Hows it going guys. Im new to production and new to this site. trying to get my foot in the door but i am overwhelmed with all the choices from DAW's to Monitors. The only item in my studio as of now is my macbook pro which i spent extra to upgrade and my beats studio's 2.0. I have experience on garage band and fl studios but as of now i am on garageband, Fl was on my old sony laptop didn't really get the full experience of it and i got it for free years ago however, it was a pretty good experience. The one thing i could decide on is i am going to buy the Beat Thang for my midi controller, sampler, drum machine etc. Down the line i may buy a novation impulse. which daw works well with the beat thang and iOS based on personal experience and for Microphones, Monitors, Audio inputs do you guys have any suggestions? any suggestions for a good set up in general would be much appreciated.
New to the Game, Seeking advice!
- Thread starter JayJDa1
- Start date
RobbyOnTheTrack
New member
Oooooohhh i miss the very beginning so much. Frustrating but it was fun to me.
When it comes to the DAW, the most important thing is to use one that is popular & does get used by professionals. Im not familiar with garageband, however i am pretty sure it is capable of making the same quality music as the other top DAWs.
But if i was to give you a recommendation, i would say to use the latest FL Studio (I believe 11? lol) I say this because of so many reasons. That will come to your advantage in the long run.
1: It is very inexpensive. It has the capabilities of any other DAW available but for so much cheaper.
(There is a reason for that, and it is a downfall. It is because the stock plugins are decent but far from the best. You will need to upgrade & get some effect plugins and i guarantee that. (Along with the stock instruments. Just dont use them. Some are okay but you can go so much farther with 3-4 great VST)
2: It is very user friendly. As long as you have an idea for a beat & you know the basics of FL, it shouldnt take no longer than 15-20 mins to get a decent rough draft down.
Plus, with it being sooooo widely used by beginners and professionals, finding a tutorial for anything you need to know wont be hard.
FL studio couldnt be any better of a choice for a beginner to learn the bare basics all the way to advanced techniques of making, mixing & mastering a beat.
Now when it comes to hardware, its all about your budget. You get what you pay for, simple as that & its not cheap. Here is a list of things you must have though.
1. Studio monitors
2. Audio Interface(To power the monitors)
3. A MIDI piano keyboard(I recommend a medium to long length keyboard. Also specifically recommend the Akai MPK series.)
4. Headphones(I honestly just use some Beat Solos but they arent the best. Your mixing headphones need to have a flatline EQ spectrum. Beyerdynamics DT-990 or that specific series is just as expensive and a lot better than beats by dres)
5. Headphone Amplifier (So you can mix at low levels and still hear. Behringer sells one for $20 which is what i use)
& i believe that is it. I heard of the beat thang & i gave up on the thought of buying one when i seen there was no way to import your own sounds. Plus my akai mpk controller had mpc pads on it which i rarely use other than recording hi hat patterns with the note repeat function.
Id recommend not getting the beat thang & either get a keyboard controller with pads already on it or just get an akai mpd which are a lot less expensive.
When it comes to the DAW, the most important thing is to use one that is popular & does get used by professionals. Im not familiar with garageband, however i am pretty sure it is capable of making the same quality music as the other top DAWs.
But if i was to give you a recommendation, i would say to use the latest FL Studio (I believe 11? lol) I say this because of so many reasons. That will come to your advantage in the long run.
1: It is very inexpensive. It has the capabilities of any other DAW available but for so much cheaper.
(There is a reason for that, and it is a downfall. It is because the stock plugins are decent but far from the best. You will need to upgrade & get some effect plugins and i guarantee that. (Along with the stock instruments. Just dont use them. Some are okay but you can go so much farther with 3-4 great VST)
2: It is very user friendly. As long as you have an idea for a beat & you know the basics of FL, it shouldnt take no longer than 15-20 mins to get a decent rough draft down.
Plus, with it being sooooo widely used by beginners and professionals, finding a tutorial for anything you need to know wont be hard.
FL studio couldnt be any better of a choice for a beginner to learn the bare basics all the way to advanced techniques of making, mixing & mastering a beat.
Now when it comes to hardware, its all about your budget. You get what you pay for, simple as that & its not cheap. Here is a list of things you must have though.
1. Studio monitors
2. Audio Interface(To power the monitors)
3. A MIDI piano keyboard(I recommend a medium to long length keyboard. Also specifically recommend the Akai MPK series.)
4. Headphones(I honestly just use some Beat Solos but they arent the best. Your mixing headphones need to have a flatline EQ spectrum. Beyerdynamics DT-990 or that specific series is just as expensive and a lot better than beats by dres)
5. Headphone Amplifier (So you can mix at low levels and still hear. Behringer sells one for $20 which is what i use)
& i believe that is it. I heard of the beat thang & i gave up on the thought of buying one when i seen there was no way to import your own sounds. Plus my akai mpk controller had mpc pads on it which i rarely use other than recording hi hat patterns with the note repeat function.
Id recommend not getting the beat thang & either get a keyboard controller with pads already on it or just get an akai mpd which are a lot less expensive.
Yumid
New member
The most important thing is finding one that agrees with your workflow. If you go by whats popular you might as well just throw in the towel right now and get FL studio like everyone else. You won't regret finding a DAW you like to work in. But you will regret picking a daw that someone else likes to work in only to realize that you dont. I use pro tools and I'm probably only one out of 3 people on this forum who does, yet its the one I prefer and wouldn't want to use a different one. Ive used Ableton, reason and a bit of FL. If i went by what was popular id be using a DAW I dont like right now, instead I stuck with learning pro tools and now that I know it, i love it. Since you use garageband logic is probably your best bet.
They're all popular and used by professionals.
madebyporter
New member
Pick whatever lets you make the type of beats you want. At first I was using FL Studio, but felt limited. Also, I switch to Mac. So now I use Logic Pro X because I feel used to its User Interface and I can record easily on it. I always use the rule, if I can make a beat on a piece of software in a day on the first try, I'll rather invest my time into it more than other software. Another little rule I use for myself is, if my producer friends (in person friends) have a certain DAW, I tend to use what they have because its easier to pick up certain stuff than try to port over that knowledge to a different DAW.
Stolen.Japan
New member
What's the best way to record guitar on Garageband? Direct or with an audio interface?
It's almost always better to use an audio interface. But, Kevin Parker from the band Tame Impala, did get a pretty good sound on his guitar DI straight into his laptop on parts of his songs. In saying that he would've had a lot of help after the audio was recorded, not just a couple of presets in garage band.
L
Lord_DUB
Guest
Ableton is simple to setup. Makes it easy.
Roland tr 808 is tight. Monster cables.
Roland tr 808 is tight. Monster cables.