S.Ave Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 I've been looking around, because I want to get into the remix community very badly. I have been trying Fruity Loops and Prop-head Reason Demos, but manually putting in notes is driving me insane. I'd rather do it with a midi controller. I'm on a very tight budget (due to me being a high school student and having a pretty lame job.) but i'm seriously ready to start getting good at arranging/composing. I'm going to buy the software of my choice as soon as I get the money. I'm already good at recording guitar (and even better at playing it) and I am really itching to bust out a couple final fantasy songs on guitar that i have in mind. Well, to the questions. Korg K61? Buy or Keep looking? It seems pretty good to me, and has everything I really need. There are no reviews on it, and i was wondering if anyone got to play on one yet. (They were at the NAMM 2006 show, so they are relatively new.) Does USB MIDI work as well as the standard MIDI cable connector (when connecting to computers)? When recording MIDI, is perfect timing an essential? What I mean, is does it cut stuff off when you go back to look at it (questioning reason/fruityloops), or is it like real-time recording in cakewalk? I have an SB Live! 24-bit. Will I need to upgrade to an Audigy? Thanks for answering any of my questions, it is truely appreciated. My Computer: 2.4Ghz P4 (no HT) 1024MB DDR333 RAM SB Live! 24-bit SB PC128 (I was too lazy to take the old one out. I have it disabled.) Geforce 6200 TD (for playing my PSX games, i know i dont need it) I have it connected to the internet, but i am thinking about having a second computer with no Internet Access being built. This is the plan. Tell me what you think: AMD 64 3000+ (HT) 1024 DDR400 RAM SB Audigy or Live Nforce Motherboard Video Enough Fans to allow 24-7 cooling during hot summers. (my room gets around 85 degrees during summers, and i already leave my computers on all day.) I work at a computer store, so I can get wholesale prices on all my computer parts, I could probably build this machine for under 400. Well, thanks for looking at this. Just tell me what you think. I'm curious about all this. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 I've been looking around, because I want to get into the remix community very badly. I have been trying Fruity Loops and Prop-head Reason Demos, but manually putting in notes is driving me insane. I'd rather do it with a midi controller.I'm on a very tight budget (due to me being a high school student and having a pretty lame job.) but i'm seriously ready to start getting good at arranging/composing. I'm going to buy the software of my choice as soon as I get the money. I'm already good at recording guitar (and even better at playing it) and I am really itching to bust out a couple final fantasy songs on guitar that i have in mind. Well, to the questions. Korg K61? Buy or Keep looking? It seems pretty good to me, and has everything I really need. There are no reviews on it, and i was wondering if anyone got to play on one yet. (They were at the NAMM 2006 show, so they are relatively new.) If you just want a MIDI controller, that could be a good choice. You would have to compare it to Edirol, M-Audio, Studiologic (etc) keyboards to see exactly which one you like more. They all have similar features. Does USB MIDI work as well as the standard MIDI cable connector (when connecting to computers)? Not sure what you mean here. Could you be a little more clear? When recording MIDI, is perfect timing an essential? What I mean, is does it cut stuff off when you go back to look at it (questioning reason/fruityloops), or is it like real-time recording in cakewalk? Again, not sure what you mean by "cut stuff off when you go back to look at it". But no, perfect timing is not essential. You can always quantize or manually edit the notes later. I have an SB Live! 24-bit. Will I need to upgrade to an Audigy? Don't upgrade to an Audigy! If you want a good soundcard for CREATING music, you want something like an EMU 0404. My Computer:2.4Ghz P4 (no HT) 1024MB DDR333 RAM SB Live! 24-bit SB PC128 (I was too lazy to take the old one out. I have it disabled.) Geforce 6200 TD (for playing my PSX games, i know i dont need it) Not a bad machine. This is the plan. Tell me what you think:AMD 64 3000+ (HT) 1024 DDR400 RAM SB Audigy or Live Nforce Motherboard Video Enough Fans to allow 24-7 cooling during hot summers. (my room gets around 85 degrees during summers, and i already leave my computers on all day.) This however is not much of an upgrade. In terms of creating music, you want lots and lots of storage space and RAM. If you are planning on building a new computer (something that you really don't have to do given your current specs) I would max it out at 2GB RAM and the best processor you can find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.Ave Posted March 6, 2006 Author Share Posted March 6, 2006 You're right. About the USB MIDI thing, The controllers have a standard midi out, and a USB midi out. I was wondering if USB MIDI performed any worse. I'll look into the EMU 0404 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Oh, no. USB MIDI is exactly the same as standard MIDI cabling in terms of function and performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 USB cables can actually handle way more information than MIDI cables [uSB1.1 even], so yeah you're fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylance Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Enough Fans to allow 24-7 cooling during hot summers. (my room gets around 85 degrees during summers, and i already leave my computers on all day.) HAHAHAHA! Dude, it gets to 120 here in the summer (100 in my room), and I've never had a problem with overheating. Anyways, your current computer will be fine for some nice FL or Reason work. I would suggest you put that 400 bucks into a controller keyboard (like any of these) and a new sound card, and not to mention the program you want to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.Ave Posted March 6, 2006 Author Share Posted March 6, 2006 Is there anything negative about getting a keyboard with less keys. I was wanting to learn alot of the nobuo uematsu peices and I want to have enough keys to play them comfortably. Those CME's are nice. =) Do they really play that well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 Uematsu on keys? You'll need maybe like one or two octaves. Actually, if all you want to is record lines with your keyboard [like melody and basslines] 2-3 octave keyboards are fine, but if you want to do piano solos I would go for at the very least a velocity sensitive 63-key synth/controller and recommend the full 88 keys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 soc; basically every keyboard on sale now is velocity sensitive. I assume you mean "weighted". Also if you're inputting stuff one hand at a time, yes, 3 octaves or so is all you NEED.. but trust me, the more keys the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 soc; basically every keyboard on sale now is velocity sensitive Your mom is velocity sensitive :3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.Ave Posted March 7, 2006 Author Share Posted March 7, 2006 The CME UF7 looks about enough. I don't want something entirely too large, but something good enough to learn on and not be disappointed later on. I was really wanting some weighted keys, because I hate that plasticy feel to keyboards, and I want something I can strengthen my fingers on just a bit. Thanks for all the opinions. Edit: I was looking at musiciansfriend reviews, and i know they dont matter much, but they weren't very good. Do you own one, Zoola? Could you vouch their quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylance Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 I own the UF6, and I love it. The feel is nice, and the knobs and sliders are a real help in composing. Besides, it looks awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.Ave Posted March 7, 2006 Author Share Posted March 7, 2006 That it does. I'm paying off my fourth guitar, so as soon as I do, i'll buy the UF7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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