I want to start making music, but...

[Acknown3]

Hey guys, I'll start with a quick little intro here so that you can get a better idea of who I am.

First off, my name is Ben. I became a brony around February, and I fell in love with the show immediately. Like most people, I started to explore the community, and the musical part was where I thought this whole fandom really shined. I've been playing saxophone for about seven years, and guitar for one, even though I suck at guitar. i figured I might as well put out some music, because "Why not?" Maybe it'll inspire someone else to discover a talent of theirs.

The first pony song that I listened to was one by Eurobeat Brony. I thought it was cool, but not something I would make. Then I found CleverPony's channel, and thus TNLR... and I'm sure that you can guess the rest. Alex S. was another big inspiration, and he made me want to compose some more electric-based music, so I guess that's where I would want to start. Other than FL Studio, what else should I buy? I pretty much have nothing else on my computer right now. Some tutorials would be cool too, since I have no idea how to use it.

And then I started looking at Acoustic Brony's stuff, and it makes me want to record some guitar tracks, but I think I'll hold off on that until later.

I wanted to get into music-making because I consider myself a decent musician in real life, I want to give something back to this community, and you guys seem like really cool people to hang out with. I just need someone to hold my hand until I can get on my feet.

So far, I haven't contributed much to the community. I moderate a forum with ~750 bronies, but I don't do much in the way of fanfictions, images, or that sorta stuff. I was trying to decide between purchasing a good tablet, or picking up this hobby. I just wish it wasn't so expensive xD

Also, I checked out the MLR music guide and the Full Studio List, but it's just so overwhelming. I'd like to have a decent mic, probably something like the Marshall MXL 990, and all of the necessities without throwing all of my money into something that I'm not sure I'll be good at or not.

Oh yeah, and my favorite pony has been Luna ever since I read "Luna's Goodwill Tour" and "Progress." Because that's totally important.

Here's my junk:

Compy specs
Compy
Some instruments
Other instruments

Oh, and if you couldn't tell, I'm also a gamer. If any of you want to hit me up, send a friend request to "Acknown3" on Steam.

Sorry if this wasn't the right place to put this, or if you consider it spam, but I'm new to these forums, and a bit scatter-brained.



(tl:dr) I'm new, want to compose electric music, and need to know what I need to buy. I might do some guitar work in the future.

[the4thImpulse]

First there is a little tradition.. read this



If you could be more specific about what kind of music you would like make it would help us know what you may need to do that. It sounds like your brain is thinking of a lot of diffrent things at once recording a saxaphone/ guitar making music with computers all requires diffrent stuff. For now keep practicing and reserching, one more thing is budget; we need to know how much your willing to spend on music as it can get expensive fast if you want the best of the best.

[Acknown3]

If you could be more specific about what kind of music you would like make it would help us know what you may need to do that. It sounds like your brain is thinking of a lot of diffrent things at once recording a saxaphone/ guitar making music with computers all requires diffrent stuff. For now keep practicing and reserching, one more thing is budget; we need to know how much your willing to spend on music as it can get expensive fast if you want the best of the best.

If I could pick one person whose work I would like mine to be like, it would be Alex S. I know that this is gonna get expensive, so I'm going to only focus on virtual instruments for now, and only bring in the other physical ones once I'm comfortable with mixing and the like.

As for the budget, I'd like to keep it to $500 or cheaper for everything. For the software, I don't mind using "Google."

[the4thImpulse]

If I could pick one person whose work I would like mine to be like, it would be Alex S. I know that this is gonna get expensive, so I'm going to only focus on virtual instruments for now, and only bring in the other physical ones once I'm comfortable with mixing and the like.

As for the budget, I'd like to keep it to $500 or cheaper for everything. For the software, I don't mind using "Google."

I will first say that you will likely be more successful if you buy the software (at least the DAW) rather 'other' methods, when you buy it you will use as you don't want that investment to go to waste and in doing so you will become a much better producer faster. I talk alot about that and my experience but I wont right now.

You can get a lot of great virtual instruments for free, they are not as good as retail vsti's (like massive or z3ta+) but its a great place to srtart without worrying about piracy. Same goes for samples for your drum kits or even entire loops, there are other threads on MLR that will show you some sites to get all this from.

Next you need to worry about sound and this is where it will get expensive, a soundcard and either studio monitors (better but expensive) or studio headphones (not as good but cheaper) so you can properly hear the music you create. All of this will come in time first you need to get a DAW a start learning how to use it.

[Acknown3]

Next you need to worry about sound and this is where it will get expensive, a soundcard and either studio monitors (better but expensive) or studio headphones (not as good but cheaper) so you can properly hear the music you create. All of this will come in time first you need to get a DAW a start learning how to use it.

For the soundcard, would you recommend the Omega Claro or the Xonar Essence? I have a standard Realtek ALC892, which gets me by well enough for now, so I might not upgrade this until later unless you really recommend it.

I already have some Audio-Technica ATH-AD900's, as you can see in the picture. They aren't studio headphones, but they're pretty accurate when compared to cans like the M50, so I probably won't get new headphones.

