Topic: Production Gear
- Apr 17, 2006 04:45am by c.hill Location: charlotte street, kcmo
I was wondering what sort of equipment the producers/djs around here are using. I am a recording engineer for UMKC's Conservatory of Music and am looking into putting together a little production rig for getting my own musical ideas down.
Any suggestions from people already doing it are appreciated.
- Apr 17, 2006 12:14pm by sgfromkc
It really Depends on what type of Budget you got to work with....
Throw me a Budget Figure and i can def give you a list of items that will take your music farther for the Money...
say you got Jus $ 900 ta $ 3,000..............
Akai makes several models of the MPC. now ..EVERY model from the early Days to the MPC2500 that jus came out are the best Thing to happen for electronic Music....
That is the first thing i recommend... for several reasons......
1. Very User Friendly....
2. it's Sampling Capabilities..Most producers the mpc for Drums. but the mpc engine has the power to do Whatever you can imagine to do with a sample..
3. it's Midi functions... some versions have 2 midi in's and 2 Midi Outs.. and some have 4 ins and 4 outs..... what this allows you to do is..run 2 ta 4 sound modules at the same time with the MPC as the MASTER.
NOW, say you run a digital recording system such as Pro tools...The mpc and pro tools lock up perfect thru midi. allowing you to have pro tools Start the MPC .... Now this comes in handy for people that are really picky about seperating tracks... me personally im a freak when it comes to this.... i have to have my Snare, bass drums , hi hats., bass line, ETC. on it's Own Track... the mpc is pretty much Flawless at stickin to the midi clock grid so even if you record a snare drum on solo for 5 minutes . then record the bass drum solo , ETC...all the way till the beats long enough... all the tracks will still be locked together.....
This is all great for MIXDOWNS after the Vocals and other things get Dropped.
4. The Seqencer... any type of music you wish to make.. from Waltz music ta hip hop.(4/3. ta 4/4 time).. .also .its qauntizing on all MPC's are really NICE...
which brings me to The Swing function. This is real tight for making your drums more realistic. as well as timing along with Lazy Samples.....
.....
One thing is ... It DOES NOT come with any sounds built in...
you have to put what you want in it....
right now, Thats really all i can think of what Positive things the MPC does.. It does MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE then what i wrote above .
.....
Now.. Keyboard / sound Modules.
man..there are keyboards and modules that range from $1000, ta $3000 that Work hand and hand with the MPC......... and yet powerfull enough by themself. I warn you though...the drums that come with these get old after awhile... ..which is another reason i recomend a MPC...
but the Hottest boards on the market now , in my opinion are...
1. Yamaha MOTIF
2. Korg Triton Extreme
3. Roland Phantom...
Rackmount sound Modules..
1. Proteus 2000
2. Planet Phat
3. MOTIF Rack..
All have great Realistic sounds.....
....................................................
Now.. if you have a Budget of $500
try Reasons and a midi controller for Your PC...
this program makes pretty cool stuff......
...
thas all that comes to mind right now..
S.G.
- Apr 17, 2006 02:07pm by c.hill Location: charlotte street, kcmo
thanks sg.
I didn't post a budget because its going to be coming together pretty haphazardly. I already have some recording equipment and work at a studio, but I don't have any midi/programming gear at home and am looking to get into that this summer.
What I'm mostly interested in is hearing what others are currently getting results with.
Anyone else, please post your favorite gear!
- Apr 18, 2006 02:07am by Distorted_Mastermind - I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Adam Savage Location: Olathe, KS
For beatmaking I use either my ASRX pro or Fruity Loops. Two very different takes on things. With the asr I go for a gritty sound and use only samples. With fruity loops I use quite a few samples, but also have the ability to use any VST or DX synth out there. That's important overall because it saves cash as well as space.
Bottomline on both.....the asr is an easier workflow for making the music, but has to be tracked out which gets old for me. Fruity Loops isn't much behind on the workflow and I can still use my asr as a controller, and it involves no tracking since it's all there already and it can be expanded with high quality synths and effects that won't break the bank or eat up all the space I have. Both are good, but if you aren't making beats right now and own a computer fruity loops would be a much cheaper option at 150 bucks for producer edition with lifetime upgrades for free. Music is music, so software vs hardware isn't much of a debate imo.
- Apr 18, 2006 03:18am by barnyard - Befriend me. ---> [url=http://www.myspace.com/farmfreshcuts]MYSPACE[/url]
All software sucks nuts but use Reason, not fruityloops. WAAAAAY better my friends. ReWire it to ableton live and it's unfickwiddable. But like i said, all software sucks.
- Apr 18, 2006 03:45am by Distorted_Mastermind - I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Adam Savage Location: Olathe, KS
[quote:157a696023="barnyard"]All software sucks nuts but use Reason, not fruityloops. WAAAAAY better my friends. ReWire it to ableton live and it's unfickwiddable. But like i said, all software sucks.[/quote:157a696023]
You've got to be joking....software can do way more than any sampler or keyboard can do plus you can still use a keyboard or drum pads along with the software.
I like both myself, but saying software sucks is straight opinion based and is far from reality.
- Apr 18, 2006 04:22am by Atilla_Beatsmith - [email protected]
www.myspace.com/manwithahammer Location: the Beatcave, U.S.A.
