hi, been playing piano and keyboards all my life, but i want to start producing my own stuff, don't know anything about equipment or producing. I've heard that macs are the choice for music producers, I'm interested in creating some Trance, House, and Techno. I'm all ear, never went to music school, down here in Texas where I live there are no recording schools or dj record stores, it sucks. I have some girlfriends that sing really good, I would like to use one of them in some of the tracks. What equipment would you guys recommend? I know I can take classes by internet on how to use all this equipment, or unless i can get somebody in my town to teach me, maybe just trial and error? Just an example, I like Robert Miles, that record DREAMLAND, I would love to know how to do that, like TIESTO also. Hope you guys can give me some suggestions, oh I don't have anything yet just a cheap keyboard. Thanks.
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Mac and dj /producer studio
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you'll need a mic, mic pre, and converter, as described in the primer.matrix said:
short of that, it's difficult to recommend gear w/o knowing your budget, what s/w you're going to use, and how many simultaneous channels of input you need.
lol, I knew the primer would get recommended.
Start with that.
But here are some thoughts from moi.
I LOVE Ableton Live, for the "one man band" type of producing. Creating from scratch, and tinkering and tweaking till you like what you hear.
Also, Reason is another nice one to look into.
If you plan on recording instruments, bands ect. Protools LE, or Logic are the way to go. Or you could always just start with Garageband (a fantastic free music creation sequencer program that comes with every Mac)
I guess the first thing you need to know is ......you're entering into mega, mega expensive territory. $$$$$$$$
You didn't specify if you have a Mac yet or not, but if not...you're looking at around 2 grand + (for a new one)
Music software runs around 400 (ableton) to 1000 (Logic pro) dollars, and up.
To record your girlfriends (big pimpin) you will need a decent Mic, and probably a preamp, check the Primer for all that fun stuff.
And you will want a Midi Keyboard for sure. You can score one of those for around $100 and up...way up. Oh ya, Monitors are helpful...also expensive.
Personally, I like M-Audio because the make decent stuff without crushing your budget.
SO, count you pennies, and get to spending !
it's fun.
Start with that.
But here are some thoughts from moi.
I LOVE Ableton Live, for the "one man band" type of producing. Creating from scratch, and tinkering and tweaking till you like what you hear.
Also, Reason is another nice one to look into.
If you plan on recording instruments, bands ect. Protools LE, or Logic are the way to go. Or you could always just start with Garageband (a fantastic free music creation sequencer program that comes with every Mac)
I guess the first thing you need to know is ......you're entering into mega, mega expensive territory. $$$$$$$$
You didn't specify if you have a Mac yet or not, but if not...you're looking at around 2 grand + (for a new one)
Music software runs around 400 (ableton) to 1000 (Logic pro) dollars, and up.
To record your girlfriends (big pimpin) you will need a decent Mic, and probably a preamp, check the Primer for all that fun stuff.
And you will want a Midi Keyboard for sure. You can score one of those for around $100 and up...way up. Oh ya, Monitors are helpful...also expensive.
Personally, I like M-Audio because the make decent stuff without crushing your budget.
SO, count you pennies, and get to spending !
it's fun.
after reading your post, it reminded me of something i'd thought might be helpful to put together for recording newbies. it'd be similar to what apple used to do for machine configurations, but ours would be along the lines of "Entry," "Okay," "Quality", and we'd specify 2-input configs for a price point.
the package prices would be (something like) $200, $1000, $6000, respectively, not including the mac.
then again, one could easily spend $6k on monitoring...
after reading your post, it reminded me of something i'd thought might be helpful to put together for recording newbies. it'd be similar to what apple used to do for machine configurations, but ours would be along the lines of "Entry," "Okay," "Quality", and we'd specify 2-input configs for a price point.
the package prices would be (something like) $200, $1000, $6000, respectively, not including the mac.
then again, one could easily spend $6k on monitoring...
I think to do that, I could really only offer the "dirt cheap method" to the "pretty sweet prosumer" set ups...I don't even know about most of the mega high end setups other than I can't afford it...
But I like your idea.
and ya, Monitors can get way up there, I would break it down maybe into
A-interested in multi track recording with a computer
B-interested in producing music from scratch on your own with a computer.
Simply because option A would probably involve a wider arrangement of Mics which = $$