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NEOGAF's Official Music Production Thread: calling all producers

O

Outdoor Miner

Member
BobDylan said:
Still looking for some advise
Click to expand...

How many keys are you looking for? 25, 37, 49, 61, 88?

Do you want a controller with a lot of knobs for soft synths?

Do you want drum pads on this keyboard controller?
 
B

BobDylan

Member
Outdoor Miner said:
How many keys are you looking for? 25, 37, 49, 61, 88?

Do you want a controller with a lot of knobs for soft synths?

Do you want drum pads on this keyboard controller?
Click to expand...

id like to get at least 49. as far as knobs and whatnot im just looking for something with enough buttons so I can assign basic presets. pads would be nice but its not absolutely necessary.
 
T

Tr4nce

Member
So, lately I've been thinking about buying one more softsynth, and I think it's gonna be NI's Massive. Does anyone here use it alot? Is it any good for pads and basses? Or are there better options? I already have Sylenth and ofcourse Logic's built in (but nevertheless awesome) ES2, but I need one more for pads. I produce electronic dance music, mostly Trance, yes.
 
O

Outdoor Miner

Member
Tr4nce said:
So, lately I've been thinking about buying one more softsynth, and I think it's gonna be NI's Massive. Does anyone here use it alot? Is it any good for pads and basses? Or are there better options? I already have Sylenth and ofcourse Logic's built in (but nevertheless awesome) ES2, but I need one more for pads. I produce electronic dance music, mostly Trance, yes.
Click to expand...

If for pads look no further than Camel Audio's Alchemy. A second option would be NI's Absynth.
 
K

kid ness

Member
GAF, I recently came across a finger drumming video on an mpc pad (I think that's what its called). Is there another name for this? Because I can't find any introduction guides.
I'm also in the market for a MIDI keyboard controller and a drum pad, I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for either of these that would work with Logic Express. I'm a total beginner and all the searches I've done have overwhelmed me, any help would be great.
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
"GAF, I recently came across a finger drumming video on an mpc pad (I think that's what its called). Is there another name for this? Because I can't find any introduction guides."


Is there another name for MPCs or finger drumming? There's no real introduction guides to finger drumming as it's just drumming with your fingers.
 
K

kid ness

Member
Teknopathetic said:
"GAF, I recently came across a finger drumming video on an mpc pad (I think that's what its called). Is there another name for this? Because I can't find any introduction guides."


Is there another name for MPCs or finger drumming? There's no real introduction guides to finger drumming as it's just drumming with your fingers.
Click to expand...
Oh, I didn't know it was that simple! I assumed you had to load some sounds into the mpc pad from the DAW?
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
"Oh, I didn't know it was that simple! I assumed you had to load some sounds into the mpc pad from the DAW?"

Oh, well for that part, you'd either use some sort of sampler or drum machine VST like Battery, Guru, BPM, Kontakt, etc. and most of the "major player" DAWs come packaged with some drum triggering plugin. Then you only need to map your pads (which is probably more or less automatic, depending on the software and hard) to trigger the drum hits.

Basically, any guide that tells you how to setup your drum/sampler VST will work. Or if you're using an actual hardware MPC and not just a drumpad style MIDI controller, you'd simply copy over the drum samples via whatever storage medium your MPC accepts and load the samples to each pad.

Which setup are you talking about?
 
B

Blutonium

Member
I know this is not really a production question but:

I want to start mixing on hardware, and I've had my eye on the Traktor Kontrol S4 (or S5 if that's released soon). Now I have a lot of Native Instruments VST's, which are just incredible. And I know Traktor is one of the more popular mixing programs among DJ's. I've tried Traktor too and I love it; so software-wise I should be set.

But I just want to hear what people think of the Kontrol panel. Anyone have any experience with it?

DkKuf.jpg
 
T

Tr4nce

Member
Blutonium said:
Might as well post it here too: this is my track for Neogaf's G.A.M.E. 7.0 album. Sadly the project became to much for my DAW to handle, so I won't be able to finish it until I buy some more RAM and an audio card.

