Best beginner music production software and tutorial?

March 23, 2005 7:44 PM

I'm hoping to start playing with home production of music on my pc, and am wondering what would be a good tutorial for the basic basics (e.g. using MIDI or not, a good combo of software sequencer, drum machine, synth, etc.), and some examples of the software mentioned above. I know next to nothing about it, but am a relatively experienced 'analog' musician. Where to begin?

Any recommendations of user-friendly guides and/or software for the novice producer are appreciated!

posted by skechada to Technology (4 answers total)

I recommend Reason, which is published by a Scandinavian firm called Propellerhead Software. I was basically just an analog dude (guitar and bass) before I used this software and it converted me to a hardcore electronic-type. YMMV but I found it highly intuitive and MIDI-compatible. If you're planning on a genuine home studio approach, then other software may make more sense, but Reason gives you a lot of bang for the proverbial buck, and though I can't recommend it for tracking live vox or instruments, it can be a great tutorial product for synths, drum machines, et cetera.
posted by joe lisboa at 8:51 PM on March 23, 2005

(Trying not to come off as a tool.) Similar questions have been asked many times before on AskMefi.
posted by jeremias at 9:08 PM on March 23, 2005

Look in the forum at KVR Audio.

It's an excellent site for info on computer music production.
posted by redteam at 9:17 AM on March 24, 2005

Another Reason vote here. I actually started using it without any input device except for mouse & (computer) keyboard. Altho' a basic USB synth-style keyboard would make your start a lot easier.
posted by i_cola at 2:16 PM on March 24, 2005