Got a 1,000 dollar budget where do I begin

B

BeatBassBanger

New member
Never made a beat in my life before, finally got some funds. Working from a home computer.....Deciding if I should get FL studio (heard 12) is not that great or pro tools.

What am I going to need to get started? and if there any places where I can obtain certain items cheaper. Thanks
 
DAW, microphone, cables of course, monitors, interface and midi keyboard. Of course you can consolidate this if you wish to save even more by replacing monitors with quality headphones. You can test DAWs out, watch tutorials and read feedback from forums. At the end of the day you will have to make that choice on your own. Each DAW has its pros and cons for each specific person.

Are you a student? In college? Certain companies offer drastic student discounts for products. Check out www.sweetwater.com Great company with a large selection of pro audio equipment and live instruments. Check craigslist in your local area. You may be able to find a used midi keyboard there. Such as a keystation midi controller.

You can get a SM57 microphone for $100. It is def. a great mic to have in your arsenal because it works well with pretty much anything. I wouldn't worry so much about acoustic treatment since that will take up your entire budget. It sounds like you just want to make beats. If that is true, you don't need pro tools. While you can make beats in it, it was not designed as a beatmaker program. Reason, FL Studio, Logic (Mac) are all great DAWs.

If you want cheap, you have to search. Pawn shops have gear, ebay, forums like this one. If you can save your $, you can buy everything and pay it off in three installments on www.sweetwater.com But if you don't have all the $ now I would not advise doing that.
 
BeatBassBanger said:
Never made a beat in my life before, finally got some funds. Working from a home computer.
Click to expand...

1) Fill your existing Desktop with as much RAM as she'll handle... Clean her up, defrag etc etc.
2) Get an audio interface, headphones and some monitors.
3) Download 'legitimate' free versions of every DAW that has a 'legitimate' free version - try them all out and see which one 'clicks' with your brain. Save enough to buy the full DAW of your choosing... All DAWs do the same thing; they just differ in their workflow.
4) a controller keyboard (I'd get a real simple/basic one to start out with)

Keep some cash aside... You might decide you want a pad controller (or maybe Maschine Mikro - comes with lots of sounds and the Maschine is just dope) or a mic (you just said 'beat'?) or a turntable (for sampling vinyl - although you have YouTube) later.

A grand has the capacity to go a fairly long way if you're clever with it. You could get a set-up that gives you a whole lot of options...
 
Your essentials should be an audio interface, monitors, and a controller. I went with the Quad-Capture, KRK Rokit 5s, and Maschine (which comes with it's software which is essentially a DAW). Also, upgrades to your computer if needed. I'm on a mac now and have no issues, but I used to use a mediocre PC and it drove me nuts.

Then plan out future investments and save some dolo for it. Next moves, IMO, is some acoustic treatment in your room (Auralex Pads), a keyboard controller, and a decent mic (either if you plan on recording vocals for you/others, or just recording your own sounds).

Then, depending where you want to go with it, you could invest it a bigger DAW and some mixing plugins (like the Wave bundles or Soundtoys).

It'll be more than a G down the line, but if you pick your spots and buy wisely, you should be able to do this without breaking the bank. Buy used or only on sale.
 
BeatBassBanger said:
Never made a beat in my life before, finally got some funds. Working from a home computer.....Deciding if I should get FL studio (heard 12) is not that great or pro tools.

What am I going to need to get started? and if there any places where I can obtain certain items cheaper. Thanks
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it depends the route you wanna take. meaning either hardware or software. if you wanna use your pc, id say a DAW, a controller, audio interface, and some monitors (speakers). download the free versions to peep them out. now, if you want a more hands on approach, you could chose hardware (which i use.) id say do some research on hardware if your hip hop based, look into mpc's. great hardware machines.
 
Thanks, I am on a PC from home. I want to make beats...hip/hop rnb and maybe even some edm. and by "DAW" you mean fl studio and pro tools etc right?

