Setting up my first home studio

I realize this is a very noobish topic so apologies in advance for that

I am very interested in learning how to produce music. I've played piano for a few years but have never tried recording anything. I'm into some dubstep related stuff like Burial, Actress, Shackleton (not really dubstep but you know what I mean), as well as ambient textural things like Tim Hecker and Jacaszek. I really don't want to produce sounds that are too rigid and calculated though. I like playing expressively, and things like jazz and prog play an influence structurally.

Here is my basic plan at the moment.. the brains of the operation will be my iMac i5, 2.66ghz, 12g ram. I have some decent headphones, Senn 550HDs, that should be good enough for now. Everything I else though I still need to buy.

For the controller I'm leaning towards a Novation mkII 61 Key. The range of keys is important since I like the long, flowing melodies you find in jazz for example, plus I want to be able to practice my basic playing using this. Also I like that it's kind of an all-in-one thing since it saves space on my desk. As I understand it this controller is relatively advanced for someone just starting, but I would rather just get something nice to begin with. The Novation seems to have better user feedback than the Axiom Pro, but I'm open to any recommendations if you think there are better alternatives whether all-in-one or not.

I doubt I will be using live instruments at first, though I will definitely be playing with vocal samples, so I will need look into mics... I really hesitate to spend a lot since I won't be using it a ton, but if it's necessary to not sound like crap then I will. I'm not leaning towards anything in particular yet.


Computer, controller, mic, headphones... Do I need anything else (aside from programs of course)? Or even if I don't need it immediately, things I should be aware of to look into more? I keep watching these home studio vids on youtube and they have the stuff I mentioned plus a bunch of other mixing boards and various boxes... I just want to make sure I'm not missing something important (I'm in the process of moving and am trying to plan out my desk space a bit, which I haven't bought so there is flexibility).

Again I know this is a very broad and noobish topic, but any advice would be very much appreciated. Also, if anyone could recomend a forum dedicated to this stuff that would be great.. I looked around but it's a bit tough to tell them apart and most are not so noob-friendly. Anyways thanks in advance

 

Since the Novation has a USB port and since many mics have USB ports, do I really need that? From the quick research I did it's not really necessary for the Novation, though it would improve the mic quality (correct me if I'm wrong on that). Not sure it's worth the $600 or so for that when I haven't even bought a mic yet.

 

I see. Well I'll have to save up a while longer but I guess it wil be worth it.

And yeah I spent a while looking at gearsluts last night, there is a lot to learn!

Thanks for the input

 

Thanks for the great advice guys!

I may go with the Duet, seems a bit more flexible. I don't like the idea of a built in mic, plus I just bought a new electric guitar so I imagine the Duet will be better for playing around with that, and I can use that instead of wasting money on a practice amp. I think I'll skip the mic preamp for a while.

Right-o, I have Garage Band as well as Reason... need to research on what the other programs have to offer.

Not sure what I can do about this... my room is my room, right?

I currently just have some $80 Sony bookshelf speakers.. nice for watching movies and so on but obviously a major upgrade will need to happen. I see this as being something that can wait, I don't want to go too crazy spending. I've looked into them a bit and have a basic idea on the major players, willing to spend $400 when I get the chance.

Already ordered the mkii61 on ebay! Hopefully it arrives safe and sound, I'm pretty sure it will satisfy my basic needs.

Yeah this is easy to believe... I feel like I'm just getting the bare essentials and already the cost is racking up... but it's one of those things I have to do or else I'll just be sitting there wishing I was doing it. I'm buying all my stuff used, so worst case scenario I should be able to resell it with only a minor loss.

 

Okay I have everything I need now, there's just one issue. I can't get my guitar to play through my Apogee One. Input is set to Inst and it's plugged in. Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

 

Turns out I just had a piece of crap guitar cable, haha. Working fine now.

Do have a question about Reason though... for some reason I can only hear sounds from the first rack I use when I open the program. The other racks look like they are working fine... just no sound. ;_;

edit: restarted a few times and it works now :/