Your Music and Sound Gear?

[thebiz]

I have been wanting to jump into the music side of things and after some amount of research decided on FL Studio's Fruity Edition 8.0 software for $99. There is a fully functional demo available for download that lacks only the ability to save a project so if your curious this is a pretty good way to check it out. FlStudio.com also has a decent online forum and a lifetime of free upgrades meaning that when FL Studio 9.0 (and 10 and 11 and so on) is released I can get a free upgrade.

Ive been playing with it for about two months now and I am generally pleased with it. It took me about a month (approximately 12 hours) to figure out the workspace, get comfortable with the "instruments" and effects and figure out how to go about arranging a song. After that things got progressively easier and now I am downloading free synths and learning about the creation of sounds via waves, envelopes and filters.

Im not much of a dance music kinda guy, prefering instead ambience and riffy tunes that I might use in my movies. So far this software is doing the trick. However, you have to upgrade to the Producer Edition ($199) to record live into the software (geetar, vocals and whatnot). Something I wish they had mentioned a bit more clearly up front.

[6hm]

my gear consists of:
Hardware
one of those new fangled electric guitars you may have heard about. (actually i own several, but tend to play my latest aquisition)
also i have an Ibanez Gsr100 bass(played it in the store, loved it, bought it)

Line 6 Pod X3 Live: guitar/bass amp sim and effects and mic preamp.

Shure SM57: Voice and anything that needs micing (i used it to record some acoutic guitar recently.. turned out quite nice.. i was surprised... though i guess i shouldnt have been)

Software
i record into Adobe Audition..which usually muffles the signal a bit..but oh well...i mix into Sony Acid Pro 7

I use Midi drums that i create and sequence with toontracks EZ drummer

I dont like making music with loops... so i dont... any synth i add is a midi that i wrote and sequenced in some way ( i use too many things to list)


and mr Biz.... if you need a little guitar or bass riffage let me know i like to pound out a riff or two when i can

[rogerSIMIAN]

The free GarageBand software you get when you buy a Mac is great. I use that for recording and for messing around with loops etc.

I just recently improved my sound by getting a Shure SM58 mic (apparently the world's most popular mic for studio and live work 'cause it's so sturdy and versatile). And I now get the sound into my Mac using a Tascam US-144 audio interface that connects via USB. I can also hook up my MIDI keyboard and I like some of the keyboard sounds on Garageband when you put them through distortion and the Leslie speaker effect etc.

I'm not much of a connoisseur of guitars, but my favourite one is a nice sounding Aria guitar that I got for $100 secondhand in Austin when I was over. It looks like a Les Paul copy and it's black. I also use a beat up old Westone bass that I've had for about 20 years. It still sounds pretty good to me. I've got other gear that I should really use but never get round to hooking up: mandolin, bazouki, a Juno-6 synth, a Roland guitar synth, an MC-303 groovebox and an AKAI MPC1000 (the type of sampler/sequencer type thing that R 'n' B/Hip-Hoppers use).

Have fun with your new setup, TheBiz. Looking forward to hearing some of the results on your movies.

[Jase180]

Mixcraft for music and stuff (mixed all 8 tracks of sound for Sola Fide this way in single tracks so the freaking game wouldnt exsplode and I was rather happy with how it worked), Audacity for Vo's.

Buying Mixcraft also got me a really great batch of other programs in the bundle I use alot.

[EmeraldEdge]

Audio Interface: e-mu 1616m

Microphones: Blue Snowball microphone
Sterling Audio ST55, I have a couple others lying around somewhere, but they aren't nearly as good as these two.

Sequencer: Sonar 7 PE

Sampler: Kontakt2

Keybaord: M-Audio Keystation 88es

Virtual Instruments: East/Wests Qauntum Leap: Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Choirs, Stormdrum, Monsters of Rock, Fab Four, Gypsy, Adrenaline, Hardcore Bass, Ra, Vapor, Cult Sampler.

I think that about sums it up. I'm looking to pick up their Stormdrum2 and voices of passion, maybe. And I am eyeing Yellowtools Candy. I really need some quality sax (I have no saxophone samples at the moment, so I'm really hurtin').

[Dulci]

I have garageband. I might even open it up for the first time today! :53:

And, believe it or not, I do all my voice recording with a headset. I wear a headset at the computer out of habit so my son doesn't hear the sound effects of people dying when I shoot em in computer games, etc.

My goal is to eventually be able to read this thread and not have to google every other word, although actually playing any instruments is completely out of my talent realm.

[sisch]

My setup:

a Rode NT 1 A mic
a Shure Beta 58 A mic
a Studio V3 Tube MP preamp
a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi soundcard

Software:
for recording vo's, Magix Music Cleaning Lab 2008 deluxe or (for aiff recording) Magix Music Maker 2008 Producer Edition

For music:
Magix Music Maker 2008 Producer Edition
Magix Music Studio 2007 deluxe

Samples (at least 8 GB of them) from Magix and eJay

I do all my music with sound loops - I never learned to play an instrument, sadly.

