Advice/Guides on Learning to Produce

[tekki]

True that.

You could also wait a little and go for the Akai APC40? (And opt for a soundcard later?)

[KLOSELINE]

http://audio.tutsplus.com
hf

[BentoSan]

Ableton works for me. Bento is, I think still, more partial to Fruity Loops.

FL studio(formely Fruity Loops) has a great workflow that suits me, like any DAW's there is those people who hate it and those people who love it. Admitedly there are some parts of the program i hate and others that i really love, but this is the same with all the other DAW's i have tried over the years too.

Its good to try a few programs over time, learning multiple programs can actually help you learn some other things that you might not have otherwise have learnt otherwise using just sticking with the one DAW all the time. Then again sticking with the one tool can be important within itself, because then you are learning that tool inside out and becoming very fluent which in turn decreases the amount of time your spent trying to getting ideas out of your head. Once you have learnt one DAW inside out you will find it alot easier learning other DAW's.

Ableton is looking to be a good choice to i have to say. If you want to learn how to produce and learn a good program that you can also play live with - this would be killing 2 birds with one stone. Also if you choose to learn how to code in max msp over the long term you would be able to make your own\download max code to add new features that dont already exist inside Ableton.

That just is not possible with any other DAW other than Reaktor and other similar kinds of visual programming enviroments - these other programs are another kettle of fish and are not really recommended for someone who hasnt spent alot of time using a DAW in the past. Ableton will alllow you to get you started, learn a program you can also perform live with. It will also give you the room to grow over the long term into learning how to use visual programming enviroment for both your live performance and audio productions. That in itself makes Ableton pretty hard to beat if you ask me.

Fruity loops contains a similar sort of program called SynthMaker but it is not as feature rich as what is being promised by Ableton in their marketing blurb. Lets just hope it lives up to what they say they is possible with it !

[V-Hoff]

I do believe that copying your favorite songs is a nice way to learn and give your first steps on producing electronic music. Its about the learning curve that you have to surpass in order to start being able to get your ideas on the computer. Of course there are other methods, but this one is pretty cool and you have fun when youre learning... C'mon, you all know how frustating it is when you have the song in you head and then you cant put that on the computer just because you cant use the software properly.
The same thing with a kid that just got a new guitar. Hes going to play some well known songs that he likes in order to learn how to play, and afterwards maybe hes gonna create his own songs.

You got my point! That was what I really want to mean before hehe

A very good program to do some basic stuff is the Image-Line Fruitty Loops Studio 8. It's awsome to make Psytrance even though I'm not very experienced at it.

[V-Hoff]

I think that the easyest program is the one that has more infos, tutorials, manuals, youtube videos on the web... Search a lot and find one that has a lot of stuff to help you, once you have learn the basics by these vids you can do it in any program.

[DvlsAdvct]

When I first started producing music a few years ago I was using Reason and had an inherent hatred for FLStudio, and I don't know why.

My girlfriend at the time used it and I did some work on it. Got some really good synth sounds really quick, and enjoyed using the different filters to just destroy sounds.

As I moved to other DAW suites (tried Sonar, Cubase, and Project 2.5) I found myself wanting to go back to FL Studio for the workflow.

But I still love Reason

[jasonj]

I started with Fl.Studio way back when it was version 1.5. I did not stick with it and dropped it and picked it back up off and on over the years. Never focused on production more then just dj'n.

Now today though I am a little more focused in producing. I start all my tracks inside Fl just because for loading VST's, Samples, and Sequencing them I find the work flow is rather easy and efficient (IMO). As well there is a slew of tutorials on youtube/net. You cannot kick on free upgrades for life either!

The only gripe I have is the in-ability to get precise values out of some settings.

For that I use Ableton for final mix down of my tracks and to play them live. This works great to mash them up with other songs when I am performing out. I also find bringing the final mix down into Ableton easier to make different versions of the song.

While producing the tracks within Fl.Studio I use:
Behringer UMX-25 Midi Keyboard ($120.00 Can)
and
M-Audio X-Sessions Pro ($111.00 Can)
to control various aspects of the program (filters, volumes, note/sample sequences etc..) that I later send to automation.

and for playing out with Ableton I use:
M-Audio Trigger Finger ($180.00 Can)
and
Vestax VCI-100 (A gift from a wonderful friend)

Everyone is right here though in saying it all comes down to what you become comfortable in using. I know people who hate Fl.Studio, others who love it or that Swear by reason and a Motif / Tritan or just hardware in general. Some who use no controllers, others who have the latest and greatest in gear. It does absolutely come down to what you find works for you, makes your work flow easy, efficient and fun.

For sure you will want to get your head wrapped around music theory and learn your keys, Chords, Scales etc.. ( I am wishing I paid more attention in Music Class during school ).

Have Fun!!

[mpetersen3]

Wow this thread has been great tweakheads is massive! I haven't even been able to look at some of the other links, though I will read em all eventually. Right now I have decided to get a feel for production with just garageband. I have the ableton demo and would like to buy ableton eventually but I feel like starting with garageband will make for a very nice learning curve and then I can learn stuff gradually on the technical side while being able to practice composition almost immediately.

I have a nanopad and a vci-100, I am using the nanopad just fine and thinking that due to my budget I will have to stick with this setup for a bit (trying to buy some speakers first). Does anyone know of any mappings for the vci for production? I know it isn't ideal but I figure that since I have it I might as well use it.

[Rumblejazz]

please buy some decent monitors. such a great investment. wish id bought them before all software, intrefaces, mics, instruments, midi intrefaces. lol

[tekki]

IDD a great, if not the greatest, investment!