d00ban Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Yo, Just wondering what everyone uses to make beats and that. I use Ableton. I tried Maschine for a while but preferred Ableton in the end, it just seemed to suit my way of thinking a lot more coming from a DJ background. I downloaded a copy of Logic just to have a looksy. Seems a lot more complicated than Ableton even! Defy gonna stick to what I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 ableton. i make tunes with a mate on logic but he drives it so i don't really know that much about using it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest broke Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Used a few different things over the years, but I use Ableton now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 my very selective efforts were with Logic. it was fairly intense, but do able. i found it felt a lot like a 'job' though.ie i worked on a computer all day drawing stuff in a structured and technical way, then was going home to work on music in a very structured and technical way. i just wasnt bothered enough to put up with it. EDIT: thinking about it, maybe thats just how my brain works/approaches things. hmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phology Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Reason 3 for arrangements and Adobe Audition 3 for editing, oh and an Akai MPK25. I've tried to use other software but always come back to Reason, it's perfect for what I want to achieve and really quick to get a beat going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Ableton with some hardware synths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Erm... SP1200, MPC 60II, MPC 3000, plus a classic analogue desk and a host of vintage outboard gear running into a 2 inch tape machine... in my own mind, at least. IRL - Maschine 1.8, a slightly old version of the full Waves bundle (v7?), CamelPhat, Altiverb and Guitar Rig. Plus I've got a couple of analogue mono synths, a Presonus Tube preamp and a SM57 that occasionally get involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest broke Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Oh and I use Cool Edit 2000 for recording vinyl. Remember back when adding '2000' to the name of something made it new or futuristic? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Until 2000 came round, by then it was old hat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frost Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Music 2000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEor9ilqWS0 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phology Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 man, Music 2000 was dope. (in an ironic way) my first ever software was Hip Hop eJay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-enWufbD34o 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I started making tunes on cool edit demo version - you had to choose which drop down me us were unlocked at the beginning of each session, and you coukd only have 2. So obviously you had to keep the "file" dropdown so you could save, so that left you with 1 for anything else, so if you were adding delay, you would have to shut down the app to reload the session and get another feature, like reverse..... Maybe we should start a my first beats thread? Might be funny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I think the overwhelming attribute of all the first beats I made was 'mud' and lots of it. Between lack of skill and the fact I hadn't worked out that when you're stuck on headphones, it's really easy to make the bass massive and all the other sounds pretty quiet, I didn't stand a chance. I do still have the first beats I made (on a loop pedal out of desperation) and then my MPC. They actually represent the first things I 'finished' rather than the first time I used either bit of kit though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rasteri Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 When I made beats I used to use cubase. Didn't even use the sampler, would just chop up breaks and drop single-shot samples right in the arrange window. I thought it gave me more flexibility, probably just made my life harder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHouse Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I've used software successfully to make nice beats, but it takes too long, with too much thinking. I really want to make ish on the fly, so I'm in the market for an MPC 2500 and synth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chile Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I've been doing stuff solely with software for years but recently I've been integrating hardware into the process. I use Cubase 8 Pro, Just recently upgraded from 5.Max/MSP sometimes but on its own and not usually to make full compositions with.Korg Radias (this is a rarely used expensive paperweight in my studio)Roland System-1 (the new baby)Electribe EMX-1 (that blue box)Roland TB-3 (aciiiid)Roland VT-3 (mostly pretty shit but cool for some stuff)Lexicon MX400 (gonna get a patch bay for this so I can start using it more) Next major purchase will be a Roland TR-8 I recon. Big fan of the AIRA series Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phology Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Max/MSP sometimes but on its own and not usually to make full compositions with. I tried to get my head around Max at uni, but it's too complicated for my puny brain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rasteri Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I've used software successfully to make nice beats, but it takes too long, with too much thinking. I really want to make ish on the fly, so I'm in the market for an MPC 2500 and synth. Man I find the exact opposite. I spend far too long on MPCs just fighting the interface. Software I find way more intuitive and far more quick to navigate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phology Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I've used software successfully to make nice beats, but it takes too long, with too much thinking. I really want to make ish on the fly, so I'm in the market for an MPC 2500 and synth.Man I find the exact opposite. I spend far too long on MPCs just fighting the interface. Software I find way more intuitive and far more quick to navigate. yeah i agree, I understand the principles of the MPC but for me it's just too fiddly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest petesasqwax Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Ableton with a Korg PadKontrol for drums, M-Audio Axiom25 for melodic shit and Akai APC-40 to sit in the corner with loads of flashing lights on it looking HAWT. Just integrated Traktor into the working process so I've got that running into Ableton too and I've got a bass, guitar and loads of other shit I barely use and which has fuck all to do the original question... so, to reiterate:Ableton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 i actually use imaschine more than ableton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest broke Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Ha I had Music 2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Further to the MPC vs software comments... I learnt on an MPC 2000XL and I knew it was slow at the time, but it was what I had. Then Maschine came out and I just use it in a really simplistic way like a vrtual MPC and everything takes about a third of the time now. You do spend time tweaking plugins to get the sound how you want it (or as close as possible) though, but thats no different to bouncing stuff out of any MP for mixing and mastering anyway. Since having Maschine, I've had three MPCs - 2000, 1000 and 500. All got about 2-3 hours use over a few weeks/months before I realised I was wasting my time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 So it's not true that all MPC's make your beats sound dope off the bat like some people seem to think / say Rockwell? haha Obvs this ain't true but is there any truth to it at all? Watch this vid for instance: He's just using synthetic substitution, but if I cut that break it wouldn't sound like that at all. It down to layering? He mentions to use two different kicks and different snares but it sounds like he means to add variation not as layers. Any way this could be a whole other topic. Was just something I was wondering after what you said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Old MPCs do have some sonic traits, but it's not exactly the special sauce people claim. The 60 and 60II are 12 bit and that has some effect of course, particularly when you pitch down samples... plenty of grit, a bit more warmth and still reasonable clarity (compared to other 12 bit machines). The 3000 is about as gritty/saturated as any 16 bit machine ever gets whilst not trying to and gives everything a warmer sound. The 2000/2000XL doesn't really add any grit, but sounds smooth and solid witha bit more saturation. All these older models have a very slight EQ curve that slight boosts the kick drum type frequencies 90-130 say for argument's sake. The highest and lowest frequencies are rolled off a bit and and they have circuitry on the master stage that adds a bit of compression and subsequently kind of glues the sounds together. Additionally, there's something about the way they envelope short sounds or percussive bits that gives everything a bit more punch. For instance, when I used to record breaks into my 2kXL and play them back next to the sample, the sound from the MPC definitely sound punchier and slapped a bit harder. All this makes perfect sense when you think they were designed to be 'drum samplers'. One other thing I noticed is that these older ones don't have any kind of high pass facility which you'd normally employ on mid to high sounds. Although you are inevitably robbing from the overall mix and clarity, things like short stabby chops do sound that much more percussive when they aren't high passed (I've noticed this in software just as much). Other than that, it's just down to working practices really. And personally I'd take what I can do with software FX over the inherent sonic traits of any of these machines... just don't tell nobody All the Numark built ones since sound a bit brighter and harsher than the previous models and don't really add anything desirable to the sound IMO. They don't have th master compression circuitry either which is replaced witha compressor effect which really doesn't come close to my ears. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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