SnappleMan

Project Chaos stuff was played on a keyboard, then edited by mouse. These days I just sequence everything by mouse.

A preamp boosts input. I've never used a keyboard for audio recording, only midi, so I don't know if you'll need a preamp for that. If you want to record all 3 at once, you'll need an audio interface with multiple inputs and multiple channels. So make sure whatever you get has at least 4 independent inputs (your best choice would be something by MOTU or RME). Then you would have to route each input to seperate audio tracks in Cubase. So yeah, if you want multiple inputs on a laptop, your only option is FireWire, and spending at least $300. (again, do some research in case I don't know what I'm talking about.)

I suggest you get a PC. Macs are good, but my guess is that you've "bought" the PC versions of all that software you have... Also, there are very few differences these days between mac and PC. If you want a laptop computer, you pretty much have to get yourself a Pentium Core 2 Duo machine if you are gonna use Guitar Rig 2 and other amp simulation. As for the laptop itself, try to get a WinXP machine, but remember that for music production you'll have to do a clean install to get rid of all that "bulkware" that will most likely be installed on it. You want as much ram as possible, at the very least 1gb (recommended 2gb), and at least 120gb storage (SATA). Now, you have a few options when it comes to the soundcard. The most reliable option is getting an Echo Indigo, this is a PCMCIA card, so if you want to go this route, make sure your laptop comes with a PCMCIA port, these are old and are getting phased out in favor of the newer ExpressCard slots. Then your second option is USB or FireWire. This is a tough one, USB 2.0 is a tiny bit faster than FireWire 400, but that doesn't really matter because the best audio interface manufacturers are working only with FireWire. I use an Echo Audiofire, I get extremely low latency, no dropouts, great audio clarity. The problem is that the Audiofire series is relatively new, so drivers for it (while very solid) have a couple of annoyances. The preamp thing is necessary because unless you have an active guitar (if you need to have a battery in there, it's active) you'll need the input boost to make Guitar Rig 2 work perfectly. I don't know about any of the other USB or FireWire interfaces, but the AudioFire 4 has build in preamps (research this so I don't mislead you by accident). As far as monitors go, you definitely need monitors, two of them. Don't worry about mixing in surround sound or any of that bullshit because you wont be working on feature films anytime soon (and if you ARE, I'm full of shit and more power to ya!). Get yourself a pair of entry level monitors by KRK, Event, or Alesis, and be sure to also pick up some Auralex isolation pads for your monitors.

What kind of music do you primarily want to create?

Absolutely not. Just because it can record audio and support plugins doesn't make it a true DAW. It has some DAW features, but the working environment is based on loops and sampling. This makes FL more of an instrument than a DAW.

FLStudio is NOT a DAW. That's the most common misconception people here on OCR have. FLStudio is a synth/sampler with a piano roll, nothing more.

Fruity Loops is NOT a good place to start. Stop recommending it! And Metal_days, being a drummer doesn't excuse you from not knowing any music theory. The best place to start is getting some books or using Google to find lessons on theory. Then when as you learn, you'll want to get yourself a keyboard to play around with. Your ultimate goal SHOULD be to record live drum tracks for your songs, and for that Fruity Loops will fail you. As well as theory, make it a point to learn about multi-tracking and drum recording.

I would love to do this, but there is no way I can. I posted a mixing project a few months ago, finished audio tracks that the people here could mix and master, but as far as posting a project file, that's impossible. First of all, not many people here use Cubase, and even if I were to post a zip with midi+audio files, it would be about 500mb in size. Also, every project is dependent on the virtual instruments and plug-ins I use... so yeah, no SnappleMan project files here. Now, if you want to get specific, and have people post MIDI recordings of leads and other non plug-in dependent stuff, that would work. That way anyone can import it, and use whatever instruments or synths they want (given that the file would be compliant with GM or not use any exclusive events). If anyone ever wants some Drumkit From Hell Superior MIDIs of mine, or MIDI recordings I use in my projects, they're welcome.

Aside from keeping the guitars in their cases, you really should get isolation pads for those Mackies, Analoq. Otherwise, great setup! Simple, elegant! Now if you only had the talent to match your wallet (KIDDING )!

Now if you only knew how to use all that properly...

