making music!

[gearbody]

hey everyone

i'm pretty new to the game and i just wanted to say hey and ask what everyone's into, like what kind of music you compose/engineer and what you use. if you have any links to music then that'd be awesome too.

this thread is open to everyone and anyone; i want to see who's out there and to get a feel for what's good and what people are into, both music and gear wise.

i'm 23 and from toronto and i'm just starting to produce/compose/mix hip hop, electronic and idm mostly for hobby at the moment and i have a very basic set up at the moment that i'm hoping to expand - midi controller, mbox 2, logic, very generic computer monitors. i know that may be disappointing to most but i gotta start somewhere...

look forward to hearing from all of you!

AL.

[The Marrvel]

Originally Posted by gearbody

midi controller, mbox 2, logic, very generic computer monitors. i know that may be disappointing to most but i gotta start somewhere...

Hey, that's more than I started with. Get a decent dynamic microphone, probably a Shure SM57 and some decent monitors. $300 will get you some Tascam VL-X5's which will serve your needs. Read articles and experment. Don't upgrade until you know your current equipment inside and out, including Logic. This hobby gets really expensive and it's easy to waste a lot of money upgrading thinking it'll make you sound better. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to make good sounding music with the stuff listed above.

Also, don't spend more time on forums than you do on experimenting with your stuff. (I used to have this problem) You'll learn so much more through trial and error and even develop your own tricks here and there. Good luck.

[gearbody]

hey marvel

thanks for your comment. i was beginning to wonder about this growing forum habit of mine, and wondering how to register all of the information provided here.

to be honest, i've read a lot of books and learnt a lot from other people in many different facets of the biz. i'm also really well versed in logic, protools, reason and soundforge, and ok for now with cubase. but so far it's all been hobbying and i think that i want to get a little more serious.

[ShaneFontane]

tweak beats... create a world of music you wish to be surrounded by... you will soon forget your day job and that may be scary... lol

[gearbody]

ya sounds really scary!

are there any musicians out there?

what do you use to produce/compose? softsynths, hardware - mpcs, synths, other samplers

i thought this place was about sharing and bragging!!

[the russian]

I'm really into music production. I do everything from club to trip hop to live instrumentation...

check out:
http://www.myspace.com/alleykat

Some of my earliest attempts at "production", haha.

[Polyphony]

Hey dude,
Welcome to gearslutz. Hope you have a great experience here. I know I have.
Anyway, good luck with the learning process. All of us here have so much to learn.
Lates,
Poly

[gearbody]

thanks poly

russian, is that you rhyming? those songs are pretty ill

what do you use?

[mintyfreshbeats]

sup man,

im into hip-hop

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...m?bandID=77799

check it out and lemme know what you think

FL studio, VSTs, midi controller, heart, soul.

hit me back.

1

[the russian]

Originally Posted by gearbody

thanks poly

russian, is that you rhyming? those songs are pretty ill

what do you use?

I do a little bit of rapping, but just the music on those tracks (live violin, beats, guitar, whatevv). I'm mostly a metalhead, but I love hip hop. Sometimes words raw and from the gut are more powerful than elaborate harmonies. The guy rapping is a dude named alleykat... very down to earth dude. I wrote some of the lyrics on the disc, but none on those songs.

Here's his new project produced by my friend Robin David (I kinda passed the torch off, you know?). It's kind of indie-gorillaz meets Danny Elfman... crazy stuff. He recorded it with a $100 mic into sonar, mixed on computer speakers, hahaha:

http://www.myspace.com/csmart1

Also check out some mixtape stuff I engineered with Dub C:

http://www.myspace.com/maliksroughdrafts

[gearbody]

hey fresh i checked out your beats and your production styles are pretty versatile. i thought you had some hot beats - i especially like the comeback. do you work solo?

russian, your friend is an amazing mixer if he did those mixes with the equipment you mentioned cause the first thing i thought was i can believe how wide and clear the soundfield is, even over my laptop speakers.
and your chops are not so bad either; i really dug those songs.

i'm thinking of starting to record some of my own rhymes too. i come from a rock and metal background as well, but i'm getting much more into hip hop and IDM now; there's so much more creativity happening, both in production and content in my opinion.

does anyone have any suggestions for female emcee condenser + mic pre combos?

[Polyphony]

with out a budget

U67/414/U47 or U89 --->Neve--->LA2--->tape

With budget
4060 tube mic--->Chandler--->DBX160VU--->tape

edit: when I say 414 I'm talking about the real one with the c12 capsule in it....not the ones you buy at the store nowadays...

