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[Teknopathetic]

I'd agree with that. Get something immediate like Korg iElectribe or Native Instruments iMaschine ipad apps or if you go the hardware route, seconding the Volca series recommendation or Korg Electribe (the iElectribe app is based on this hardware sequencer/groovebox).

 

[thezerofire]

In that case, i think the Volca's might be a good fit to start, expand as you go or move up.

The Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators might be too

 

[injurai]

Hmm, yeah I might start with Reason or Reaper. For hardware I was thinking I'd pick up an old Moog, and an old Akai MPC.

 

[thezerofire]

Hmm, yeah I might start with Reason or Reaper. For hardware I was thinking I'd pick up an old Moog, and an old Akai MPC.

if you can find a moog at a reasonable price by all means go for it

 

[ozfunghi]

The Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators might be too

Isn't that rather expensive? Edit: it is. You can buy a very nice couple of second hand synths for the price.

if you can find a moog at a reasonable price by all means go for it

Hmm, yeah I might start with Reason or Reaper. For hardware I was thinking I'd pick up an old Moog, and an old Akai MPC.

Yeah, if you really aren't sure what to get and if you are going to persue the hobby, i would really consider going with cheap software apps/demo's or cheap resellable hardware. You'll be hard pressed finding a "cheap" Moog, even second hand. And don't forget, they're (almost) all monophonic. Play around with a software demo, some cheap apps... see if you enjoy it, then you can move on to more serious hardware/software once you made up your mind and maybe splasch some cash. And if you do decide to go for hardware right away, indeed look for second hand, so you won't lose value reselling if you end up not liking it.

 

[Teknopathetic]

"Isn't that rather expensive? Edit: it is. You can buy a very nice couple of second hand synths for the price."


The pocket operators are 60$ each .

 

[ozfunghi]

"Isn't that rather expensive? Edit: it is. You can buy a very nice couple of second hand synths for the price."


The pocket operators are 60$ each .

Sorry, i thought it was this device: http://www.bax-shop.nl/synthesizer/teenage-engineering-op-1-portable-synthesizer

 

[thezerofire]

Yeah I wouldn't recomment the OP-1 to someone just getting into it, a bit pricey for that

still looks super fun though and I still want one.

next purchase is probably a Roland JP-08 I think

 

[Voidguts]

Hmm, yeah I might start with Reason or Reaper. For hardware I was thinking I'd pick up an old Moog, and an old Akai MPC.

reason is a great program, don't get me wrong, but if i could go back in time 4 years i would have invested in a different DAW. now all of my money is locked up in it and it's too late to jump ship basically.

their "customer support" is complete and utter shit, basically non-existent. literally the worst i've experienced from any company. if you want to hit them up about a new product or say that you're interested in spending some money, they'll hit you back within a day or two. if you've already spent that money on something advertised as working and it doesn't work.. well, you're fucked. expect to wait 2+ months for a response, if any.

try out Reaper, at least it supports VSTs.

 

[Intheflorsh]

I'm sorry this wasn't more positive but I'd rather give you my honest opinion, it's only one opinion and you shouldn't let any commentary dissuade you from making the things you want to make. So please disregard this entire thing if you disagree.

Don't be sorry, it's awesome of you to give such detailed feedback and I agree with a lot of it.

By the way, the link to your song doesn't work for me.

 

[Rösti]

I'm currently working on a remix of Sleepless by Cazette, among other things. While I don't rely too often on any greater DAW, I have found a rather fitting effect in Ableton Live 9. It's called Reverse 1 Bar and it's a simple looper with controls for speed, feedback and quantization. The problem is that I don't have a license for the program, so I cannot export any audio. Does anyone know if a similar program featuring such an effect has a trial?

It's not super important, but it would make my remix a bit deeper. I have no interest in aquiring Ableton Live illegitimately.

