating a template or two with things such as track/midi routing, number of tracks, some VSTs already loaded, etc.. Saves a ton of time and allows you to focus on laying shit down right away rather than having to run thru the usual setup stuff.

Also for a cheap, portable, USB Audio Interface I suggest this baby.
http://www.roland.com/products/en/UA-1EX/

[BowieZ]

BowieZ, I love your stuff. I don't really know much about the technical stuff, so I can only comment on the music, which is great. Maybe a little too "shiny" for my tastes, I don't really know how to describe it.

Thanks a lot! Haha. I'll have to check out your new soundcloud soon, been pretty engrossed in my own work atm.

And as such, I present to you fine folk a comparison of a section of a song I've been working on, "Original," demonstrating where I was 3-4 months ago, and today, even incorporating many of the tips and advice I've picked up in this thread :D (although it's still nowhere near finished or fleshed out fully). Hopefully you can notice some improvements! :P

[PolarDoc22]

Hey GAF!

I'm a bit of an avid guitar player, and I'm looking into recording and mixing my own music. All I've got now is an old banged-up (but still functional) acoustic-electric guitar and a bunch of homemade accessories for it.

Any tips on how to get started recording? I'm completely new to that stuff...

[Whoompthereitis]

First off, hook the guitar up to an amp and mic it to record.

Don't record 'direct' into whatever software you're using.

[Fusebox]

Hey GAF! I'm a bit of an avid guitar player, and I'm looking into recording and mixing my own music. All I've got now is an old banged-up (but still functional) acoustic-electric guitar and a bunch of homemade accessories for it. Any tips on how to get started recording? I'm completely new to that stuff...

Not sure how in-depth I should go, don't want to overwhelm you.

Ultimately you'll need a few things.

A DAW. I recommend Ableton, some prefer Pro Tools/Logic/Reaper etc but I'm a die-hard Ableton fan from way back.

A decent soundcard with an instrument input, I use the NI AK1:

http://www.native-instruments.com/en...dio-kontrol-1/

I also put a tube preamp in front of my soundcard to boost and warm my guitar signal but this isn't entirely necessary:

http://www.presonus.com/products/Det...x?ProductId=16

Now, normally I'd say you can just add a guitar amp sim VST at this point, something like Guitar Rig or Amplitube, but that's not my preferred method. I like to go...

Guitar -> my wah, my distortion pedal, my chorus pedal, my delay pedal -> tube pre -> soundcard -> Ableton -> Guitar Rig 4 but ONLY for the control room cabinet and mic emulation.

In fact, if you have decent pedals you can usually get away with:

guitar -> your pedals -> soundcard -> Ableton -> free IR cabinet VST such as Le Cab:

http://lepouplugins.blogspot.com/2009/07/lecab-v10.html

Even if you're mic'ing your cabinet which is usually totally impractical in a home enviroment, then you'll still need the decent soundcard and some DAW software at a minimum to track your audio.

Any q's just hit me up.

keyboard i use is a novation sl-37

Woot! Same. Such an awesome controller.

[Shorty]

A decent soundcard with an instrument input, I use the NI AK1: http://www.native-instruments.com/en...dio-kontrol-1/

I have the same audio interface :O
The on/off button for Direct Monitoring is broken though so I can't use it. Do you know what it does exactly?

[Fusebox]

Yeah, that button bypasses the signal routing through your PC and just blasts the raw input sound to your outputs, no latency.

[shrapnelmagnet]

Cool thread. Thought I'd jump in with this site I've been using for a weird band I work with.

For anyone sitting on a bunch of music they've recorded but never released, I seriously can't recommend Bandcamp enough. There's no upload limit that I've come across and it's super easy to set up. Unlike MySpace, it's hard to make look shitty (visual customization options are limited) and unlike SoundCloud (in my experience), it doesn't run super slow.

I'm down with SoundCloud for the cool community commenting stuff and other neat things it's doing, but overall, I find it a bit of a pain. MySpace is obviously terrible for anything other than booking shows, etc.

Anyway, like I said, if you haven't checked it out, you really should. I use it almost exclusively for every single release. You can sell music and physical stuff through it too, painlessly (PayPal). I mean, for some people it might not make sense, but like I said before, if you have a bunch of stuff you've done and you're just sitting on it... Why not put it out there?

The site: http://bandcamp.com/
Our site: http://noobienoobinsonandthedoublebo....bandcamp.com/


PS: On the recording side, we do all our stuff in a couple living rooms... Line 6 something-or-other for recording in (guitar, bass, keyboard), using Acid to mix, and we finally got our hands of a decent mic, too.

Some sick tracks in this thread :)

[Ducarmel]

I have FL studio 6 I think I probably should upgrade, but I have not done anything with it.

The problem I have I guess is I lack skill in music composition, I used to read all these article on how to make whatever sound in FL Studio and how to use vst's and fx. But I can't make anything original that actually sound good.

I just don't know where to start to learn music theory when it comes to electronic music production.

[Fusebox]

I just don't know where to start to learn music theory when it comes to electronic music production.

I would start by learning the major scale on a keyboard, and then learning some of the more popular chord progressions like I, IV, V (this will make more sense once you learn the major scale), and then I would just turn on your arpeggiator and press any key. :D

[Ducarmel]

Thanks I'll see what I can do after a look that up.

[Teknopathetic]

"I have FL studio 6 I think I probably should upgrade, but I have not done anything with it.

The problem I have I guess is I lack skill in music composition, I used to read all these article on how to make whatever sound in FL Studio and how to use vst's and fx. But I can't make anything original that actually sound good.

I just don't know where to start to learn music theory when it comes to electronic music production."


You should upgrade. Simply because all FL Studio upgrades are free (for life).

It's a long (long) process to make something sound good (I'm not there yet, either). This guy (he's a bit goofy, but just watch and soak up the information you can) has a bunch of videos going over basic music theory. Learn you some scales and how to create chords and whatnot, that'll at least get you started making stuff that sounds like music (even if it's not mindblowing).

[BowieZ]

Two quick questions as I'm fairly busy today :)

1. Is it acceptable to go into the red or not? I know it's ideal to have plenty of headroom in the initial mixdown but so many final mastered tracks I look at seem to sit comfortably in the red for most of the song. Is this just an anomaly of saving a CD to the computer what? And why doesn't it "clip" or sound distorted?

2. Any free (or otherwise... worth paying for) DJ vinyl scratch VSTs that anyone knows about or uses? Cheereth!

[Ducarmel]

^ try this http://www.kvraudio.com/get/163.html in my opinion it sucks but I suck at making anything so it might just be me!

Thanks for link Teknopathetic. I guess I found something to do this weekend besides play video games.

[nemesun]

This thread is golden, subscribed.

[Fusebox]

Two quick questions as I'm fairly busy today :) 1. Is it acceptable to go into the red or not?

Analogue, yes. Digital, no.

[Joe]

i've been using fruit loops 9 just to mess around on and it's very overwhelming. is there something better for an absolute beginner/noob?

[cory]

i've been using fruit loops 9 just to mess around on and it's very overwhelming. is there something better for an absolute beginner/noob?

Not really, I think it's one the best.
I made this the night I got 8, with no prior music production experience.
http://soundcloud.com/cory64/retron-phantasm

[Joe]

well then i need some serious lessons because i can't get past making 2 second patterns :(

any good websites for learning FL?

[cory]

Oh, I didn't even know about the piano roll when I made that, it was all patterns.
I still don't know how to fade things in and out.
You might just want to experiment with the program a little bit before using tutorials.