New Producer setup questions!!
New Producer setup questions!! Posted on: 19.07.2012 by Lala Antonino Hi I am just starting to produce filthy electronic music, I have decided which moniters I am grabbing and my only remaining concern is whether or not to get a MIDI keyboard. I am extremely serious about making music and am lookin at getting novation impulse if I do get a MIDI keyboard. Also would 25 keys be sufficient or would 49 make a significant difference? I produce in ableton and I'm starting online courses with Point Blank just as soon as my home studio is set up. Feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you. | |
| Sylvia Greener 19.07.2012 |
Originally Posted by Tommi Bass
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| Sylvia Greener 20.07.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
I believe djcwah already hit the point quite well. I personally love working with controllers. Depending on what you choose it can become really pricey but I bet almost every controller will give you a benefit for your production. I have Maschine plus a 61-keyboard and working that way is really fantastic. Most melodies in EDM do not exceed the limit of two octaves which meens 25 keys would suffice technically. But to get creative and try out different octave ranges having a keyboard providing more keys will help you a lot! So if you can afford it, I would definitely recommend the 49-keys version. |
| Lala Antonino 19.07.2012 | Hi I am just starting to produce filthy electronic music, I have decided which moniters I am grabbing and my only remaining concern is whether or not to get a MIDI keyboard. I am extremely serious about making music and am lookin at getting novation impulse if I do get a MIDI keyboard. Also would 25 keys be sufficient or would 49 make a significant difference? I produce in ableton and I'm starting online courses with Point Blank just as soon as my home studio is set up. Feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you. |
| Ngoc Naea 19.07.2012 | K1, Sounds like you've already proved to yourself that the controller is the next step. If you've got a decent amount of material (however raw), the keys are only going to move you forward! |
| Sylvia Greener 19.07.2012 |
Originally Posted by Tommi Bass
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| Germaine Bernadin 19.07.2012 | Whats wrong with Qwerty? |
| Celine Surico 19.07.2012 | Today it takes about the same time to learn to play guitar properly versus learning how to use high-tech DJ tools properly. And for those who cheat, it will bite at gigs. |
| Sylvia Greener 19.07.2012 | While reading your two last posts, k1datplay, I had to lol. We have to many things in common! I use Maschine and the Arturia Laboratory 61 keyboard with Ableton for production and have an S4 for DJing. Lots of other gear on my wishlist . I came from DJing into production and till I got Maschine I almost always ended up with unfinished material, as you do at the moment. But nowadays everything's working fine and I feel I've already made huge advances during the last two years. But that's also because I'm the type of person who is patient enough to try out different things, invest hours, days, weeks, maybe even months in education and work up to two weeks (almost without interruption) on a single track. But this really pays off and you'll notice how you get faster and better! |
| Lala Antonino 19.07.2012 | I have had Ableton 8 for what will be 2 years on my 20th birthday Sep 10th. I've only been producing with it for a little over one year and I have actually never finished a song or gotten an arrangement past 30 seconds or twelve layers. I'm hoping something intuitive will help the production workflow. I already play my laptop like a keyboard ^_^ so at this point it seems quite natural to get a fair sized board. Thanks everybody for your help, Ill be sure to post my first completed track when it happens. |
| Lala Antonino 19.07.2012 | Thanks for the detailed response, your experience is exactly the scenario I was seeing myself go through if I went with the Impulse 25, I will definitely go the extra step and grab the 49 just as soon as my birthday rolls around in a couple months. Sounds like your setup is very similar to mine, APC40 for Ableton (just broke on me after 7 months) and a Behringer DDM4000(my 1st mixer) for Traktor. |
| Sylvia Greener 20.07.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
I believe djcwah already hit the point quite well. I personally love working with controllers. Depending on what you choose it can become really pricey but I bet almost every controller will give you a benefit for your production. I have Maschine plus a 61-keyboard and working that way is really fantastic. Most melodies in EDM do not exceed the limit of two octaves which meens 25 keys would suffice technically. But to get creative and try out different octave ranges having a keyboard providing more keys will help you a lot! So if you can afford it, I would definitely recommend the 49-keys version. |
| Dorie Scelzo 19.07.2012 | Do you play keyboard? If you do…they're kind of essential. If you don't……do you want to learn? Just having a keyboard won't make a difference if you have no idea how to play it and don't want to learn. But I believe a controller of some kind is essential just because I kind of hate mice. |
| Ngoc Naea 19.07.2012 | Yes, a controller is worth it! I also use Ableton and having a 49 key controller really opened up my creativity. That said, I believe it was good for me to wait until I had a better handle on my goals and my abilities as a producer. I started out with an MPK mini, just to give me some knobs and keys to work with. Then I added the APC40, mostly for DJing at the beginning. Things were going ok, but I had ran into some limitations with my setup when I started trying to write more complex melodies. My girlfriend loaned me her Novation Impulse 49 and it was obvious I needed one! I was able to be much more creative with a greater range of full sized keys. Jamming out to bass and drum tracks became much easier, not to mention having that badass on the desk waiting for me is a great motivator! My personal belief is that you will be much happier with 49 keys, but it really depends on your work space, style and of course, budget. I have a friend who recently upgraded from an Akai MPK49 to an MPK88, and he's ecstatic about it. My girlfriend on the other hand, has a 88 key Yamaha electric piano, and she bought the Impulse 49 because it's more compact and easier for performing. I don't believe you will ever regret having more keys, it just comes down to space and budget. My point really is that you might want to try some things out before you buy. Hopefully you have some producer friends who aren't too protective of their gear. |
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