The effect looks like this in Live:

 

[injurai]

reason is a great program, don't get me wrong, but if i could go back in time 4 years i would have invested in a different DAW. now all of my money is locked up in it and it's too late to jump ship basically.

their "customer support" is complete and utter shit, basically non-existent. literally the worst i've experienced from any company. if you want to hit them up about a new product or say that you're interested in spending some money, they'll hit you back within a day or two. if you've already spent that money on something advertised as working and it doesn't work.. well, you're fucked. expect to wait 2+ months for a response, if any.

try out Reaper, at least it supports VSTs.

I was hoping to eventually use Logic or Cubase down the road. But those are pricey and I don't have an apple laptop right now.

I was actually leaning towards Reaper anyways for something cheap and immediate.

 

[FloatingDivider]

By the way, the link to your song doesn't work for me.

That's odd, it works for me, maybe it's that trendy misshapen U thing I did. here's a regular link: https://soundcloud.com/yesplznothx/comingbacktoyou/s-0GiIL if it still doesn't work I don't know how to solve it

 

[Intheflorsh]

That's odd, it works for me, maybe it's that trendy misshapen U thing I did. here's a regular link: https://soundcloud.com/yesplznothx/comingbacktoyou/s-0GiIL if it still doesn't work I don't know how to solve it

It actually looks like all Soundcloud links except for mine aren't working on my PC, I guess I better figure this out.

 

[ozfunghi]

reason is a great program, don't get me wrong, but if i could go back in time 4 years i would have invested in a different DAW. now all of my money is locked up in it and it's too late to jump ship basically.

their "customer support" is complete and utter shit, basically non-existent. literally the worst i've experienced from any company. if you want to hit them up about a new product or say that you're interested in spending some money, they'll hit you back within a day or two. if you've already spent that money on something advertised as working and it doesn't work.. well, you're fucked. expect to wait 2+ months for a response, if any.

try out Reaper, at least it supports VSTs.

I'm don't want to defend Reason or anything, and it has it's shortcomings (closed environment), but it's also relatively cheap compared to other DAWs i believe. Of course i don't know how much you spent on plug ins, but a complete (full) Reason license can be found for €360 ad that's including a €150 midi keyboard. So i think it's a bit unfair to A/ compare it to more expensive DAWs and B/ blame it for "locking your money". Is there no way to resell your license? I know older versions can be found "second hand". In that case you can argue that you would need to re-invest in learning other software or that after you sell it, you can't work on old tracks anymore. So you might want to finish those before selling (if possible), maybe export all the tracks and instruments seperately for audio as well as midi. That way you could still continue working on tracks in different software. Sure it's a hassle for those songs that you still want to work on, but no more really than if you had recorded instruments live. So i guess it all depends on how much exactly you invested in it (money spent). It's likely still going to be less than many alternatives and less than any decent sounding synthesizer. I can't speak for the customer support though.

I also never considered Reason as a full "DAW" either. Although it seems to be getting there more and more one step at a time. But that's a different matter.

If you are really unhappy with it, i would move on. Weigh the pro's and cons of selling it (money vs ability to (easily) work on old tracks).

Does any part of this sound discordant or weird?

https://soundcloud.com/florsh-558501827/paradisefunkpalacehothothot-1

I think this has LOADS of potential. Yes, the break(?) sounds discordant but i agree it sounds intentional. Doesn't bother me. I think the part you begin the track with, is really good... except for the sounds. I don't like the bass sound (especially the sustain/decay) at all, your main synth is exagerated flakey and doesn't sound "old analog" but "fake". I think it brings the track down, it destracts from the actual "song" which is really good. I also agree that you should balance the sounds better, the reverb. Everything sounds empty because of too much reverb "large empty hall" effect. Yet the bass is very one dimensional.

So, for me, finetune the sounds and effects, and this could really be a gem.

 

[Accoun]

The Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators might be too

Wouldn't they be too limited (at least the non-drum ones)? Volcas and Electribes would be far better if you ask me.

