Software VS Equipment?

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dacalion

Hands Of FIRE!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 259
There are a million factors that come into play with a question like this from "how much money do you want to spend?" to "how serious are you about your music?" but a general answer to a very general question would be - both! There is hardware that can't be replaced by software and vice versa.
 

Pug

IllMuzik Mortician
Moderator
ill o.g.
I would strongly recommend testing out some software/hardware before making any final decisions. Both have advantages and disadvantages, and honestly, the only way to tell if you'll like something is by using it first. Of course, you might not have that option, but if you do, try out different things and see what you like.
 

Medl4

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 69
Reason is what I started on & still use to this day. It gave me a basic understanding of what machines are out there & what they can do.
It was put to me like this "Reason can be as simple or as complicated you wish it to be" That I found to be true, for a beginner, you can turn it on and make a basic drum loop & melody in about 5 minuets. Or you can spend hours crafting a masterpiece. It has sampling capabilities as well as everything you need to make your own melodies. It's good for a lot more than hip hop as well, so if you decide to make dubstep or jungle or anything else, you wont have wasted your money. Just do me a favore if you get it, dont use the dr.rex premade drum loops, thats just weak.
 
From personal experience Id say go with software first.

Using software you first first learn what each thing is...

DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) Software
Reason, Pro Tools, Logic, Acid Pro, FL Studio are some examples

The mixing and mastering tools

Reverb, Delay, Compression/Limiting, Expansion, Stereo Expansion/Reduction, EQ'ing, Chorus, Noise Reduction all available as software and hardware, but once you learn how each one works, it doesnt matter if your using either hardware or software, the tools do the same thing, hardware is more hands on, but the principle of each tool remains the same.

You really dont need to worry about hardware until you are proficient in using the tools above in their software versions.

Software will be cheaper, and so would be a better route for a beginner.
And if you find that music production is something you would like to stick with, then you can take your success as an artist and put the money back into some hardware. But that stuff can run into the thousands of dollars.
But then so can software.

The best advice for any beginner of anything, as already stated, "Start Small"
Its best to find out music production isnt for you before you have spent thousands on equipment and not after.

There is some hardware that you will never be able to avoid having to get..

A good pc/mac, Id personally say at least a quad core upto i3,i5,i7.
This is necessary to run all the software so has to be powerful.
Decent Studio Monitors....... These are so damn important.
A good audio interface with a decent output 24bit 192kbps with low latency... This is also very important.
The better the quality of sound that reaches your ears the easier it is to know what needs to be done.
A midi controller is also essential, Id recommend a keyboard at least, and maybe even a MPD controller.

A turntable/cdj, mixer and serato is an optional extra if you intend to add scratches to your tracks.
 

JaxxForever

ILLIEN
This question is to broad first of all. What are your goals? What type of music are you wanting to make?

As a very general answer, I would say if you are just starting out. Go software.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm planning to make my own beats and dubstep.
I enjoy electronic music (trance, techno and etc) but of course I need to do this step by step.
As a starter, my first goal is to choose the best software/equipment and compose my own music.
Since you mentioned that using a software is preferred for a starter then I think I should go for it.
I also learned from other forums, that software is much easier when it comes to music editing and also much cheaper than buying an MPC.
 

Relic

Voice of Illmuzik Radio
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 83
You can only use a Korg s-3 or you wont be allowed to make music.
Google image it.
 

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thedreampolice

A backwards poet writes inverse.
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 21
Well you know I am a Reason guy through and through. But I think FL may be a bit easier to start with if you know nothing and are just a beginner. Reason however is great in that it will teach you what every little thing does in audio. With Reason for example you can spend time and really learn how an arp works, or a vocoder in a way no other program can teach.
 

thedreampolice

A backwards poet writes inverse.
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 21
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