Help me buy a completely new setup 4 a serious beginner!!

minkay · Post by **minkay** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:46 am

The_Dza88 wrote:No point in speading shit load of money if your not gonna stick to it get some demos of software first play around with them for a few weeks if you still wanna do it start spending money

exactly... equipment will just confuse you at first, all you need are a cpl of monitors and a decent sound card, TOPS $400 for a beginner...

itronz · Post by **itronz** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:26 pm

Yeh I would not go spending a shit load of cash straight away. I've slowly built my setup up, from decks and a mixer when I first started DJing to decent studio monitors the next year and I now have a very good soundcard which I also use for Traktor scratch for when I DJ but I just swap it between my laptop and my PC for production use.

This week I'm finally getting a MIDI keyboard as after a few months of making a few beats here and there I think I'm into it so much that I'm buying a cheap MIDI keyboard. If I carry on for another few months I will expand my gear even more.

But you may find that after spending all that cash you loose interest. The best advice I can give is find an app you like a lot. For instance I really like ableton to make music, if you like it enough then buy it a long with a cheap MIDI keyboard. Download all the samples you can get you hands on and start producing away. If you stick with it, buy more gear as you go along.

osky · Post by **osky** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:27 pm

MountainMaxSteez wrote:
blkmsk wrote:spend the 2 grand on a macbook pro and logic
I've got a Mac Pro which is better than a macbook pro. Logic you say? Hrmm Ill check it out

Hrmmm interesting, so can you use Logic to make dubstep and hip hop type shit?

you obviousily ain't gota clue, even a begginer like me can see that. educate yourself first don't rush into somthing just because your hyped to do it at this moment cos im guessin u just found out about producing and now your really excited? i dunno sounds weird u don't even know what logic is but u wanna spend 2 grand on hardware. and u can get logic for free if u look in the right places.

lojik · Post by **lojik** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:34 pm

I agree with DROKKR on this one, if you say things like "will I be able to make sick dubstep on Logic" you are in a bit over your head with all this stuff at the moment.

You need an understanding of what a sequencer actually is, and even more than that you need a knowledge of synthesis and how to use samples/effects and stuff. If you drop a whole bunch of cash on a sequencer + loads of hardware you will just be dissapointed when you set it all up and don't have a clue what you're doing.

If you already have a Mac I would say get this stuff:
Logic Express 8 - $199
M-Audio Oxygen 8 V2 or equivalent - ~$100

This will give you a great sequencer and a perfectly fine Midi controller (I still use an Oxygen 8 ) for $300. Logic has great synths included to get you started on putting tracks together and basic synthesis.

I would definately reccomend not getting monitors this early on, although they will probably help, a set of headphones would be a much wiser investment until you get a bit more experience.

Like others have said, getting good equiptment won't make you a good producer, that takes years of practice.

lojik · Post by **lojik** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:40 pm

Oh yea I forgot about soundcard, you'll deinately need a low latency sound card, I use M-Audio Delta 44 and it works great. I specifically got a 4I/4O one to connect mixing desks too though so you could probably get something smaller (as long as it's low latency!!!).

grow · Post by **grow** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:54 pm

I would demo logic and ableton live and learn them from top to bottom. Figure out what works for you. If your so fired up to drop coin buy some books.

http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Engineers- ... 52&sr=1-15

Then when you have a better understanding of the process of making music and what your goals are start buying stuff. Nowadays you really don't need to buy analog gear until your ear is trained enough to desire more. A good set of vsts for quality eq and compression is a good idea (if you go with Ableton) not sure about logic as I use xp & ableton but some of my friends in the industry swear by its sidechain compression and overall sound. In my opinion if you train your ear and develop a general understanding of the production process almost any DAW out there will get the job done. Good luck and put that money away the economy's a mess bro:)

mountainmaxsteez · Post by **mountainmaxsteez** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:00 pm

Thanks alot guys, you guys are the shit. You gave me some things to think about for sure. Im gonna get started on dl'ing some demos then, GYEA!

connection · Post by **connection** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:09 pm

Osky wrote:u can get logic for free if u look in the right places.

*ducks*

jolly wailer · Post by **jolly wailer** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:16 pm

those Alpaca pics are Ace!

welcome to the boards

mountainmaxsteez · Post by **mountainmaxsteez** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:59 pm

holy dub balls, Ableton is the shit!!! Im making noises folks! lol

fiziks · Post by **fiziks** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:59 pm

MountainMaxSteez wrote:
I've got a Mac Pro which is better than a macbook pro. Logic you say? Hrmm Ill check it out

Wow.

Help me buy a completely new setup 4 a serious beginner!!

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