well, i need few tips

[han]

im craving to start doing remixes and music for ages, but i never had the opportunity to ask for guidance
i was surfing the web and found this forum and it seemed perfect!
so i hope that ill get some tips and ideas of what programs should i have to do all this stuff, and maybe even some guidness on the process :3

btw
i looked at the rules, and theres no rules specified for the technique forum, so if i somehow did something against the rules, let me know what i did wrong VcV

another btw
im sorry for my english, im not very good at it :c

[Lying Pink]

Hi Han Welcome to the forum! I suggest heading down to the Introduction Thread and telling us a little about yourself, but that's completely up to you.

First things first, it's probably important to work out what precisely you want us to help you with -- have you done any computer music stuff before (or any music at all), or are you a complete beginner to this? It'd also be helpful to know what kind of music you plan on making. Do you have any genres in mind? Or any favourite artists, or tracks? You don't have to have a set idea of exactly what you want to be making of course But it definitely helps to have a rough direction to start from!

When you say you'd like to know what programs you should have, the first thing you're best getting hold of is a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), which is basically the main program that you use to make the music. There's lots of DAWs I'd suggest picking one which isn't too hard to learn the basics of, and that isn't too expensive, and that has lots of people online who make tutorials. I'd say your best bet is probably FL Studio (I use one called Cockos Reaper) but if you're willing to put the time in and learn how they work, most DAWs are quite easy to use; other people will probably have better advice to give on which DAW you should get -- if you're stuck, feel free to make a thread about it!

In any case, do check out the MLR Music Guide, which links to a lot of very helpful tutorials, right from the basics to some really specific stuff. There is also a Tutor Thread, so if there's something specific you'd like to be taught, have a browse through that list and message one of the tutors who has the skills you want to learn - they might be able to help. On top of that, Google and YouTube are valuable resources of course, and if you have any questions, feel free to post them on the forum - there's usually someone who can help you with whatever you're interested in, or at least willing to point you in the right direction.

Oh, and don't worry - your English is good!

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

A good affordable program for Audio work is FL Studio, version 11 comes with a lot of good features.
if you're willing to fork out a lot of money, Ableton Live 9 is also quite good.

Get some free synthesizers at first to get yourself familiar with the concepts of sound synthesis before moving onto things that cost money like Massive or Sylenth or what have you.

as tempting as it may be, don't pirate things. For one, everyone here will shun you because we have standards, and two, if a company finds out you're not on their clients list they can bring down the hammer of copyright infringement on your sorry ass.

you would also do well to learn some music theory. You don't have to know every little detail, but it helps to know enough that you incorporate it into your writing process so that your melodies and such at least sound right. Spend some time learning mixing as well, a beautiful song can be ruined by a shitty mix, and a shitty song can be improved (VERY SLIGHTLY) by a good mix.

Samples are also important, but most audio programs come with their own samples that you can use (i still do occasionally), but for some more variety I'd recommend some free packs (most of my drums, percusion etc comes from free packs).

You can find a lot of those here viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7394.


Also, be patient. VERY patient.

I cannot understate the importance of patience when you're just starting out, and I will outright say it, your music will not be very good with your first attempts and that is not a bad thing at all. Don't let it discourage you, everyone starts out utter shit at this, me included, people like Alex S and Glaze included. No one is exempt.

So just work at it, ok?

Also, related to what program you choose, go watch some reviews and do your research before you go buy your program.
Make sure you know everything you need to know.

I'll provide some videos to get you started. Some of these are part of series's so you may want to watch the rest if you want the full story, I'll point out which are part of a series for you.

FL Studio



The version in this video is slightly old. But the new version is largely the same.

Reason part of a series



Ableton Live part of a series.



Logic Pro



and those are the more contemporary DAW programs.


Hope this helped!

[han]

*textwall*

first of all, thank you very very much for puting so much effort into this :3

i love any music, but usually listen and do quiet (in 'loud' music people tend to hide the level of the melody with sound, this is irritating ^^;)
i guess that anything that can do music will work :c

FL studio sound nice, ill try getting it :'D
thank you so much for your help

*anothertextwall*

omg that was detailed
thank you so much >w<
im not completely sure what synthesizers have to do with it though...

and about pirating...
what should i do if i cant afford it trough the internet cause i dont have a credit card yet?
and about music theory, im kinda familiar with this
i do mostly chords, but i know how to work with notes and stuff ^^;

thank you so very much

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

*anothertextwall*

im not completely sure what synthesizers have to do with it though...

and about pirating...
what should i do if i cant afford it trough the internet cause i dont have a credit card yet?
and about music theory, im kinda familiar with this
i do mostly chords, but i know how to work with notes and stuff ^^;

thank you so very much

On Synthesizers, they make all of the 'synthetic' sounds in electronic music and even have some applications in genres like rock and metal. They're very useful. FL Studio comes with some good ones.

