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Rob587

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 4, 2004
801
1
Orlando, FL
Ok, I have wanted to get into music production for aslong as I can remember. I am a mac fanatic and I really want to be able to start making some hip hop beats. What would be some good things to get me started? Programs, keyboards ect..? How do people that were discovered through their music production know how to work all of the professional equipment so well without going to a Full Sail type of school? (like kanye west)
 

louis_sx

macrumors regular
Jul 6, 2005
153
0
International House of Louis
Moreso than money, how much TIME are you willing to sink into learning stuff. Logic Express and Reason are both very excellent pieces of software, probably more than enough to do what you want (I'd lean towards Reason for the Dr. Rex drum machine if you're looking to do hip-hop stuff; it's very easy to program and I like it better than Logic Express with Apple Loops). Be expecting to do quite a bit of reading and experimentation before you do anything presentable.
 

quigleybc

macrumors 68030
Rob587 said:
Ok, I have wanted to get into music production for aslong as I can remember. I am a mac fanatic and I really want to be able to start making some hip hop beats. What would be some good things to get me started? Programs, keyboards ect..? How do people that were discovered through their music production know how to work all of the professional equipment so well without going to a Full Sail type of school? (like kanye west)




Another vote for Reason

as long as you don't plan to do any recording, Reason will have you making beats in no time....

Also, might want to pick up Recycle as well (made by the same folks) the two go hand in hand. Check out the propellor head web site for more info

Good luck! :D
 

3rdpath

macrumors 68000
I also vote for reason. Not only does it have an amazing array of sounds but it has the best feeling quantized groove this side of an MPC60 or Atari MegaST4. At some point you will need a recording program and either Logic or Digital Performer will do you right. I happen to like Performer over Logic because it has a more intuitive( to me...) lay out. Either way you'll be happy but first get your head wrapped around Reason.

The midi keyboards from m-audio have received good reviews, as have their BX-8 monitors. Things to keep in mind as you're building your set-up.

Everyone has to learn their gear-just jump in and do it. You'll find it's not nearly as hard as you think.
 

beatsme

macrumors 65816
Oct 6, 2005
1,204
2
consider...

Rob587 said:
Ok, I have wanted to get into music production for aslong as I can remember. I am a mac fanatic and I really want to be able to start making some hip hop beats. What would be some good things to get me started? Programs, keyboards ect..? How do people that were discovered through their music production know how to work all of the professional equipment so well without going to a Full Sail type of school? (like kanye west)

you might want to consider picking up iDrum by Glaresoft, just to get started. It's inexpensive (around $50, I think) and it comes with alot of pre-programmed sounds/beats. Can also be used as a plug-in for GarageBand. I've been using iDrum for a while now and, while I can't compare it to anything else (having used nothing else), I can definitely say that the ease of use and quality of results make it more than worth the money.

http://www.glaresoft.com/products/idrum/

cheers
 

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5
I recommend that you study up on some of the basics with books and magazines before making any decisions. Hit the library and read anything written by Craig Anderton. Good magazines to read are: Sound on Sound, Recording, Electronic Musician, Keyboard, Future Music, Computer Music, Mix, EQ.
 

aafuss1

macrumors 68000
May 5, 2002
1,598
2
Gold Coast, Australia
I use Logic extensively-it has the best built-in synths and notation. With the switch to Intel, we may have better optimisations for dual-core. It's about $79 (for the Magix version I use on a PC , unfortunately ,$300 for Express, $1000.

Suscribe to Computer Music (has a DVD with loads of free music samples)

Also MAGIX sells a Windows version as part of their 'Music Studio' (which is good if you might use a PC in addition to a Mac to produce music on ). About $79:
http://site.magix.net/english-us/home/music/music-studio-10-deluxe/?no_cache=1&version=

Exactly the same as, and is based on Logic 5 (but MAGIX names the Apple supplied synths differently), opens older Logic files created with Apple Logic fine :
http://img280.imageshack.us/img280/5896/magixmusicstudio8uz.jpg

You can still get updates for Logic Pro 5 or 6 at Apple's support site.
 

SamIchi

macrumors 68030
Aug 1, 2004
2,716
137
I'm kinda in the same boat, I'm into hip-hop (mainly) and i'm lookin' to makin' some beats, and what not. Thanks for all the software suggestions.

What about some hardware suggestions? I'm looking for a MIDI controller and read about the M-Audio Trigger Finger (review in Remix mag) and it looks pretty good. I don't know much about this stuff, so some comments would be nice :D .
 
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