dbcks

Anyone dabble? Anyone pro?

What's your set-up? Reccomendations for basic stuff to create decent music?

I'm interested in hip hop, down tempo or house music production, so anyone who knows anything about these things, help would be appreciated!

 

if you're going to be strictly MIDI, grab Ableton (or Reason), grab an MPK Mini and you're set. 

Just get a lot of influence/inspiration and listen to all kinds of music

Personally, I hate jazz-hip hop like those videos and I guess this isn't really jazz but you might be diggin' it

 

this isn't really a studio post or whatever, but whatever.

 

For starting out with electronic music/produce, I suggest either Ableton or Reason. With those two programs, you're set for recording, mastering, producing, creating, composing, experimenting, learning etc. They're very ideal programs, esp. Ableton because you're not limited to only the home/studio; a lot of people use Ableton Live for live music. You get variety of effects and synthesizers that you can start to learn how to use and how to program synthesizers in general. 

 

 

(very useful) 

 

As well, getting a MIDI controller would be great for people but it's not necessary. If you're looking for a decent midi controller that's USB, the MPKmini is perfect and it's like what, 100$? Comes with pads too. 

 

But I mean, the most important thing I can tell people who want to get into producing/recording/writing is to get inspiration in different forms of art, beyond music. Like sure you can listen to your favourite electronic artist and want to replicate the sound that they did but I believe that there's more to music than what you just hear. Music, like any form of art, should express and make you feel emotions. 

 

Looking at a romantic painting might make you feel warm inside; looking at a dark painting might make you feel dark inside; you should take the emotions you felt from the other forms of art and try to incorporate it into your music. 

For example, like, you watched a movie that was very unsettling so you capture that unsettling feeling and try to recreate that emotion with dark and gritty drum patterns with distorted bass.

Another, a certain article of clothing might make you feel free and beautiful so you compose a track that makes you feel that same way. 

I mean, when everything's already been done in music, you can only go so far by copying and recreating. I believe, to make it big, you have to come from somewhere original. 

 

Another note, in regards to creating an album-

 

Don't write an album with the mindset that you're going to create an album. Have the mindset that you're going to write a certain amount of singles that are very popular and like-able and put those together into a collection known as an album. Because, if you come with the idea that you have to create an album, you're just going to suffer through writers block and try to fit in songs into the album, just for the sake of using space and making the album. Whereas if you spend time to work on each individual song and pick the best, there is less space for bullshit and your album/ep/record/whatever would sound better.

 

and lastly, listen to all of kinds of music. Honestly. All good music sounds good. All music can give you inspiration and motivation. 

 

tl;dr: fuck u