Yoozer

Upgrade the internal drive anyway, you'll love it. A software sampler like Kontakt has several ways to get the data from the disk; streaming (which might clog up your FW bus pretty fast), or in RAM (which would drain your available processing power) Having the samples on the internal drive would certainly be faster when loading, and probably more pleassant to work with. For "loose" collections - percussion/FX/ambience samples that aren't part of a library, you could use the external drive.

Well, that's the thing with names. You got people who can't kick the habit of calling it HOW DO I REMIX, and Fruity Loops still has enormous brand recognition, even though they got rid of the name.

Have you listened to the remixes here on the site? Can you identify for me which ones were made with FL Studio? Without looking at the composer's profile to see what they generally use? If you can't, what you're saying here is pretty damn ignorant. Really, anything hosts VST or AU plugins - except for Reason. Even Reason doesn't sound like Reason. The reason FL Studio sounds like FL Studio in a lot of cases is simply because people don't venture go beyond the standard samples and plugins. When a plugin is running in there and you use that, the host doesn't matter. When you are using a sample library, even the plugin doesn't matter (unless you're talking about typical features not found on other samplers). Fruity, Producer and XXL have this as a feature. It's not so much that it's touchy - it's just a rather silly comparison. When you're making music, are you dealing with OS X or your Mac? No, you're dealing with Logic. The application is what matters - your plugins are what matters, and if one of the two runs what you need, that's what you pick.

That's because you don't make music with the Mac or OS X but with your sequencer software . That's what counts. Forum member analoq uses Logic afaik. Also, a better thread title would have been "Any Logic/ProTools users here?". Furthermore, check the OCR Cribs thread - enough people with a Mac. Not the majority, but certainly more than just you alone

For single samples/loops/effects: Are they usable for your project? If so, good. If not, are they usable for another project? If so, good. If not, can you manipulate them (using effects, EQ, compression, etc) in such a way that they become usable for your project? If so, good. If not, are parts of them usable for your project (e.g. cut out a kick-ass snare out of a weak-ass loop)? If so, good. If not, can the sample be spiced up with effects? If so, good. If not, you're probably not using effects enough; then again, if you have to pipe everything through a horrible modular mess of effects to get anything useful out of it, you may ask yourself if the sample is of any use, or if it's just your effects chain being awesome. The more effort you have to put in it, the less attractive it becomes to use the sample, unless you're doing sounddesign instead of composition. Even then, raw material is important; you can't polish a turd. For entire libraries of loops/effects/percussion: Is there enough variation, or is 01_c3_kick_001.wav very similar to 01_c3_kick_135.wav? (unless intended; for instance, a TR909 has several settings for the kick drum, and per-knob settings/combinations give you the entire range. Even then, looking into a modeling solution is an option). Do the loops blend properly - e.g., if they're meant to sound like a whole, do they? For entire libraries of instruments: For "natural" instruments - have all velocity layers been recorded properly and have they been programmed properly? For piano, do you notice the velocity switching or zone switching? Are there loop points, and are they noticeable? Velocity switching: a noticeable or steep difference in volume or character when you play with a velocity that's only a bit higher. Zone switching: when you have a sampled acoustic piano which consists of only a few samples that are transposed up or down the keyboard, adjacent notes may have a noticeably different character. This has a jarring effect; it should be smooth and not noticeable. For "synthetic" instruments - are there noticeable loop points when you play a note? Does the sound suddenly lose its liveliness and animation when you hold it for a while? Do you hear a clicking sound or a dip/peak in volume because someone did a sloppy job on programming/normalizing the loop? (rather unforgivable unless you're using it deliberately as an effect). For hard-to-sample sounds like FM, ringmodulation, PWM, oscillator detune and oscillator sync, it's often a better choice to just use a modeled instrument, since it can do those effects - and won't take up as much space, plus that it won't trouble you with loop points. Due to CPU constraints, they may not sound as good, though. On the other hand, for those aforementioned sounds, sampling can be a solution if the original machine doesn't offer zone/velocity switching - you could sample a non-velocity sensitive Moog with different sync levels so you'd suddenly have a velocity-sensitive patch.