[the russian]

Originally Posted by gearbody

hey fresh i checked out your beats and your production styles are pretty versatile. i thought you had some hot beats - i especially like the comeback. do you work solo?

Thanks, gear, I'm glad you liked it. I work with whoever I can, but it's hard to find other producers who aren't complete jerk offs. There's a guy on this forum called t.dizzle who kind off taught me what was up. He worked at my studio for a while... probably the best ears on this entire forum, no lie. Hahaha, he's a modest one, too! WATCH OUT! He still has a lot to teach me, I still have a lot to learn. I would be happy with a tenth of the skill (and the clients) that guy has.

Originally Posted by gearbody

russian, your friend is an amazing mixer if he did those mixes with the equipment you mentioned cause the first thing i thought was i can believe how wide and clear the soundfield is, even over my laptop speakers.
and your chops are not so bad either; i really dug those songs.

Yeah, he's not bad at all. He made all of the beats with reason... no loops. A lot of the crazy sounds are just tweeked out guitars. We both spent a lot of time getting high and making music, haha. Before he had his computer speakers, he was monitoring out of a guitar amp, poor guy! We did a week of preproduction at my studio. We rehearsed, messed around with sounds, and I cut the female vox. So when he got to the actual tracking stage, he already knew what was up. I'm pretty sure he just made cd-r after cd-r, listening to them in the car until they sounded decent. Cause there's really no way to make a mix sound that sweet on computer speakers. I think being able to read the frequency meteers helped a little bit, too.

Originally Posted by gearbody

i'm thinking of starting to record some of my own rhymes too. i come from a rock and metal background as well, but i'm getting much more into hip hop and IDM now; there's so much more creativity happening, both in production and content in my opinion.

We live in the cut and paste generation, man. Don't be held back by anyhting. EXPERIMENT. I have to churn out 100 bad beats for every 10 decent ones. Eventually, I hope to get to the point where it comes naturally... but for now, it's all guess work for me. Being into metal might help you develop your own unique style... don't deny your roots!

Originally Posted by gearbody

does anyone have any suggestions for female emcee condenser + mic pre combos?

As far as mics and pres go... the sky is the limit. I'm all about the neve knock-offs... Vintech, Chandler, etc. When I was starting out I was using the on-board pres on the D8B. The pres were the weakest part of that board, so I got an Avalon 737. The Avalon was a good "newbie" pre, a nice introduction to the pro stuff. It has good EQ and soft compression. To me the D8B is the most powerful mixer other than an SSL for hip hop (Bring it). It's all about how much cash you're willing to part with.

Just get out a guitar, hook it up to a POD, and jam out some licks. Sometimes I'll loop them, sometimes I'll take the loops and chop them up into single notes (and use a 4x4 drum pad to trigger them).

Another thing I do is use drum triggers. I'm what you might call a "lap-drummer". I'm always tapping on the table with my fingers. One day I got the wise idea to go out and buy some cheap pintech drum triggers. I tape them to my desk and feed them into either a drum brain or PT's Sound Replacer: BAM! Instant drumkit.

[gearbody]

Originally Posted by the russian

Thanks, gear, I'm glad you liked it. I work with whoever I can, but it's hard to find other producers who aren't complete jerk offs. There's a guy on this forum called t.dizzle who kind off taught me what was up. He worked at my studio for a while... probably the best ears on this entire forum, no lie. Hahaha, he's a modest one, too! WATCH OUT! He still has a lot to teach me, I still have a lot to learn. I would be happy with a tenth of the skill (and the clients) that guy has.

where do you work out of? i'm toronto based, and i'm sort of assessing what my options as far as working in this city are.

Originally Posted by the russian

Yeah, he's not bad at all. He made all of the beats with reason... no loops. A lot of the crazy sounds are just tweeked out guitars. We both spent a lot of time getting high and making music, haha.

i'm really into reason (lol as well as getting high and making music) but what do you do with your reason beats? do you rewire cause i'm not really convinced that i like cubase and i don't know how to get around that.

Originally Posted by the russian

I'm pretty sure he just made cd-r after cd-r, listening to them in the car until they sounded decent. Cause there's really no way to make a mix sound that sweet on computer speakers. I think being able to read the frequency meteers helped a little bit, too.

do you mean you used a frequency analyzer plug-in to see where the boosts and dips were? man, that seems pretty counter-intuitive. i totally would not be able to trust what i see verus what i would hear. but the car is definitely the place to test mixes. do people even listen to music anywhere else anymore?!