And on piracy, theres plenty of legal free stuff to tide you over till you have the cash dude. Also, FL Studio is available over the counter in some places, so are all of the other programs I showed you. Shop around. This is also me talking from a moral point of view.
Some people put out content, have a couple hundred people buy it and thousands of people download it illegally. So from a moral and professional outlook, I'd avoid it.

[han]

im not completely sure what synthesizers have to do with it though...

and about pirating...
what should i do if i cant afford it trough the internet cause i dont have a credit card yet?
and about music theory, im kinda familiar with this
i do mostly chords, but i know how to work with notes and stuff ^^;

thank you so very much

On Synthesizers, they make all of the 'synthetic' sounds in electronic music and even have some applications in genres like rock and metal. They're very useful. FL Studio comes with some good ones.

And on piracy, theres plenty of legal free stuff to tide you over till you have the cash dude. Also, FL Studio is available over the counter in some places, so are all of the other programs I showed you. Shop around. This is also me talking from a moral point of view.
Some people put out content, have a couple hundred people buy it and thousands of people download it illegally. So from a moral and professional outlook, I'd avoid it.

first of all, im not american, and i dont live in the city, so i cant buy thiskind of things using cash :c
it cost quiet a lot
basicly, i cant make music using the pc antill ill have at least 100$?
thank you, ill try to nudge my parents till they'll accept helping me
but man it mean i can start learning only in few monthes (maybe one of my friends have a legal version or something)
btw
please dont dude me XP

[Lying Pink]

basicly, i cant make music using the pc antill ill have at least 100$?

Not quite. There's lots of free stuff out there -- a lot of free virtual instruments are actually very good. There are less free DAWs but there are some, plus a lot of the paid ones have demo versions (including FL, I think?), and Reaper has an unlimited free trial (one of the main reasons I chose it )

[itroitnyah]

first of all, im not american, and i dont live in the city, so i cant buy thiskind of things using cash :c
it cost quiet a lot
basicly, i cant make music using the pc antill ill have at least 100$?
thank you, ill try to nudge my parents till they'll accept helping me
but man it mean i can start learning only in few monthes (maybe one of my friends have a legal version or something)
btw
please dont dude me XP

FL Studio and Cubase are both made by German companies (Image-Line and Steinberg) if you're in Germany. I'm pretty certain that you'll be able to find either of those at more places in Germany. Pardon my assumption though, if you aren't in Germany. I've seen more than a few Germans around here.

[JSynth]

what should i do if i cant afford it trough the internet cause i dont have a credit card yet?

For a purchase that's only $100 or $200 (depending on what FL deal you get) I would not put it on a credit card. Save your money and pay in cash. A music program is not worth getting into debt for.

and about music theory, im kinda familiar with this
i do mostly chords, but i know how to work with notes and stuff ^^;

Yeah, I would learn music theory. If you are going to make music then you need to learn music theory. There really is no getting around it.

[han]

Not quite. There's lots of free stuff out there -- a lot of free virtual instruments are actually very good. There are less free DAWs but there are some, plus a lot of the paid ones have demo versions (including FL, I think?), and Reaper has an unlimited free trial (one of the main reasons I chose it )

im not familiar with most of what you said :c
which DAWs are free?

FL Studio and Cubase are both made by German companies (Image-Line and Steinberg) if you're in Germany. I'm pretty certain that you'll be able to find either of those at more places in Germany. Pardon my assumption though, if you aren't in Germany. I've seen more than a few Germans around here.

i checked FL's site, there are 2 stores that sell this software legally in here, one in each main city XP

what should i do if i cant afford it trough the internet cause i dont have a credit card yet?

For a purchase that's only $100 or $200 (depending on what FL deal you get) I would not put it on a credit card. Save your money and pay in cash. A music program is not worth getting into debt for.

well, i dont have cradit card or a store that sell those stuff nearby, so this wouldnt be a problem XD

[froggy]

Welcome to the forums! Here's a pack of free stuff I put together a while ago for threads just like this one:

Music Production Starter Kit 1.1

It's a collection of samples, freeware plugins, and Ebooks/PDFs with useful info for beginners (synthesis, music theory, mixing, etc).

As for choosing a DAW, I'd say your best bet right now is to download the FL Studio demo and see how you like it. It's the cheapest option other than Reaper (which you should also take a look at) and a lot of users here swear by it. Best of luck!