anyone have any good ideas as to what audio production programs are good to start out on. something freeware or shareware. just to test the waters. (see if i have the patience) i spin with vinyl and the like but i want to start using more of my own stuff. I would like to know if i am good before i invest in REASON or SONAR-cakewalk.

I'd recommend trying out the demo version of FL Studio.

thanks bro' i have fruity... just wondering if there might something i might not know out there. oh yeah by the way. i like your sound. it is very good actually. where i live all we have is DNB with crappy fake rasta MC's saying "NEW JERSEY U READY" this is why i am going to start playing out more. cant stand this countries obsession with lame music.

Get either FL Studio, Ableton Live 6 or Reason 3. Don't get Sonar, it's a bit too advanced for a starter (I think, even though I didn't try it)

Wait for Reason 4.0

i just dont feel like spending hundreds of dollars for a program i might not use. is reason worth the money i am told it is. im trying to get my hands on a friends copy but he just moved to brooklyn and i havent gotten out there yet.

i didnt pay a cent for reason 3.0, it was well worth it!! but reason 4.0 on the other hand...id wait till it dropped a little in price, but have you seen any videos from the NAMM show? omg...very powerful virtual synths they got goin on there.

Still no VST support?

it all depends on what you want to do.

reason is great as its an all in one studio in a box. its good for getting ur head around production concepts - drum machines, synths, basic sampling and effects are all included.

on the downside you cant record audio into it, it doesnt have audio tracks so if u were recording live stuff its a no no. it also has a very distinctive sound to it (which i perosnally find a bit plasticy and digital, but if ur writing border community type stuff will be perfect)

ableton is great for glitchy minimal sounding stuff. however (and im sure ill be disagreed with here) to me, the sound engine isnt that great, and although the warp marking/time stretch is great it will still degrade the quality of ur sample.

cubase/logic are the daddys imo. using vst/AU synths and effects, recording audio and superb combo of midi and audio make it the bees knees from my perspective. however, its a pretty steep learning curve. but once you got the hang of it its a piece of piss.

pro tools - very basic sequencer with poor midi implementation, however its great for tracking and mixing - only when used in conjunction with the pro tools hardware though.

sonar - only the yanks really use this. nuff said. ;)

fruityloops - im sorry, but any sequencer with 'fruity' in the title is not allowed to be taken seriously.

i started on reason and learnt how stuff worked then moved onto cubase. if u still like the sounds reason gives you can re-wire it into cubase using cubase as ur host sequencer.

hth

mips

consumer - reason will never have vst support - one of the 'reasons' (ho ho ho) its so stable is that theres no 3rd party intrusions on it. its designed to be an all in one box solution.

ironically one of reasons biggest selling points is also its downfall.

i think Reason is by far the most easy-to-use program! may not be the most advanced.. but you can do whatever wicked stuff you want with it!! it sounds excellent! the only limit is your creativity!

really looking forward to Reason 4! ive got the privilege to beta-test it!! wiiiii! :D

listen to stuff i make: http://www.myspace.com/hellsaeus

and my mate doin some aphex-stuff: http://www.myspace.com/newmans

http://www.myspace.c...ternamehereacid

all done in Reason!

Ta mippio.

No vst make consumer something something.

i know man, its a pain in the harris.

have u got cubase/fl/ableton to rewire into?

I don't use reason :). I got logic/protools at college. Recycle/Live/buzz at home.

ha

didnt know u were studying music production mate, whats your course like?

it's mint. it's 2 years and consists of midi/audio tech/live sound/studio work. plus critical listening and music appreciation and also music industry/business stuff.

I do good at the midi. :mrgreen:

I agree, reason does sound a bit pre-fab. But if you start creating your own combinators AND importing your own samples using NN-XT you can get some pretty keen shee goin on.

I prefer to create beats in fruity loops due to the nice piano rolls, synths in cubase and kinetic, and import everything into acid pro 4.0 and integrating external effects vsts into acid and kinetic....nice little combo goin on if i do say so myself.

consumer, whats the tuition like there?

full time = $800 australian a semester. for 4 semesters. but i get %50 discount because the government loves me. :lol:

wtf? lol :)

good ol financial aid....i work in the financial aid department at a local community college woo woo!!

:P