[dancetothedrummersbeat]

Hi all. I've almost completely retired from dj ing after 13 years and am looking to fill my spare time by making music. Me & a friend want to make anything from trance to hip hop, to drum n bass. Can anyone recommend any software? Our budget is about £300. The one that i'm thinking of getting is Ableton Live, but does anyone else have any suggestions, and give the pros/cons for their selected software? Many thanks.
Andrew.

[simonross46]

Me and Rob Corbo both use Ableton Live. It always comes down to personal preference in the end though. I started with Reason and I hated it, then tried Ableton and it was so much nicer for me. There is so much to learn though, but once you get to the point where you know everything it can do, it's extremely powerful stuff!

[jaylo]

simon is right its all down to personal preference,i use ableton and it is powerfull stuff,i done a music production course with timmy and tommy and started out with reason,it is complicated to use but its fairley ok when u get in2 it,we then moved on2 logic which is great but a bit hard to use aswell,but as simon says and i would agree its down to personal preference i mainly use ableton but i have got logic and reason installed aswell gona try rewire them together and use them

[Noff]

I think ableton is a great product, ive been using it for over a year now and it really does give you alot of control and professional sound. It also does alot of the hard work for you; like Auto-Warping samples to the bpm of your project.

If you are a newbie, there's alot of fundamentals to research about music production before you buy anything. You will find that 90% of music production software does not contain everything you need to make a decent tune. Software like ableton/cubase etc, are designed to sequence or arrange a mix, but they come with very limited or no "in the box" Instruments that allow you to record the sounds you need to sequence. These instruments that you will require are usually Plugins that you need to buy and install seperately. You will find that the software also comes with a very limited range of Samples and Loops, so you will probably need to get hold of a Sample pack.

Before you buy anything i recommend watching a few youtube videos to see how it all works, then downloading a demo version of ableton to try for yourself.

For loops and samples i would say Loopmasters have pretty good packs
http://www.loopmasters.com/product/details/466/Trance_Elevation_Vol1

For Instruments, there's a few good free ones out there.

I would also recommend trying out a demo of "FL Studio", it has a slightly different way of working than Ableton, but it does come with lots of "in the box" instruments and loops,...so you wont need to bother installing any third party software.

Hope this helps a bit, if you need any info feel free to PM me

[Moonman]

A lot of people seem to think FL Studio is a bit, well, toy though. I've never used it, but surely, ultimately they all pretty much do the same? I know Laidback Luke used to use it though, and Dave Spoon uses Reason, so i guess its the ideas that are important, not what software you use.

[Noff]

FL has come along way from what it once was, you can certainly achieve a kick ass sound if used to it's full potetial. I learned on it and it gave me a very good insight as to how to get my ideas down and make a tune. The only thing i would knock on FL is i think the mixer could be bigger, and the sequencer could be a bit more regimental and organised. Saying that, once again it's all personal preference. I believe Maor Levi and Karl G use it as their main production tool.

[simonross46]

Vengeance Essential Club Sounds are very good sample packs, containing everything you need to make a tune. I make it sound easy, but you would have to take advantage of some indepth features to make a tune entirely with the packs!!!

[newts]

i use logic pro 9 but its taken me 3 years to learn

but its sick once you know how ! not sure if there is a windows version though ! ?

[jaylo]

newts, on 09 March 2010 - 08:19 PM, said:

i use logic pro 9 but its taken me 3 years to learn

but its sick once you know how ! not sure if there is a windows version though ! ?

no logic is mac only,its a great piece of software aswell,its own plugins are great

as for sample packs trackitdown do great packs and so does primeloops

check them out

[Quadrant]

Off topic slightly, but sir dancetothedrummersbeat, you were the one who submitted that 2-hr Ferry Corsten download on here covering for Jules in 2000.... Did you record any more like this?

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

Quadrant, on 12 March 2010 - 06:53 PM, said:

Off topic slightly, but sir dancetothedrummersbeat, you were the one who submitted that 2-hr Ferry Corsten download on here covering for Jules in 2000.... Did you record any more like this?

Hi Quadrant, yes that was me. I'm only a part time visitor to this forum to be honest. I tend to alternate between this and a few old school bmx forums. Every few months I have a spell where I put on my trance trousers and get involved again. All the material I uploaded/submitted was a mix of stuff that was given to me by 2 friends, plus some stuff that i'd recorded myself. Sadly i've sent in everything I have - Cant remember if i sent it to you or Simcut???....
Sorry I cant help you any further.