Seeing that big harddisks are cheap as chips and that $10 more gives you 24/96 it's a no-brainer, really. http://flstudio.image-line.com/help/html/plugins/FPC.htm could load 'm up and do what you wanted.

Ever watched an orchestra play, with a conductor? If he wants to emphasize instruments, he'll tell the rest of the players to either shut up or play pianissimo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestra#Classical_Orchestra

So you meant that if you put that in the topic title the question would've been "how do you remix". Haha. I pick a song I like. I listen to it carefully - MIDI files actually complicate things more for me. I then pick a style I'd like to hear it done in, or attempt to fix the shortcomings in the original (e.g. too repetetive, no effects to properly convey ambience), and out rolls the new version. Remixing is after all just making music, no fairy dust involved. Don't ask, just go do it. What's holding you back? You don't have instruments? You don't know what you need? Of course you do, there's a zillion sticky topics up there describing exactly what you need. Why can't you? You lack the software? Again, see the stickies, go try stuff out, don't ask "what's the best x" because that doesn't exist. What you can get is something you can afford, and something that thinks the same way you do when you want to make music. Ask the right questions in the right way - you'll get the right answers.

I don't envy your job in this, djp - there's a crapton of information at the frontpage now and you have to organize all of it in an optimal way, it's like juggling several cactuses. I do hope the workshop menu item gets a dropdown menu for the separate forums, though . While you're right that there's far more in Remixing than just remixing, "production" might've been a good name too (as it deals with both the process and its results).

Well, if you had a clear mp3 file or Youtube demo in the topic start, we could've told you so directly . It is most likely a tracker. This is a combination of a sampler and a sequencer. "Synthesizer" is a very broad term. The signal flow of a subtractive synthesizer can be shown as follows: oscillators -> filters -> amplifiers Grossly ignoring vast parts of the history of synthesizers, here's a short summary - oscillators can be fully analog (Minimoog), analog but digitally controlled (Juno-60, C64 SID chip), digital (Korg DW-8000 - those basically repeat a very small single-cycle sample; an Amiga can do the same), or based on a longer, not always looped recording of a sample. A sampler is different in pretty much one way; you are allowed to overwrite the sounds and use your own recordings, while the Korg M1 demo'd below has sounds fixed in ROM. Analog filters aren't that hard to build, but if you want 8 notes of polyphony, you need 8 of those filters. The DW-8000 has analog filters; the first sample-based oscillator synthesizers lacked filters because they demanded too much of the CPU, and it took Korg for instance a long time to implement a resonant lowpass (which can make the sound squelch - it's the whistling effect you are probably familiar with). In arcade boards like this, it's likely that filters weren't needed, and the advantage of using a sample-based synthesizer is that it can play back the effects too. In - the first sound you hear doesn't even have to be recorded; there are several ways to generate this sound using looped single-cycle samples and careful volume control to mimic the echo.What gives it away is the slap bass sound in the video; compare with the Slap Bass here: http://www.synthmania.com/m1.htm . This one might sound better because the synth's memory is 4 mb - but you can already cram an awful lot of useful material in 1 mb if you wanted to, especially with lower fidelity (22khz, 8 bit).

With synthesizers, the question is - "how well does it emulate a piano?" With videogame sound, it's similar. You get basic pulsewaves to FM synthesis in the Genesis to tracker-like sample-based sound on the Super Nintendo, and parallel the Neo Geo which combines FM with ADPCM (samples) to even higher-quality sample-based tracking like on the Nintendo 64 and CD-based soundtracks. From Snappleman's comment I deduce it's sample-based - and in that case you already have your emulation, just not the library.

Since this topic might be locked until further notice (e.g. you finished reading the sticky topics), specify a budget. "Cheap" or "not too expensive" does not qualify - give us a hard number of dollars, euros or pounds.

