What do I use to make music? - General

So my dad has this electric keyboard that has hundreds of different instruments on it, but I have no experience playing the piano. I've been able to produce good music by banging on the keyboard(Not pressing random keys, it's hard to explain but I have been playing music(nothing like the piano though) for 5 years so I know some basic stuff and how to get a certain tune out and such) but I'd like something more concrete. Is there some software solution or something I could use to make music?

[list][*]FL Studio [*]Cubase [*]Reason [*]Ableton Live [*]Pro Tools [*]Logic[/list] They're all ~equally powerful. See which one suits your preferences the best. Or just pick one at random.

It depends on what you want to do. If you're interested in writing electronic music, any of these... [QUOTE=Rad McCool;29556958][list][*]FL Studio [*]Cubase [*]Reason [*]Ableton Live [*]Pro Tools [*]Logic[/list] They're all ~equally powerful. See which one suits your preferences the best. Or just pick one at random.[/QUOTE] ...would work well. If you want to write for orchestra and the like, pick up either Finale or Sibelius. Sibelius is a bit easier to use, but Finale is the more powerful of the two.

Thanks. I'm more interested in writing electronic music, so I'll use those ones. Is GarageBand any good or not? Because it came with my mac.

[QUOTE=neos300;29558298]Thanks. I'm more interested in writing electronic music, so I'll use those ones. Is GarageBand any good or not? Because it came with my mac.[/QUOTE] From what I know garageband is more focussed towards recording instruments. Seeing as you have a mac logic might be a good choice for you, it's very powerful and industry standard (I personally prefer FL studio, though).

Pretty much just pick a DAW and dive in. You're not going to know enough about what you're doing and the way you want to work to know which DAW is best for you when you're just getting started so it's vastly more important to just pick something and make some noise.

I recommend starting with FL studio personally. It is WAY easier for beginners, quite cost effective, and you can switch to something better later.

If you got a powerful enough mac, i'd get Logic 8, its quite easy to get to grips with and a good all rounder, the synths are a bit iffy though so when you've learned the ins and outs you can rewire in reasons synths which are a little better, or just use a good vst plugin

If you don't feel like investing in Logic then GarageBand is fine too.

Is LMMS any good for electronc/drum and bass/dubstep? It says its basically a free/open source alternative to fruity loops

[QUOTE=Richy19;29571509]Is LMMS any good for electronc/drum and bass/dubstep? It says its basically a free/open source alternative to fruity loops[/QUOTE] LMMS is great. I've made several songs in it. My friend made an awesome cover of a song using it [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XG3h6Z9np8[/media]

LMMS is pretty good for a freeware alternative. You don't get much good freeware stuff. I would really reccomend FL Studio though. Having used (or tried to use) in one way or another pretty much ever DAW reccomended in this thread, it's by far the easiest to pick up. I also found logic and garageband INCREDIBLY clunky and hard to use. It may be because I'm not used to macs, but programming midi on them was easily one of the most tedious things I have ever done. But yeah, no DAW is better than the other, it's really all about the extra shit you get for it. Be sure to pick up Deep Blue Glitch too, free vst effect which has some awesome stuff.

I haven't come across anything I can't do in FL studio yet. What's most important is your VST's, but when you're just getting started the default VST's will serve you well.

[QUOTE=Feralicous;29572111]Be sure to pick up Deep Blue Glitch too, free vst effect which has some awesome stuff.[/QUOTE] Please don't recommend this to people who are new to producing haha, that's how we end up with all the overuse of the default glitch settings that you can hear from a mile away. :P

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;29574196]Please don't recommend this to people who are new to producing haha, that's how we end up with all the overuse of the default glitch settings that you can hear from a mile away. :P[/QUOTE] It's a such a great tool for beginners though, besides, how many beginners don't use presets? They're easily tweaked anyway.

People just randomly use it in place of actually making interesting changeups in their songs though which isn't a good thing lol

Yeah, I guess you're right.

FL Studio is really good and I plan on spending the $109 for the upgrade to the Producer Edition. It's very simple to use, although the new clip form of the playlist is a bit clunky in FL10, so I'd recommend that as I've used it for 4 years now.

Fl Studio is a good starting point for beginner electronic musicians. Ableton Live is infinitely more complicated.

[QUOTE=FFStudios;29577717]FL Studio is really good and I plan on spending the $109 for the upgrade to the Producer Edition. It's very simple to use, although the new clip form of the playlist is a bit clunky in FL10, so I'd recommend that as I've used it for 4 years now.[/QUOTE] It may be clunky, but it's infinitely better than the block method, which Image-Line has said they may rule out all together in the later versions.

At the moment I'm not serious enough about music making to buy FL studio, so I'm going to use LMMS for now. Is this a good idea yes/no?

[QUOTE=neos300;29580053]At the moment I'm not serious enough about music making to buy FL studio, so I'm going to use LMMS for now. Is this a good idea yes/no?[/QUOTE] Yep.

[QUOTE=Feralicous;29579198]...the block method, which Image-Line has said they may rule out all together in the later versions.[/QUOTE] Holy shit I'm getting wet...! :O [editline]3rd May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=neos300;29580053]I'm not serious enough about music making to [B]buy[/B] FL studio[/QUOTE] lol

[QUOTE=Rad McCool;29580458]Holy shit I'm getting wet...! :O [editline]3rd May 2011[/editline] lol[/QUOTE] They need to make money in order to keep making FL studio and feeding their family. They aren't a huge or dick company like Ubisoft or something.

lol k

[QUOTE=Rad McCool;29580458]Holy shit I'm getting wet...! :O [editline]3rd May 2011[/editline] lol[/QUOTE] Some people actually can afford to buy the software that they use regularly ;)

Lifetime free updates for a one off fee. That's all the incentive I need. Praise Image-Line!

Fl studio has pretty cool way of arranging songs, imo. It's the most fun software i've encountered. And it's great when you don't have a midi-keyboard, the piano roll is really easy. For audio recording, for genres like, rock, metal and stuff like that, cubase and logic are pretty good.

i for one started with wavepad, then moved over to adobe audition when i got the money. audition really is useful for mastering and layering, but it's a bit finicky. give the trial a try if you get the chance

Lets say i want to distort some interviews I took today so it sounds like they sing along the tune of Want You Gone? Is that possible? If yes, how hard is it to pull off without it sounding (too) shit?