[timothy_richmond_3]

For recording, I just use audacity, although I don't really record VOs very often. For music, I use Cakewalk, but I'm one of composers who put music in note by note, so it might not be for everyone. I recommend Magix Music Maker like everyone else, because it provides loops that are easy to arrange. But each to their own.

[Norrie]

Here's a great link for Dulci, or anyone else using Garageband.
An FAQ that I bookmarked, and is essential!

http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/GBFAQ.html

[Del]

I use Magix Music Studio 12 for just about everything.

I had to leave most of my hardware in England. Had a couple of electric guitars (Ibanez and a Fender) an acoustic guitar, digital piano. And lots of miscellaneous instruments. Uh, harmonica, didgeridoo, accordion and a banjo off the top of my head.

I think I also have Magix Music Maker, but I don't like using loops. I prefer to use a mixture of the piano roll and recording live instruments. Sometimes use samples and a few drum loops. Sadly I never got my hands on any decent recording hardware.

[rogerSIMIAN]

and a banjo off the top of my head.

Ouch! :-)

Wish I could play didgeridoo.

GarageBand link - Cheers, Norrie. I'll be checking that out tomorrow.

[tsunamidog]

Back when I first started using TM I used Dance eJay cuz it had a lotta kewl loops and stuff....

then somewhat recently I aquired Guitar Pro 5...which is cool for making all kinds of music (note by note) its got all kinds of instruments, not just guitar. I like it...you can also different sound packs for it.

[goofparade]

Cool stuff Beanie, I didn' tknow that you dabled in the musical arts. I knew you had a bitchin' singing voice though... SKEET SKEET!

I changed most of my gear recently so.... any excuse to go on and on about it.

The heart of the system is a Mac Pro with 2 quad Harpertown porcessors linked together, so it's an 8 core setup.It runs both windows XP or Mac oS "Leopard". I switch when I want upon re-boot.

To record and arrange my music I use DP 6 (digital performer) by MOTU, along with a host of plug-ins and virtual processors.

I scrapped all of my midi modules save one (roland XV 5080) and replaced the lot with a softsampler called Mach Five 2.
I cannot believe how deep and articulate this system is, basically my whole studio is now on one computer. My library is beyond 80 gigs and I'm learning new stuff every day.

I now have a great microphone at home to record my voice overs.. a great Neumann U-87 that getting old.It still says "made in West germany" on the mic.. heh heh It sounds great.

I use a M-Audio Firewire 410 to interface with my compter to a 12 channel Mackie mixer. I don't need a bigger one, I can automate the mixes at the software level.

That's pretty much it, other than my flute and sax which I occasionally use.

Hope this didn't bore you to tears but you did ask!:tooth:

[sisch]

Well, I understand only half of what you said, GP... :biggrin: - it all sounds mighty professional!
I particularly envy you about the Neumann mic (and I'm sure I would envy you the other stuff, too, if I knew what it all did! :p) - I would love to have one, too, but they're so damn expensive!
The more I sing, the more sad I get that I'm not able to play an instrument - piano would be so great, as keyboards nowadays are so small and easy to connect with the computer... *sigh*
As it is, I just wouldn't know where to stuff in piano lessons....

[EmeraldEdge]

You could try what I do. Sit down at the piano, start out by tryin' to hunt and peck your way (maybe buy a beginners book), and as thing get easier and you can feel where the notes are, start expanding the depth of your play and there you are. I can't read for spit anymore, so I have to play by feel, which I'm not too great at either, but with the magic of computers you can fudge what you can't play. Also software with a piano roll, allowing you to place notes with a mouse is great too.

Cool setup GP.

[goofparade]

Sisch, EE makes a good point. Get a midi keyboard, even if it's just a controller and ... dabble. PLay your own keyboard parts, trigger instruments of all kinds with it. You don't need a "teacher" per se, you can find tutorials online, learning software abounds.

PLus... you're clever and would progress quickly, just as you are doing with your singing. I remember that you wished you could sing a while back too..and look at you now!
Same exact thing with playing an instrument. Give it a shot, I say, you won't regret it.

[seanee]

i use nuendo,3 fl studio 8(for robotic voice)
hardware is a mackie control universal,e-mu controller kbd,sound blaster audigy 2 and mackie monitors

[sgnr76]

I use Sony Acid Pro for my loop based audio, with Propellerhead's Reason as a ReWire slave for rendering MIDI. I run those through an M-Audio Delta 66 w/OMNI I/O and Event TR-6 nearfield monitors.

For VO work, I use a somewhat unorthodox approach. I use the condenser mic from my JVC camcorder and strip the audio track in Sony Vegas Pro. I just like the compression on that cam mic.