kinda starting out

[still_not_there]

right now i want to start using midi in my studio mainly for making trance and techno music. i use cubase se, with a presonus firepod. mostly what i record now is acoustic music and a couple "hardcore" bands. what im looking to do is to get into midi music for making trance type music. I have been using a friends alesis sr-16 and m-audio uno usb to midi adapter. in the future he is going to want those back. so i have a couple questions so i can get the best setup for what i want to do.
First of all i will need a midi controller. i was looking at the microkorg. my thought on that is it would have some sounds that cubase doesnt and for those basically record those parts, but i was wondering if it would be easier or cheaper to get a simple midi controller such as the m-audio oxygen 8 and get plug-ins or a specific midi editing program. I also am looking at the microkontroller, mainly because it comes with some software and plugins. but it also has the trigger pads. my question about the trigger pads is would i be able to use them as a drum machine type deal? or would it be better to get a seperate keyboard and drum machine? or is the drum machine even nescessary?
I was also wondering if i should just use the midi ports on the firepod or if i should go with a usb to midi device, or if i went with something like that oxygen 8 should i use the midi outs or use the usb.

Like i said im very new to midi, so if i left any details out or just didnt make sense tell me and i will clarify, thank you.

edit: also i would like any suggestions on software and hardware that would be decent.

 

[Synkrotron]

First of all i will need a midi controller. i was looking at the microkorg. my thought on that is it would have some sounds that cubase doesnt and for those basically record those parts, but i was wondering if it would be easier or cheaper to get a simple midi controller such as the m-audio oxygen 8 and get plug-ins or a specific midi editing program.

Personally I would do the first thing that you suggested (and I did... I use a JP-8000 as my MIDI keyboard) but more an more people are going the USB MIDI controller keyboard route and using softsynths instead. I like hardware though so I'm biased.

or would it be better to get a seperate keyboard and drum machine? or is the drum machine even nescessary?

When I first started off I got myself a little Korg 05R/W which did me for some basic string and synth sounds plus all my drum and percussion needs. As I built up my system over the coming years I decided that I wanted to go separate synth modules/keys and a stand alone drum machin, and in the end I went for the Alesis DM5. Main reason for this was that the modules I was using for percussion was sometimes limiting the number of notes I could play (because most hardware MIDI devices have a limited Polyphony). A separate drum machine helped aleviate this problem... and the drum samples are better IMO.

Basically though, with all the different soft synths around nowadays you could arguably do without a drum machine or indeed any hardware except you controller k/b and I would imagine that for the style of music that you are producing that you'll be programming most of your beats.

I was also wondering if i should just use the midi ports on the firepod or if i should go with a usb to midi device, or if i went with something like that oxygen 8 should i use the midi outs or use the usb.

Good question, and there is no good answer. There are no real issues over speed of MIDI signals via the various I/O ports as the data that is being transfered is not usually that heavy (a mere fraction of the data sent in an audio stream). So it's up to you really and on what you'd like to spend or which looks the nicest or has the most controller functions (besides the black and white keys).

As for software, I thought you used Cubase? Are you thinking of changing?

Good luck in you venture

andy

 

[still_not_there]

thank you very much. about cubase, i was just wondering if other programs were better for midi(better sounds, better quality, etc.) but that would be the last thing I would do as of now.

 

[Synkrotron]

thank you very much. about cubase, i was just wondering if other programs were better for midi(better sounds, better quality, etc.) but that would be the last thing I would do as of now.

You will find many discussions here about which software is best for whatever process. Sonar and Cubase are very similar in terms of sounds, plugins, softsynths and the like so it can be down to a matter of taste. I think you can download trial versions of some of the packages so I'd do that first and see what you think is easier to get into.

 

[fraserhutch]

And what are you gonna do about your username if and when you actually get therre?

 

[still_not_there]

And what are you gonna do about your username if and when you actually get therre?

well when i get there...i dont know...man i didnt think about that, ill worry about it when that happens. the american way