If you can get away with it, why not? Excellent - but your posts only told me you had a Mac w/ GB and Logic, so... (also, several people spent clicking everything in FL Studio's piano roll for a long while until they got controllers. It's a way of doing things, just not a particularly good one if you want to avoid RSI ).

Rule 1: (straight from the Buddha) - Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. Rule 2: There are rules. There are no rules. There are no rules because nobody's holding a gun to your head when you're working, saying he'll pull the trigger when you do something wrong or out of bounds or anything that's not recommended. There are rules because mankind has been making music for millennia, and using recording gear for several decates. By now we've got a reasonably good idea of what works and what doesn't. Don't reinvent the wheel, but take every chance to study it and think of how you could improve it, and keep yourself asking why someone does something in such a way. Rule 3: MIDI is not audio. MIDI is to audio as sheet music is to a CD - one tells you what you should play, but not how it sounds; the other tells you what it sounds like, but not how you should play it. Rule 4: Use anything that does the job. Constrained art can be fun; constrained thinking isn't. Rule 5: If it sounds good, it is good. We'll tell you if it doesn't sound good, and we'll be merciless. Rule 6: Tell a story, go into a direction. While pop is about boy meets girl or vice-versa, abstract techno may be about a sunset or avalanche. Ambient has direction and a theme, too. Electronic music without direction isn't fun to listen to. Rule 7: Buying the same synth as your favorite remixer/DJ/artist won't guarantee anything. More gear never made anyone a better composer or player. Learn how to play; learn the scales and the chords, because it means you'll write your ideas with far more ease. Rule 8: Each sequencer has its own philosophy. If you feel a piece of software is not cooperating with you (when you have an idea of what you want to do and know the steps), switch. Rule 9: "Professional" means that you're making money with it, nothing less, nothing more. Rule 10: Re-learning a piece of software from scratch after you've switched may take up to 3-6 months if you've been using the previous software for a year or 2. Right now you still have all the choice. Rule 11: Plugins have knobs. They're meant to be used; if the sound you're looking for is not in the presets, roll your own. If you don't know what the text on the label means; doesn't matter, just memorize and learn by rote what its effect is. If it doesn't do anything, it depends on something else. Rule 12: A DAW consists of a computer, software, a controller and an audio interface. Picking all these depends on your budget, so if we know that, we can recommend something. Rule 13: Writing 10 tracks and getting 1 gem in the rubble is better than writing 1 song that's 90% rubble. Rule 14: Memorize. Google. Wiki. Look up any word you don't know. Don't be afraid to make mistakes; don't be afraid to screw it up, and don't be afraid to spend an hour messing with something; you'll emerge wiser from it. Experiment, but don't experiment randomly; write down your findings and systematically try to find out what things do. Rule 15: Simplify. Don't throw complete mastering effects over your final mix that consist of a dozen buttons while you don't know what 10% of 'm do. Logic Express has a clearly laid out set of effects; throw in a simple drum loop and use one effect at a time, and find out what it does. Rule 16: If you're not writing anything experimental; if it doesn't sound good on a regular piano, you probably should start over again. Rule 17: Don't be afraid to copy, but copy wisely: instead of asking how each sound in a track is made, rather take the structure of a track, write down at which measure you start hearing things (or elements are taken away), and see if you can use that as a skeleton. Rule 18: Less is more is not about numbers but about focus. That said, having 200 free plugins just because you can have 'm is probably not a good idea. Rule 19: Show what you've done when you have questions. If you don't have the correct terminology, add (cropped) screenshots, add audio demos, add Youtube videos with the exact time of when something happens. You'll see that people at all forums are far more willing to help you out than when you'd scream HEEELLLLPPPP!!! in the topic title and ask how Tiesto does this one sound in that track nobody heard of but you know what I'm talking about right? Rule 20: The reason people stick to certain pieces of software or hardware is either because they've started out with it and are fluent in it to the point where they no longer have to think in order to do something; they just do - or because back then it was cheap, and it was all they could afford. This is so true for such a large part of all electronic music that it's not even funny. There's also the point where they finally get a load of money and then buy everything they've been dreaming of since they saw it in the music store. Rule 21: Take care of your ears; after your brain, they're your most important piece of equipment. Rule 22: You usually don't hear a sound on its own; almost always, effects come into play. Obvious example: 1 and 2 - both are the same (free) plugin with the same sound dialed in. Rule 23: Record anything anywhere at all times. Your harddisk is big enough; there's no reason to throw anything away. Consider your crappy ideas folder like a modern garbage dump - in the future, we'll start mining them for resources. Even if it's just a 4 or 8 bar loop; don't keep waiting for that perfect song to come by. Rule 24: Music theory. It makes you a better writer if you read other books; it makes you a better composer if you figure out how everyone else did it. Rule 25: Make sure your studio is a comfortable working enviroment where you don't get disturbed. A clean desk is a clean mind; a clean setup is a clean start. You will not be happier if you first have to do all kinds of cleaning on either the computer or in the room if it blocks you from doing anything. Look into templates and take your time to make a setup you can start from; you should not have to configure everything every single time. Rule 26: Whenever you read little nuggets of studio wisdom, like EQ charts - http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles/eqprimer.php or http://www.ethanwiner.com/equalizers.html - always keep in mind that most of the time they can't be applied to electronic music since they're for real instruments. Those nuggets of wisdom may prove to be nuggets of poo if you blindly follow them and apply them to the wrong thing. See also: rule 2. Rule 34: There is porn of it. No exceptions.

