fruity loops

Fruity Loops is not a good music program. You are so limited it's rediculous. I wouldn't use it, nor would I even think about putting that worthless piece of junk on my computer.

But anyway. If you know anything about measures (there are 4 counts in a measure, every 4 counts is 1 measure) I would start a song at about 8 measures. 4 measure is way to short for a first song. After you understand what you're doing and get used to it and all, move to 16 measures ... then 32. You get more done with more measures, of course.

But really, fruity loops limits you like crazy ... and I'm talking about the full version, not the demo or whatever. If you're really into it, you need to know WHAT you want to do. Rock, rap, techno ... (country, yuck). If you're into rock, REALLY don't use fruity loops. Get a guitar, bass, drums or pick up a mic. You get the idea.

You're from OK and you don't like country???!!! Doesn't that classify you as a traitor? I think that's illegal in your state to dislike country music....I'm going to call the governor and he'll personally throw you out.

So 02 you still didnt answer his ultimate question.... what software would you use?

Turntables.

Oooh. What program? Well, simple ... NONE. Screw using your computer to make beats, much less compose music. Get a studio kid. It'll cost ya, but it's worth it, trust me.

You want to make techno beats, but techno isn't just about beats. It's about synth, bass, sampled voices, breaks, and a nice flow. You will get bored with just beats man, trust me.

Just cause I'm curious, what kind of techno are you trying to make? Please ... don't tell me house, cause then it will be pointless to make beats since house beats are all pretty much exactly the same.

Anyway, studio equipment.

First you'll need a drum machine. You really don't need this because most synthesizers come with a good drum selection. This will run about $400 dollars if you want a decent drum machine. Remember though, you don't have to have one.

Second, you'll need a synthesizer. I'm sure you know what synths are. I would go with a KORG Pro 88 Key which will run you $3399 bucks. Yeah, it's pretty pricey. We use a Roland JX-305 which cost us $4200, and well worth it. Too bad they don't sell them anymore.

Now, you need a sampler. With this, you can sample voices and sounds that a synthesizer cannot make. This is an important piece of equipment. With this, you can track out all your sounds and beats from the synthesizer and give everything effects, cleaner sound, and most important, you can create breaks and organize your track much better than you could on a keyboard or drum machine.

We have a AKAI MPC 4000, which is AWESOME. This high performance Intel CPU provides 24-bit audio and 96kHz sampling with 64 voices and 16MB onboard memory (which is upgradable to 512MB). You can master your songs SO good with this, then you can burn them to CD. It also has a zip-drive so you can put different songs on different disks. This cost us $3,799. I would have paid six thousand for it if I had to. I love this machine.

You need speakers, of course. And not any old crap sit around the house speakers either. And definately NOT computer speakers. You need some good, nice, quality, bass kicking speakers. Get some Truth Monitors, which will run $399 for a pair. It has electromagnetic shielding and a neutral sound with an ultra-linear frequency response from 50kHz-20kHz. They are ideal for modern the modern studio environment. Or, you could get some Fostex PM-1 Studio Monitors, which will run about $349, and they are just as good, but more emphasis on bass.

Oh, and a sequencer is nice too. You can hook the sequencer up to the sampler and use it as a controller, which makes things MUCH easier. It's not necessary though.

You'll need turntables though. Doesn't matter what you get, as long as they are Technics. They never fail.

This all runs up to about ... $8,000. This is cheap for a simple and very good studio.

:D

Lol.... I was an audio and mastering engineer before I got into grafix and moved to BC. The main system we used was the Radar24, we had a 2" Mitsubishi, and a 1/2" Otari machine - 1/2" Ampex mastering deck - Dats - Lots of outboard gear. From Manley to Urei to API. Mics like Neumann, AKG, Schoeps, etc. But we never worked in the remix field. Just the bands come in record - master ,etc.... I liked mastering when the artists were decent. One techno group we mastered was Beatseed. Out of Seattle. I dont know anything about software though =\. We never used it for anything but editing or a quick fix when someone wasnt looking hehe. I agree with you though. I have messed with those pro tools plugins, like the L2 waves Limiter, or the 1176 Limiter- and when you work with the real thing there is no difference. But for the money you cant beat a digital studio - kind of kills the studios that are decent. There are a gazillion studios out there with Adats and ProTools only that have a like 15-20$ an hour and when they compare to a decent studio that is running 50$+ an hour they go for the cheaper one. But I have had to fix so many recordings from these half ass studios. With the exception of somone that had a good ear and could make a few half decent mic's and ProTools sound brilliant. But those are few.

edit* One other thing that makes mixes shine are real reverb rooms. It doesnt take much. An empty room (it could be your garage). We got the hint from a producer who worked with Bob Clearmountain and was doing some work with us. Sure enough he was right. We bought a cheap Behringer copy of the Genelecs, set up in a dry walled shed, a pair of akg small condensors and you send a aux feed to the speaker, return it from the mics and you got reverb that sounds 100x's better than those digital ones, though only for subtle reverb. It sounded bad when adding too much. But I thought it was worth mentioning because not many studios have chambers, or know about them. - and putting that behind vocals made them sound like a million bucks. all for a few hundred $.

he is 14 i would be surprised if he even had a legit copy of fruity loops let alone spending $8000 on a studio lol

oh ... he's 14? Hm ... dunno then. Guess you're stuck with fruity loops and I don't use it so I can't help.

yes im sorry im only 14....wish i werent becuase i get a lot of people saying **** about me being immature or something like that when tehy are a million miles away on their computer and dont know the first thing about me....yoru right i dont have a legit version of fruity loops....or flash.....or photoshop....or 3ds max....or...what other big programs do i use? i cant remember....the point is im just trying to learn because i hope to find myself in a career in a field like web design or video game design...but right now i have no money cause no one will hire me...age means jack...anyways....if you have a program you would like to suggest i will attempt to rip it...whether you find that morally right or not i dont care....its my only option if i want to learn at this age with industry current material....so there you have it...suggest away....say what you want

/me slaps Spectra with a bamboo stick