Music Software

psylent

psylent

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So, I am thinking of beginning the long and slow process of working out how to make music and becoming an International Superstar DJ.

I want to do this all on PC and I want it to sound 100% professional. Notwithstanding the learning curve, which software would you recommend?

I've had a couple of people suggest Cubase, but my brother tells me Reason will do everything and more.

Opinions please????
 
You'll get as many different opinions here as there are items of software.

But no-one can argue that Reason is bloody excellent.
But it doesn't do everything though.
Doesn't record audio, though it does have a REX loop player, and you can trigger any WAV file from the drum machine.
Doesn't let you use VST effects and instruments, though it has loads of excellent instruments and effects of its own.
I'm not sure if Reason lets you send MIDI out to external synths, don't think it does.

That's why a lot of people use (Cubase or Logic) and Reason.

I wonder what the next person will say? :P
 
if you've never made music before then i'd really recommend starting out with reason - gives you all the basic tools you need to make good quality music and is a good way to begin understanding various effects like compression etc. without being particularly complicated. on the plus side you can make some very interesting sounds in reason because of it's routing capabilities, (you can flip the racks round and wire your modules up however you want) you can for example have the lfo's on your synth controlling pan/volume/filters etc. on your sampler. reason isn't a 'toy', a common misconception people have and i like it because it's so easy to get a rough sketch down.

cubase on the other hand is much more a professional tool - it's sound engine is much more sophisticated and there is much more scope for synths and effects because it supports vst and directx plugins. also reason is not gonna be any good for you if you have external hardware you want to use, be it synths/rack modules or whatever, so cubase is the way to go if you're looking to buy hardware. another important factor to remember is that you can route reason through cubase with steinberg's rewire technology - the best of both worlds though you will need a pretty meaty pc to avoid problems.

at the end of the day i'm from the school of thought you should start with something simple until you understand it fully and then progress to more sophisticated tools. if you're just starting out cubase could be a bit more than you need. i'm sure people will disagree with everything i've said but there's my advice anyway :hehe:
 
i'd say exactly what you said Warwick

Reason is all well and good and from what I hear its good for beginners. (Thats not intended as a diss; it can make entirely professional tracks too, in the right hands).

But no MIDI out, no VST/DX expandability, and no audio recording... that renders it a joke imho. Saying it does "everything and more" compared to cubase is definitely a very silly opinion.

SX would get my vote i think.

But remember - they all do the job if you work them well enough - so the main point is how well you can work them - ie, do you dig the interface/workflow.
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (psylent @ Jan 7 2004, 04:38 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>So, I am thinking of beginning the long and slow process of working out how to make music and becoming an International Superstar DJ. :no:

I want to do this all on PC and I want it to sound 100% professional. Notwithstanding the learning curve, which software would you recommend?

I've had a couple of people suggest Cubase, but my brother tells me Reason will do everything and more.

Opinions please????[/quote:e539cc70c2]
Man, this is totaly wrong perception... If u wanna do something and be good at it, u must 1st love it and feel it...

its not only being someone famous and well-know internationaly!!! If u start with this kind of thoughts, i think u r on the wrong track...

First of all, u must love music, understand it, and trying to produce music must make u feel like u r doing something from your own benefit and not for someone elses... i dont know if u are getting what i am saying, but....

Nevertheless, for someone to get started prosucing music, I think softwares like reason and fruity are the basics to put u on the right tracks... Cubase, nuendo, and vsts etc, are something u will learn on the way...

So, try to listen as much as possible, start with fruity loops and reason, play a bit, and the dreams leave them for the time while u r sleeping.... :sleep:

Respect
and i hope this year makes ur dreams become true!!!


CHP
 
I use Logic plat my self I have used cubase but I find Logic more rewarding. I'm sure that if you are serious about making tunes then you will most probably go through many progs over the years and find something that best suits you.
Happy hunting.
 
Yep, music didn't start to flow right until I switched to Logic. There are a load of producers here who use it and will tell you how good it is til ur blue in the face BUT people do find it has a steeper learning curve. I find it a lot more comfortable to work with and a lot of the people who don't like it are people who have never RTFM!!

Don't be put off by the fact it isn't supported on PC now. 5.5 still supports all the common standards. I did hear that enthusiasts may be porting Logic 6 to pc anyway. We wait and see
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (norty303 @ Jan 8 2004, 01:00 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> I did hear that enthusiasts may be porting Logic 6 to pc anyway. We wait and see [/quote:94c5d02ce0]
Never in a month of Sundays will Apple/Emagic hand over the source code to ANYONE... I reckon.

I'd say Cubase SX all the way... but get Reason first and learn that until the next version of SX comes out as there are a few annoying bugs yet to be ironed out.
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (CHP @ Jan 7 2004, 04:14 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Man, this is totaly wrong perception... If u wanna do something and be good at it, u must 1st love it and feel it...

its not only being someone famous and well-know internationaly!!! If u start with this kind of thoughts, i think u r on the wrong track...
[/quote:c0ef0dc44b]
I think he was being "humourous" you know...