Thanks for the replies fellas
 
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BeatBassBanger said:
by "DAW" you mean fl studio and pro tools etc right?
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Yeah Digital Audio Workstation.
You're Windows so Logic is out...
check out Presonus Studio One, Steinberg Cubase, Ableton Live as well as PT & FL.
Someone mentioned Maschine... I use it (it's my main tool) and it is dope but you'll probably want it in addition to a DAW (I use as a standalone and bounce to DAW but it can run inside your DAW which has advantages). Maschine Mikro could be a good starting point though...
 
BeatBassBanger said:
Thanks, I am on a PC from home. I want to make beats...hip/hop rnb and maybe even some edm. and by "DAW" you mean fl studio and pro tools etc right?

Thanks for the replies fellas
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Id say Fl studio is the perfect start. Even ableton is a great program. Pro tools is more for mixing and mastering were as fl studio is for beatmaking AND could be used for mixing and mastering.
 
Things I did, I would do again. I'm a bargain hunter myself.

Depending on what effects you want depends on the DAW you choose. They all have the same effects typically but they might sound a little different in the so called "analog area".

So what I prefer myself is something more clear like Ableton Live. Ableton comes with many Midi Keyboard controllers and audio interfaces. Search at places like Musiciansfriend.com like the Novation 25 key on sale for 75 or it was atleast. But if you buy from Sweetwater.com, Sweetwater.com will give you free tech support. that comes in handy on setting up your audio interface for the first several times. Making sure you can do it right.

And by the way Pro Tools seemed hard to setup for me. And Ableton Live is a breeze to work with and setup.

A setup you could get that would run cheap would be like this.

M_audio or Novation keyboard. Novation Launchkey 25 Keyboard Controller | Musician's Friend

M audio or other Audio interface depending on how you want your preamp to sound.

Zeta 2 synth from Jrrshop right now is on sale. https://www.jrrshop.com/computer-so...urer=63&order=special_from_date&sale=1&type=2
Zeta 2 won the hottest synth out like 2 years in a row atleast. I have it and it is cool, it sounds silver. literally.

MY M audio monitors are pretty decent but I would buy on sale. Monitors can vary differently depending on the bass usually. So beware. they are not all that great all the time. Rokits are bass heavy and pop to me.

I have Sennheiser HD280 Pro's. I recomene them to someone wantgint to have great listening headphones for a normal mix. A normal sounding headphone that is quite flat too. (Which is sought after here in monitors and headphones)
 
Thanks for all the info. Abelton live, some versions it seems is going for 600-800 dollars buy itself. Would the standard version be alright?
 
For monitor speakers I am looking between the M-Audio BX5 D2 or kr rokit "powered 6" What is the difference between power 5 and 6? Newer versions of each other?
 
I had FL studio 11 (like it) Anyone here have experience with FL 12? Just downloaded abelton demo going to try it out. My mind is racing I need patience lol
 
my friend used 12...dont know why...i saw it, its really different from 11's one...changed interface...for me 11 is gold one between these two.....also friend is back to 11
 
BeatBassBanger said:
Thanks for all the info. Abelton live, some versions it seems is going for 600-800 dollars buy itself. Would the standard version be alright?
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This is very dependant on what you plan to be doing...

If you're making sample-based-boombap (as I am)... Standard would probably be fine...
personally, I use the Maschine for all my 'making' (sampling/chopping/tracking instruments) and then export to StudioOne/Cubase to track vocals and mixdown.

If you're making crazy-orchestrated-sci-trance-edm-with-wobbly-bass-and-lots-mad-synths.... You'll probably want the fullest version available...

id go KRK over M-Audio in a heartbeat (I use Yamaha HS-7s). Here in the UK there's been QC issues with a mass of 'M' gear... I know a few heads with KRK-RP5s and they don't complain (incidentally they're making bangers)
 
Abelton just got done downloading. I can say off of interface and appearence I am digging FL studio 11 right now more. Still have to try it out though. Have you tried FL 12 yet?
I'm trying to create hip/hop/ rnb/edm and all types of music I want to be versatile
 
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