 

[thezerofire]

Wouldn't they be too limited (at least the non-drum ones)? Volcas and Electribes would be far better if you ask me.

from what I understand they're reasonably powerful, but I haven't used one personally

 

[Intheflorsh]

I think this has LOADS of potential. Yes, the break(?) sounds discordant but i agree it sounds intentional. Doesn't bother me. I think the part you begin the track with, is really good... except for the sounds. I don't like the bass sound (especially the sustain/decay) at all, your main synth is exagerated flakey and doesn't sound "old analog" but "fake". I think it brings the track down, it destracts from the actual "song" which is really good. I also agree that you should balance the sounds better, the reverb. Everything sounds empty because of too much reverb "large empty hall" effect. Yet the bass is very one dimensional.

So, for me, finetune the sounds and effects, and this could really be a gem.

Interesting, the bass is probably my favorite part of the song right now. I'm guessing you don't like how it gets "harsh" as it's sustained which is understandable. I'll see if I can tweak it.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[ozfunghi]

Interesting, the bass is probably my favorite part of the song right now. I'm guessing you don't like how it gets "harsh" as it's sustained which is understandable. I'll see if I can tweak it.

Thanks for the feedback!

If you like it, don't change it on my account. Wait a bit, maybe see if you still like the bass in a week or two. I just don't think it fits this track. The sound doesn't correspond with the notes/vibe for me.

 

[Voidguts]

So i think it's a bit unfair to A/ compare it to more expensive DAWs and B/ blame it for "locking your money". Is there no way to resell your license? I know older versions can be found "second hand".

well, in a way the 'locking up my money' was referring to how much i've spent on rack extensions, which in hindsight would have been better spent on VSTs that aren't DAW/platform specific. that's my bad, I suppose - and as far as second hand accounts go, i'm sure some older versions can be grabbed off of ebay/the ignition keys or whatever, but mine is a digital account like steam/nintendo/sony/world of warcraft and the key is bound to it. so i'd have to sell my username and password which, like the other account based services i mentioned, i'm 99% sure isn't allowed. also, earlier versions of Reason are missing some very key components, as you said it's become a DAW step by step. I do enjoy using Reason, and I probably won't jump ship any time soon. you're right about it being a relatively cheap option to jump into, too. I just did want to warn people that their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Falk]

Reason is really cool as a standalone module on its own, but it really lacks as a DAW. I still rewire into it from time to time because of some sounds I'm just so used to getting out of it, but I've been shifting as much of my stuff out of it into VST alternatives just because it's such a pain to start up two different programs at once and then switch back and forth.

 

[FloatingDivider]

As someone with no experience using analog units reason is utterly disgusting and non functional to me. The sheer concept of having to flip a rack over was utterly mind boggling and had no meaning to someone who had never even seen a rack at the time where I first tried reason. (a decade ago, during my teens). I know you can rewire it into other daws but that always seems ass backwards to me, using a daw to host another daw as an overly eleborate vst with a few proprietary instruments seems like a massive pain in the workflow ass to me.

I also tried Reaper and had a better experience in that I was actually able to conceptually understand more of it, but I found the educational material for Reaper to be really barebones, and I ended up scouring the manual unable to find what I needed to find. (That might have been mostly my fault though because I was brand new and didn't know the correct terminology to describe the things I was trying to do. It's probably the cheapest fully featured daw but it really does not seem to be beginner friendly to me.

 

[ozfunghi]

well, in a way the 'locking up my money' was referring to how much i've spent on rack extensions, which in hindsight would have been better spent on VSTs that aren't DAW/platform specific. that's my bad, I suppose - and as far as second hand accounts go, i'm sure some older versions can be grabbed off of ebay/the ignition keys or whatever, but mine is a digital account like steam/nintendo/sony/world of warcraft and the key is bound to it. so i'd have to sell my username and password which, like the other account based services i mentioned, i'm 99% sure isn't allowed. also, earlier versions of Reason are missing some very key components, as you said it's become a DAW step by step. I do enjoy using Reason, and I probably won't jump ship any time soon. you're right about it being a relatively cheap option to jump into, too. I just did want to warn people that their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

Sure, i understand about the customer service and that's a valid complaint. Too bad about the accounts being tied now.

