Help....anybody out there??????

[synth73]

i will try to convey what i need...First of all, my knowledge is NILL.....the last time i used a sequencing program was back in 92 or 93...sequencer plus gold with a Korg M1...ancient history and i forgot everything that i learned!!! My budget is around 10,000$ maybe even 15,000$ for EVERYTHING...computer, interface, synth, software, board, etc.... The kind of music i would like to record would have a lot of synth and guitar in it, and i have a line 6 vetta 2 combo so i can record digitally or analog, but i do want to record analog stuff too, ie percussion, vocals....the music is sonic youth meets depeche mode meets alice in chains....a little midi mixed in with old fashioned geetar and drums....Like i said, i tried to play around with MOTU and Sonar, these salespeople at the stores are clueless to people's needs. I couldnt even get either program to work because niether were hooked up in the store. I would love a program that i could just record drums either in step time or using loops, lay guitar/synth/vox over in an easy, no hassle , uncomplicated way. My choice of software will determine what computer i purchase, as this new computer will only be used for music. Like i said, my knowledge is next to nothing, so when explaining, please assume i am a total moron...which after a few more of my posts you wont have to assume anymore!!! Im still curious as to what kind of setups you guys have...
thanks again

 

[baba]

hi,

if you are into midi combined with analog audio, it is really hard to beat sonar producer 3 for ease of use. I think this lastest version of cakewalk puts sonar in the highest ranks of sequencer software.

logic audio is also very good but unless you own a g4 or g5 power mac running the latest version of os 10, you will not be able to get updates to it as they have been accuired by apple computer. No more pc versions sadly.

read some of the posts by manning1 that describe powertracks! I'm not sure of every feature it has but I do know it has very strong midi support plus analog audio capibilities all for less then $50.00. it's user screens are not going to please sonar users but it has very many features in the menus including cd burning software and a guitar tuner. i'm still looking at the powertracks demo so have not put it to any practicle use.

cheers,
baba

 

[baba]

my rig

my daw is modest in comparison to some used by the pro's on this board but it works very well for me with the exception of the sound card. I am a programmer and know much about pc and mac hardware/driver setup. as such, this system of mine runs as well as it possibly can...a very important part in the scheme of things.

1. intel p4 1.5 GHz cpu
2. windows xp pro
3. 256 megs of rambus memory ( really should have 512 megs )
4. creative audigy 2 zs sound card ( good synth, good sound, not so good a/d d/a converters. very poor wdm drivers. desent asio 16/48 resolution )
note: I have decided to add a m-audio delta 66 to this system as dedecated audio card for mutiple inputs and good converters )
5. behringer 6 channel mixer w/rca in out to audigy card.
6. behringer 8 channel mixer ( drum mix and extra channels )
7. mackie 24 channel mixer ( band sound system )
8. hp internal cd burner
9. microcode backpak external cd burner
10. fostex pm .05 bi-amped near field monitors ( 6 channel behringer has outs to these and also the jbl house pa for mix comparisons )
11. koss pro 4 headphones ( old but nice )
12. 2 80 gb 7200 rpm ide hard drives ( master has windows xp pro and multitracking/sequencing software - slave has all music data and a solid image of the master partition made with powerquest drive image. I can't stress enough how important it is to have a good backup system!!!!!!! )
13. very many recording and sequencing softwares ( almost all of them ) I beta test and write error trapping routines for much of the software recommended in this forum.
14. 24 high to medium quality microphones - shure sm58's and 57's, sennheiser mics on all drums and congas bongos etc., some audio technica (4 - pro 5's )

I have left out some things but the just of it all is in the above list. We do not often use keyboards so I don't have need for this part of it to much. I use midi quite often to patch in drum parts and sometimes a b3 organ from logic audio or native instruments b4 plugin.

cheers,
baba

 

[TexRoadkill]

Most of the big programs will do what you want but very few do it with no hassle or complications. If you want simple then get a 24track HDR and a mixer. It doesn't get much simpler than that but you will need to do your drum programming in the drum machine or some other sequencer. If you want to go the computer route then Sonar or Cubase SX are probably good choices.

DAW's are very handy but they can be a bitch if you are dependant on them for everything and traditionally they are the worst possible way to invest your money. A few years from now you can sell a mixer and HDR for maybe 50% of what you paid new. Old DAWs are hard to give away.