Advice for a beginner

Z

Zoroo

New member
Hi! I need some advice to build a set up. I’ve been a musician for a while, but now I’m becoming interested in electronic/techno music and production and I want to build an amateur home studio but I’m not sure which direction to take first. I’m on a low budget. The economy is going down and I’m unemployed so I don’t want to spend tons of money in something that https://showbox.bio/ https://tutuapp.uno/ https://vidmate.cool/ might or might not work. Also I hope to achieve decent quality demos to promote myself as an artist and luckily make some money by composing.

For my last musical project (which ended a while ago) I used an Octapad for playing drums and a Zoom r24 to record me and the rest of the band. I also own a Casio ctk-3200 with decent effects and Volcas keys and sample.

The octapad worked great for rehearsals and live performances, but now that I’m making the whole song from a chair it doesn’t seem so practical now. I’m much more comfortable using the Volsa sample to play the drums line, so I’m considering selling the octapad to buy an mpc 1000, I believe it will work both as drum machine and sampler.
On the other hand, my only synths would be the Casio, which has limited options but works well to begin with, and the Volga keys, which is not entirely mine so it won’t be always available. My other option is Selling the Zoom and buy a decent laptop and an audio interface. This way I could use the keyboard as a midi controller and use digital synths.

This is of course what I could figure out, but I’m open to suggestions. Help please!!!
 
Last edited:
If you are into techno and EDM, then most creators would be making music inside a computer. If you were recording guitar or real drums, you’d be able to use a stand alone system. Two things EDM really needs is repetition and editing. Quantising iffy real playing and then being able to take 8 bars and copy and paste, then go in and remove and add beats and move them around. Watch some techno tutorials on YouTube. I’d bet few will be on anything hardware based, but software, making a computer a real DAW. I’ve a friend who swears by his R24, and I can take his files, fix them, edit them and return them to him quicker than he can by re-recording, which is how he has to do it.
 
While I have done some editing/mixing on both my Zoom R24 and Yamaha AW1600, the process is much more laborious and limited compared to just throwing the files into Reaper. So I've settled on a mixture of the two. I can set up and record to the Zoom, lay down a some tracks, and then pull the SD card and throw it into the computer. No latency worries at all, and I can do it anywhere with just a mic or two and some cords.

For techno stuff, I would guess the best way would be to program the synths and just record. Building stuff in the R24 would be crazy slow.
 
There are a few things to consider when starting out in electronic music production. One is the type of music you want to create. Another is the equipment you need to create that type of music.

If you want to create techno or other electronic genres, you'll need a digital audio workstation (DAW) software program. This will allow you to create and edit your music digitally. Popular DAWs include Ableton Live, Logic Pro X, and Cubase.

You'll also need some type of hardware controller to control the DAW software. This can be a MIDI keyboard controller, DJ controller, or even a mouse and keyboard.

For studio monitors, you can get by with less expensive models at first, such as the Yamaha HS5 or KRK Rokit 5 G3. However, if you're serious about making electronic music, I would recommend investing in a good pair of studio monitors such as the Adam A7X or Dynaudio BM15A.

Finally, you'll need some type of audio interface to connect your instruments and microphones to your computer. The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is a popular option for beginner producers.

_______
Jason Hook. Audio Enthusiast and Software Developer
Remove or Isolate Vocals from any Song 👉 https://www.UnMixIt.com/
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top