Music Production

[disco1]

Hi guys,
I have acquired a load of music production software, things like Reason 4, Cubase and Fruityloops. I want to start from scratch and teach myself the basics, can anyone recommend a magazine or website? Any tips on where to start? Will a modern laptop (1gb ram, 80gb drive) power music production?

any tips or guidance would be most appreciated

[GnuBee]

SoundOnSound is worth getting - their website is also worth checking out. Seems to have a good balance between gear and technique type editorial (and lots of it).

[PJR]

I just got Reason 4 also. Its quite impressive (In that I likely don't need most of the hardware I collected over the years and spent a fortune on any more). As for tips, all I can say is, Read the manuals. Software like this gets pretty complicated in places, and the manuals are invaluable. Especially if your memory is remotely as bad as mine. If its hooky software, then you are on your own for the most part. Having said that, Reason 4 manuals are freely available to download from the website.

As for machine specs.. "1gb ram and 80gb hd" is rather vague to say the least. But perhaps that is good enough for the basics.

I don't read/buy music tech magazines any more. But last time I did, Sound On Sound was the best going by a long shot. Their website and forums are also pretty good, so worth a look. Be prepared however for quite a bias towards Macs when it comes to music production. But PC's can certainly get the job done too.

P,

[whygee02]

Soundonsound or Music Technology, both can be bought from a half decent magazine counter, or found online.

I do a bit myself, but more physical synths etc rather than computer based, but if you need owt specific I can try and answer.

[disco1]

thanks all, will check out soundonsound

All i need now is a DJ/Producer name

[koenig999]

I also have Reason 4 (from 1 onwards)

There are loads of tutorials and production classes in the monthly magazine "Computer Music" Easily the most useful resource, with a DVD, samples, trial and free software every month.

Also there are DVDs and books on getting most out of Reason etc.

I have just been conversing with Reason support about to connect up my Yamaha Tenori-on so it can controls lot of different rack synths and sequencer tracks in Reason at once. It is not straightforward!

I would advise also trying Ableton Live 6.0, this is were a lot of DJ / producers are heading, as it is much better for on-the-flying improvisation and creativity.



Koenig

[Gylen]

Another vote for Ableton Live here. To be honest, between Reason, Live and ProTools, my hardware hasn't had a look in for donkey's...Though these days I never seem to get the time to play around for myself, just work

[andy400]

Just put Cubase on my Mac, but can't get any sound out of the darned thing, despite Cubase saying that all recent Macs are ready and suitable...

Any ideas?

[Gylen]

Not used Cubase for years since my PC days but normally, problems like this tend to revolve around ins and outs.

Basically, try and get into the preferences (or equivalent) section within Cubase and you should find an option to select what inputs (built in mic, external etc) and outputs (internal speakers, line out, interface etc) CUbase uses. Make sure whatever your speakers are connected to is selected and see how you get on. Hard to be more specific without more knowledge of the problem but I'd start there.

Also, if Cubase is anything like ProTools there should be a pretty comprehensive users forum online. Or try www.soundonsound.com...

HTH

Gylen

[LDNrevs]

disco1 said:

Hi guys,
I have acquired a load of music production software, things like Reason 4, Cubase and Fruityloops. I want to start from scratch and teach myself the basics, can anyone recommend a magazine or website? Any tips on where to start? Will a modern laptop (1gb ram, 80gb drive) power music production?

any tips or guidance would be most appreciated

What type of music are you looking to produce and I may be able to give you some great forums to check out.....

Yes a Laptop with a 1G RAM will be fine as long as you're not recording lots of tracks at once.

With regard Reason: you need to watch out for sub par audio in Reason. It is well known that Reason, despite its power and versatility, actually has a weak software engine. You say you have FL. You will find FL keeps audio crisp and punchy as it should be. If you use Reason, you will want to run it as a slave to Cubase or Pro Tools - and use their audio plugins to beef up the sound.

General audio sites I frequent:
www.futureproducers.com
www.gearslutz.com