If I Got To Start All Over Again, I Would.........
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If I Got To Start All Over Again, I Would......... Posted on: 15.03.2013 by Eric Chairez DJTToolers:I'm approaching feeling settled on Ableton. Still I have not ruled out Logic, FL Studio, and Pro Tools. I'm looking at MIDI keyboards and various other production devices. With MIDI keyboards that have pads, faders, and encoders.....it seems like you can get it all at once. I guess I'd like to hear from those with more experience about where they wasted a lot of time. Any gear to avoid? I'm knee deep in a music theory book and another on dance music production. I play around with my Ableton Lite, but know I need a keyboard to work along with the exercises in my books. I don't even like Ableton that much, but I have a good friend who uses it who has agreed to spend some time teaching me a few things in Ableton, if I teach him how to mix in Traktor. Seems like a good deal. Also, it seems to be the most pervasive DAW in the world right now. So, those are my thoughts. Now, if you got to do it all over again, where would you start? What would you read? What tutorial services would you use online? What keyboard would you buy? What DAW would you use? Thanks, I look forward to hearing some responses. Oh yeah, check me out on Mixcloud. Soundcloud is being a bitch and only let me upload my first mix. I posted this on another community as well and so far, most responses have been to take it slow, learn more about theory, mixing, etc.. Please no.....well this is covered in other threads, you misspelled _______, you should probably master Traktor first. | |
| Eric Chairez 15.03.2013 | DJTToolers: I'm approaching feeling settled on Ableton. Still I have not ruled out Logic, FL Studio, and Pro Tools. I'm looking at MIDI keyboards and various other production devices. With MIDI keyboards that have pads, faders, and encoders.....it seems like you can get it all at once. I guess I'd like to hear from those with more experience about where they wasted a lot of time. Any gear to avoid? I'm knee deep in a music theory book and another on dance music production. I play around with my Ableton Lite, but know I need a keyboard to work along with the exercises in my books. I don't even like Ableton that much, but I have a good friend who uses it who has agreed to spend some time teaching me a few things in Ableton, if I teach him how to mix in Traktor. Seems like a good deal. Also, it seems to be the most pervasive DAW in the world right now. So, those are my thoughts. Now, if you got to do it all over again, where would you start? What would you read? What tutorial services would you use online? What keyboard would you buy? What DAW would you use? Thanks, I look forward to hearing some responses. Oh yeah, check me out on Mixcloud. Soundcloud is being a bitch and only let me upload my first mix. I posted this on another community as well and so far, most responses have been to take it slow, learn more about theory, mixing, etc.. Please no.....well this is covered in other threads, you misspelled _______, you should probably master Traktor first. |
| Rebbecca Fennell 19.03.2013 | After all the years of messing around I believe the best advice I can give anyone of any genre, is get an MPC. Just using it as a controller for a daw its still better then any of the dedicated pad controllers out there. So many tricks you can do with a hardware sequencer and a daw... |
| Margarette Totino 18.03.2013 | I proooooobably cant answer your question. Sorry mang. |
| Sydney Lashway 15.03.2013 | I second what the guys above have said... ...A book, or manual with mixing advice is great. The key is not to take it as gospel. Treat them as guidelines and let your ears decide what sounds good and what doesn't. I find referencing other tracks helps as well. The same way deconstructing a song to find the instruments and what not, deconstructing a mix will definitely give you a better idea of how to mix, or shine some light on things you've been overlooking. with regards to Tarekith's idea of one piece of gear at a time, great advice. We got our Triton and used it for almost 2 years before we went to the Motif. I've been with my Maschine now for almost a year, and though I'm very comfortable with it I learn new things all the time. When considering DAW's believe of your needs, read reviews. Before I bought my Maschine I watched a million videos about it and the Spark and others. Same applies to DAW's. Most are great at doing everything. That being said some are still better at MIDI, others at audio editing, sampling/chopping etc. Don't be afraid of the demo's or "Lite/LE" versions either. Most companies offer cross-grades, not to mention the Lite versions are significantly cheaper. READ the manual!!! When I first started on Fruity Loops 3 (yeah way back when) I knew nothing and didn't bother. My downloaded it when I was on vacay and in 2 weeks was leaps and bound ahead of mastery with the program than I was. When I asked him "how" he just said "I read the manual." Mind you this was before the days of YouTube, so now it's easy to just search for a vid addressing whatever concern you may need clarification on. When I switched to Cubase VST 32 I made sure to read the damn manual. Lastly, when choosing a key-controller, believe of your playing style (will you need more than 2 octaves) do you want additional controls (pads, knobs faders) and also your budget. There are a plethora of options within a variety of price ranges. I know I didn't really pick out specific hardware or software but as mentioned. It's about what you like, and what works with your style. |
| Arline Receveur 15.03.2013 | What tarekith said really but i've got a few more for you champ Don't follow any guides or tutorials step-by-step and instead try to emerge your own style. Also throw out any rules you believe music has because I learnt this very early if I try follow things "right" you get stuck into some fucked cycle of repeat so keep it real and do what sounds good to your ears. LEARN your DAW. Don't just sit there and go "Ableton does this better then Logic etc etc" because more than likely they both do the same thing just as well but a little differently. Like tarekith said, pick what ever catches your eye and you like then learn it. Remember you can rewire DAW's but if your just starting i'd say keep it fairly minimal. Train your ears. Jump into EQ on one of your favourite harmonies and play with the freq's to get a feel for them. You'll thank me later when you've got that one little niggle of a freq in your mix and you can already pin point where it is. Youtube is your #1 tool for tutorials and if you look deep into it you'll find some real beauty of gems. I also recommend Groove3 for the more in-depth tutorials you might want to apply across a few genre's. There is 100 more i'd like to list but its 3:30am so i'll keep it short haha Also you dont need much in todays age when making music in your DAW man. If you master your daw with its hotkeys all you will need is just a standard midi keyboard with no fancy add-ons. Save your money from controllers and spend it on quality plugins imo Feel free to ask me if you have any questions!!! |
| Monserrate Rupnow 15.03.2013 | A few tips I'd offer: - It's not the gear you use that defines the outcome, just about anything we have access to these days is WAY more than capable of doing great sounding tracks. Pick which ever DAW you like the look of the most, you'll be spending too much time using it to go with something you already don't like. - Get only one new piece of gear at a time. Even with today's damn near idiot proof learnign curves, it still takes time to learn new software or hardware. Buy one, learn it, then move on. - Get yourself one synth and one drum machine (hardware or software) and learn them inside and out. Make them your babies, and spend the time really mastering them. - Decent speakers, acoustic treatment, and a decent soundcard are maybe not the most exciting things, but far more important than having the latest and greatest plug in or DAW. |
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