I'll consider this one as finished though...once I upgrade my PC I'll remix it.
http://soundcloud.com/xenogenome/xenogenome-string-theory
Click to expand...

I know that kind of thing can be annoying, but why would you just stop working on your project? There are several ways to fix this kind of problem. Freeze tracks, bounce a whole lot of tracks to audio, then use the audio, etc. etc.

:)
 
N

neptunes

Member
Sorry for the bump, but I think this is some pretty neat news for us FL studio proucers.


Image line has finally released FL Studio Mobile and FL Studio Mobile HD for iPhone & iPad.

The ability to bounce projects between the Desktop and Mobile version is reason enough to take a look at it. I really hope they consider porting FL Studio to OS X, they're already half way there.

FLM_keyfeatures.jpg
iPhoneOr_home_1.png

iPad_home.png

iPhone4_home.png
 
R

Ryaaan14

Banned
Been using Ableton Live for about 7 years and finally looking to buy my first piece of hardware to begin producing more serious tracks. Can anyone recommend a good started controller for someone on a budget? I'm seriously considering the Novation Launchpad, because of it's versatility and great price, but curious if any of you have a better suggestion.
 
F

Fusebox

Banned
Novation Launchpad is excellent if you've got all your clips ready and want to perform live, but imo the Novation Remote series is better for actual music production. You get clip control, knob control, fader control, DAW transport, keys and more.
 
R

Ryaaan14

Banned
Fusebox said:
Novation Launchpad is excellent if you've got all your clips ready and want to perform live, but imo the Novation Remote series is better for actual music production. You get clip control, knob control, fader control, DAW transport, keys and more.
Click to expand...
They look amazing, but that price...damn.
 
R

RyanReedyMusic

Banned
I'm Ryan Reedy from Winston Salem, NC. Im into music production as well. Just a junior member to the forum. Saw this thread and I really like some of the info up in here. I have my own website and all my recordings are up there. Im guitarist for NYSIIS, DAS WAR, ADONAII, and TERRI GREENE as well as my solo material.

Here is one of my metal bands songs and a vid of us playing. Im the one playing the Neal Schon guitar. :) http://youtu.be/Cx8byBw9BSo

www.ryanreedymusic.com

I play guitar in multiple styles ranging from metal, jazz, fusion, solo acoustic, to rock and pop ballads. So far Im trying to step up my game in the local scene and start recording a lot more bands as I kinda need the money. lol
 
T

Tr4nce

Member
So Lion OSX is out today, but I read more and more that is better, for now, to leave it alone if you work with VST's alot. It seems that many 32-bit AU's don't work, or do not work flawlessly at the moment.
 
N

neptunes

Member
FL Studio is finally coming to the mac, natively
We have been working with CodeWeavers for the past year or so in developing a special version of FL Studio that runs in a customized Crossover wrapper (a Windows emulator/wrapper). This means that you DON'T need anything else (like a Windows installation, Boot Camp or CrossOver) to run FL Studio on Mac OSX. Just install FL Studio using the supplied .dmg and away you go!

We are now looking for experienced FL Studio users as beta-testers so if you have been a customer for 2 years or more AND have access to a Mac for testing, please reply below to have your name added to the list.

Let us know:

1. What Mac Hardware, OSX version & sound card you are using?
2. If you own/have a Mac, why you have one instead of/in addition to a PC?
3. How long you have been using FL Studio as a registered customer?

Limitations:

- This version of FL Studio does not support Audio Unit plugins. (PC) VST and FL Studio native only.
- 3rd Party VST plug-in compatibility needs to be tested on a case-by-case basis (please report).

PLEASE NOTE: Beta Testing will start sometime late September or early October.

