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21

[quote]Kill’Em All wrote:
What do you guys think of Cake? and Reason?[/quote]

I’m an old school guitar guy and went to cakewalks guitar tracks pro because of that. I had some casette tapes of songs/ideas from years ago and basically re-did these using the PC and GTPro. The hardest problem is creating beats, I found limited success with the bundled drum software, which was designed for house, not rock.

Judicious use of echo/reverb gets that arena heavy drum sound. Someday when time permits I will lay down bass tracks on these. Oh, and I use Digitech guitar processors to plug in to the PC, I actually prefer their “less natural” metallic sound to the amp emulators…Hope this info is useful…

22

im starting to get confused the more I read reviews.

What do you guys think I of this review.
http://www.music-softwarereviews.com/recording_software.html

23

Automation is simply programming a plug-in, effect, whether it be panning, a fade etc etc. to automate, automatically! Think of a crazy panning effect, swooping left to right, that is done by automation. Bussing has to do with breaking off part of the signal and sending it somewhere else.

So lets say you create an auxilary track and call it “reverb,” on that track you would create a bus and then select to corresponding bus on say the “snare” track, then you can control the reverb effect from the aux track on the snare track, likewise on any of the other tracks on which you select a bus. This way you are able to use the Plug-in on multiple tracks without eating up processing power.

Again, PT can be very easy and it can be a bitch. It only works with its own hardware, PT does not play nicely with other manufacturers hardware. But its the industry standard plain and simple. It comes with Reason which you can use to make beats. Reason and ProTools will also work in conjunction with eachother through a feature called “ReWire.” You then can record what you’ve done in Reason into ProTools. It’s pretty cool stuff.

In my opinion, buying a ProTools LE package, IE the Mbox you will be up and running. Simply because you get a good bunch of bundled software with it. Less we forget, any audio software requires a good system to push it. I’m sure I’ll get flamed by the unaware, but in the audio industry Mac is the handsdown winner.

If you can get into a Mac, awesome, if not, just make sure the PC has a good amount of processing power. Not to say the mac shouldnt, because it should. They are just less prone to freezing up working with audio than a PC.

Again I hope this helps, feel free to send me a PM if you want some clarification on things.

24

[quote]Chip Duglass wrote:
Automation is simply programming a plug-in, effect, whether it be panning, a fade etc etc. to automate, automatically! Think of a crazy panning effect, swooping left to right, that is done by automation. Bussing has to do with breaking off part of the signal and sending it somewhere else.

So lets say you create an auxilary track and call it “reverb,” on that track you would create a bus and then select to corresponding bus on say the “snare” track, then you can control the reverb effect from the aux track on the snare track, likewise on any of the other tracks on which you select a bus. This way you are able to use the Plug-in on multiple tracks without eating up processing power.

Again, PT can be very easy and it can be a bitch. It only works with its own hardware, PT does not play nicely with other manufacturers hardware. But its the industry standard plain and simple. It comes with Reason which you can use to make beats. Reason and ProTools will also work in conjunction with eachother through a feature called “ReWire.” You then can record what you’ve done in Reason into ProTools. It’s pretty cool stuff.

In my opinion, buying a ProTools LE package, IE the Mbox you will be up and running. Simply because you get a good bunch of bundled software with it. Less we forget, any audio software requires a good system to push it. I’m sure I’ll get flamed by the unaware, but in the audio industry Mac is the handsdown winner.

If you can get into a Mac, awesome, if not, just make sure the PC has a good amount of processing power. Not to say the mac shouldnt, because it should. They are just less prone to freezing up working with audio than a PC.

Again I hope this helps, feel free to send me a PM if you want some clarification on things. [/quote]

haha thanks Chip, I was going to explain that, but i really didn’t want to spend the time.

Anyway, my advice is to get the cheap Mbox package, and you’ll pretty much be all set.

25

thanks chip! I would PM you except im on the banned over critical list. So that function is disabled!

I think I am narrowing in on Protools M audio edition? does that sound right. I have a pc laptop. I just wanted to get up and running and learn the program before full fledged assault. IE mac g5 tower etc. But my gf does have a imac book. not sure whos is more powerful.

What do you think about the M audio bundled all in one voice recorder, amp, etc?

26

[quote]Kill’Em All wrote:
thanks chip! I would PM you except im on the banned over critical list. So that function is disabled!

I think I am narrowing in on Protools M audio edition? does that sound right. I have a pc laptop. I just wanted to get up and running and learn the program before full fledged assault. IE mac g5 tower etc. But my gf does have a imac book. not sure whos is more powerful.

What do you think about the M audio bundled all in one voice recorder, amp, etc?[/quote]

That’s exactly what the M box is. It’s got one input for an instrument or speaker cable, and one input for a mic cable (it also may have a MIDI input if I’m not mistaken).

Good choice. I’d say steal your gf’s comp though.