This "starter" bullshit is pissing me off. If you start with a loop based program like Reason or FL you'll be learning a very limited way of making music. Even if FL has some DAW-like features it doesn't come close to real DAW when it comes to quality and efficiency. If you actually evolve musically using FL you'll quickly discover that it has crippled you and switching over to something good will be even more difficult than starting out with it in the first place. Your best bet is to go for something like Cubase SE, it's affordable and gives you a REAL starting point. That way you can learn to create music in a more natural pace and work-flow. DAWs like Cubase, Sonar or Logic may be more difficult to learn than FL, but it pays off as soon as you start creating music with them. It may be tempting to download Reason or FL and make music quickly, but the music will most likely suck, and you'll become yet another *NO* in the sea of crappy remixers that is most of OCR. Yeah, I'm an asshole, but I speak the truth.

Doesn't work too well. To successfully turn this into an orchestrated piece you'll have to rewrite it so it has more than 3 layers. It's still very clearly a rock song, which now sounds funny because it's being played by a virtual orchestra.

That was needlessly mean

It IS a midi rip, from NSF2MIDI, which exports midis off time, off rhythm, and with ghost notes you're not supposed to hear. I don't care about music deviation or whatever. Just make it SOUND like music. I don't care if it's note for note the same as the original, just make it sound like a song.

No amount of progress can save this. It is not music. You just ripped off some guy who worked his ass off to create the MIDI you used, all you did was put a really bad drum loop over it, and ruin it by changing the patches and taking out the rhythm section which is the best part of the original song. You fail. It doesn't really matter if you used an existing MIDI or NSF2MIDI, it would be acceptable if you put some effort into it, and knew what you were doing BEFORE you tried to create a song. Learn some music before you try this again. If you can't be bothered to learn something, then you are destined to keep failing and wasting everyones time.

First off, Megaupload fucking blows, you lose points for the popups and bullshit I had to go through just to get this crappy song! Now on to the song... actually no. This song is too bad to warrant a review. There is nothing musical happening here. You downloaded a midi from VGmusic.com, imported it, and raped it.

I don't like this. I can tell what you were going for, but you failed. It sounds empty because there is no percussion, and you took all the elements of the main theme and turned them against each other by making some bad instrument choices. There is no body to the song, it sounds like random notes thrown together at times, especially during the section starting at 1:11. There are too many things missing to make this a song just yet. The first section (0:00 - 1:10) would work as an introduction to a powerful and heavy song.

Elitists? You mean those of us who know something about music?

The first good thing to happen to this thread since page 1! Listen to StarBlast, he's not half bad (not half good either).

Then why don't you add some rhythm guitars too? And lead guitars? Not just a solo. Come on man, seriously.

Too close to the original? Shut up. Anyway, this track is lacking quite a bit of depth, both in how it sounds and in the arrangement. You've got some cool ideas going in and out, the arpeggios you've strewn all over the place, do add a nice touch. But, the problem is that you didn't arrange the song well in terms of the pace and progression. What I mean is the same thing that Dr.Rod was trying to say but labeled it wrong. It's not that it's close to the original, it's that you repeat the same melody and rhythm over and over. It's acceptable to keep the rhythm section the same through the song if you want, but the melody has to change at some point and play something interesting. The thing you have to do to make this song enjoyable is to keep the intro the way it is, then instead of repeating the same section 200 times, play it twice with some slight variation on the melody during the second repetition, and instead of repeating it a third time, add one measure's worth of a transitional wankery. What works well is something like a keyboard solo that transitions into the next section, which SHOULD be a new rhythm based on the origina songs rhythm, which you can solo over or add in your own leads (which again, are based on those of the original song). A good thing to do is write out your progression, like this: Intro->original(repeat 1)->transition->new rhythm->original->outro Aside from the arrangement, the sounds you're using completely fail. The drums are GM sounding and very flat and boring. You need something with life and dynamics, I suggest you go download NS_Kit, it's free and sounds decent. Reverb is good, but only in moderation, this song is swimming in a sea of a flat 7up.

How is this topic at all relevant to remixing? This is the type of shit that goes in general discussion.

Where did I say Crush? YOU LOSE!

Also, why are you posting universally irrelevant bullshit in a forum that has nothing to do with it?

By daily plan I mean setting aside time every day to study music. Break it up into a school schedule type routine where you divide all your time into chunks, each devoted to a certain thing. I do this with practicing instruments. Spending half an hour each on practicing scales, finger training, etc.