Image-Line
Click to expand...
http://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic.php?f=1903&t=80076
 
B

Beezy

Member
Noob here

What program(s) would you guys recommend to someone who's completely new to music production? I messed around with fruity loops years ago when I was in high school, but I didn't spend much time trying to understand it.
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
Beezy said:
Noob here

What program(s) would you guys recommend to someone who's completely new to music production? I messed around with fruity loops years ago when I was in high school, but I didn't spend much time trying to understand it.
Click to expand...

Well, that's what you have to settle with.

FL Studio and Reason for beats/tracks. If you didn't spend more time, go back and spend it again.

Adobe Audition or Sony Acid Pro for mixing/looping. It's a good start, in my opinion, in getting the basics done.

And for the complete killer package: Garageband, Native Instruments, Pro Tools, Ableton, Cubase and Logic.
 
F

Fusebox

Banned
shagg_187 said:
Well, that's what you have to settle with.

FL Studio and Reason for beats/tracks. If you didn't spend more time, go back and spend it again.

Adobe Audition or Sony Acid Pro for mixing/looping. It's a good start, in my opinion, in getting the basics done.

And for the complete killer package: Garageband, Native Instruments, Pro Tools, Ableton, Cubase and Logic.
Click to expand...

I don't like diving into my fellow muso's, but your 'complete killer package' is just bizarre. Native Instruments isn't even a DAW, and I hope you meant to say Cubase OR Logic, because it sounds like you're recommending all of the above DAWs as some kind of package which just isn't the case.

Beezy said:
Noob here

What program(s) would you guys recommend to someone who's completely new to music production? I messed around with fruity loops years ago when I was in high school, but I didn't spend much time trying to understand it.
Click to expand...

What kind of music do you want to make? Do you want to create an electronic tune from scratch or record your band playing their instruments?

Fruity Loops is still an entry-level DAW so if you liked what you saw go and give the latest version a try.

I recommend Reason for electronic music for beginners, as it has self-contained modules for drums, bass, lead and mastering and an attractive GUI.

http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/

And then once you hit the limitations of Reason then you can move over to one of the more flexible DAWs like Ableton or Logic.

Outdoor Miner said:
Buuuuuump. Damn what happened to this thread? I know you all didn't just die or swear off using the interwebz or stop making music!
Click to expand...

I'm just in the middle of a rig refresh, I've just added a LiquidMix 32 but I don't have a compatible PCI Firewire card yet, I just upgraded my Komplete Synths to Kompete 7 + Kore 2 with the controller and I'm strongly considering buying a Moog Slim Phatty to sit next to my DSI Tetra but that's probably not gonna happen coz I have a baby on the way.

Teknopathetic said:
Is there another name for MPCs or finger drumming? There's no real introduction guides to finger drumming as it's just drumming with your fingers.
Click to expand...

Check out this phenom, if I'm finger drumming, what he's doing should be called something else out of respect for my lack of skills...

http://www.youtube.com/user/NativeInstruments#p/c/720F62607C4A42B6
 
B

Bowevil

Member
Long time musician but new to putting together tracks. I have just started creating and producing game sounds and music. I was asked to produce "noble"
sounding music for a animal crossings/club penguin online community. Below are two of my favorites.

http://soundcloud.com/ixtlan-designs/marketplace
http://soundcloud.com/ixtlan-designs/carasoul-of-dreams-np-theme

I used garage band as the primary development tool and a really nice Yamaha keyboard.

I was trying to get into the "FL Studio for mac" testing but since I have never used that software before I guess I am not qualified.
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
"Check out this phenom, if I'm finger drumming, what he's doing should be called something else out of respect for my lack of skills..."


That guy actually has videos of youtube teaching how he does it. Search for his name, should find it.
 
S

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew

Banned
Fusebox said:
I don't like diving into my fellow muso's, but your 'complete killer package' is just bizarre. Native Instruments isn't even a DAW, and I hope you meant to say Cubase OR Logic, because it sounds like you're recommending all of the above DAWs as some kind of package which just isn't the case.
Click to expand...

