What is essential for a computer studio on a buget of $650

[kingkong]

Could you list everything that i need to make a hip hop beat

 

[MIKELABZ]

i use acid pro 4.0 made by sony, reason 2.5 made by propellerhead, cool edit pro, FL studio , Goldwave or Soundforge. Im using a 40 GB e machine t2240 along with a yamaha PSR-520 keyboard. i have 6 speakers and a few headphones. A wireless pair made by SennHeiser and a pair of sony MDR-CD180. I use a stereo system made by koss to power all the speakers and i got that back when i was still in high school. overall i spent less than 300 dollars.

alot of that stuff was acquired by another person and given to me as gifts etc...and other programs such as FL Studio were freeware...

L-Rock

 

[fastlance]

650 bucks?

OK if I had the cash and im guessing you have a bare computer right?

I would get "Hardware" wise because the "software" is so acessable with out fees today,

a MIDI CONTROLER, basicly a midi keyboard or pad or both(the new korg is nice) for your musical input and a decent pair of headphones beacuse you dont have big ballin money for monitors, and a new processor and ram would help nicely and you should be on your way with anything. Oh yes, pick up a New monitor and a dual head video card, 2 monitors are a must if your serious about making music on a computer.

 

[DJFANTOM]

Yeah man what they said basicaly.
Like they said the software is "easy" to get
So focus on hard ware

Like fastlance said the korgmicroKontrol midi controler is good.
I just bought it (late christmas gift to my self)
And it rocks 16 pads and keys and 8 sliders and knobs. And the pads double as transport buttons etc. Basicaly controls any thing in any software you use. $300


sam ash has samson resolve 50a powered monitors on sale right now for $219

And a good audio card the audiophile 24/96 I believe I saw for $150

Dats a tap more than 650 but a good set up


Or if you amore sampling bangin on pads type, you can get the mpd 16 midi pad controler. It has the 16 mpc pads and is fully assignable.
$219new or you can probably find 1 used for cheaper.

And then have money left for headfones and cables.

 

[MIKELABZ]

i dont think having dual monitors is a must to produce music, but it would be cool to have.

L-Rock

 

[Sober]

650 hmmm... Definetly get a midi keyboard from M-Audio and the akai mpd 16 pads.

Midi keyboard from m-audio:
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.subfamily&ID=usbmidicontrollers

Akai mpd 16 :
http://www.zzounds.com/item--AKAMPD16

You will be set with those two creating music. Those are two very popular and recommended hardwares for any pc based studio.

Now you can add this if you have money left, you should too.

Roland DS50A - http://www.zzounds.com/item--ROLDS50A
this is a single speaker only. Which should be fine.

If you want dual monitors go with these, but they wont be as good as the roland one.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--FOSPM05



I would recommend you get an M-audio keyboard and the akai mpd 16 for sure. You don't really need a studio sound card unless your going to record vocals into your machine. So if you don't need a sound card get the fostex studio monitors, those are suppose to be hot, id rather have two monitors than one good one, its your choice.

 

[fastlance]

Originally posted by LavRock
i dont think having dual monitors is a must to produce music, but it would be cool to have.

L-Rock

Notice I said if you are "really serious" but to each his own.

 

[MIKELABZ]

are u speaking on studio monitors like sony MDR's or actual computer monitors... verify please.

L-Rock

 

[Medicine Man]

Man, I don't understand what some of you guys are writing. Never ever, ever use just one single speaker to monitor your music! Music is in stereo so you need two speakers to mix your beats down. Also, don't use more than two speakers because unless your tracks are ending up on DVD, they'll be in stereo meaning that any setup that has more than 2 speakers will totally throw of your mix. And to really make tight beats your gonna need more scrilla then 650 bucks, unless you allready have a really good computer with a profesional level soundcard.

 

[JPeg]

u dont need no mixer, just get a korg elctibe the new one is extra pro than ask some friends to get u some crakced software, cool edit is easy to learn and u can record ur output and master ur tracks.