[quote:d2c9698efd="Distorted_Mastermind"][quote:d2c9698efd="barnyard"]All software sucks nuts but use Reason, not fruityloops. WAAAAAY better my friends. ReWire it to ableton live and it's unfickwiddable. But like i said, all software sucks.[/quote:d2c9698efd]
You've got to be joking....software can do way more than any sampler or keyboard can do plus you can still use a keyboard or drum pads along with the software.
I like both myself, but saying software sucks is straight opinion based and is far from reality.[/quote:d2c9698efd]
co-sign. don't hate on the software. I will tell you to try them both out (if you can). One might work better for you than the other. Pick whatever lets those creative juices flow better and more productively.
Never get something because it's what you're [i:d2c9698efd]supposed[/i:d2c9698efd] to have, *caugh*MPC*caugh*, get it because you can make use of it.
- Apr 18, 2006 05:36am by barnyard - Befriend me. ---> [url=http://www.myspace.com/farmfreshcuts]MYSPACE[/url]
[quote:73cacc189a]You've got to be joking....software can do way more than any sampler or keyboard can do plus you can still use a keyboard or drum pads along with the software. [/quote:73cacc189a]
so what do you make that's so much better than anything on hardware? if software can do way more, then show me a piece of work with way more to it. The fact of the matter is, we make hip hop. we don't need bells and whistles.
[quote:73cacc189a]I like both myself, but saying software sucks is straight opinion based and is far from reality.[/quote:73cacc189a]
how you gonna put down's someone's opinion? if you're sore at me for stating my point of view, fine. But don't say someone's opinion is far from reality. That's just assholeish. And it's also just your opinion.
- Apr 18, 2006 05:37am by barnyard - Befriend me. ---> [url=http://www.myspace.com/farmfreshcuts]MYSPACE[/url]
[quote:32b680298f]One might work better for you than the other. Pick whatever lets those creative juices flow better and more productively.[/quote:32b680298f]
Word.
- Apr 18, 2006 06:22am by Distorted_Mastermind - I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Adam Savage Location: Olathe, KS
[quote:9dae638d18="barnyard"]how you gonna put down's someone's opinion? if you're sore at me for stating my point of view, fine. But don't say someone's opinion is far from reality. That's just assholeish. And it's also just your opinion.[/quote:9dae638d18]
I wasn't putting down your opinion just stating that software can do way more. I've already mentioned I use both.
Software can edit way more precise, offers more ways to stretch audio, more usable notes per single sample, more options for effects as well as much better and cheaper effects, no need for tracking a project since it's there already, saves space and money, gets good results.
Hardware is good for faster sampling, a little better workflow while making a beat, but much more time consuming to track it out, good for the grit, and that's about it.
That is my opinion with the information with which I base my opinion. To say software sucks is a bunch of bs imo. I get about the same results either way on hardware vs software, but overall prefer software. Both have good elements, but if i had to choose one I would pick software as of today.
To get on a whole other thing......recording. How many studios don't use software?
- Apr 18, 2006 01:35pm by aeongrey
To answer the question.. most professional studios use software.. but it not a windows or mac driving system... they are hard wired devices built specifically for running the audio programs with very specific operating systems.
Now.. softward vs. hardware.. an argument that can't realy be won.. both have pros and cons. In the end though.. production and being creative is using the tools you have available to the best of their abilities.
When you are using home computers or even computers built specifically for production, there is still machine noise that bleeds into some of the audio. It is not always super apparent, but it is there. Depending on the efficiency of your system.
Quality is generally an issue of sample and bit rates though.. little to do with the machines themselves. My suggestion is experiment, try out things.. see how they feel to you.. and build off that... here is the list of things I use.
akai mpc2000xl
akai s900 sampler
akai mpc60
pro tools
- Apr 20, 2006 01:23am by Adru
dont have much to add to this.but if i were to list my personal top 20 hip hop beats of all time--absolutely none of them would have been created using any type of software.just something to think about.guess it depends on what kind of shit your trying to do.hip hop music wasnt born in a computer though.and if i were to try making beats mainly using a mouse clicking on sound waves,i wouldnt even feel like i was making music.and i'd also feel like i was cheating. give me a sampler with a sequencer, a turntable and some wax.
- Apr 20, 2006 01:56am by Ben_Fuller
As far as the hardware vs. software argument I have to say there is absolutely no comparison between what you can do with $2000 worth of hardware which will get you one MPC2500...
...and $2000 worth of software, which just ballparking it will get you:
MBox 2 Factory Bundle running ProTools LE - $550
Ableton Live 5 (best software out there for loop based stuff) - $400
Reason 3.0 (tons of great softsynths among other things) - $400
Universal Audio FlexiPak (killer effects and plugs) - $650
I can tell you right, if you line up side by side what you get with that MPC purely feature wise and what you can do with all that software the MPC comes out looking pretty bad. And that is considering you actually PAY for all the software.
For me a combo of software and hardware is ideal. Putting all your production eggs in one basket *cough*MPC*cough* just seems kinda stupid to me.
- Apr 21, 2006 08:33pm by beatbroker - -beatbroker
HHA/Symbol Heavy/IN crew Location: KCMO
if you cop anything other than a Casio SK-1 you're playing yourself homie.
MPC's are for pussies
- Apr 21, 2006 08:52pm by Distorted_Mastermind - I reject your reality and substitute my own.
Adam Savage Location: Olathe, KS
ha those sk's are raw......especially once bent.
