Info on the production side.

[Bonz]

Hey guys

Currently still hooked onto DAW producing (FL Studio) and looking at taking the next step and gettin into the hardware.

Ive been eyeing the Native Instruments Maschine(midi controller) to link with fl studio.

Also using a laptop with windows 7 and a soundcard that isnt ASIO supported. So looking at something like the Native Instruments Audio 2 DJ Sound Card for an external sound card.

As the title says i want to get deeper involved into production...traktor gear later on.

-NI Maschine (midi controller)

-NI Audio 2 DJ Sound Card

Would be extremely greatful if you guys had any tips.

Thanks in advance

Bonz

[Reuben]

Hey,

I bought a NI Maschine about 2 months ago and have been really happy with it. The hardware/software combo works great. I mainly use it for playing samples and loops on the fly while mixing. Never used it with FL studio because I use a macs.

It gets a thumbs up from me..

[Bonz]

Yeh ive been hearing nothing but positives from it.

Thanks for the input Reuben

[Tomy]

maschine is good. you could also look at an abelton setup, you can do alot on maschine but more on abelton, depends how live your trying to go.

[ChevChelios]

Would you actually get use out of it? Are you someone that likes to smash out a beat with yo fingas?

You should probably think about it before you spend all that cash. I know a lot of people that have forked out for a top of the line trigger pad and never use it. Maybe get an m-audio trigger finger first and see if it gets any use.

Also do you have a keyboard, cause that would probably be a better option, some of them come with trigger pads too (akai mpk, novation sl)

[eggssell]

might also depend on the genre.

a lot of the beat genres, like break and hip hop, people still prefer to bang it out on the pads.

check the NI forums. ive seen polarised posts. those that think it is a poor product while those that love it.

[Bonz]

Tomy, just lookin at production for the moment, not necessarily live.

Ive been wanting to get into Ableton but im just so used to FL Studio...been using it for over a year now.

ChevChelios, this is what i was thinkin about to.

im half/half about it...but i just thought this would be the first step into hardware....can u bank vst's on the m-audio?

no keyboard...so u think thats a better option to start off with?

eggssell, i dabble in hiphop, electro and dubstep.

ill check out the NI forums.

[ChevChelios]

Keyboard would definately be a better choice.

Something like this

https://www.storedj.com.au/products/AKA-MPK49

or this

https://www.storedj.com.au/products/NOV-RMT49SLMII

[Bonz]

right on i see...

so in a nutshell if you dont mind sharing, what is the major differences between drum machine MASCHINE and the Akai MPK49?

u still get the faders/reverbs and all the extra functions?

[ChevChelios]

Completely different things, mpk is a keyboard, maschine is a sampler. All the extra software stuff you get with the maschine you can do in your daw anyway. Pretty much all the maschine has over the mpk is 8 more trigger pads.

[Bonz]

ahh ok i see.

are there any midi keyboards i should be careful of in terms of syncing with FL studio?

Which brands would u reccommend for electro/dubstep?

[ChevChelios]

The ones I linked up above are the ones I would reccomend, I would expect them to sync with FL pretty well. Genre is fairly irrelevant, they all do the same thing more or less.

[Bonz]

right on.

yeh ive been checkin out the Akai MPK49, pretty impressive for its price.

Do u think for a start i would be better off getting the MPK25?

are there any major differences besides the key amount?

maybe the amount of sliders?

[Jaz]

You gotta +rep Chev bonz he's giving alot of help

[eggssell]

Genre is fairly irrelevant, they all do the same thing more or less.

i was more meaning prog or minimal producers are less likely to bang out percussion (i think.....) while breakbeats, hip hop, bass style producers may prefer to bang out their beats on pads. thats just going off what ive seen and read.

in fact with hip hop and bmore sample based tunes they prefer to bang out everything, percussion, melodies, and even syncopating vocal samples. and build the beat up by layering each sound layer by layer.

[Tomy]

Tomy, just lookin at production for the moment, not necessarily live.

Ive been wanting to get into Ableton but im just so used to FL Studio...been using it for over a year now..

to be honest man i wouldn';t even buy anything if i were you. until later on down the track anyways.

i've got a launch pad & novation nocturn and an akai midi keyboard and still the things i use the most is my mouse and the computer keyboard.

[Bonz]

DJaz, i know his been incredible help with everything!

Tomy, its amazing how many people actually say the same thing.

I would still like to look into a keyboard though, i like the feel of the keys over a mouse.

which akai midi keyboard u got?

u rate the novation or the akai?

[ChevChelios]

Genre is fairly irrelevant, they all do the same thing more or less.

i was more meaning prog or minimal producers are less likely to bang out percussion (i think.....) while breakbeats, hip hop, bass style producers may prefer to bang out their beats on pads. thats just going off what ive seen and read.

True but I think its more to do with the person, I know hippidy hoppers that just use the mouse, so I think its just preference I guess.

[eggssell]

i saw this on the NI forum

http://www.native-instruments.com/forum ... p?t=130897

havent checked the youtube yet cuz at work. nice how plutonic hopped on to say he did the whole thang on maschine

i use to love watching G-love and Special sauce while i was at uni at club mac