Hi everyone.

Having reaffirmed my love for the Chems and the electronic music genre after not having listened to the style for a few years (god knows why!!), I have also developed my interest in producing my own music for fun.

I've got music in my blood, with my family having a history for talent (in very different fields mind you). I also studied music at school and played instruments at a relatively high level. However I don't have any experience is electronic music production.

I've also become very jaded in my professional life as a Structural Engineer so anything that is a distraction from that is a welcome relief!

I just wanted to ask a few questions about producing before I delve to far into it.

How beneficial is study at institutions such as the SAE? Do you think it's required, or is it just as beneficial to learn about equipment and software etc by yourself?

Equipment versus software. Programs like Abelton and Fruity Loops claim to be all you need to start producing quality music. How true is this? Are physical synths becoming a thing of the past or will they be continually used over the years to come? Where do you start in regards to synthesizers?

Any answers to these questions and any further advice would be really appreciated!

Thanks in advance guys :)

I've done the "Audio Engineer" at SAE and i can say that it's not worth the money. But i know a lot of guys who do the same and they will say it's the best you can do.

Equipment versus software

It's cheaper to start with Live, FL, Logic, CuBase or Reason (i prefer the Logic/Reason-combination but you should find your own taste in that). Combined with some good plug-ins (Native Instruments for example) you can do a lot of stuff. And then, when you have some basic expirience you can go and buy some physical stuff (synths or maybe a mic-preamp with an good microphone to receord some voices) on ebay or so. Not that you where dependent on physical stuff but i think it sounds nicer (and it looks lot more cooler ;) )

decent computer, controller keyboard, sequencer of choice and some plug-ins.

learn how the process works and see how you get on. if you're enjoying it and you're serious then you can start thinking about a desk, some outboard and hardware synths.. I would really advise anybody against making a massive investment in hardware without getting to grips with the basics first.

I've never been a massive fan of reason but I have to admit it's great for teaching people the principles behind sequencing. maybe have a bash with that and see how you feel?

rather than going for ones of those SAE courses off the bat try and hook up with somebody who already makes tracks. you can learn a shed load sitting with somebody who can take you round cubase or ableton; run through how to program automation where to find stuff or how to work with audio etc

there's also a bucket load of tutorials out there on the web. I taught myself how to use follow actions for sound design in ableton a few weekends ago using a really well thought out youtube tutorial. all free - abletons own forum is a mine of information and there are forums all over the web covering every piece of software you can think of.

as for ableton or whoever claiming they're all you need to start producing music. well that is true - ableton has it's own instruments, sampler, drum machine and native fx. it's literally a studio in a box...don't fall into the trap of thinking it's the equipment that makes the music. I'm constantly astounded when I read up on artists I adore to find they make amazing music with little or no equipment.

as for physical synths being a thing of the past. well I don't think so...but it's a pretty keenly debated topic.

over time plug-ins have started to sound better and better but even with a controller keyboard it's much harder to interact with them and sort of 'play them' the same way you would a synth.

I've come to terms with having to sell my hardware and convinced myself the plugs I use are pretty spot on but having worked with my friend dave gecko (of chems forum fame)again recently I spent about 20 mins playing on his Jupiter and it reminded me that they do sound truly amazing. much more 'alive' than any VST (and much more prone to going out of tune if you play with the octave cat)

that said plug-ins can do things which many analogue synths could never do. they're becoming incredibly flexible, modulation routing is a synch, preset recall?...no problem - how about morphing between two sounds you made three weeks ago?...and of course with a VST plug in you can program incredible detail into automation. something only an octopus could achieve with an old analogue synth..

anyway. I've probably sent a few people to sleep.

hope that helps.

mchebne

FL Studio is all you need to start. That's the truth! I used it for 6 years straight, until recently, when I've added several other programs to my line-up, including ableton live.

If you learn FL Studio, though, you'll have a good idea of the process. People will always be screaming at you that some other program is better, but screw them. Try all of them and keep what you like. I use FL Studio and Ableton for every song I make now.

reason + midi keyboard

Thanks heaps for all the advice guys.. I really appreciate it. It's good to know that there are lots of different ways to approach music production.

I really like the idea of physical synths, however I will continue to play around with FL Studio until I actually get good enough and get enough out of it to make a significant investment.

I am thinking of doing a course that SAE run which is just a 4 session course in working with Ableton, so we'll see where that goes.

Once again thanks for all your help! That's great!

any kind of music course can be beneficial - purely for the people you meet. but yeh pretty much chebbers covered anything i was going to say. other than goto kvraudio.com and download every free plugin you feel like using