Hello
I purchased full version of Cubase Artist recently and I am about to get into home recording/making my own music. I will first introduce myself and then ask you some questions.
Who am I: I am a 22 years old student from Czech Republic. I study medicine at the university and also composition on jazz music conservatory (yes I am such a nerd that I study two schools at once). I started taking music seriously when i was approximately 14 years old, when I started playing piano (I played piano since I was 6 years old, but I was practicaly expelled from the lessons, because I totaly hated it ). Now I am about to quit the jazz conservatory, because I feel that I will advance more by trying to make my own music that represents me rather than studying and doing all the assignments etc. and also the medicine school consumes a lot of time and along with the conservatory I have a very small amount of free time for myself.
What is my goal: To make listenable home demos I can post on the internet for criticism and show to other musicians to make them want to play with me live . I listened to a really a lot of genres during my life like metal, hiphop, jazz, ethno music, RNB etc. so I want to make some fusion of all these genres but first of all I would like to learn how to make some jazz-influenced beats as an accompaniment to rap (since I really love to write lyrics and it wouldnt need real instruments).
What is not my goal: I dont really need to record any live intruments (in the future I woul like to record vocals maybe), I also dont want to use any loops (maybe only some drum patterns) or premade material because I feel that I really should use all the stuff I learned during the 4 years of studying the composition at the conservatory . My primary focus is to learn how to work with MIDI and virtual instruments and Cubase
What are my capabilities: I play piano and keyboard quite well, I know all the "obsolete" music theory stuff I learned at school like classical harmony, jazz harmony, basics of counterpoint, music theory etc., I can write lyrics
What are my weaknesses: I am not very proficient at all the technical stuff like working with computer, sound engineering etc.
What gear I currently have: HP Pro Book from year 2013 - not a bad computer but also nothing special, Yamaha Motif XS8 synth, Yamaha MOX, some Shure dynamic microphones,good headphones, Cubase Artist 8
What i want to know from you (maybe if the answers would be too complex i will split it into another threads)
1) What are the basic programs and tools you need for making music on a computer. Some drum engine? virtual instruments? effects? another plug-ins? which hardware?
2) Can you recommend me some sites/books/another threads here, where I can find essential info for a beginner "music producer"(or how can I call it). Where should I gather information. I prefer some systematic structuralized sources, but also writen "for dummies"
3) Can you recommend me some useful free/open-source/very cheap plugins and virtual instruments? I can earn some money only during holidays and my income is limited on what my parents give me. They support me a lot in my music progress but I just dont want to ask them for expensive stuff, since they already gave me a lot in allowing me to study music and buying me my first instruments etc...and I also need to work with some basic tools to learn what I really need and what I do not need
4)If you have to give me 1 advice (or few ones) to keep in mind when trying to make music on computer, what would they be?
Thank you for reading, I hope i get some cool useful responses
I purchased full version of Cubase Artist recently and I am about to get into home recording/making my own music. I will first introduce myself and then ask you some questions.
Who am I: I am a 22 years old student from Czech Republic. I study medicine at the university and also composition on jazz music conservatory (yes I am such a nerd that I study two schools at once). I started taking music seriously when i was approximately 14 years old, when I started playing piano (I played piano since I was 6 years old, but I was practicaly expelled from the lessons, because I totaly hated it ). Now I am about to quit the jazz conservatory, because I feel that I will advance more by trying to make my own music that represents me rather than studying and doing all the assignments etc. and also the medicine school consumes a lot of time and along with the conservatory I have a very small amount of free time for myself.
What is my goal: To make listenable home demos I can post on the internet for criticism and show to other musicians to make them want to play with me live . I listened to a really a lot of genres during my life like metal, hiphop, jazz, ethno music, RNB etc. so I want to make some fusion of all these genres but first of all I would like to learn how to make some jazz-influenced beats as an accompaniment to rap (since I really love to write lyrics and it wouldnt need real instruments).
What is not my goal: I dont really need to record any live intruments (in the future I woul like to record vocals maybe), I also dont want to use any loops (maybe only some drum patterns) or premade material because I feel that I really should use all the stuff I learned during the 4 years of studying the composition at the conservatory . My primary focus is to learn how to work with MIDI and virtual instruments and Cubase
What are my capabilities: I play piano and keyboard quite well, I know all the "obsolete" music theory stuff I learned at school like classical harmony, jazz harmony, basics of counterpoint, music theory etc., I can write lyrics
What are my weaknesses: I am not very proficient at all the technical stuff like working with computer, sound engineering etc.
What gear I currently have: HP Pro Book from year 2013 - not a bad computer but also nothing special, Yamaha Motif XS8 synth, Yamaha MOX, some Shure dynamic microphones,good headphones, Cubase Artist 8
What i want to know from you (maybe if the answers would be too complex i will split it into another threads)
1) What are the basic programs and tools you need for making music on a computer. Some drum engine? virtual instruments? effects? another plug-ins? which hardware?
2) Can you recommend me some sites/books/another threads here, where I can find essential info for a beginner "music producer"(or how can I call it). Where should I gather information. I prefer some systematic structuralized sources, but also writen "for dummies"
3) Can you recommend me some useful free/open-source/very cheap plugins and virtual instruments? I can earn some money only during holidays and my income is limited on what my parents give me. They support me a lot in my music progress but I just dont want to ask them for expensive stuff, since they already gave me a lot in allowing me to study music and buying me my first instruments etc...and I also need to work with some basic tools to learn what I really need and what I do not need
4)If you have to give me 1 advice (or few ones) to keep in mind when trying to make music on computer, what would they be?
Thank you for reading, I hope i get some cool useful responses