producing tunes...but which software?!

[sebirepsax]

Hello

say i wanted to try and produce my own tunes, what program should i use? preferably freeware...but just tell me what you consider best for a beginner.

Thanks

s

[shudder]

if you're after freeware your best bet is a tracker. jon (the carp dreamer) knows more about trackers than me, because i think they're "teh shitecore".

free software i would recommend you czech out:

rebirth - since propellerheads stopped producing it they've made it a free iso download, go here: www.rebirthmuseum.com

you can also get various bits of free music production software from www.hitsquad.com/smm/.

..and that's about it.

if you don't mind investing in some software i would recommend you get:

reason v3
acid (any version will do. i use acid pro 1, the recent versions by sony have video editing tools and other useless things like that. you can download acid xpress which is free and limited to a few channels, but it'll give you an idea of what to expect from it)
fl studio 5
soundforge

any questions?

[Emmet]

Reason is a great studoi all in one package for the first timer.

Acid Xpress..yup, yup yup for messing around with yer audio.

I live by the bible that is Cubase, have a look at Cubase SE for the most cut down version.

People swear by different software packages; Cubase, Reason, Logic, DP etc..everyone has their own preference and to be honest in this day and age theres nothing pretty much wrong with any of them.

Have fun.

[shudder]

agreed. no one can really tell you what software to use, you just have to try and combine everything until you're happy with what works best for you.

trackers are shit though.

[Leon]

About Acid. I have Acid Pro 4.0. I use Reason to make my tracks, but would like to do the build up and stuff in Acid Pro. But when I Save loops in Reason, they (of course) get cut off at the end of the loop. Is there some other way to do it, like I can connect Reason to Acid in some sort of way?
Thanks

[shudder]

you can set the looping parameters in the bottom right of reason. the default should be set to 9.

[Renze]

Cos no one has said it yet: Ableton Live is also a great producing tool. It's not free, but at least you can try the demo from www.ableton.com and see if you like it. It supports VST instruments and effects and tons of free VSTs can be found at www.kvraudio.com

[thee carp dreamer]

i make all my wav files in wordpad

[thee carp dreamer]

ok, i use an awesome program called jeskola buzz. www.buzzmachines.com
it's a tracker. a lot of people are shit-scared of trackers cos they require something called knowledge (ain't that right, ben? p.s. i may be in bedford for your gig, but then again i may not. haven't decided yet.)

trackers go down the page, whereas sequencers and other such programs go across the page.

you program the synths and drum machines using 1s and 0s. also you can add loops and samples that don't come from machines using samplers and loopers.

you connect them up to effects, which you also program using 1s and 0s.
good things to do with effects: compress the fuck out of the drums, delay the shit out of the synths, eq the bass so it sounds like jah wobble doing a fart, and compress royally any 303s you might have gurgling around in the mix.

you then connect them up to the master, and record into acid pro 5.0, where you will then edit out your fuck-ups and add any additional shizzle.

then you eq it properly and master it using hardware/software/whatever.

it's taken me roughly 5 years of hardcore experimentation to work out how to use trackers properly, but they're much better for producing live by entering lines of code while you're playing and fucking around with the effects.

[Future Proof]

I'd recommend d/l'ing Reason's demo. Unfortunately you're going to have to make some kind of monetary investment to find out if this is something you'll want to really dive into, but Reason's demo should at least give you a secure feeling on buying the program.

And why Reason? It has everything you'll need in it -- synthesizers, samplers, loop devices, drum machines, effects, and the ability to sequence out your music and export it. I've been making the next step out of it but the next step is a $200 drum sampler (Battery 2), a $700 sequencing program (Cubase SX 3.0) and Reaktor 5, which runs at about $350. But then again, that's pretty much a drop in the bucket compared to what I've already spent...

Good luck, let us know if you have more questions.