27

Yeah, a G5 will eat your Gf’s laptop for a snack, but at least you’ll still have some money in your pocket if you just use hers…

See how it works, if it’s too slow, then think about an upgrade.

28

[quote]Kill’Em All wrote:

what would i need a preamp for?[/quote]

Lots of things. But in your case, a microphone specifically. You need some sort of preamp for a good signal. You also need an AD / DA converter in order to plug your mic into your computer, which is why I suggested MOTU and Presonus.

But there are cheaper options if all you need is one preamp. Presonus and M-Audio make several. Check out zzounds.com. Specifically one of these:

or these:

There are several options in either Firewire or USB in there that have one or two pre’s. If you’d like anymore advice on this, lemme know.

29

i just went to guitar center and they said the pro tools M audio edition requires the previous pro tools interface to work. So ia ssumed that means I need the previous whole system for pro tools?

Some also said the the M box voice pre amps were plastic sounding , and that not to cut corners on voice pre amps.

So at this point im not sure again!

30

I cant find an unbiased review of the differences between Reason, cubase, protools, fruity loops, Sonar, cake, etc.
everyone I speak to either recommends what they have, or has a financial interest.

Again I think Im leaning towards the new reason as I hear it has a strong ability to create beats that aren’t so stock.

31

OK I think ive got it
REASON 3.0, for beats and loops.
a separate program for vocals and guitar, that would be compatible and would be the cheaper version for that like 150$

32

Pursuant to the lack of non-biased reviews of this equipment, I revert back to my original sentiment of “go with what you know.”

In your case (or that of any beginner), I realize that is difficult since you don’t have any real experience with any of it. In this case, I say go with what you can get your hands on for the price you can afford. Assuming you go with any of the items listed in this thread, you should be fine. And it will eventually become “what you know.”

There are big differences between all audio recording hosts. From my experience, none is 100% be-all-end-all or best at EVERYTHING. They all have exclusive features that make them good in their own right. It frustrates me as well; I wish the “big boys” could get together and create one “Uber Application,” but that will most likely never happen.

I’d say if you stick with Cubase / Nuendo / Logic (or any of the big hosts), you should be fine. They are industry-standard and compatible with about anything else out there. And all have a wealth of features.

As far as drum programming, I have seen several others chime in on this already, but I thought I’d add my $.02…

Sure, you can go with Reason for beats. But, as others have stated, most audio hosts have their own VST and / or AU-type drum machines and beat generators built right in. Some of them may be more complicated than Reason, but if you are planning on doing beats in conjunction with any type of audio recording, I’d say you’d probably be better off using some of the generators / tools inside the audio host itself. Once they are learned, they are pretty damn simple. Just another thought to confuse your situation :wink:

33

I’m a huge fan of Reason. You can get some wicked sounds out of that program, but there is a learning curve if you want to use it beyond the basics. You can get a book called Reason 3.0 Power! and it explains everything very well (any of the Power! books are great for learning new software).

I also like DrumCore a lot for beats. It’s a pretty new program but it’s really versatile. I got version 1.0 for free when I was at Berklee, and then since I was one of the first users they gave me 2.0 for free also when it came out.

There are a ton of stock beats played live by pro drummers, and some signature beats, in all different styles and grooves, and at all different tempos (adjustable in increments of 1 bpm). You can also make your own grooves using their kits, or build your own kit. Very solid program, and it works in Rewire mode the same way Reason does, so you can use it with any software. You can choose between audio and MIDI versions of each beat so you have a lot of flexibility with what you can do with it.

I’d personally go with an M-box. If cost is a factor, you can always go with a used one on Ebay, provided the seller has taken care of it.

If you’re used to a PC, there’s no reason to switch to a Mac. I personally prefer a Mac but it’s because I learned Digital Performer in college, and I use the Mac version of ProTools, but I also use a PC. A PC is going to be a more affordable way to go.

I use my Mac for the recording and MIDI stuff and I use a PC for running Reason and Kontakt 2 (I stream the audio back to the Mac over ADAT lightpipe cables). I built it myself, dual-core 3ghz Pentium D, 4 GB RAM, 80gb system drive, 600gb RAID, 19" widescreen flat panel monitor, EMU 1212M PCI audio interface all for about $2000. There’s no way you could beat that with a Mac.

Of course, if I could afford $15,000 for one of the new 8-core MacPros fully loaded, I could run everything on one computer and not worry, ever, about running anything.

34

Well I finally got started,
I decided to wait on the audio programs, mic, and pre amp.

I Bought REASON,and the KORG KONTROL 49 midi controller. I have to say Reason is pretty bad ass. Defenitely a learning curve. BUt im excited to get going.

Im gonna give it a month of study and practice, then im gonna move on to phase two.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ADVICE> it was honestly better than what I recieved at other studio websites.

35

anyone used mackie tracktion 3?

it looks pretty decent for the $?