When is the rite time to start getting equipment ?? New to producing .

W

WadeDEEP

New member
Hi Producers

So Ive only been producing for couple of months now and still getting use to my DAW and how you go about doing everything , but i am getting better with time if must say so myself .
My question. When is the rite time for me to start investing in equipment .at the moment i m only using my laptop and headphones .which i guess has its limitations that's why i am not really getting the sound i want .

Thinking of maybe picking up a midi keyboard and good quality headphones maybe , will it help me a lot ,will my beats improve or should i still give myself some time to get use to my DAW before investing in anything , im not producing any master pieces as of yet but i know that i will be. i have a passion for music and the Patience to learn as much as i can even if it takes me forever , cant picture myself doing anything else in my free-time then producing or tying to figure out how you do that and this on the net. lol

I use FL Studio .
 
The right time is when you need it. If you feel limited by what you have, then you do something about it - simple as that. I doubt there's some universal producer timeline that dictates when you start buying stuff :)

But just make sure you identify between actually needing something and thinking you need something; way too often I see newbies asking about which mixer to buy without them even having stopped to think why they'd need a mixer in the first place ("because studios have those" is usually the answer).

(And of course, occasionally you just want something to inspire you. This is art - not everything has to be rational.)
 
Thanks for the advice! . The thing is i don't think that i need it now , but if it can help me get where i wanna be or help me improve , should i ?. And if you asking where i wanna be the answer is i wanna be making good music :-D .
 
Master what you have now....I went from FL Studio to Reason to Maschine not because one is better than the other it was more efficient for my work flow.
 
krushing said:
The right time is when you need it. If you feel limited by what you have, then you do something about it - simple as that. I doubt there's some universal producer timeline that dictates when you start buying stuff :)

But just make sure you identify between actually needing something and thinking you need something; way too often I see newbies asking about which mixer to buy without them even having stopped to think why they'd need a mixer in the first place ("because studios have those" is usually the answer).

(And of course, occasionally you just want something to inspire you. This is art - not everything has to be rational.)
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Totally agree with this. It really depends on what you get good at too that determines what equipment you can use the best. For example - if you get really good at equalization, you may end up investing in some nice EQs, whereas if you were terrible at compression, a nice compressor wouldn't help you at all.
 
dremur said:
Master what you have now....I went from FL Studio to Reason to Maschine not because one is better than the other it was more efficient for my work flow.
Click to expand...

What i have now is just my laptop and headphones , and im starting to get quite comfortable with FL Studio not thinking of changing my workstation anytime soon coz theirs still so much more i can learn . I Always try and produce a type of deep house, My Drums and all that sounds okay but everything Else sounds too "organized" or "computerized" . i want the live feeling in there , if you ever listen to some deep house or even house youl know what mean . i dont wanna sound foolish but ever since Ive been on this forum , Ive heard ppl saying that buying ther 1st controller was a life changing experience producing wise , so its making me more eager to get one < seeing that ive never actually used one in my life or even seen some one using it besides on YouTube
 
im in the exactly the same place as you right now... been using logic pro for a couple of months now and still getting used to it. i was thinking of buying a midi keyboard in the near future just so i can increase my efficiency of getting ideas out of my head and into my DAW
 
The order in which you buy things is important, like some people buy software first and then later decide to buy a controller that ships with a lite version of the same software that they just paid full price for, so they just skipped saving themselves some money by not exploiting an upgrade path.

It's hard to plan ahead when you don't know what you will need in preceding order, I would recommend that you get a controller next but bear in mind that it's possible you will experience timing issues when playing against the audio coming from a laptop's built in audio interface, then again you might not have such issues, but the next thing down the line from a controller will most likely be an audio interface. Krushing is absolutely correct in saying that you should only buy things as you need them, this is because you have time to explore the shortcomings of what you already have and make an educated evaluation of what you need, this is especially true of software.
 
I'm in the same situation now. I have a Maschine with the Komplete software and that's pretty much all I'm using to create my sounds. I want to get a midi keyboard because I feel like it will assist me getting my thoughts onto the software more efficiently than I'm doing now with point and click.
 
hollandturbine said:
The order in which you buy things is important, like some people buy software first and then later decide to buy a controller that ships with a lite version of the same software that they just paid full price for, so they just skipped saving themselves some money by not exploiting an upgrade path.

It's hard to plan ahead when you don't know what you will need in preceding order, I would recommend that you get a controller next but bear in mind that it's possible you will experience timing issues when playing against the audio coming from a laptop's built in audio interface, then again you might not have such issues, but the next thing down the line from a controller will most likely be an audio interface. Krushing is absolutely correct in saying that you should only buy things as you need them, this is because you have time to explore the shortcomings of what you already have and make an educated evaluation of what you need, this is especially true of software.
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I think your right about the latency issues. When I use a midi controller (keyboard or MPD) and FL Studio is set to primary driver it will lag. But if I set it to my external Sound Cards ASIO driver than the lag is unnoticeable.

