I want to datarock

December 22, 2006 6:16 AM

[BedroomRockStarFilter] How do I start making music on my PC?

I have at my disposal:

1) A voice
2) A mic
3) A notebook PC
4) Some technical expertise

So far I've been using my mic and Audacity to record very pared down me-and-an-acoustic-guitar kinda music.

Now I want to graduate to a richer, "full band" sound. Lots of layered instruments and melodies, bits of bleepy electronica, drum loops and vocals. Indie, post-punk, electronica and acoustic influences, if that's any help.

I do have a couple of guitars and basses, and a Yamaha digital piano, but I'd really rather work solely with "pretend" instruments if possible.

I've played with eJay with some success (link has broken code but the downloads still work), but I really want to try something more serious now.

What do I need to do this? Can it be done? Can it be done using intuitive, not too tricky software? Home based recording artists, please help!

posted by unmusic to computers & internet (20 comments total)

In the Linux world, a group has put together a software distribution: operating system + all of the better software available for making, recording, and manipulating music. It's called DeMuDi, and you can click through those links to see what audio-related software is available for Linux systems. Most of that software probably isn't available for Windows; you'd likely have to purchase software.
posted by jellicle at 6:27 AM on December 22, 2006

I used to toy around with a program called Fruity Loops that does exactly what you need.
posted by nineRED at 6:44 AM on December 22, 2006

You might want to try Live. It's designed for live laptop based performances. I've only played with the demo briefly, but it looks interesting.
posted by andrewraff at 6:48 AM on December 22, 2006

Something like the M-Audio Ozone would be a good place to start. You get a MIDI controller and a few decent audio inputs all in one package. It also comes with Ableton Live, which is a good program for the music you want to make.

If you aren't already a Linux wizard, I would skip that stuff unless you are really motivated. Linux will save you a few bucks at the cost of hundreds of hours and possibly your sanity. I'll stop now before someone tells me to get my own blog.
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 6:49 AM on December 22, 2006

I've been doing that kind of thing for a few years now -- just messing around with loops and recorded sound. Lo-fi, unprofessional, strictly as a hobby, and enjoying it anyway. Here's how I do it.

- Downloaded a pirated copy of Adobe Audition 2. That lets me use my microphone to record my voice, guitar, home-made toy drum kits, toy keyboards, harmonicas, and layer it all together in faux-harmony.

- Downloaded a demo version of FruityLoops. It's a drum programming tool. The trial version lets you make ONE BAR of beats at time. So I would create one bar, export it, add more complexity, export it, then layer all these different one-bar beats over top of one another to create a cohesive drum track.

- Downloaded a pirated copy of Acid DJ for another loop-based music-making program. Nice to have an alternative.

When you speak of "pretend instruments," of course, you're talking of MIDI technology. Uncle Jummy's onto something with the M-Audio link. I have an older version of this, and it's quite cute. You plays the keys, and tell your computer what sounds to generate when you hit the keys: bleeps, bloops, orchestras, bass guitars, pianos, bird -- you name it. If your software has it, you can play it. I've never used the software it came with (Live Lite), but it seems workable an intuitive. You might want to check out that.

Do you have money? Cubase is an expensive, professional program for managing MIDI instruments, and Reason has a great database of sounds and drum tools. They usually work together.
posted by Milkman Dan at 7:11 AM on December 22, 2006

I've had rather pleasant experiences with a combo of Ableton Live (for midi and audio sequencing) and Propellerheads Reason (for drums, sampling and synths). Both are available as cheaper "lite" versions. They offer the advantage of being powerful products with pro features while having a smooth interface that seldomly gets in your way.

If money is tight, you might want to consider using using Tracktion as a sequencer and some of the myriad of freeware plugins for sound generation and effects floating around on the internet.

Also, I second Uncle Jimmy's suggestion to get a) an external USB or Firewire audio interface with ASIO driver support (a must have if you don't want to have >100 ms latency) and b) some sort of master keyboard. Since you mentioned that you already have a digital piano, you might get away with using it as a master keyboard, in which case you'd only need an external audio/midi interface.
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 7:14 AM on December 22, 2006

Herr Fahrstuhl's right! Buy a cable like this (MIDI to USB) to hook your Yamaha digital piano up to your computer.
posted by Milkman Dan at 7:20 AM on December 22, 2006

My chemistry teacher in high school did this. He managed to self-produce some very complicated music, with all the instruments performed by him. Here's his studio. Looks like he uses Cakewalk for his recording needs.

I was always amazed back then how he managed to do all this (especially since I have very little musical talent myself). He even built his own guitar and bass!
posted by backseatpilot at 7:42 AM on December 22, 2006

FruityLoops is probably the best investment you can make.

A lot of people will hate you for using FruityLoops. They claim there is a "FruityLoops Sound", evidence by the thousands of amateurs who have suddenly appeared, creating loops and music with it.

This is because FruityLoops is so fucking incredibly easy and good at creating music. Seriously, it's just a blank canvas you can use to do most things you could ever want to. It's stunningly easy to make good music on it, and not that much harder to make great music on it.

And it does both loop/electronic based stuff, as well as supporting recorded audio tracks.

