trebeatz said:
ONE THING I DO FUCKING HATE however, is when dudes will be like, i wanna make beats, they'll do their research, and then drop like 1,500 on a setup on the internet before they even make one beat, thats just phoney to me
On the other side of the coin you have those who want to make beats but simultaneously want to invest as little as they "have to" in equipment..."free" is easily the most popular term in the hip-hop production scene nowadays, second to "cracked software."
Personally, I have a lot more respect for somebody who is willing to put in that opportunity cost - put in that risk - to try out something they are relatively sure they want to pursue. A kid who thinks he might want to start playing the guitar rents, borrows, or buys one. The same thing applies to someone attempting to learn the flute, keyboard, or, hell - turntables - in other words, any musical instrument. Those who make that initial investment when possible and have something to lose show dedication and a seriousness to the craft by necessity.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that your position is that people should build their setup piece by piece, as they acquire the resources to do so. I fully agree; I don't purchase anything until I've earned the money to do so by myself, and my summer job will hopefully facilitate that. I just believe that the opposite extreme of the "impetuous buyer" is a worse option.
With all that being said, I don't on face condemn anybody that uses cracked software...I haven't purchased Acid & Soundforge yet. But that's not something I'm proud of. Legitimate copies of the software I use are just as high on my list of things to buy as other pieces of equipment.
With that being said, I'm lucky because my dad has a lot of old stuff I could use lying around for no particular reason:
$0: Dad's old Yamaha PSR-400 MIDI keyboard
$0: Laptop, for college use but now my DAW
$0: Marantz TT-240, old turntable
$0: 2x Shure Beta SM58 Microphones
$70: Edirol UM-2 MIDI Interface
Investments I'll be making once my income stabilizes, in no particular order: MPD16, turntable cartridges, Behringer DX626, M-Audio MobilePre, ACID 6, Behringer UB1204FX Pro, Vinyl.
Yodel.