 

[MIKELABZ]

Originally posted by Beats Perfected
Man, I don't understand what some of you guys are writing. Never ever, ever use just one single speaker to monitor your music! Music is in stereo so you need two speakers to mix your beats down. Also, don't use more than two speakers because unless your tracks are ending up on DVD, they'll be in stereo meaning that any setup that has more than 2 speakers will totally throw of your mix.

i dont think anybody on this website uses one speaker to monitor their tracks... thats just foolish... and theres no problem with using more than 2 speakers to make tracks just as long as you have another medium to listen thru (ie a pair of headphones) ...

as for myself i have a 6 speaker setup and 2 pairs of studio headphones which werks just fine for me.

L-Rock

 

[fastlance]

Originally posted by LavRock
are u speaking on studio monitors like sony MDR's or actual computer monitors... verify please.

L-Rock

Computer Monitors

 

[MIKELABZ]

yea like i said its not necessary to have two computer monitors to produce effectively altho it is an investment that i will look into in the near future.

L-Rock

 

[Medicine Man]

Originally posted by Sober
Roland DS50A - http://www.zzounds.com/item--ROLDS50A
this is a single speaker only. Which should be fine.

I just wanted this guy to know that a "single speaker only" is a really big mistake in mixing music. And one should never, ever mix music with a pair of headphones. It will make your mix sound like crap in anything but headphones. And ANYTHING other than 2 speakers to mix is not good at all. I think more cats on this site should read up or take a class in music production before giving people bad advice on technical problems.

"Music comes from the soul, while music recording comes from electricity and machines, the two should always be seperated." -Thomas Edisson, the inventor of the first sound recorder.

Here's a link to a great article about the do's and dont's of music production:

Music Production Tips

 

[Haze47]

why would you need two moniters...?

 

[MIKELABZ]

its to your advantages to test ur mix against all methods of sound output thats all im saying.

L-Rock

 

[Medicine Man]

Thats very true L-Rock. After you mix down your beats to a stereo master you should put it on CD or tape and play it in as many stereo systems as you can. And everyone's mixing up computer screens with studio monitors(speakers). In profesional music production speakers are called monitors to seperate them from home stereo speakers which would be the opposite of what you want to mix on. And since this is a site about music production we should all just say computer screen from now on, and if we say monitor it meens speaker.
Hmmm....................................

 

[Sober]

I think more cats on this site should read up or take a class in music production before giving people bad advice on technical problems.

I think some cats need to go back to school and learn how to read.

I would recommend you get an M-audio keyboard and the akai mpd 16 for sure. You don't really need a studio sound card unless your going to record vocals into your machine. So if you don't need a sound card get the fostex studio monitors, those are suppose to be hot, id rather have two monitors than one good one, its your choice.

anyways mixing is always better with two monitors but "IS POSSIBLE" with one. A lot of people mix with headphones too and the result is good enough.

I think at this point the guy is starting out in music production, 650 is a good enough. You can buy nice usb devices to compliment your needs as well as a pair of nice studio monitors.

Beats "Perfected"...lol, let this guy learn and grow, i think he doesn't need to be concerned with being precise, its not like hes going to mix great sounding tracks off the bat.

And one more thing you don't have to "let this guy know" anything, i have my own home studio kid, i know my music and how to create it.

 

[Medicine Man]

I'm just trying to help man, no need to take it personal! It seems like some people are giving bad advice and I just wanted to clear things up. And who are you to critize my name, its just a name. I'm not saying my beats are perfect, but I do have alot of experience and a degree in audio production, so I thought I could pass on some knowledge to fellow producers on this site. Sorry if I offended you or anyone else.

 

[Scholar]

i use 2 monitors and its slick Sonar3PE with reason rewired in and now you have both on the table at the same time u can see whats going on and all types of shit... i like it.