New kid from Hawaii needs some help

  • Thread starter Thread starter Natural Rhythm
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Natural Rhythm

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Aloha. My name is Rich and I recently moved to the LA area from Maui, Hawaii for good ol' college. My roomate is from LA, and he has gotten me into rap music since I've been here, showing aweswome underground MC's and Dj's that have gotten me psyched on a genre that to me seemed only like a cheesy excuse for music. And now I want to make beats. I have been playing music since I was 7, and have been in Reggae bands my whole life. My roomate can spit like no other, and I really want to help this kid out since he cant afford home recording equipment and I can. Plus I love playing drums and guitar, so I would like to take that to a whole new level. I need to know is it better to use software or machines and how to use them, what resources (websites, books, people, clubs ((even though im only 18)) )I should use to learn more. I just want to learn learn learn, so if you people with more experience could show me the ways, I would be blessed. My budget ranges between 100 to 500 dollars and I have a mac G4. Thanks alot everyone, One Love
 
heres some fun...start messing around with this www.flstudio.com get the free download trial and play with it.

a small decent setup will be a little more than 500....now are you just trying to make beats? or you want to record him and the beats....cause heres a quick list.

the FLstudio fruity edition. $99 (download) i would order the producer edition if i had the money. this will help you make some steady beats but nothing too off the wall and it is kinda limiting which isnt bad for a newbie.

Akai MPD-16 $249.99 (AC adapter sold seperately) its a pad that goes midi on your computer. this will allow you to make your own beats the way you want them and its also fun to mess around on..

M-audio Audiophile 24/96 $99.99 (cheaper on ebay) its a good sound card. i own it and dont think I'll part with it. it comes with a midi input so you can plug the MPD-16 up to it.

Yamaha MG10/2 mixer $99.99 (cheaper on ebay) good small mixer...run a guitar, bass, vocals....this would be a good input. behringer mixers are cheaper and even though they are reported not to last long, mine is still kicking. i have a UB802 mixer $50.

Studio Projects B-1 microphone or the MXL v67g either one is $99.99 (some come with a shockmount and mic stand on ebay).

i think FLstudio can record vocals now but I'm not sure.

thats a small list. theres a whole bunch of stuff to look at and people could be typing for days.
 
Fruity Loops won't help him because he has a Mac. I'd say download the free version of Pro Tools in order to practice chopping samples and such. Some other free or demo versions of programs for the Mac are Audacity, Sound Studio, Ableton Live, Propellerhead's Reason.
 
See if you can get Garageband for your mac it comes on the G5's it's like FL and Acid put together but with it's own sounds. Nice sounds btw :). If you can get that for the G4 then all you have to do is add a midi controller which is a Keyboard that doesnt have sounds but allows you to play sounds from your computer. The sampler on the Garageband software is pretty good. if you cant get Garageband then you probably will have to get that software that allows you to put PC programs on your mac then you can use FL or ACID. Mac is pretty good for Media use.
 
....i completely forgot....thats my bad..doesnt reason work on macs?
 
Garageband seems limited....

Right on guys. I have garageband and I recently bought an extension pack with all sorts of percussions and scratches and such of the like. But it seems sort of limited. Are there things (software or hardware) that I can add to help out the Garageband sound, or are there are other programs that are better for production use? Thanks alot.
 
getting started

theres no way im gonna try to tell you what to get but as far as software i do recommend at least getting a trial version of reason. if youre like me youll fall in love with it instantly. as for resources, this forum is your best one and also heres some ones that helped me and are still helping me get started:

The Project Studio Handbook

Tweakheadz Guide

PCRecording.com

All of those links provide a ton of info but this site here is the best. Just read and read and read in every board on here and be patient and you will be amazed and how much you learn and how fast. At least I know I was. I didnt respond to this post because I'm some professional and ive been doing this my whole life I only responded because I was in the same boat as you not even a year ago and now I know so much more.
 
Yeah I third the motion for Reason that's also available for the Mac totally forgot about that. Garageband is a good start as far as limits on garage I really dont know. It's not a kiddy program at all it's pretty powerful although it's not marketed as such. Dont know much about reason I dont use that program at all but I know quite a few pro's use it since it comes bundle with pro tools now.
 
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