im trying to develop a hobby of mixing some techno. im big into the prodigy and the crystal method mainly. well....

i dont even know where to start. once i get a job and some money, i know i want to buy a laptop (a nice one) and some audio programs to go along with it to mix stuff. some kinda keyboard/synthesizer maybe? i dont know, tell me what i need

i need help. tell me what i need. ima nooblet. the first step is admitting it right? haha

I think the breaks is dead... you should expand... and then bring that shit back because prodigy, crystal method and chem bros kill that shit fo serious.

quote:

Originally posted by highroller:
im trying to develop a hobby of mixing some techno. im big into the prodigy and the crystal method mainly. well....

i dont even know where to start. once i get a job and some money, i know i want to buy a laptop (a nice one) and some audio programs to go along with it to mix stuff. some kinda keyboard/synthesizer maybe? i dont know, tell me what i need

i need help. tell me what i need. ima nooblet. the first step is admitting it right? haha

Just have better breaks than anyone else. Even if you use 808 no one will care. Oh and pirate all the good software like cubase and reason etc... DIY is so easy to do now that everything is free :P

Edit: saw your name, if you truly are a high roller then there's no substitute for pro tools. get a stylish haircut, a macbook, pro tools, and learn to whisper really sexily and you too could be the next junior boys..err boy?. Good luck!

breaks are dead? even if they are that doesn't really mean people still hate it. it's nice to hear something come back.

um, truthfully, less is more. reason is shit, imho, but you might like it. it's a softsynth program that makes you to limited things. i think the best way to go is a multitrack program (ie. cubase, pro tools, etc) and some VSTis or absynth which is a kinda neato program that let's you construct and configure sounds from sine waves.

and that's only the first step, it gets harder when you want to actually write something

good luck

mmm. Interesting comments from all. I agree Reason is shit, but it's also a hell of a lot of fun to mess around with. Especially if you haven't had much experience with electronic music. Rather than staring at a blank ProTools canvas you for hours thinking "hmmmm how can I make this thing make some noise," you can have blip, bleeps and beats thumping away in seconds. Just don't limit yourself to Reason and that kinda downloaded software. And if/when you do get it, download as many patches and other modifiers as you can find, they're like weapons in your sound arsenal. I suggest any unconventional way you can get sounds into your machine the better. Mics and synths etc are great but get a little mixer too or forget it. And for real, 2nd hand junk kind of stores are your best friend. Don't buy a new keyboard or mixer. Most of all record everything you do regardless of how poop you think it is, so that means big portable hard drives. Have we got too carried away yet. You got me started dude.

So, what are the best and the most well-known programs to make electronic/ambient music? Are Reason and Cubase the only ones?? I read about Kontakt: is it good? And what about Virtual DJ? Also, is Reason the most "complete" programm?

Actually I started with FL Studio, often derided by more serious DIY people as being "unintuitive" or "amateurish." However, the current incarnations of the software are absolutely fantastic. It has some really sophisticated customizable synths (try out Sytrus holy sh*t!) and I love how the interface mixes pattern-based sequencing with more mutable automations (nearly every switch or dial can be automated, from simple volume to filter frequency etc). I still use primarily FL Studio to structure my compositions, simply because I'm used to dropping and tweaking the plugins via FL, however lately I've been looking into Cecilia (a more user-friendly CSound front-end) and Reaktor. Both have rather high learning curves but virtually unlimited amounts of sonic manipulation.

Reaktor is also the primary program used by Tim Hecker, an ambient artist I really respect and whose sound is just a wonderful mix of hazy distortion and interesting synth tones. If only I could ask him to do a tutorial on making his sounds!

Reason is a 'virtual/software' representation of 'real' sound hardware like 808 drum machines, beat samplers, synths, mixers and the like. If you've ever heard of the propeller heads they originally designed the software, and back in the day it was called Rebirth. So just like a 'real' drum machine you can set a tempo, fiddle with all the knobs, faders etc to mix wicked beats, only on your computer screen, not an actual physical piece of hardware. Software like Reason cops a lot of flack because it upsets a lot of purists who went to music school to figure out how to use real sound equipment AND the standard beats, loops etc that come off of Reason are very identifiable to people who have ever used it before. Having said... that there are so many patches, plug ins, etc you can get these days, once you start overlaying and using effects... you start to get some unique stuff.

Software like Cubase, Logic, ProTools are more like composition based software, for laying out music/sounds on audio tracks over time. You might do a live recording (once you get some beats up in Reason) of fiddling with knobs, pushing buttons, switching things on and off, moving faders up and down, and then take that recorded file and put it into Cubase on one track, add some vocals which you've recorded on another track, add a few recorded samples you've taken from some old records on another track... and bingo you've got Junior Boys. (I kid I kid)

I haven't had much experience with Kontact, have heard of it though... probably worth a look. AND no Reason is not the most complete program, put simply... it's a sound generator that needs to work in with other applications, or other methods of recording. Virtual Dj is a similar sort of thing, just another way of creating sounds. Just like Garage Band on the mac, this sort of software kind of gets frowned upon by industry musicians, composers, producers, etc because in some ways they're pretty basic, and people would argue any monkey could make music with it using the libraries of prerecorded/precreated loops that come with the applications.

Anyone you speak to will probably prefer/use a different combination of apps and hardware. Some might prefer to use Cubase others ProTools and so on. How much do you need? Well you gotta start somewhere, I recommend starting small with a few apps, definitely at least one you can compose in (Cubase, ProTools whatever) maybe keyboard, mixer, mic BUT get to know what you've got really well, and then keep adding to it with more apps more hardware as you figure stuff out, and don't be frightened to experiment. Do the FREAKING tutorials that come with the applications so you get some idea of what to do. And don't limit yourself to ONLY using the computer to generate sounds. Figure out how to use a sampler, and you'll be genius at making tunes.

Heck, I'm sure even Brian Burton once looked at a mixing desk and wondered "What are all those knobs for?"