So WadeDeep if your getting a midi controller don't forget a sound card!
 
Well maybe you should get a cheap midi Keyboard and if you still wanna make Music in a few months you can buy some Hardware (Audio Interface...). But like some other said 'You should buy it when you Need it'
 
Akhtrance said:
Well maybe you should get a cheap midi Keyboard and if you still wanna make Music in a few months you can buy some Hardware (Audio Interface...). But like some other said 'You should buy it when you Need it'
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That's true. You don't want to waste $300 and decide you don't like this whole music thing lol. Just get the Korg microKEY25.
 
agree with the previous comments, if you feel like you're being held back by the equipment- invest in new stuff. However, if you're still learning the software, don't go for it yet. You will make better purchasing decisions once you know exactly what do you like/don't like and want...
 
I essentially got my software first. I started with FL Studio back when my best friend and brother were making a little music here and there at my bro's house. I've also used other DAW's like Sony Acid Music Studio. I've had a couple versions of that. I didn't actually start buying any real equipment until about 2 years ago. The first thing I bought was a Midi Controller and I played with that for a few months. Then I bought my first set of Studio Monitors M-AUDIO CX5's they do the job that I need and as well as a Lexicon Pro Alpha 2x2 USB Audio interface to plug in the speakers. I also graduated to Cubase from FL and it's becoming my primary tool of choice. Both DAW's have their strengths and weaknesses. FL Studio has more of a basic streamlined interface, but lacks in some of the more professional tools I needed. Plus I was going to do this online music Production course that I HAD to have cubase for. I just started using it a few months ago more and more when I actually watched the tutorial dvd that came with it. It made the process for learning it so much easier. I'm hoping to probably build something of a hybrid studio, Hardware and Software plugins and stuff. I don't have any real hardware right now. It's just all software plugins. But yea What everyone says, Buy it when you actually need it. Like say you NEED a certain sound that you cannot achieve any other way but through that specific piece of equipment.
 
RE: building a studio...

honestly man, i started on fl studio and spent 2 years messing around before i got serious. you need to wait and see if its something you wanna continue with to be honest.
my advice would be to keep at it for a couple of months or so, develop a good understanding of whatever DAW youre using and THEN start with just a soundcard and some monitors between 6 and 8 inches (any less and you lose heaps of bass response - plus you dont need to get a sub when you have these.)

realistically man, monitors and soundcard are the basics for production, get a cheap midi/usb keyboard and youre good to go. but dont go spending the money if you dont think youre gonna be into it for long. its a bloody expensive hobby haha! :)

to mapper724:
you said FL Studio has more of a basic streamlined interface, but lacks in some of the more professional tools I needed..

man ALL the DAW's do the exact same thing as each other. cubase, FL, reason, Ableton, Logic etc - theyre virtually all the exact same program as each other with a different skin, with TINY differences more focused around things like layout and GUI. there is no 'best' software, otherwise there would be a clear leader in the field and everyone would go with that software for obvious reasons.
realistically its all about what suits you and what you learnt on/your workflow and methods of production.

---------- Post added 01-13-2013 at 05:53 PM ---------- Previous post was 01-09-2013 at 06:59 PM ----------

yeah well man honestly getting my first midi keyboard was the most advancing step ive taken in my personal production adventure. i honestly think you could use what you have with your computer keys (in fl theyre arranged in the same way as a piano keyboard in the piano roll and you can learn via that) but personally the way i did it was first i focused on making beats, then when i was trying to get my melodies and rhythms down i invested in a keyboard (because its much easier to play) and since i got that keyboard ive been taking leaps and bounds forwards. if i was you, id buy a midi keyboard and see where that takes you..
 
become absolutely brilliant with the basics and only then start to think about getting new equipment - its really just because you will save money and your current technological 'limitations' can be conducive to the creative process, contrary to what people may think. with the know how you can write chart hits with just software and a midi keyboard imo
 
I'd like to start off by saying that you never really "need" anything, Lex Luger made H.A.M by drawing in the notes on Fl Studio with a mouse.
It's about the man behind the tool, never the tool. so don't expect that because you bought some $1000 controller that you'll start sounding like Noah 40 Shebib.

That being said tools will make you more efficient and faster, and can even make production more enjoyable.
So when ever you're ready to commit financially to music go for it.
 
start slow...if you know you don't need the stuff now just hold off. Master your DAW, invest in a MIDI controller/keyboard and a pair of quality headphones...your beats will improve overtime as you get comfortable with your craft; that's when you start upgrading. By that time you'll have a little more knowledge under your belt so you'll know exactly what you need (or least have a good idea). I've been doing this for about 3 years and I can definitely hear the improvement that I've made over time.
 
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