I just feel that, for the money, Reason offers a whole lot actually... but, you have to be aware of the downsides before jumping in. And the main thing being, it's a closed system. But i feel people should focus on what it does do (and it does do many things superbly). If you want to go the VST route, well, that means you shouldn't consider Reason at all. But let's be serious, looking at what a standard Reason license gives you for the price, compare it to what you can do with some of the "beginners hardware" that has been mentioned here, from Volca's to Electribe... and honestly, Reason feels like a bargain, if you want to start out.

 

[Accoun]

from what I understand they're reasonably powerful, but I haven't used one personally

I mean sound-wise maybe (haven't played with it and don't remember the reviews enough), but the non-drum ones don't have sharps or flats, which limits them musically. Or at least they didn't have them with launch firmware.

 

[thezerofire]

I mean sound-wise maybe (haven't played with it and don't remember the reviews enough), but the non-drum ones don't have sharps or flats, which limits them musically. Or at least they didn't have them with launch firmware.

Oh, I didn't know that. And they don't have any midi I assume either. Well go for the Volcas then, they're fun, I still want the Keys and Sample ones

 

[Hip Hop]

I'm getting my first studio monitors delivered soon (JBL LSR305) and can't really move my current desk and computer at other spots.

This is not my picture, but it kind of represents my corner desk setup. Are these speaker placement (The big KRK's) positions like in the pic fine or not?

 

[Teknopathetic]

"This is not my picture, but it kind of represents my corner desk setup. Are these speaker placement (The big KRK's) positions like in the pic fine or not?"


I'm no acoustic engineer but as I recall, you really want speakers to have like 1-2 feet of clearance from walls.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

The JBL 305s recommended clearance is minimum 3ft from wall if i recall.

 

[ozfunghi]

I'm getting my first studio monitors delivered soon (JBL LSR305) and can't really move my current desk and computer at other spots.

This is not my picture, but it kind of represents my corner desk setup. Are these speaker placement (The big KRK's) positions like in the pic fine or not?

Those KRK's have their bass reflex on the front, so you can put them closer to the wall. The JBL's have theirs on the back which is generally better for the sound, but you need to put them further away from the wall. I would however not go for the KRK's. If you want good monitors you can place closer to the wall, i read good things about the Genelec m040 but they are a lot pricier.

Is it possible to put your desk on wheels, pull it back whenever you're going to be producing/mastering, and push it back whenever you're done?

The JBL 305s recommended clearance is minimum 3ft from wall if i recall.

How is that compared to other 5" monitors with bass reflex at the back? Mine (305's) are two feet away from the wall and i have not noticed any issues. And where did you read that? Possibly this is with the bass switch (LF) at the back at +2? (There is -2, 0 and +2 to choose from).

 

[Chris Metal]

You could also base some mix decisions on blocking the rear bass reflex port, they're there to enhance low frequency response anyway and you won't do any damage by blocking the port from airflow... you'll just have less LF information to go on in your mixes( or less LF enhanced during mixes) and depending on distance to wall, LF reflections will have negative effects anyway. You can then remove whatever you block the port with and make comparisons.

It's a good rule to never have your monitor(s) close to the wall as what is called the boundary effect rears its ugly head. With a single speaker you'll find due to unwanted resonant bass frequency reflections the LF information will be enhanced by up to 3dB, with a stereo setup it can increase to 6dB. With rear ported monitors the LF frequency can cause nasty LF distortion effects.

If you're in a corner like that, try getting some form of rock wool bass traps up. Rock wool has one of the highest sound absorption coefficient available. Position the monitors equally apart, and a good distance from the wall, where the smaller monitors are would be a bit better and try and increase their height so the high frequency driver is in line with your ears.

 

[thezerofire]

Local shop had the Roland JP-08 for $100 off, picked that up

 

[Chris Metal]

Local shop had the Roland JP-08 for $100 off, picked that up

Nice, did you get it with the keyboard, or just the sound module?

 

[thezerofire]

Nice, did you get it with the keyboard, or just the sound module?

I got the keyboard too

 

[InaudibleWhispa]

Anyone want to offer some constructive criticism for my latest track? Only been producing for a 4-5 months, my mixing isn't the clearest but I'm working on it.

