first off, this is NOT a thread in which to post your music. way too many of those. this is a thread for those of us who have chosen this particular field of creative expression to share our thoughts and feelings as to why we have done so. heres what im lookin for. 1. Your setup (controllers, monitors, headphones, DAW of choice, etc) 2. Why you feel this is the best way to express yourself musically (or creatively in general) 3. What you hope to get out of it. 4. What you hope your listeners to take away from it. ..you get what i mean ill start i use an MPD 24, Novation Launchpad, Sennheisr HD 595 headphones, M-Audio BX5A monitors. i use an HP laptop running Ableton Live as my sequencer, NI Massive, Absynth etc for the majority of my sounds. the world of music, for me as a musician (played guitar for about 10 years) blew up when i heard of the possibilities of todays digital audio workstations (ableton particularly). after exploring them, my hair was being continuously blown back. it didnt take long for me to realize there was no better way to assemble my ideas and sounds. to me this is all a process of self discovery. im learning a lot, and hope to never stop learning.. about music, myself, my surroundings etc. music has always been my saving grace, what keeps me going and motivated. overall its what keeps me happy, and with this new form of expression, i can only imagine how happy i am capable of being. finally, i want the people that listen to what i create to do one of two things as a result of hearing my music; move or be moved. that is to say if i can get people to dance to my music, i did my job. if i can get them to feel moved or inspired by what i write, im happy. if i can get them to do a combination of the two, im ecstatic. your turn
You gotta setup your guitar through midi and start using that as well man, there's incredible things that can be done. Really digging your setup, I'd love to see a video of you interacting with it and performing. Very interested to see. I'm anticipating my purchase of Absynth! Have you ever considered producing? I make my own electronic music on Logic Pro, here's my live setup. I've got the Traktor X1 to give me a complete grip on Traktor, running Traktor Scratch Pro on a Macbook Pro 15"; and a Korg Nanokontrol just to keep me away from the computer as much as possible and keep me on buttons and faders. I use the Audio 8 DJ interface soundcard so my Behringer DDM 4000 mixer can have four channels of digital sound from my computer. I use two Stanton T20's to use control vinyl to maneuver decks 1 and 4. But I'm now using an amended system, where I run Logic Pro (my DAW), and route that through channel one. I can then play the midi synth (axiom 49) through channel one, along with a vocalist on the recording setup through logic pro. The axiom gives me an enormous range of opportunities with the drum pad, and with the infinite sounds I can essentially modulate. I cut my own music apart so I can perform it basically live through channel 2-4. For my personal use I'm listening to a pair of M-audio studiophile AV-40's, and my headphones are Denon DN-HP700's. So in laymen's term, the live setup is: I have a channel for a synthesizer and vocals from a nice pop filtered mic with effects, a channel for a mic, and three channels for music (of which I like to use my own cutup music). I'm mad baked, but this thread should be really good, love talking about this shit; really nice to hear your angle and perspective of this hands on interaction we get to have with music. Took piano lessons for like less than a couple months, so all I really knew about music was how to score it, notes on the piano, and pretty much just the bare basics. I did take that tiny piece of information I learned and ran with it though. I started out just mixing music and the whole dj likes, but I found that with DJing I started to explore new types of music, and really found the stuff that takes my breath away. I felt so passionate about this newfound music and it just kept expanding, so naturally I considered making some myself. Just released my fourth album three days ago (the first album was actually through ableton). I marvel at how much music used to be so slow-coming, but when I learned to explore new artists, it was just an explosion of sounds that completely consumed me. And does to this day. I can't say there's anything in the world I love more than playing a song I love to a friend. Or to anyone for that matter. I just hope that for 2 seconds they can experience that feeling I get when an artist puts the perfect emotion and feeling into a song and truly expresses themselves. We can touch music.
nice rex. thanks for replying. i would get a video of me mixing, sadly i dont own a video camera.. in fact ive never owned one.. should get on that. decks are tight but i dont think id ever wanna pursue making music with them. ive never really tried rocking decks and a mixer, and i imagine id like it if i did, but for what i want to do right now, basic MIDI controllers are perfect. i neglected to mention what i initially wanted to share, and that is the main reason why i want to make music.. in the summer of 08 and winter of 09 i went to 3 festivals (SummerCamp in IL, Underground Sound 4 also in IL, Mile High in CO) and a handful of individual shows. the acts i saw included STS9, Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, Pnuma Trio, Lotus, Glitch Mob and many more. after seeing these performers do what they do, and what they did to the audience (including me), i was astounded. i felt it only right that i reciprocate somehow. thus i am building upon my own musical understanding to do just that, attempt to make others feel the same as i when i saw all those artists. i feel compelled to give back, however i can.
Awesome posts guys! I just recently got into creating and manipulating music last year, which then i bought a Numark Mixdeck (2 Channel Mixer) just to get me started and get familiar with how the equipment works. I just bought Komplete 7 so i can start producing my own tracks through FL studio. I think my next purchase will either be an Akai MPD24 or a 4 channel mixer of some sort. Also i run everything through Traktor on my 13" Macbook Pro But really i don't do it to make money from it or really ever plan too, i create my own mix's to blend tracks together in a way that i like so when i go snowboarding or just working it fits nicely. I just enjoy it and i'll play music for my friends house party's and stuff.. Hopefully i can share my hobby with the world one day.. But for now i'm just a beginner and learning how to manipulate, control, distort, and blend sound. I'd like to find something more hands on than just mixing though. Mixing is awesome but i want to be more creative / produce. Any tips?
It looks like a nice all inclusive piece, just checked it out. For the equivalent, I route Logic Pro into a channel of my mixer so with my midi keyboard, the axiom, I can modulate the sound/screw with the instrument while I play it. It's a pretty neat setup, I mention it because you could produce on Logic as well. Even if you purchase Logic Pro and the axiom, they are still cheaper than the OP-1. It's really up to you, have a DAW do that and use midi, or just use the OP-1. Pretty neat piece.
I personally love it, it has a very straightforward approach and logical placement for things. Tutorials are abundant, and with the help of a lot of people online I was able to learn a lot quickly, and the manual is really great. Ableton is nice if you want a live interface as well.