Beginner equipment and software, for newbie like me.

[Indigo Spectrum]

Hello everypony! I have been listening to and enjoying electronic music for quite some time now, and I want to try my hand at producing some music of my own. However, I am unsure of what equipment and software I should get. I have heard good things about Ableton Live, should I get that? I want to mainly make dubstep and/or house music, and my computer is an iMac.

Thank you all!

[the4thImpulse]

Its been posted many times but here


All you need nowadays is a computer with some software. Try out demos for fruity loops, ableton, ect. And watch tutorials on youtube, thats how I and a lot of other people learned

[BronyTuber]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPxIk-nJvT0

Watching this Tutorial series helped me a lot, if you decide to check out FL I would definitely give these videos a watch!

[lunarz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPxIk-nJvT0

Watching this Tutorial series helped me a lot, if you decide to check out FL I would definitely give these videos a watch!

I did the same, easily the best tuts on FL ever and WELCOME to MLR!

[ChromaMonster]

Is the cider rule on?

Anyway, FL Studio's great if you're into loop based music; FL's pattern based editing does that beautifully. You may also want to try out Ableton Live as well though, many musicians here seem to like it. Easy to pick up as well. And yes, try out all the demos before coming to a decision, if there is one.

As for equipment, a decent computer is should be enough for most of your needs, but a nice pair of headphones/set of studio monitors can't hurt either! Also, MIDI keyboard if you really need it.

[Lavender_Harmony]

To the above posters: The OP has an iMac, and IL still haven't bothered to port FL to Mac.

Now first of all, software. Believe it or not, you have what you need already, a piece of software called Garageband. It comes with every Mac, and while it's definitely not what you're gonna be staying with, it is a very good introduction to making music on a computer

However once you feel you want to upgrade from there, you have several options. I personally would recommend Logic Pro, which you can get in the Mac App Store for a very reasonable price nowadays. However there are plenty software suites available to you. Ableton Live is an option, but is quite pricy, and the basic version does not come with everything you would need, you would also need to purchase some instruments, digital ones, called VSTs, before you could work with it. Reason is also a good chce for the beginner, as it has everything already when you get it. The downside is that you cannot use these VSTs with it, as the whole thing is self contained.

In terms of hardware, all I would really recommend would be a MIDI keyboard. The Akai LPK25 is a good little mini USB keyboard that would get you going without having to make a big investment, or if you have a little more money, you could go for something like the M-Audio Oxygen keyboard.

If you wanted to record audio, you might need to look into an external soundcard, but again, that would be a future investment.

[the4thImpulse]

As for equipment, a decent computer is should be enough for most of your needs, but a nice pair of headphones/set of studio monitors can't hurt either! Also, MIDI keyboard if you really need it.

Yes cider for everypony

I will add to the above post regarding equipment

Any modern computer within 4 years of age should work fine for a beginner producer. The first thing you need is software and please buy the software as it will make you much more determined to use it and get better and you will think of yourself as an idiot if you dont use it. Next you will want to look at soundcards so you can record stuff and accurately hear your music. Then either studio monitors (Better but expensive) or studio headphones (cheaper but still important). Those are the essientials to make great music, you can get great free software and samples to start.

[Indigo Spectrum]

Thanks everyone so much for helping and giving me a place to start! Now I at least have a notion af what to do and what things to get. Again, thank you all so much!

[Legion]

To the above posters: The OP has an iMac, and IL still haven't bothered to port FL to Mac.

Not particularly relevant, but I'm pretty sure this is in the works. Or this was completely ditched. Who knows.

[Lavender_Harmony]

To the above posters: The OP has an iMac, and IL still haven't bothered to port FL to Mac.

Not particularly relevant, but I'm pretty sure this is in the works. Or this was completely ditched. Who knows.

Yeah, they were working with Codeweavers. They had a beta late last year. Only time will tell. They were a bit stupid about it though, they only wanted experienced users to use it, which makes no sense.

"We want people who work on this operating system who are familiar with our product that does not work on their operating system."

What?