Equipment Set-up Question

M

mrblast

New member
Hey all. Firstly, apologies for asking what has probably been asked a thousand times before but I am struggling to find a solution to my production requirements online.

Apologies for length.

Background:

15 to 20 years ago I used to make sample-based hip hop beats.
Set-up at the time was:
Direct drive turntable
Mixer
PC
Cool Edit Pro
Acid Pro

This suited me well. Cool edit Pro was brilliant for editing samples. Acid Pro was amazing for building tracks. Turntable and mixer was great for recording samples from vinyl into PC and for adding cuts.

What I found difficult was creating decent drums and was always looking for a more "hands-on" approach.

Anyway, life took over, I moved overseas and it all stopped but I'm looking to get back into production now.

Technology has changed a lot since then so I'm finding it a little difficult to discover the best set up.

Also, whilst I have some experience in production, it is all self-taught and I previously found software such as Cubase and logic very difficult to use.

What I want is:

Good DAW
Wav sampler/editor
Drum controller
Mixer
Direct Drive deck
A means of being able to play music digitally from the deck

DAW - I see ACID Pro 8 has been released and would be happy to use this again. However, I have concerns about its integration with the rest of my set up. So I would consider alternatives.
Wav sampler/editor - is there anything like cool edit pro these days? I know there is Adobe Audition but their sub-based model is bollocks.
Drum Controller - completely open on this although I like the look of NI Maschine mk 3
Mixer - Open on this also although it should be good for cuts. Traktor Kontrol z2 looks decent
Deck - Open also. Reloop 8000 mk 2 looks good as does Rane 12. Whatever I get, it needs to at least emulate the feel of a 12" turntable. Previously I also owned the Vestax VCI 300 mk2 but struggled to get used to the feel of the platters.
Means of digital playback from the deck - I'm struggling here. What I want to be able to do is map a track or sample to the deck, and play/scratch it so that it records directly into the DAW. Is this possible with something like Serato or Traktor? Or should I be looking at an alternative?

No real limits on budget so open to any suggestions.

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

mrB
 
You should get Pro tools & learn it thoroughly. Master pro tools. Once you have mastered that DAW, you will have all your questions answered. Good luck !
 
waxhotmusic said:
You should get Pro tools & learn it thoroughly. Master pro tools. Once you have mastered that DAW, you will have all your questions answered. Good luck !
Click to expand...

Well, thanks for the response but I'm not sure "master Pro tools" is the right type of solution.
 
Maybe try Reaper. Somewhat similar to the programs you have used in the past.
You could alternately just find a copy of what you used before. Surprisingly after all these years software has not improved ones ability to make sample based music. There have been a few workflow, and feature improvements here, and some things have been made easier.
However many apps just become bloated, and offer bloated ways of doing the same things.

If you want hands on try Renoise, but it is far from what you are used to so be prepared for a look of confusion when you first open it, unless you have used trackers before.
Renoise has great mpc like integration of sampler, and sequencer. It's sampler like an mpc, or maschine can be sampled into.
 
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