 

[Voidguts]

Anyone want to offer some constructive criticism for my latest track? Only been producing for a 4-5 months, my mixing isn't the clearest but I'm working on it.

haha sorry i can't offer any cc, i really like it; reminds me of early Rustie in a really good way. i had to repost that thang. you should come check out the music makers OT!

 

[Sun Drugs]

Anyone want to offer some constructive criticism for my latest track? Only been producing for a 4-5 months, my mixing isn't the clearest but I'm working on it.

I really like it!! You seem naturally gifted, if you've only been producing for a few months. My only minor criticism would be that it sound a tad bit too "busy" at points, but I think that's just personal preference. It's a very good track.

 

[Kozak]

Anyone want to offer some constructive criticism for my latest track? Only been producing for a 4-5 months, my mixing isn't the clearest but I'm working on it.

Amazing sound.

I reckon the bass needs a bit more impact. Would sound huge at a Festival.

Really good tho man, I like it a lot! Ill chuck it a repost and give you a follow

 

[InaudibleWhispa]

haha sorry i can't offer any cc, i really like it; reminds me of early Rustie in a really good way. i had to repost that thang. you should come check out the music makers OT!

Thanks man. Somehow that topic has totally eluded me, I'll subscribe. I love Glass Swords so that comparisons fine with me

I really like it!! You seem naturally gifted, if you've only been producing for a few months. My only minor criticism would be that it sound a tad bit too "busy" at points, but I think that's just personal preference. It's a very good track.

Wow thanks, yeah there is a lot going on at times. Been playing guitar for years, but yeah this is my first foray into electronic music/DAW production. It's so much fun!

Amazing sound.

I reckon the bass needs a bit more impact. Would sound huge at a Festival.

Really good tho man, I like it a lot! Ill chuck it a repost and give you a follow

Thanks man, I'll follow back, always interested in hearing fellow gaffers stuff! I think I probably play it a bit too safe with the bass; I don't have proper monitors yet (or a sub), and my headphones (ATH-50) over-emphasize it a bit, so I'm worried I'll overdo it and muddy the sound for other people just because it sounds OK to me.

 

[ozfunghi]

Anyone want to offer some constructive criticism for my latest track? Only been producing for a 4-5 months, my mixing isn't the clearest but I'm working on it.

I'll be a bit more critical then, haha.

I'm not a huge fan of the sound palette. It sounds "big", but the sounds themselves are rather bland imo, like rather generic soundbank sounds. This does not detract from the actual composition, to be clear. Obviously, this comes down to personal preference, but well, i can only tell you what i think

I'd also cut out some of the "pop" sound. I mean the popping sound, to be clear. It's cool, but i feel like you're overusing it, making it lose impact each time, to a point i found it working on my nerves halfway the track.

Other than that, the track does sound well balanced, it sounds rather professional. Has a nice flow.

I'm wondering, did you compose everything or did you use soundbank loops for some parts? If you composed everything, you did a good job at it.

 

[InaudibleWhispa]

I'll be a bit more critical then, haha.

I'm not a huge fan of the sound palette. It sounds "big", but the sounds themselves are rather bland imo, like rather generic soundbank sounds. This does not detract from the actual composition, to be clear. Obviously, this comes down to personal preference, but well, i can only tell you what i think

I'd also cut out some of the "pop" sound. I mean the popping sound, to be clear. It's cool, but i feel like you're overusing it, making it lose impact each time, to a point i found it working on my nerves halfway the track.

Other than that, the track does sound well balanced, it sounds rather professional. Has a nice flow.

I'm wondering, did you compose everything or did you use soundbank loops for some parts? If you composed everything, you did a good job at it.

Thanks, I'm happy for the criticism. I'm totally with you on the overuse of the pop noise. I should reign it in a bit and/or have some different sounds too. The lead/chords are just layered saws so yeah it is pretty generic but I'm more focused on nailing a decent song with a good mix before diving into more complicated sound design.