LOL No. By complete killer package, I meant that play around with these software when you're done with the beginner softwares. All of them (if I am correct) have a trial version available so he/she can see which one fits his/her need, I guess. There's always something nice about one or the other, especially depending on whether you're a mac or a windows user.
 
B

Beezy

Member
Thanks for the responses.

Fusebox said:
What kind of music do you want to make? Do you want to create an electronic tune from scratch or record your band playing their instruments?

Fruity Loops is still an entry-level DAW so if you liked what you saw go and give the latest version a try.

I recommend Reason for electronic music for beginners, as it has self-contained modules for drums, bass, lead and mastering and an attractive GUI.

http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/

And then once you hit the limitations of Reason then you can move over to one of the more flexible DAWs like Ableton or Logic.
Click to expand...
I'm just trying to make electronic music from scratch for now. I'll try FL again and look into Reason.
 
B

BakedPigeon

Banned
Ive posted early on in this thread but its been long ago. I know absolutely nothing about producing besides what watching what my friend does on reason. My goal in the next year is to obtain the proper equipment and software to start out learning the basics. But I have a fear of learning the overall mechanics of producing a song if that makes any sense at all. I have my imagination but it seems like a very daunting task to actually make what goes into a track.

How did you guys get started producing is a really big question I have.

edit - i just searched for the thread and assumed it was a old thread without looking at the recent posts. that's what i get for being impatient :/
 
O

Outdoor Miner

Member
Best advice I ever read was not to overwhelm yourself. Dont try to learn an instrument + music theory + the intricacies of your DAW of choice + programming synths/making your own sounds all at once. You'll go mad, get discouraged, and quit midway thru the process. Take things one step at a time and be patient, its a loooooooooooong journey.
 
N

Nyx

Member
I have been producing housemusic for 3 years now, had 3 tracks digitally released, but I feel I have been standing still ever since.

Time-restraints are one reason for this I guess, but I also have found it hard to 'finish' tracks.

Surely I can make something that lasts 6-8 minutes with a buildup, a break or two etc. but the hardest part is to make a track interesting the whole time.

Variation in percussion, random sounds on specific moments in the track, surprise FX, that kind of stuff. I always seem to fuck things up when I try to add these making the track sound off, and me losing motivation to finish it, which ofcourse results in starting something new the next time I start up Reason.

Anyone here who can relate, and share their thoughts and/or ideas ?
 
T

Tr4nce

Member
Hey Nyx,

I understand what you mean. Keeping a track sonically interesting enough is very hard, that's why I always spend so much time on those little 1 or 2 bar transitions, know what I mean? For example have all of the bass drop out for 1 bar, before your electronic music track transitions into the next part of the arrangement. Change a few notes of the melody that plays throughout the intro, just before the track reaches the breakdown, that kind of simple little things. Play around with the drums, or add some reversed vocal as a transition part. Add small riffs which play in the background, which complement the main riff or main melody. Be creative! :)
 
Acrylic7

Acrylic7

Member
Hey guys, I'm looking for a decent cheap laptop that's capable of running minor things like Pro Tools and Fruity Loops. I just make beats and do minor recordings (mixtapes). At the moment I have a piece of crap PC that barely gets the job done, but I need something more powerful.

Something that has no lag whenever I plug in my MPC and other audio devices. Something that doesn't lag when I try to record music. I'm not rich so something in between $400-$600-ish, if its possible. If not tell me what to get. I can probably pay a little more if I save up.
 
F

Fusebox

Banned
Some new bits of kit, in no order - Dave Smith Instruments Tetra, Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6, Korg Monotron, Focusrite Liquid Mix, Kore 2 w/ Komplete 7, Remote SL 37.

6233698540_8f223920a1_z.jpg


6233177735_ff5a6d02d0_z.jpg


6233699768_9d154b98a1_z.jpg


6233176687_f058b10e5c_z.jpg


6233179667_6811b6f43f_z.jpg
 
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