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It
sucks to be a newbie—but there
are a lot of ways to play it smart
and get the most music value for
your money using computer technology,
without wasting your time and money. |
Everyone
was a newbie at one point and didn't
have much past the first clue for how
to make music, what gear you needed,
or even who to ask. Unfortunately, the
consequence of being a newbie is that
most never graduate past this level
and usually end up wasting a lot of
time and money, and usually give up
on music before they ever start.
Well,
don't despair because there are a lot
of smart options out there these days
due to the proliferation of good, cheap
technology and "junk" technology
that can be had for a pittance.
Until
recently the idea of having a music
set up without purchasing synths was
akin to travesty, or impossible. However,
with today's software synthesizers reaching
a mature, professional stage of quality,
it seems foolish to ignore the sheer
power made available to the novice players.
I
also suggest picking up everything you
can, even software, on the used market
as much as possible. You will save a
lot of money this way, but be careful
and make sure that you get all of the
documentation, copy protection—such
as dongles, and transfer the ownership
(if possible), so that you can upgrade
the product easily.
I'm
not saying that my advice
is the only way—but I think it
presents a good gameplan for new players.
The
first thing that should be on your shopping
list is a computer; nowadays, it doesn't
really matter if you choose the Apple
Macintosh or the PC (see Indicator's
Article
on PC's versus Mac's) as a platform—just
get a computer first. On either platform
just make sure that the computer is
optimized for music recording and sequencing
and you'll be fine.
Your
computer is the heart of your
new music setup.
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After
you have the computer and other hardware,
such as a professional soundcard, you
will want to get a decent MIDI controller.
I have no real recommendations, but
Midiman makes some good models
like the Oxygen8 that offer "real
time" MIDI controllers that allow
you to make adjustments to a synth voice's
parameters (and save them) in real time.
Some players, like myself, usually use
another synthesizer as a master controller
for their setup to save space and money;
however, at this point you will want
to buy a dedicated controller because
it is inexpensive... we'll get to the
synths in a moment.
Now
that you have your basic hardware you
will want to choose your recording and
sequencing software. There are many
options available these days although
Cubase VST, Emagic Logic, Mark of the
Unicorn's Digital Performer, and Cakewalk
are the most popular and supported formats
for home recording.
At
this point I'd make the recommendation
to avoid a few different software products
because of their limitations for audio
recording or lack of "professional"
character. First among these is Rebirth;
Rebirth is best viewed as a plugin instrument
and NOT a standalone music production
suite. Second, although powerful, is
Propellerhead's Reason—once again,
Reason is powerful but lacks the ability
to record audio into tracks; you WILL
need something other than Reason to
record vocals, guitars and so on. Thus,
other than basic sounds, these programs
are useless as a primary platform in
a DAW (digital audio workstation) environment.
For
software I recommend checking out the
Native
Instruments line, which features
a drum module (Battery), a sampler (Kontact),
numerous synthesizer plugins (Prophet-52,
Absynth), a Hammond B3 and organ emulator
(B4), a FM synthesizer (FM-7), and more.
Their line sounds great, is user friendly
and produces professional results. Another
good manufacturer is Waldorf,
whose drum module (Attack) sound great;
Waldorf also has the impressive synth
plugin based on the PPG Wave that is
an awesome source of digital/analog
hybrid tones. Both Steinberg and Emagic
also make a nice line of plugins, although
Emagic's are only available for Logic
Audio. Possibly the king of all software
synths is the RGC Audio Pentagon,
which rivals hardware synths for quality
of sound and performance; unfortunately,
the Pentagon only runs in the PC Windows
environment.
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Native
Instruments BATTERY is one of
the most powerful drum sound modules
I've ever encountered... and it
is affordable!
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Don't
feel bad about using software based
synths for your music if that is all
you can afford—the most recent
VNV Nation album Future Perfect
was recorded using the Emagic EXS24,
ES-1, Native Instruments Pro-52, Battery,
the Waldorf Attack in addition to their
normal hardware virtual analog instruments.
Overall, the sound of the album is crisp
and clear (perhaps too bright
actually) and very professional sounding.
For
instruments all you really need is the
ability to use percussion sounds and
synth sounds. You could get away with
only using a sampler and a synth plugin,
using the sampler for all your percussion
sounds. Or, you could pick up dedicated
percussion software as well.
The
great advantage is that the most expensive
programs cost about 300 dollars, which
is a fraction of the cost of a good
hardware synthesizer.
Although
still unknown, the RGC Audio PENTAGON
software synth is one of the most
powerful synths ever created for
the Windows environment.
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Now
that you have your basic hardware and
software setup you can begin to make
music. No expensive audio converters,
no expensive MIDI thru boxes, no cords,
no patchbays, no 2000 dollar TC Electronic
effects boxes. Once you reach this point
you can begin easily expanding your
existing studio with more traditional
instruments easily. With this system
you can immediately begin to write songs
as you wait to acquire more equipment
that will enable you to record.
As
a novice synthesist or song writer it
can be very frustrating to attempt to
bear the expense of creating a recording
studio in your home. I know this firsthand:
it took me three YEARS to collect my
current setup which has just now become
operational! However, by taking advantage
of building a computer and software
environment first, a novice can
easily expand their basic system and
make music in the meantime.
A great advantage that you should exploit
at every opportunity.
In
the next article I will provide tips
on how to formulate a long term plan
for devising your studio, as well as
deciding what you really need versus
what you don't really need.
Until
then.
James Meeker