Anyway - I would say for a beginner, there is no better package than Reason for learning how to make electronic music.

It contains all the elements you could possibly want - synths, fx, drum machines, samplers, routing tools, mixers, a vocoder, a beautifully figurative patchbay and a HUGE collection of samples and sounds - and because it doesn't include VST etc it is extremely stable and reliable. Its hard enough to learn how it all works without the added discouragement of a blue-screen every 15 minutes. Reason solves this by being totally self-contained and not at the mercy of badly written 3rd party plugins.

Sonically, it is perfectly adequate, and with an external mixer can be made to sound as good as anything else I've heard.

Later on, when you've progressed to Logic or Cubase, you can still use it via Rewire.

One tip though - try using it with a lower screen reolution set. It is designed to fill the screen at 640x480. At 1024x768 its all a bit <span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>small</span> and fiddly.
 
Yeah I was being slightly ironic when I said I wanted to be a superstar dj. Ironic that the superstar dj realised! :Grin:

Seriously, thanks everyone for your input. Very much appreciated. It can all seem incredibly intimidating when you have no knowledge, and Norty, I am one of those whose fails the RTFM test often, but I'll give it a go here.

I think I'll start having a play with Reason and see where it takes me.

Muchos gracious amigos.

Psylent
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (dj_niquid @ Jan 9 2004, 05:29 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> nuendo 2

yep check this out [/quote:e18de196ac]
Nuendo 2 is a steaming bag of bug-ridden pus.

Click here to find out just how fucked it is.

Trust me - it looks a lot better than it is.
 
I've not read all the posts so could be repeating what someone else said here but I'd say reason to start with.

1. Through a technology called rewire it can interoperate with many othey, beefyer sequencers (inc cubase) so when ur ready u can build on what you've already got, which is reason.

2. As soon as you sit down to make tunes for the first time you'll get a noise out of the thing without the pants of setup issues preventing u from having ur fun.

3. The sequencer is really simple.

4. With reason 2.5, reason really came into its own with advanced reverb, distortion and vocoder plus some really cool new routing options.

5. Its dead cheap!!!!!

5 good reasons to buy reason, thats the reason i use reason, wonder why the piss they called it reason though???????
xx
 
Oh and remember....

Not that i'm in any kind of position to do this myself but..... 'there aint no money in trance'

..... unfortunatley.

Thats what i'm often told by people who might be in a position to, if it were possible. Correct me if i'm wrong chaps.
xx
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (TheEmbalmer @ Jan 10 2004, 02:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Not that i'm in any kind of position to do this myself but..... 'there aint no money in trance'

..... unfortunatley. [/quote:c1043919a2]
So put out a cheesy Ibiza Chicane/Sasha-type tune once every year, rake the cash in from that - then sit on your arse making the kind of music you want to.

Simple, really. :Wink3:

J.
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (JPsychodelicacy @ Jan 10 2004, 03:43 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Simple, really. :Wink3:
[/quote:2cfde7fd2e]
Go on then.

:unsure:
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (jsainsbury @ Jan 10 2004, 12:52 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> cubase sx2 is running exellently on my setup, better than the non-cracked version, it seems [/quote:452950bf70]
Just out of interest, do you find that it randomly reassigns your automation parameters, and forgets which tracks in the mixer are supposed to be hidden?

Amongst other things.

Actually, the thing that really gets on my tits with Cubase/Nuendo is the way they become clunky and slow the more stuff you have going on. At first, with 1 synth running, they are fine and slick. Then, once yu have a few audio tracks, synths and fx all going the screen re-draws become achingly slow and page changes seem to take forever. I've found this on a PIII 500, an Athlon XP 2.6 and a P4 2.6 laptop.

Logic doesn't do this and its one of the reasons it'll always be my preferred choice for serious work.

Incidentally, Reason is graphically very economical and this isn't an issue.
 
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ott^ @ Jan 10 2004, 04:07 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (JPsychodelicacy @ Jan 10 2004, 03:43 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Simple, really. :Wink3:
[/quote:bfb2ab670e]
Go on then.

:unsure: [/quote:bfb2ab670e]
Oops - forgot my <TONGUEINCHEEK> tags this time. I'm well aware of how the whole damn industry is rigged, and that a plan like that would never really succeed unless you let a couple of record company execs anally invade you (metaphorically and probably physically) - but I can dream, can't I?

(Incidentally, while such behaviour can get a man kicked off the artistic roll-call forever, the thought of taking their cash and using it against them does have a nice ring to it... it was the only way I could justify a brief stint working in advertising... :wacko: )

One question I've been meaning to ask you for ages is how much tweaking you've done to XP to maximise performance - I know that Logic tolerates some of the daft graphical effects better than Cubase. In my case. my machine's so old that they're both prone to slowdown :no:

J.
 
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