As for the DAW, I was looking into FL Studios, but which version would you recommend?

[BronyTuber]

As for the DAW, I was looking into FL Studios, but which version would you recommend?

I'm new myself and I'm using FL Studio 10, if I remember correctly, and correct me if I'm wrong, I believe the4thImpulse uses Ableton.

If you do decide to go with FL there is a fantastic tutorial series on youtube that can get you pretty familiar with the basics of it and goes into a lot of needed detail for beginners.

[the4thImpulse]

As for the DAW, I was looking into FL Studios, but which version would you recommend?

I'm new myself and I'm using FL Studio 10, if I remember correctly, and correct me if I'm wrong, I believe the4thImpulse uses Ableton.

If you do decide to go with FL there is a fantastic tutorial series on youtube that can get you pretty familiar with the basics of it and goes into a lot of needed detail for beginners.

I use Ableton only cause I want to do live shows with it along with my productions, I did start with FL and used that for a year and a half. Get the FL 'producer' edition (I believe its $200) you may find coupons for it online (I got 10% off). FL has literaly tons of tutorials on youtube and other forums and quite a few people here use it aswell so you will have all the help you will need with it.

As for soundcard I would go for the Xonar Essence as my friends uses it and it preforms well for him. I will add I dont know a whole about soundcards so don't base your decision on me alone.

[Legion]

As for the DAW, I was looking into FL Studios, but which version would you recommend?

There's no right DAW, there really isn't. Just download a few demo's and check the mainstream ones out, see which you like. FL Studio, from what I can tell, is the easiest to pick up on, but that doesn't make it insuperior to the other DAW's. I'm pretty sure Alex S. uses Ableton (along with his brother Omnipony), MandoPony (you mentioned AcousticBrony) uses Cubase, and about half the musicians in existance use FL. Myself, I use FL and love it. But that's just me.

If you do wind up buying FL, though, here's the tutorial series I post everywhere. Start with this one and work your way through the series if possible, his music theory primer videos are also great watches:



Also:

First off, my name is Ben.

This, right here, is one boss name.

[Navron]

Also:

First off, my name is Ben.

This, right here, is one boss name.

Seconded

I wanted to get into music-making because I consider myself a decent musician in real life, I want to give something back to this community, and you guys seem like really cool people to hang out with. I just need someone to hold my hand until I can get on my feet.

I've been a musician pretty much my whole life, so let me forewarn you, that this quest you are about to embark upon deals with electronic music theory, mixing, mastering, and studio production techniques. It will be hard, it will be painful, and it will be frustrating. You will be essentially learning how to become your own musician, producer, and mastering tech, all by yourself.

Those are 3 individual fields people get degrees in, so when you find yourself confused, overwhelmed, and/or frustrated, just take a step back and try to see if you're overloading yourself. If you have doubts if you will ever learn it, or think about quitting, reread the picture quote again, take a break, and realize that things like this take time. If you stick with it, you'll surprise yourself in the future, and it'll feel awesome.

[Acknown3]

As for the DAW, I was looking into FL Studios, but which version would you recommend?

If you do wind up buying FL, though, here's the tutorial series I post everywhere. Start with this one and work your way through the series if possible, his music theory primer videos are also great watches.

Thanks for the tuts

Also:

First off, my name is Ben.

This, right here, is one boss name.

Seconded

I feel special.

I've been a musician pretty much my whole life, so let me forewarn you, that this quest you are about to embark upon deals with electronic music theory, mixing, mastering, and studio production techniques. It will be hard, it will be painful, and it will be frustrating. You will be essentially learning how to become your own musician, producer, and mastering tech, all by yourself.

Those are 3 individual fields people get degrees in, so when you find yourself confused, overwhelmed, and/or frustrated, just take a step back and try to see if you're overloading yourself. If you have doubts if you will ever learn it, or think about quitting, reread the picture quote again, take a break, and realize that things like this take time. If you stick with it, you'll surprise yourself in the future, and it'll feel awesome.

Oh, I'm sure that I'll rage quit a few times, since I still get mad at CS5, but this is something that I really want to do. The mixing is what scares me the most, but if anyone wants to help me, feel free, lol. Even if I'm not successful in making the music that I want, it would be worth it if I can have fun doing it.

[Versilaryan]

In terms of DAW, I highly suggest you get Ableton. Given that you play a lot of instruments, you're probably going to want to do some recording in the future, and I can tell you right now that for as awesome as FL can be, it is an absolute nightmare to work with many recorded samples in it. Cubase works, too, but it's notorious for having a steep learning curve. Then, there are a handful of others, such as Cakewalk Sonar and Reason. It's a good idea to read up on them and download trial versions before actually buying one just so you have more assurance you're not picking up something you hate working with. These things can get expensive.

If you want to get into recording, I highly recommend that you buy an audio interface -- it's basically an external soundcard with additional inputs for mics and stuff.

[Acknown3]

The price of Ableton makes me want to get FL instead xD