From a different point of view, you might have fun with AudioMulch, if you want to go wild doing weird, twisted things to loops and fragments of sound. It's a modular system - you "plug" widgets together with virtual wires. It's probably the best tradeoff in the simplicity / functionality spectrum for this sort of software (software like Max/MSP and PD are too low level to have fun with). Not so much good for traditional composition, as good for just playing with sound.

These are my two main tools, anyway.
posted by Jimbob at 7:51 AM on December 22, 2006

I just read an interview with Four Tet, in which he described his surprisingly pared down home studio setup. He does use "real" instruments, albeit processed/sampled via computer.
posted by O9scar at 8:57 AM on December 22, 2006

I'll third the Fruity Loops recommendations. I use it along with a creative labs audigy2 soundcard that i managed to pick up for £40 off ebay.

I usually record live audio tracks, but it'll run loads of soft-synths ('pretend' intruments') and the drum sequencing is a doddle. You can get really good electronica style results (that said, i find they sound a bit sterile without some live sounds, even if it's just a recording of me hitting a thing off another thing and mucking about with it).

It's way more powerful than I've ever needed.

Thanks for the Four Tet interview, 09scar. Great read. i'm downloading audiomulch now.
posted by Robot Rowboat at 10:11 AM on December 22, 2006

Lots of info here, both on their site and in their forums:
www.audiominds.com

There's buckets of free and cheap audio apps out there. I'm currently enjoying Reaper (www.reaper.fm). It's quite easy to start up with, but it also has some real depth when you get more experienced with it. The non-commercial licence is $40, but the unregistered version isn't crippled, so you can do as you please. Reaper has a good forum, too.

When you get into VST plugins and VSTi instruments, you're ready for the KVR forum (www.kvraudio.com). Everything you ever wanted to know about audio plugins, including MANY great FREE plugins.

Finally, here's my yuletide middle finger extended upward for the express benefit of Milkman Dan for suggesting you download audio warez. First, coz it's WRONG, but also because many of the full-version apps are pointlessly complex for the beginner.
posted by Artful Codger at 11:21 AM on December 22, 2006

I'm going to throw out a suggestion if you're really looking to do this, and don't mind spending approx $500 - try an Mbox 2. There are pros and cons to this, but the biggest pro is that the software it runs - ProTools - is the defacto standard at most studios. The biggest con is, of course, price.

However, the fact is for every person who gives you advice on what to record with, there's a person who will tell you that's shit and to get something else. For example - I used to be a big believer in Cubase VST when it was out for OS 9 on the Mac. I can't tell you how much shit I got for that, but its simply an opinion.

Getting a bunch of musician geeks together to talk about recording mediums is like asking them what the best guitar/kit/bass is. Everyone's going to tell you something different depending on their style. I'd recommend going into some larger music stores (i.e. Guitar Center) or a more upscale music store if you live in a larger city to get your hands on this stuff and see what it can do for you - especially if you think you might want to make an investment, even if it's just software.

Email me if you want a bit more advice - this is what my BS degree is in, and I'm happy to help.
posted by plaidrabbit at 11:26 AM on December 22, 2006

Another vote for fruity loops.
posted by thparkth at 1:20 PM on December 22, 2006

I haven't tried anything else for comparison, but if you want to try something quick and free have a look at Psycle. If you hunt for a few minutes there are plenty of also free VSTs around that you can plug into it to make all kinds of sounds.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:12 PM on December 22, 2006

Reason (easy composition) and Live (instant satisfaction from recorded material), seconded. Send me a PM for more info if you'd like. If you're a student, M-Audio (US Distrib for both packages) gives great discounts. If you'd consider switching to a Mac, GarageBand is really the best solution overall. M-Audio has some competitor for PC but it's clunky.

Stay away from Cubase, VSTs, DirectX, and any other technology that will require learning far too much for a novice. Those will be useful one day when you know exactly what you need, but that's not going to happen yet.

Also, I don't care how you acquire the software at first, but if you like it and end up using it, please pay for it.
posted by Señor Pantalones at 2:55 PM on December 22, 2006

I'll throw in another suggestion for Fruity Loops. It's incredibly easy to use, and has a great sound bank . It strikes a good balance between club-like synth sounds and realistic drums, and pretty much any drum sound you'd recognize is possible. I'm on Mac now, and I've played with Garageband and Reason. I still find Fruity Loops to be one of the best I've ever used.
posted by patnakajima at 3:26 PM on December 22, 2006

Thanks for all the replies! Haven't marked a best answer as they are all valid; I'm going to check everything out, but thinking I will probably start with a midi/USB cable for my piany and FruityLoops.

Will update this when I've actually made something worth listening to ;)
posted by unmusic at 6:16 AM on December 23, 2006

Just want to add to the chorus of Fruity Loops fans (Now called FL Studio). I've been using it for several years, and it's some of the most useful music software I've encountered. So much so, that it's one of the few times I felt the need to buy the full on boxed version.
posted by drezdn at 8:21 AM on December 23, 2006

Hometracked is a very good blog about home recording that focuses more on tips & techniques than "what to buy".
posted by arto at 9:41 PM on December 23, 2006