I did compose everything. I don't really use loops for anything melodical, or most of the beat (a few chopped up fills and impacts aside and some organic hats). Appreciate it!

 

[simonski]

Hello music production folk, not sure if this is the right thread to ask in, but I'll give it a go - just got an iMac (2015 model, 8gb, 27 inch) and have been playing around with garageband. What I've found is that when playing back a track (only software instruments so far) I get the spinning wheel after a few seconds. The sound continues, but the screen is frozen. It'll usually come back to life towards the end or if I switch momentarily to another app (like safari).

Do I need more ram?

 

[shagia]

I'm currently working on a remix of Sleepless by Cazette, among other things. While I don't rely too often on any greater DAW, I have found a rather fitting effect in Ableton Live 9. It's called Reverse 1 Bar and it's a simple looper with controls for speed, feedback and quantization. The problem is that I don't have a license for the program, so I cannot export any audio. Does anyone know if a similar program featuring such an effect has a trial?

It's not super important, but it would make my remix a bit deeper. I have no interest in aquiring Ableton Live illegitimately.

The effect looks like this in Live:

dBlue Glitch 1.3 has a 'reverser' effect plus a few other knobs, not sure if it's relative to what you're trying to do but judging by the plugin's title, I think dBlue Glitch 1.3 might be your antidote.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Made this while I should have been studying for finals, any thoughts would be appreciated.

https://soundcloud.com/florsh-558501827/discrete

Hello music production folk, not sure if this is the right thread to ask in, but I'll give it a go - just got an iMac (2015 model, 8gb, 27 inch) and have been playing around with garageband. What I've found is that when playing back a track (only software instruments so far) I get the spinning wheel after a few seconds. The sound continues, but the screen is frozen. It'll usually come back to life towards the end or if I switch momentarily to another app (like safari).

Do I need more ram?

It might be RAM, it might be your CPU.

But it's certainly weird that a new iMac would have trouble running proprietary Apple software.

 

[thezerofire]

I got the JP-08, it worked great for a bit, but for some reason now the Manual patch creation mode doesn't work. You can load up pre-existing patches and they work fine, but as soon as you hit Manual it doesn't make any sound :\

I called the guy who runs the shop I got it from and the same thing is happening to him on the Juno one, neither of us can figure it out.

edit: and I messed with the envelope for the I-don't-know-how-many-th time and it all works. guess I'm just dumb?

 

[ozfunghi]

Made this while I should have been studying for finals, any thoughts would be appreciated.

https://soundcloud.com/florsh-558501827/discrete

Not bad, but not particularly noteworthy either imo. I like your other stuff better. If you want this to work, i think you need to put more "quality" in the actual sounds, the sound design. My 2 cents.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Not bad, but not particularly noteworthy either imo. I like your other stuff better. If you want this to work, i think you need to put more "quality" in the actual sounds, the sound design. My 2 cents.

You're probably right, but that is the least fun part of the whole process.

Edit: Anyways, I'm going to make my goal for today learning how to sidechain, maybe that will lead into making more traditional synthwave stuff.

 

[Rösti]

A simple noise remix I made of Sleepless by CAZETTE: https://soundcloud.com/rostineogaf/cazzette-sleepless-rosti-remix

Headphone users might want to lower volume.

I've got some original music in the pipeline too, but also some mixes of Mega Man and Star Wars music.

 

[lazygecko]

Anyone have any ridiculous novelty plugins to share?

I've always been partial to fauna.

 

[shagia]

Anyone have any ridiculous novelty plugins to share?

I've always been partial to fauna.

nice plugin right there

its an obvious answer but xfer 'rekt'

 

[ElectricThunder]

Didn't spot a Korg-equivalent topic over in Gaming, but is the Rytmik Ultimate release from a couple days back as solid as it sounds on paper? 3DS, Steam, AppStore...WAV export on 3ds particularly noticeable---surely this is at least the first significant competition Korg has had thus far? I wonder if somebody will find some hackish way to ply this with the ongoing SmileBASIC stuff...

http://rytmikultimate.com/Nintendo3DS/