Music production and composing

[Marcg868]

Basically does anyone own a Synthesiser and do a bit of music production? Also do you have any knowlage of how to play the keyboard/piano etc?

Now ive not played either for a couple of years, however im a grade 5 on the piano and have a good understanding and also my Granpa is a music teacher so he could help out.

But basically im looking at Yamaha Motif XS's and dabbling in making my own Trance and Hard Dance Styled Productions.

What other stuff am i going to need etc? Looking at the Motif and alot of Synths they dont seem to have internal speakers so i take it they need connecting to a hi fi or something?

Help is appreciated

Thanks
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[oldpink]

buy a good sound card M- Audio or simmilar
get a good trigger keyboard and use midi on your PC to record using Sonar or cubase etc
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[The999Kid]

Depending on which way you want to record or compose these tracks I could recommend cubase for direct track by track recording and digital editing.

I use Sibelius for my A Level compositions and it has never put a foot wrong, thats more suited to an educated approach to composition using knowledge of harmony and written score as well as instrumentation etc

I think you are after Cubase....

[Annabella]

Get a copy of Reason (basically a virtual 'rack' of synthesizers - even better there are free downloads of it), works a treat for drum loops, synth samples and layering. Combine it with Logic (a virtual studio - for building up the tracks you create in Reason and layering/duplicating them) and you've got everything you need for creating purely digital music.

For more 'serious' production Pro-Tools is the benchmark, especially if you want to record analogue.

If you're really serious about production all three together is a pretty powerful tool and your only limit is your imagination. I had so much fun with them at Uni!


Sibelious is usually used for the production of scores (you can export Logic files into Sibelious to create your score), whilst it does play back tit doesn't manage any manipulation.
Cubase is ok, and often considered an equivalent to Logic but IMO it's nowhere near as good or intuitive to use.
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[spikenipple]

For basic music production, get yourself Reason or Cubase (and as many VST plugins as you can find) if you're on a PC, or Logic (Pro, preferably) if you're using a Mac.
These all come with a variety of decent synths, Logic having the largest range as standard. Logic and Cubase both support any VST plugins.

If you're looking to record actual audio from an external synth, get yourself something from the Akai MPC range. These are awesome sequencers, with plenty of features throughout the price range. You'll need to get an audio interface or a DI box (assuming you have a microphone-in port on your computer) to achieve a line-level signal.
The easiest (in terms of attaining the software) program to use to directly record audio will be Audacity. It's free and easy to find.
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[Marcg868]

Sounds like some good advice, the synthesiser in question comes with a free full copy of cuebase also.

Pricey bit of kit tho at £1500 for the 60 odd key xs6 but im sure it'll be worth it.

So i take it i should get a decent sound card and run it through my pc? What tye of connection am i best off using the digital out?
____________________
JACK, MISS YOU LOADS YOU LEGEND.

[oldpink]

for a soundcard get a dedicated music one
the thing with soundcards is you need "zero latency" so your average soundblaster isn't up to the job

I use an M - Audio 10 /10 as I do a lot of audio recording (guitar tracks)
Cubase is Ok but I prefer Sonar (Cakewalk) mostly because I'm familliar with it
I used cubase back in the old Amiga days and remember it crashing regularly
esp when you had just played your piece perfect and you'd have to start again
____________________
I have become comfortably numb

Theory & hazard 24-may 2016, CBT 8th June 2016, MOD 1 2nd Aug 2016 Mod 2 2nd-Nov 2016 - Current bike CBR 600 RR

[Marcg868]

Never used Cakewalk, im sure thats what my Grandad uses with his tho. So i'll ask him if he has a newish copy.

Also is it simple enough to put your pieces onto CD ?
____________________
JACK, MISS YOU LOADS YOU LEGEND.

[oldpink]

cakewalk is now called sonar
I use version 6 and it works well for what I need, version 7 is out
https://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/English/default.asp

burning to CD is easy most Audio software has the capbility to burn directly to disk
or at least output to a format that can be burned with any buring software
____________________
I have become comfortably numb

Theory & hazard 24-may 2016, CBT 8th June 2016, MOD 1 2nd Aug 2016 Mod 2 2nd-Nov 2016 - Current bike CBR 600 RR

[RhynoCZ]

16 years, 23 days

Anyway, did anyone here try some of those modern USB microphones for smartphones, PCs and possibly digital cameras to record acoustic instruments in stereo? I recently got back to playing acoustic guitar/s, and I would like to start composing and recording music again, but I have no idea what's useable these days. My classical guitar does have the piezo pickup with preamp, but I just don't like the way it sounds via my old Boss digital record. By the way, I want to keep it simple, there's no need for studio quality equipment.

Also, is GuitarPro still a thing?
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[Fat Angry Scotsman]