Xcaliber
New member
I hope this is the right place to ask this question, if not please let me know and I will move it to another area.
I'm setting up an inexpensive home studio so I can record music at home. I play the guitar and the primary reason I want to record is to create songs with me playing the guitar. I don't have access to a bass guitar or a drum set so I want to be able to record those using software instruments if possible. My specific questions are around whether I would benefit from having either a midi keyboard controller or a midi controller/pad that I could use to control virtual instruments. I'd like to spend less than $100 ($50 or less would be perfect) and quite frankly the information and options out there is staggering. I've read everything I can find and I still can't figure out what would be the best option for me. Here's what I have in the way of software, I'd like anything I purchase from a hardware standpoint to be compatible:
I play mostly rock/metal music so I'd be using the virtual instruments to add bass guitar and drums mostly, but I dabble in playing the blues so it would be nice to add horns or even strings (a current trend in metal/rock music it seems) sometimes.
Here are a few items I've been looking at (sorry I can't post URLs yet):
I welcome other suggestions for gear as well as help figuring out of a controller vs. a keyboard is better for my situation.
Thanks in advance.
I'm setting up an inexpensive home studio so I can record music at home. I play the guitar and the primary reason I want to record is to create songs with me playing the guitar. I don't have access to a bass guitar or a drum set so I want to be able to record those using software instruments if possible. My specific questions are around whether I would benefit from having either a midi keyboard controller or a midi controller/pad that I could use to control virtual instruments. I'd like to spend less than $100 ($50 or less would be perfect) and quite frankly the information and options out there is staggering. I've read everything I can find and I still can't figure out what would be the best option for me. Here's what I have in the way of software, I'd like anything I purchase from a hardware standpoint to be compatible:
- ToonTrack's EZ Drummer and Metal Machine Expansion
- Presonus Studio One Producer (with 2 virtual instrument packs)
- Any free/cheap software synths/instruments I can download
I play mostly rock/metal music so I'd be using the virtual instruments to add bass guitar and drums mostly, but I dabble in playing the blues so it would be nice to add horns or even strings (a current trend in metal/rock music it seems) sometimes.
Here are a few items I've been looking at (sorry I can't post URLs yet):
- Korg nanoKEY2 Slim-line Keyboard Controller
- [Korg nanoPAD2 Slim-Line USB Pad Controller
- M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 Ultra-Portable 32-Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller
I welcome other suggestions for gear as well as help figuring out of a controller vs. a keyboard is better for my situation.
Thanks in advance.