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Atlas
Average Member
United States
185 posts
Joined: Mar, 2001
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 Posted - 2001/12/06 : 12:20:49
well right now im just vinyl mastering shit, remixing, you know-- an a while back i decided that i was eventually gunna start producing my own stuff cuz, no offense to dj's at all, but I think making the ****ing song your spinning would be alot more rewarding as a musican than spinning it an probably pissing off whoever pruduced/composed it. N-E WAYS, i cant decide between MIDI or external. all the producers i talk to say external, but the HHC, hardhouse producers i know say internal or MIDI is better than than external for varios reasons.
whats a kid to do yo?
"I'm the dj, you're not, so shut the fook up and dance."
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DJ Mouse
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,687 posts
Joined: Jul, 2001
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Posted - 2001/12/06 : 12:35:52
do both.
use midi for strings,piano etc,and for drums,bass and everything else go external,coz the midi drum kits are fu©kin crap!!
DJ Mouse In Da House!!!
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Lusive
Average Member
Australia
151 posts
Joined: May, 2001
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Posted - 2001/12/07 : 22:39:15
what do you mean by external?
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Open your eyes, see all the love in me, I got enough for ever.
Dont be afraid, take all you need from me, and we'll be strong together...
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DJ Mouse
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,687 posts
Joined: Jul, 2001
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Posted - 2001/12/08 : 06:59:22
external as in drum machines like a 303,sound modules like a korg x5 and samplers like an akai s3000.
internal as in midi,like the yamaha xg soundcard and stuff
DJ Mouse In Da House!!!
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Lusive
Average Member
Australia
151 posts
Joined: May, 2001
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Posted - 2001/12/08 : 07:22:40
but external gear is usually midi based anyways.. unless its too old.. i just didnt know what you meant by external.
--------¡
Open your eyes, see all the love in me, I got enough for ever.
Dont be afraid, take all you need from me, and we'll be strong together...
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DJ Mouse
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,687 posts
Joined: Jul, 2001
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Posted - 2001/12/08 : 07:29:01
external gear is only controlled by midi,whereas internal is midi sounds and controls. that's a big difference between the two
DJ Mouse In Da House!!!
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Padre
New Member
Australia
66 posts
Joined: Oct, 2001
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Posted - 2001/12/21 : 12:07:46
umm...
There are heaps of different ways to make a track.
Thing is, no matter what method u use, whether it be an all in one box like the RS7k, or a Soft Sequencer like Logic, or loop based like Orion Pro, They all require a basic idea of how MIDI works. to get the most out of em that is.
Even if ur using the sounds outta your soundcard, you still need to set up those sounds within your sequencer, as well as record your control changes, pitch bends, program changes etc...
MIDI is whats used to transport those messages... whether it be from your PC sequencer, or your Yam RM1x, or your MPC or whatever.
Umm.. its a lil hard for me to explain...
im not very literate today...
ok, here are your choices...
You can use a PC running cubase, logic or CW, or even Orion or Fruity Loops, with a load of softsynths and softsamplers and efects.
What this means is that your Sequencer, AND sound source is coming from the one box.
Now this is great, its good knowledge to have in a studio(as most use one otf these 3 variants), and the only restriction you pretty much have creatively is the power of your PC, and the amount of free plugins/VSTi's u can find..
Now with all these synths and samplers within your PC, there is no need to worry about a sound source, coz if u cant find that magical sound, you can make it...
Now the downside of this type of setup, is that you are restricted to the chunkiness of your PC, so if u wanna play your track live, youll either have to record it to cd, or get ffriendly with that vestax vynil cutter. Or if ur brave, you can take your whole PC pn stage with you.. ok if u have a laptop but still not much to give the crowd visually...
Also, your track wont have the ability to evolve on the dancefloor wth the punters..
Ill explain what i mean by "evolve"... Picture this, Youve played afew well known anthems, the crowds all happy, but you notice that this lot really go off at the massive breakdowns...
But as your track is ALREADY recorded, theres not much you can do with your song except play it and watch their reaction... thats good, but not as good as having the flexibility of building your track the crowds mood... in this case, the break. You cant emphasise the break to these ppl coz your song is already recorded... Does that make sense?
This is where external Gear comes in. (ie external i mean by a Hardware sequencer, maybe a synth and a couple of sound modules, or maybe something like an all in one "groovebox")
Anyways, most of these sequencers (except the Mc units) can play midi files, so your work on your PC can be ported across to your external stuff... which is good when your mates are remixing your stuff, but even better for live work, are the Yam RM/RS and Akais MPC's, coz these are actually loop based sequencers (they can also work linear, but thats another story)
And as most of ur music is most prolly 99.9 percent loop based, these are good for live work. If not the best on the market.
Now they can play and record much like your software, and can control your external gear (just like your software can) so all you need to worry about it, is deciding whether your break is coming now or later... Or whether to drop you bassline and add a fill or whatever.
Thats the flexibilty you have with these machines that you wont get with software..
Freedom to mould the song to the crowds mood. If theyre into massive breakdowns, keep the massive breakdown happening longer and longer.. stretch it out, loop it, gate it, chop it, slice it, dice it, tweak it whatever.
With software you dont have that flexibilty.
Now, also, with these machine, the only time youll ever get a crash would prolly be once every 2000 sessions, thats better odds than ANY softsequencer ive used.
Now the downside to HW, is the cost. Its obviously more expensive, also, effects wise, you will never have the AMOUNT of effects you would get with software. Also you are limited to the amount of tracks you have within your song, ie 16/24parts etc. But, one thing i have noticed, the efects on HW units these days, the RS7000 in particular, are quite astounding.
Now your gonna get ppl who will say, "oh you should by this coz so and so use it" or "this ones better coz u can do this"
best thing to do when deciding what you NEED, is to do some research.
You already have the net, now all you gotta do is milk it bro!!
Find out what YOU NEED to make your song, work out how you think your music will flow thru you, and discover the best tool to use FOR YOURSELF.
Then you wont have any regrets later on.
god what a ramble...
Personally, i started with a couple of decks and a dodgy lil mc303 playing basses and drum loops... i learnt with that, then i moved onto software, learned the basics of MIDI, then built my studio for how i wanted to make my music.
I didnt spend any more money than I had to, and now i can either work fom home on the PC, or take my gear with me when i wanna go live.
One thing i must add thou, (finally ;) ) is that i have ALOT more fun using the Hardware than i do the software.. you just cant beat that hands on feeling when you look at the crowd and theyre goin ballistic when u turn a knob... much more fun than a mouse!!!
All the best for the Season
Padre
For we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams - Willy Wonka
www.letdabasskick.homestead.com
Edited by - Padre on 21 Dec 2001 12:15:12
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For we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams - Willy Wonka
www.letdabasskick.homestead.com
www.austech.info
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Padre
New Member
Australia
66 posts
Joined: Oct, 2001
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Posted - 2001/12/21 : 12:20:32
Oh i forgot to mention, with alot of teh older REAL analogue synths, they dont have MIDI, but CV/Gate triggers. these work similar, but only on a VERY VERY basic level, mostly only using voltage to control notes and pitches... but you can save the hasle (and money) by gettin VA synths, which give you similar, if not better sounds as alot of them have effects within the units themselves.. but thats something you should think about a lil later. Coz you can just source those ol classic sounds and use em in a sampler if u need to...
First you need to decide whether your gonna work from your PC or not...
For we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams - Willy Wonka
www.letdabasskick.homestead.com
__________________________________
------------------------------
For we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams - Willy Wonka
www.letdabasskick.homestead.com
www.austech.info
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