Originally Posted by the russian

We live in the cut and paste generation, man. Don't be held back by anyhting. EXPERIMENT. I have to churn out 100 bad beats for every 10 decent ones. Eventually, I hope to get to the point where it comes naturally... but for now, it's all guess work for me. Being into metal might help you develop your own unique style... don't deny your roots!

ya, i've been doing a lot of mash-ups using sony soundforge recently and i've just been playing with different genre combinations. seriously, the possibilities are endless. music can be so amazing.. i don't really understand a lot of people. i just watched this video on google of this industry guy talking about this stuff and i'm glad to hear that there are people out there in tune with the real world, and not the fake corporate garbage they try to feed us. here's the vid if you wanna check it out:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...music+industry

Originally Posted by the russian

To me the D8B is the most powerful mixer other than an SSL for hip hop (Bring it). It's all about how much cash you're willing to part with.

to be honest, i think i'm gonna just mix itb and get a good summing amp instead. i don't really need to spend money on a mixer right now, and i keep hearing bad things about mackie. and probably NOT ssl cash...

Originally Posted by the russian

Another thing I do is use drum triggers. I'm what you might call a "lap-drummer". I'm always tapping on the table with my fingers. One day I got the wise idea to go out and buy some cheap pintech drum triggers. I tape them to my desk and feed them into either a drum brain or PT's Sound Replacer: BAM! Instant drumkit.

i keep eyeing the mpc60s and sp1200 on ebay just cause they're classics, but does it really matter if i can get the samples elsewhere?

[DirtyMan]

mpc60 sp1200 reason .. all of it looks and sounds different .. and has a different feel wich can impact creativity .. theres alot of Shi* going on in toronto ..and alot of bull .. that being said .. i love being in toronto ..

[the russian]

Very cool video link, gear.

When I use reason I use midi drum pads, not the mouse. There's something about using a mouse that kills the creative flow. I've made cool beats like that, sure... but nothing unique. I record the midi track onto Pro Tools rather than Reason because Pro Tools has Groove Templates (like mpc quantize 51%, logic-style quantizes, etc). Once I'm happy with the drum beat, I rewire to Pro Tools dumping each drum onto its own track. From Pro Tools I usually run my drums through the Empirical Labs Distressor with the 3rd harmonic tape distortion setting to beef them up and give 'em some major mojo. Lots of live instruments, man, that's my game. With reason you really don't need an MPC, seeing as how it can trigger .WAV files. I would look at the Roland MV-8000 if anything. Very cool beat machine, I'll be picking one up very soon. The MV-8000 reads all kinds of file formats, too, so you can use MPC/acid/WAV, whatever.

And my locale: I'm in So Cal.

Both very cool spots.

[the russian]

[QUOTE=DirtyMan;971778] .. theres alot of Shi* going on in toronto ..and alot of bull .. QUOTE]

Same down here... more of the latter, actually.

[DirtyMan]

ssweet i feel a bit better knowin you got the same crap

[gearbody]

thanks for the words russian. reason is definitely where it is and i'm looking at the roland right now and it looks good but 2k is a little steep for little ol me.

man, so cal is definitely somewhere i wouldn't mind being right now. year round sunshine is the only way to live..

[adrianex]

Hey GB, welcome to Gearslutz...

I use most of the time on PT and Reason. Even thou I work at an Aundiovisual company doing music, recording and mixing. We do a fair amount of Music related (Hip-hop and rock) work.

you are welcome to check my site (you have to signup to check my catalog) or myspace to hear some of my stuff.

I agree with alot of people here, get some monitors.

Once again, welcome

[t.dizzle]

Thanks for tha props Ruskie.

Gearbody - get some monitors. Anything.

[gearbody]

lol they're coming. i just ordered some A7s..

[DirtyMan]

GB did you order them from moog

[the russian]

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

Thanks for tha props Ruskie.

Gearbody - get some monitors. Anything.

Save me a drumstick or else.

[gearbody]

Originally Posted by DirtyMan

GB did you order them from moog

no, why -- should i have?

[DirtyMan]

Originally Posted by gearbody

no, why -- should i have?

i was in moog a few days ago and there was a guy vhecking them out .. mind you t hey have them in stock so you wouldnt have to order them

[mintyfreshbeats]

Originally Posted by gearbody

hey fresh i checked out your beats and your production styles are pretty versatile. i thought you had some hot beats - i especially like the comeback. do you work solo?

sup man good look on checkin out the beats...yeah i work alone.

[BOCATRON]

Gearbody,

Welcome to gearslutz. As you can see I am pretty new here as well. Pretty new to producing also. You have more than I do starting out. I have a Roland SP404 and a Korg MicroKontrol. Still deciding on what kind of software to get. I also plan on getting a MPC 1000. I've always loved music and about a year or 2 ago wanted to pursue it as a hobby. Now I want to pursue it even more.