Must have hardware and software to compliment Reason

e-clipse · #1 March 27th, 2007, 20:33

This selection IMHO is the best gear for the consumer price range.

Good Quality Nearfield Studio Monitors (JBL's, Mackies, Genelecs, Dynaudio, Events)

A Keyboard Workstation or Workstation Rack (Yamaha Motif, Roland Fantom, Korg Triton)

A Pro Midi Keyboard with Weighted Keys (M-Audio 88 Keystation Pro)

Good Synths or Rack Synths (Roland V-Synth, Access Virus TI)

A Good Audio Interface with Mic Pres (MOTU 896HD, Presonus Firepod, Digi 003 Pro-Tools)

The Right Mics (Sennheiser 421's for rappers,bass amps, kick drums, and toms/AKG C414 for acoustic instruments and vocals/AKG C-451 for overhead mics like cymbals and hats/ Rode NT1-A for vocals/ Shure 57 for snares and amps

Does anyone else have any gear that they think is vital in producing music?

_SG_ · #2 March 27th, 2007, 23:10

The most important thing of all....Creativity.
Okay that was corny.

REFILL_KING · #3 March 28th, 2007, 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by _SG_

The most important thing of all....Creativity.

YO you right..It doesnt matter what you have, i seen a dude from lodon come here to New York to take the crown in the beat battle off of MTV's music generator from PLaystation one...So dont believe all the hype about must have gear...i mean dont get me wrong they are good equipment and anyone would love to have it. but what really matters is what you MASTER once you know everything about what your using, you can become very dangerous!!!

e-clipse · #4 March 28th, 2007, 15:18

I agree, but good equipment is very important in a pro world. We have a formula we are taught in college....Every link in the chain must be good, or the quality of the music recorded will degrade with each weak component.

If you use a crappy mic, expect a worse signal to noise ratio, which sounds like crap in comparison. If you use crappy mic pres or a crappy audio interface, expect more sound degradation. Bad analog to digital converters and bad digital to analog converters= degraded audio. If you are not using creativity to your fullest, expect crap. If you know your monitors well enough, even cheap monitors do the job. Good gear makes things a little easier.

"what really matters is what you MASTER once you know everything about what your using, you can become very dangerous" very good point

_SG_ · #5 March 28th, 2007, 18:30

Yeah, they both hold significant importance.

illinnoise · #6 March 29th, 2007, 18:30

You know you are right about one thing. You are so right about haven a
good mic. Yet on the other had you don't need all the equipment you
talked about. I going to tell you what is good enough. A good working pc
wit about 1gb of memory and about 100gb of harddrive space. Reason 3.0.
for midi controllers a m-audio keystations pro, and a m-audio trigger
finger are recommended. A mixer is a must you can go wit anything mixer
that has phantom power. If wanted to go pro and use a digital mixer
rather than an analog mixer, then I would recommend a DAW controller.
For example a M-Audio Project Mix I/O. Something like that will power
you mic and control all the software you have on ya pc or mac computer.
As for speakers, there is no need for expensive monitors. A person could
go to there local Bestbuy and pay maybe $300 or $400 for a good stereo
that is pushing out about 500 watts RMS as long as it has a sub woofer
that person would be good in the sound department. Last but not lea st
I'm school ma brother there is a few things that they can not teach
you. NO.1 they can not teach you soul. This is something that ether have
or you don't. You can not be touch soul, you have a earn it. NO.2 they
can not teach you experience. Only wit time in the game you earn enough
experience points to carry the title of mega produce. Not buy going to a
music skool. I wish you all the best of luck casue I can see that you
focused. Just don't for get to put you time, blood sweet and tears in to
your music only wit that combination can you truly be successful in the
world of music.

p.s. i would love to here what make tho, you should sign up for the beat battle that REFILL_KING is hosting. check out his thread and sign up

e-clipse · #7 March 29th, 2007, 21:00

You are right in many ways.

I should not have said that this gear is a must. This is a selection of good gear for the price (bang for the buck).

Mics are very important. A mic can either sound dull, bigger than life, or accurate. It can either have a noticaeble noise or clarity.

The best monitors are the one's that you know how to translate well to other systems, such as car audio, home stereo, boombox.

A real mixer (analog or digital) is not a must, but a possible need. Today's great technology..such as the Presonus Firepod, has 8 decent mic pres, and phantom power built. Sure, if you like the hands on approach you could go with a universal controller, such as Mackie HUI. A good reason to have a real mixer is for expanding mic pres for recording a full band live including a large mic'd drumset.

Music school is very important learning process. It may not make you the next big producer, but it will teach you the ropes to make you a good producer and or engineer in more fields than just music production. How many people get to actually learn and experience Pro-Tools HD? How many get training on consoles, like a 100,000 dollar Euphonix board. College musicians are amazing! They go on to work in symphonies, studio musicians. In school you get the pleasure of working with tomorrow's talent. I have to defend the commercial music and recording industry program. Most of these students would not be at this school unless they were already gifted in music production and or engineering. The students who do not make are the ones who made it that far by mistake and are weeded out by their grades. We are tomorrow's producers, performers, and engineers. We pay are dues. I am a student of MTSU, one of the top ten music Universties in the world. I am lucky to be following my dream. As taught in pychology, most people are never reach a motivation that is in the top of the Masslow's pyramid of motivations. Most are motivated by basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Others need security. Some are driven by love needs. A lot of people are motivated by esteem needs such as the car they own or all the crap they collect. But, the tip top of the pyramid, is motivation for the bettering of self. This select few actually follow their dreams. I hope more and more people do the same.

I will eventually post some tracks.

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