what first?

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majdi

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peace everyone!

intro: ok, so i'm a newbie at this recording/producing biz. i play piano, drums and bass guitar. i listen to many, many different genres of music, but i want to produce hip-hop beats. i know how to write, compose and arrange any type of song. all i have is a pc with windows and linux (i'm a network admin in my day job). i have the full version of reason and sound forge, neither of which i know how to use. i have yahama keyboard. that's it. i have an understanding of tracks and all the lingo associated with recording music.

now, i want to make the next step, but i have no idea where to began or what to buy first. starting out, i have about $600 to spend. i plan to spend about 3 or 4 thousand in equipment which i think should be sufficient for me to put my songs on cd that i can give to my friends and whoever else wants to listen to them, or want to lay vocals over them - singing or rapping. anyway, i just want to know what to buy first, second, third, etc.

all comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!!

thanks -

majdi
 
a good sampler/sequencer package would work wonders for you. Also a large library of samples would be nice too.
 
First:Get a midi controller for reason.
Second:Get a recording software like pro tools and a m box or cubase.
third:You might want to get a workstation like a motif or a triton.I have a motif, the sounds are sik.But if you want pads then get a mpc.
fourth:get a good sound card.
Fifth:get a mixer.
Sixth:Get a good mic.
seventh:Get a cd burner.
eighth:Get a turntable if you want to sample.
ninth:Get some good monitors.
tenth:Get a sound module for more sounds.A good sound module for hip hop is the mo'phat.
Eleventh:Get rewire so you can import your beats into cubase or pro tools, well whatever recording program you use.
 
if you want a cheap route

just for fun my wife bought me out of a remainder bin for 9 bucks for xmas techno 2 ejay. building techno beats is simplicity itself.
thousands of drum beats and special effects on cd.
they also have a 24 track hip hop version. but i have not used it.
because i'm a traditional songwriter but it too includes thousands of hip hop beats and styles etc. if your tendency is wild and crazy also try the free hotstepper on the net for building beats and effects using different real sound samples you can get from sample cd's in wave format.
ive only done one rap song, a comedy song about me and the crazy music business. its had lots of plays. check it out sometime.
called "limeyrap" at soundclick.com/bmanning
i had a lot of fun doing it as against my more traditional rock song writing.
 
more....

dont spend 3 or 4 k till you try a cheaper route.
my suggestion . good sound card for 150 bucks if you dont have one.
the software above i mentioned plus say a 48 track software like powertracks you export the instrument tracks into and lay your hip vocals over. only 29 bucks.
a decent mixer like say a yamaha mg at 100 bucks.
total max about 300 bucks. plus a mic. for hip hop, and ive recorded hh folks in the past you dont need a slew of equipment if you know engineering. try a beyer soundstar for starters.
or old ev dynamic mics. or a 421 if you can afford it.
 
thanks for all the input.

ok, like i said, i got a pc and keyboard only, so, i need the following . . . just want to restate it so i have a clear picture of what i need. am still learning terms.

mics, preamps (need more info on this), mixer or mixing console, multi-track recorders (more info), sampler/sequencer (need lots of info on this - mcp3000/sp1200, what roll does it play, etc.). workstation? i thought this was the pc . . . is it something different? what about mastering?

what is motif / mo phat / triton?

also, what format is used to divide already mastered songs into individual tracks? for example, you hear a song on a cd you just bought from the store, and you like a three second riff you hear. is there anyway to lift that riff and save it as a track in your individual track bank?
 
pre amps are usually on mixers and are round, black and have 3 prong inputs.....called XLR inputs...you can find some preamps as stand-alones but get them on a mixer to kill 2 birds with one stone. as for multitrack recorders.....there are hardware and software multitrack recorders software like protools, sonar, cubase. hardware multitrack recorders like a roland vm3000 (goes for like 300 or 400) the whole sample/sequencer thing i dont know about because i listen to what i want to sample and then recreate it on guitar. mastering should be done by a professional....but if you have a wave editor (software) you can pretend that its mastered and some people dont know the difference. never heard of mo phat but i know triton and motif are keyboard workstations that you can lay samples and beats and all that good stuff.....i try playing on them and then get frustrated but thats mainly cause i never learned how to play piano. riffs from tracks are usually saved as wav. if I'm not mistaken.
 
i've heard that the MPC4000 or SP1200 is a mandate for any hip-hop beats, is this correct? i don't know about he SP1200, but MPC4000 is around $3000. that's expensive! is it possible to obtain a used one somewhere?
 
"just for fun my wife bought me out of a remainder bin for 9 bucks for xmas techno 2 ejay. building techno beats is simplicity itself.
thousands of drum beats and special effects on cd."

a what? what is that?
 
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