Introduction to Production

[conCuss]

Hey guys

Iv been interested in production for ages, and have been playing up with some DAW's such as FL and Pro tools

But what Im confused is the hardware required, so what does the Mashine by Native Instruments exactly do? and why would I need this for beat production? would their be anything else I would need to start in Beat Produciton? and finally what is a synthesizer

thanks alot !

[ChevChelios]

Hardware is not essential these day, and most DAWs come with everything you need to start writing music, you just need to get in there and keep at it.

The Maschine is basically a MIDI trigger that you use with the coupled software, you can smack out a drum pattern on it, or trigger samples, and a whole lot of other fun shite. But is isn't needed for production, it's just a personal preference thing.

A synthesizer is an instrument made up of oscillators, filter and all sorts of fun doodads. Go into one of your DAWs and open one of the inbuilt instruments, and that is a virtual synthesizer, which does arguably the same thing as a hardware synth.

[conCuss]

thanks alot for the quick info

would you recommend using one for a beginner?

[ChevChelios]

A Maschine?

[conCuss]

yeah a maschine mikro

[wrxfiend]

Maschine rocks! i've had mine for about a year. I farted around with fruity loops and a key board for a while, but imho the pads feel so much better. If your into hip hop (nice avatar!) i think its perfect. watch some youtube vids, theres a guy called knocks squared, his vids are usefull and explanetory.

[conCuss]

hahah thanks! jedi mind tricks always been big for me in beats , stoupe really knows whats up

alright sweet man , so would u recommend starting off with one?

[ChevChelios]

It's up to you really, it's a very handy controller, but it's also a lot of money to fork out on something you might end up giving up on.

But if you've got the spare cash and you see it as something you'd be into, go for it.

[conCuss]

wrxfiend, how would u compare the maschine to a akai?

I see a fair few of people use these

http://www.akaipro.com/mpd18

[legunner]

wrxfiend, how would u compare the maschine to a akai?

I see a fair few of people use these

http://www.akaipro.com/mpd18

Akai: Can be used with all DAW's, Cheaper, Arguably built better (cannot vouch for this)

Maschine: Comes with bundled software, Can be used with all DAW's, Well built, Intuitive and hands on.

[conCuss]

wrxfiend, how would u compare the maschine to a akai?

I see a fair few of people use these

http://www.akaipro.com/mpd18

Akai: Can be used with all DAW's, Cheaper, Arguably built better (cannot vouch for this)

Maschine: Comes with bundled software, Can be used with all DAW's, Well built, Intuitive and hands on.

when You say bundled software do you mean it comes with a DAW or ?

[Mitch]

wrxfiend, how would u compare the maschine to a akai?

I see a fair few of people use these

http://www.akaipro.com/mpd18

Akai: Can be used with all DAW's, Cheaper, Arguably built better (cannot vouch for this)

Maschine: Comes with bundled software, Can be used with all DAW's, Well built, Intuitive and hands on.

when You say bundled software do you mean it comes with a DAW or ?

The maschine comes with maschine software so you can use it standalone smashing out beats, or the maschine software can also run as a VST / AU inside your DAW of choice.

[conCuss]

ahk yeah makes sense!

Well if I was offered a MPD-24 For $70 would you recommend taking it ?

how would you compare the mpd-24 to the maschine mikro mk1/2

[wrxfiend]

I went for maschine because of the ease of use and workflow. I mainly chop sample loops so being able to sample in to it easily is great!

I highly recomend one!

[conCuss]

alright sweet

would you recommend buying 2nd hand maschine gear?

[Tomy]

if your looking at getting into proper production I would get the DAW first then worry about controllers and shit later down the track.

the software that comes with maschine is alright but nothing compared to ableton / logic / FL / Etc. The Maschine is more of a computer based akai MPC type thing. So you'd be looking at beats on the fly / sequencing and more live performance orientated stuff.

I think you need to a lot more research. plenty of youtube vids on maschine and what it does.

[legunner]

Yeah I would definitely buy Ableton or Logic (whichever tickles your fancy) first.

[conCuss]

what are your thoughts on DAWS like fl studio?

[Tomy]

FL is great. just trial them all if you're not sure. ableton have demo's available. find one you're happy with and that you work well in. research man. serious. youtube some stuff. it's all there.

[Gandy]

i use FL Studio, its great once you get your head around it, it comes with some powerful plug-ins as standard to get you going (sytrus is a pretty good free synth as well as edison being a great sample editor/manipulator) and if you are really into making your own loops its very very very easy to get started with.

Imagine-Line are a fantastic company customer support wise and have a youtube channel dedicated to tutorials, and often have sales. I picked up Maximus (very powerful VSTi for mastering and making your final product sound studio professional) for $49 when it was on sale (RRP $189).

you will find ableton/logic/pro tools are the big 3, but once you get into FL studio and understand it its just as powerful, it just takes awhile to understand how FL studio works compared to your big 3

[Gandy]

and as tomy said, all of them offer a free full featured trial, mostly with the limitation that you cant save the project, but you can still export your work to .wav or .mp3

[conCuss]

just a bit hard to obtain all of this atm when im at boarding school haha

when I get home i will!

[wrxfiend]

I suggest using reaper, you can download a full working copy for free and registering it only costs $60. I have found it very user friendly. Looks a lot like logic in the gui

[conCuss]

what do you use wrx?

[GREMM1S]

The problem with lesser know daws is the smaller support communities and amount of tutorials etc

Main reason i chose ableton, becauase its the most popular there are millions of videos and guides for it.

I also quite liked cubase when i was trying them all.

Sony acid would have to he the easiest to use, FL just felt clunky and cheap to me, could never make any progress on it.

End of the day just tools.