Guest lightnix Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Last year I finally got around to buying the small synth I'd been promising myself for years (a Novation X-Station25). I'd like to set up a small, MIDI-based home "studio" and am contemplating a couple of other items on eBay, such as a Yamaha QY100 sequencer, to form the basis of this project. I've also started (just) reading up on VST and would like to learn more; eventually I'd like to be able to burn any half-decent compositions I may come up with, onto CD. Can anybody recommend any good books on the subject, please; or offer any tips on how to get started? Thanks in advance :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benweblight Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 You may find these forums useful:http://www.soundonsound.com/forumhttp://www.studio-central.com/phpbb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenalien Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Most people nowadays use a PC or MAC with DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software. There are lots of DAW software packages available, Ableton Live is well worth a look, but Pro-Tools and Cubase / Nuendo are also popular. Look out for 'lite' versions that may be available bundled with hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I'm not a big user of MIDI (being a technician not a musician) but when I get involved with this sort of file I use as software sequencer (Sonar) rather than extra hardware. I got started with Sonar because an aquaintance of mine is a professional composer (you'll hear his work on various ads and TV themes) and he wanted me to do some recording and mixing for him, adding live instruments to his MIDI tracks. For this, Sonar has worked well over the years. Although it can handle wave files and multitrack mixing itself, I prefer to work in Audition and Sonar lets me export VST files to wave without going through and soundcard analogue stages...works really well. I can either just export a final mix or take every track separately. My composer friend works much as you would...inputting to Sonar from his keyboard. Obviously I have only limited experience with other software so I can't do a valid comparison. However, I know that Sonar works well. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Thanks for the replies. I've heard great things about both Ableton & Cubase, although the later seems to be more of an industry standard and they've just brought out a new version (4). On the book front, this one looks quite fun... http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0879308346.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg It probably offers some advice which would make most professional engineers' ears curl; but the author's point is, that many home / amateur recording engineers mess things up by trying to emulate professional techniques, instead of working within (and perhaps even exploiting) the limitations of their more modest setups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leecey Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 What kind of music are you planning to compose? Definitely have a look around this site: http://www.tweakheadz.com/ in particular the various guides. There's a lot of hardware reviews there but he pretty much explains in layman's terms every aspect of music production, as well as going into hardware vs software sequencers/synths, VSTs etc. Best advice I can think of is don't rely too heavily on books, get hold of Cubase LE or Ableton Lite and play around! Most people become most comfortable with a certain piece of software/hardware for certain reasons - don't let a book chose yours for you. Both those programs include some basic VSTs to get you started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 What kind of music are you planning to compose?Whatever comes into my head, really. Thanks for the link, Leecey - it looks like a mine of information. I agree with the point about books and they are really just a starting point; I've ordered the one above, along with... http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0764588842.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg ...and that will probably be it, literature-wise. Cubase and Ableton appear to be the main contenders on the software front and the fastest computer you can possibly afford seems to be a good idea, too; I've been playing around with some virtual shareware synths on a 2.4Ghz Pentium 4 and the lag is noticeable, even on relatively simple patches. Don't expect any albums out soon BTW - it's been years (decades, even) since I played remotely regularly and first on the shopping list is a half-decent stage piano with a "properly" weighted keyboard. The M-Audio Prokeys 88 looks like the mutts nuts for the money (although a Nord Stage is the supreme object of desire). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leecey Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 You do need a fairly powerful computer for music production - especially if you use a lot of highpowered VST's or effects. If you are stuck with slower hardware for now you can sometimes get around this by "freezing" tracks (see here for explanation http://www.tweakheadz.com/midi_tracks_to_audio.htm ) but ultimately a slow computer can seriously hamper your creativity and be very frustrating. That said, a 2.4Ghz P4 is a decent machine, bring us to the next question: Are you aware that the lag you're hearing is most likely the result of not using a low-latency audio interface plus driver? If your computer is underpowered, that tends to show itself with clicks, dropouts or error messages. A delay between pressing the key on your MIDI controller and the sound coming out the speakers is likely your audio hardware. You basically need to check you're using the correct sound driver (you want the ASIO one or WDM one) in your sequencer/VST program. Put simply, the built-in Windows drivers (certainly in XP) are not optimised for fast hardware. ASIO and WDM ones are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Ah - but what is your definition of a 'slow' computer? My Carrilon was whizzy 3 years ago, but is very slow by the current dual/quad core beasties, but with plenty of memory, can manage 24 tracks and plug-ins including virtual instruments with no glitches. However, all it has on it are audio applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 What Paulears said. Although you'll want a decent computer, MIDI is far less demanding than working with wave files. My old 1gHz Athlon used to easily handle 30ish tracks of MIDI in Sonar (with VST instruments) and never hiccup. I never did get up to enough tracks to cause it to glitch. The same couldn't be said of wave mixing/editing with real time effects! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Are you aware that the lag you're hearing is most likely the result of not using a low-latency audio interface plus driver?No I wasn't - thanks (so much to learn...) What'll probably happen in the end, is that I'll get a new computer for *ahem* work purposes, clean everything off this one and perform a few upgrades to make the studio machine. In the meantime, I've settled on a three-keyboard setup: An analogue clone (which I already have), the M-Audio piano (for "proper" keyboard action) and a general "huge soundbank" synth; to which end I've become rather taken with the old Roland XP series, especially the XP60. I know that hardware sequencers are considered passé nowadays, but the spec is still quite impressive, the sounds are still pretty current, there's all the expansion boards to consider and I'll be able to recycle all those old 3.5" floppies. As an all-in-one creative tool, it's pretty neat and will at least allow me to start laying some ideas down, without having to worry too much about the computer end of things immediately. It's hard not to be seduced by all the toys out there, although I'm kicking myself for ballsing up an eBay snipe on a Korg G4 Leslie Simulator the other week (heavy traffic on the way home meant I missed it by three minutes) and I'm sorely tempted by a Suzuki Q-Chord, if only to wind up my other half's folkie mates with (although their attitude to technology has softened somewhat, since Roland started making digital squeezeboxes and they'll probably love it). All I really need to make this work at the moment is some... time :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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