All right, MLR, "the holidays" approach. What should I get?

[CaptainFluffatun]

Title is self-explanatory. I know for sure I'm asking for FL Studio Producer.

I hear Kontakt from Native Instruments is great. Input?

[Calamus_Dash]

To be perfectly honest, I would reaaaaally recommend pirating FL studio.
I'm like the biggest anti-pirate around here, but its just impractical (imo) to limit yourself to one DAW just because it was the first one you bought. I fucking love FL studio, but I still pirated it because I knew that I might eventually find a DAW that suits me better, and this way, I wouldn't have wasted a few hundred bucks on it.

[Dr_Dissonance]

There is a free version of Kontakt...

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/pr ... kt-player/

No yar har fiddle dee hee at all!

And for what you should ask for entirelly depends on what you want...do you want fancy virtual instruments? Or maybe some phat beats? Tell us what you'd most like and we can point you in the right direction!

[Calamus_Dash]

pssst...dissonance
get in the toastbeard!

[CaptainFluffatun]

Well I also play guitar, but my parents said that a 1000+ dollar amp head was out of the question, so if you know of any neat little pedals or cheap-but-good combo amps lay 'em on me.

As far as digital music goes, I really like beautiful AND realistic strings, but as ambitious as it might seem, I want as much as possible. I'm always looking to expand my music genre in terms of what I make, so having access to as much as possible would be nice. Actually, when I was making my Lunar Republic guitar cover, I wanted some epic bassy drum that I don't know the name of. SO, I guess percussion would be good.

But in the end, ANY suggestions are appreciated.

[CaptainFluffatun]

Also, I myself am for piracy in general, but don't like to do it often because possible risks to my computer (I'm not the brightest pirate on the seas)

[Dr_Dissonance]

I really like beautiful AND realistic strings

I have no idea about pedals and such...

BUT, if you want decent strings, take a listen to the following, listed in order of price:

http://www.vsl.co.at/en/211/442/344/1798/1462.htm Vienna Strings...$6200...GEEZ THAT'S EXPENSIVE!!!

http://audiobro.com/ LA Scoring Strings, currently $999 for the full version, but there are lite versions as well!

http://www.soundsonline.com/Symphonic-Orchestra EWQL Symphonic Orchestra, $995 for the complete thing, but the lower versions are great as well! (P.S. this is what I use!)

http://www.soundsonline.com/Hollywood-Strings Hollywood Strings, these sound real nice and are $795 for the full set AT THE MOMENT! (P.S. These are what I will be using in the near future!)

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/philharmonik/features/ Miroslav, sounding good and the $229 price tag is pretty good!

http://www.garritan.com/index.php?optio ... &Itemid=54 Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 $150, really good for that price!


Honourable mention: Edirol Orchestra, except I can't actually find a place where you can buy it...

Hope that helps at all!

[CaptainFluffatun]

Holy sucking fhit. I might make it my mission to buy Vienna Strings just to say I did x.x

This has been a great help. I think, due to them being the lowest-priced mentioned, I'll look into Garritan and Miroslav. By the way, you're awesome. Just thought you should know, if you didn't already.

Btw, downloading Kontakt~ Thank you -w-

[Facade]

do you have any studio monitors or headphones if not you should get some they can be usefull

[CaptainFluffatun]

Good point. I have some poopy generic earbuds, and my friend pointed out some good headphones. Any particular monitors, though? It's good to hear your work through multiple sets of speakers to notice any faults.

[Versilaryan]

If you're looking for budget amps, the Vox AD30VT is an amazing one. It's what I use for /everything/. It's a solid-state modeling amp, but it has a tube in it to get legitimate tube crunch/warmth when the situation calls for it. Plus, it's got a load of nice effects built in. See if your local guitar shops have one and try it out. (Unless you're /really/ into metal, don't get the XL version. Seriously, all that thing's good for is metal and it sucks for everything else.)

If you do a lot of guitar work, look into some good mics, if you haven't already. The Shure SM57's always a safe bet.

And lastly, don't get FL Studio. Get Ableton or Cubase (though if you get the latter, set aside a lot of time to figure it out). FL's good, and comes with a TON of awesome built-in plugins, but automation is a huge hassle, and more importantly, doing a lot of recorded stuff is a bitch.

[CaptainFluffatun]

Thank you! My problem is if it's going to be loud enough to meet my drummer. 30 volts is kind pushing the barrier, here.

And I can't believe I forgot mics! Where would I be without you people? XD Consider an SM57 on my list.

Is the implication here that Cubase is very confusing? Or is it just confusing *at first*? I have no problem with having to figure a program out, but am I going to have to traverse mazes and cure cancer to know this thing?

[Versilaryan]

They make 50-watt and 100-watt version of it, too. But always, try before you buy. If you find a cooler one in the shop, all the more power to you! I'm just a hobbyist, so I never really need to worry about drummers. xD

Everything's confusing at first. =P It's just that Cubase is notorious for having a really steep learning curve. It's one of those things you're going to have to live with for a while before you really start to understand it, but once you understand it, it's a /really/ powerful DAW.

[CaptainFluffatun]

What are your opinions on the "higher tier" DAWs like Samplitude, Pro Tools and the like? Or is that just reaching the point where you're "paying for a name?"

[bartekko]

I think the whole point is: download ALL the demo versions, and then stay with the one which fits you best.

A great man wrote that Your DAW doesn't have much to do when it comes to actual sound.
(Odyssey uses garageband, NACP uses/used Ableton Live, so does deadmau5 and half the electronic music world)

[Versilaryan]

What Bartekko said. Really, there is no "high tier" DAW. Find one that works, and stick with it. If it ends up not working out, find a new one. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses and they're all geared towards something slightly different, so it's really up to you to find which one's best for you.

[CaptainFluffatun]

Fair enough. I'll go get all the demos this weekend and try 'em out :3

[Facade]

Good point. I have some poopy generic earbuds, and my friend pointed out some good headphones. Any particular monitors, though? It's good to hear your work through multiple sets of speakers to notice any faults.

for headphones i have heard a lot of great things about audio-technica in fact im getting my pair next week or two and i cant wait to try them out as for monitors the only way to go is 400$ or more everything under that is not worth it if you have the money i would go with these http://www.amazon.com/KRK-RP8G2-Powered ... 284&sr=8-1
haven't used em myself but they have the best reviews for something that cheap : P
keep in mind if you want a pair set the quantity to two or else you will only get one that is if you have the money : P

also you might want to disregard everything i say cause my luck is horrible and as soon as i type something like this and post it i find something wrong with it >.<

[CaptainFluffatun]

I've actually also heard good things about KRK. I think monitors will be my next goal, but I don't wanna be a dick and ask for so much it looks like I'm expecting to get it all, and my price level has reached around the 700s >.> I'll save up my own money and get them, though!

[Facade]

I've actually also heard good things about KRK. I think monitors will be my next goal, but I don't wanna be a dick and ask for so much it looks like I'm expecting to get it all, and my price level has reached around the 700s >.> I'll save up my own money and get them, though!

yea im actually gonna save up and get some krk's too