Beginning producer in need of some advice

[timothy9090]

Dear people,

My name is Timothy, and I'm about to get started in music production. My goal is to make electro/house/ some Drum and Bass. I already have an iMac that has been running Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Word for the last 2 years, so I'm eager to start using it the way it was intended. The next big step would be all the other things. Fortunately I have been playing music in bands for many years (I play the guitar and a bit of piano), so I'm very sure I want to do this (and needless to say I know my way around a scale). I've decided to initially invest about 1200-1500 euros in gear (soft and hardware), and would like to find out what some of you think about this setup I have in mind so far. Here goes:

Ableton Live with Push
From what I've read so far it seems that most electro/house producers seem to use either FL or Ableton. Given that I have a Mac, and FL apparently doesn't work with Mac, this made my choice a little easier. I have worked with both programs before, but never sufficiently in depth to really be able to tell the big pros and cons of either one. I also want to use the Push with my band in live performances to give the music an extra electronic dimension, so it would seem that Ableton with their Push should be a pretty decent choice.

KRK Rokit monitors
Since I obviously don't have a huge budget I figured these monitors should be a good place to start. I learned from reviews that 2 of these are supposed to be sufficient to start mixing, without any immediate need for an additional subwoofer.

VSTs
So far I think I'm doing pretty good, but this is where I need your advice most. I can't decide if I should get the full Ableton Live suite, which comes with the additional instruments, sounds and effects, or get the cheaper version and instead go with the Komplete Standard pack. From what I've gathered their ''Massive'' synth is a bit of a favorite in the electro genre, and the other synths also come highly recommended. But as you might have guessed I have absolutely no experience in tweaking synth sounds, so while I'm learning how to work with those, I'm going to rely on presets and youtube videos for sound ideas. I can't seem to find a great lot of videos of people using the stock Ableton synths to make electro sounds. Any advice here would be great. If I go with the Ableton Suite option I'll get the Komplete pack as well sooner or later, but it's gonna take a few months for me to get the additional money, and I would like to get started right away with the necessary tools to make it work.

Any advice is welcome!

Thanks!

 

[kuzami]

The Ableton Live 9 + Push setup is great. Plan to buy it myself. Since you probably are studying, you qualify for Abletons 40% off educational discount.

KRK Rokit monitors are not good for producing because they have an undetailed and hyped sound. I recommend the JBL LSR-series and the PreSonus Eris-series instead. Same price point and much better.

I do not recommend the Suite edition. Operator and Max for Live are great, but they are not worth the extra cost. It also comes with a lot of Instruments and samples, but third party ones are better. The Komplete pack is great. Unless you compose classical music I don't recommend the Ultimate edition. The Fabfilter FX Bundle is great and can contains everything you need except reverb (they have a 50% off educational discount) .For reverb I recommend reverbs from ValhallaDSP, very cheap and very high quality.

 

[GoodMoney]

All sounds good. Instead of the KRKs tho I'd suggest going with something else. They exaggerate the low end. I have the Yamaha HS7's. They've been holding me down so far.

Try throwing in an aurelex room kit too. It helps. Only 100 bucks American. Not sure what that is in Euros. There are plenty YouTube videos about how to mount them. I'd suggest sticking them to a thin piece of cardboard first and then putting them up.

 

[Cayden Carrell]

Given that I have a Mac

Since I obviously don´t have huge budget

Skip Abelton Push and get Logic instead, eventually also get Abelton Live Suite.

I´m on a mac and have both Logic, Abelton Live and Push. I never use Push anymore as I bang out beats faster on my piano keyboard and Logic.

And last, the most important question . what genre do you think you will be working most in? I´ll continue my reply a lil later.

 

[kuzami]

Skip Abelton Push and get Logic instead, eventually also get Abelton Live Suite.

I´m on a mac and have both Logic, Abelton Live and Push. I never use Push anymore as I bang out beats faster on my piano keyboard and Logic.

And last, the most important question . what genre do you think you will be working most in? I´ll continue my reply a lil later.

You can't tell him to just get logic. All that is up to personal preference. OP shared his interest in getting Live + Push, and he wanted to know if we thought it way a good idea. You may like Logic + keyboard better, but there is No guarantee that the OP will agree with you.

All sounds good. Instead of the KRKs tho I'd suggest going with something else. They exaggerate the low end. I have the Yamaha HS7's. They've been holding me down so far.

Try throwing in an aurelex room kit too. It helps. Only 100 bucks American. Not sure what that is in Euros. There are plenty YouTube videos about how to mount them. I'd suggest sticking them to a thin piece of cardboard first and then putting them up.

Acoustic treatment is a good idea. I recommend panels instead of foam
You can build these yourself. Panels are more effective than foam. If you cant build yourself, an Auralex room kit might be good enough.

 

[Cayden Carrell]

You can't tell him to just get logic. All that is up to personal preference.

Never did. But I suggested he´d skip Push (as I did not think it is a good idea on his budget).
In case you did not notice; I´m using Abelton Live 9 too.
And you are so right; it is all personal pref - hence my post.