http://www.ymck.net/download/index.html http://refx.com/?page=products/quadrasid/summary Just record them from an emulator. Yes, it's not quickly, but a little effort won't kill you.

The latter. The interface does suck, though. It doesn't use screen real estate properly at all, and it's got awkwardly hidden controls.

Do yourself one favor: don't get something like Izotope Ozone which comes with a load of presets. Its interface is horrible and it'll do more bad than good. Learn what (software) EQs and compressors do - start with just mixing 2 channels. Keep the signal flow as simple as possible and see how much you can do (or how little you have to do) when you just put an EQ on each track and a compressor on the master. Use something like Voxengo SPAN to check out what happens to the frequency spectrum. An expensive plugin won't replace a good set of ears - and more important, it won't tell you what you have to hear or what you are supposed to be listnening to. It's not a black art, but it'll take lots of practice. Also, focus on mixing first. Mastering is the spit-shine and won't fix turds.

One such VST is Synth1. Try to rebuild this (don't pay attention to the name of the preset, just to the knob positions).

Oh wait, you wanted an explanation about the Web 2.0 comparison, not what the box did. Whoops, sorry! .

It's a portable synthesizer, with a body made of a solid block of aluminum. The encoders are high-quality; the OLED used will be in stock for 5 years, and currently they're busy in Taiwan to set up a production line. The innards consist of an Analog Devices DSP and 1gb of internal memory. The concept is not that far removed from that of a MonoMachine in the sense that you get a compact synthesizer with several methods of synthesis - FM, virtual analog, SID-like, etc, small enough to take with you. Projected price is around 600 euros. There's only a single design mistake I can see, and that is that they've only got 14 of the long, pill-shaped "white keys" instead of 16.

Read on and look at Studio One, which is what this should've been.

You'll spend 3-6 months re-learning everything that you could do fluently in FL Studio (or any previous DAW you've spent time in) and don't bother with Reason other than using it as a plugin or sketchpad; it can't do as much as you could do in FL Studio.

Exactly. You only "need" this when you have 24 hours left and it should sound mindblowing and stuff. pcmus1c's software collection sounds pretty good already; just don't use GarageBand and ReWire Reason, and Logic Express is pretty full-featured already, too. It's not like he's starting out with a shoestring, a paperclip and a 386 left by his aunt or something. Just focus on learning one thing at a time; Logic Express, in this case, because it handles audio tracks properly. 6 months is an ocean of time; compose on any keyboard that's not connected to a computer and record your sketches to anything (Audacity is sufficient) - then, start to orchestrate the sketches. You learn the program at your own pace, and you won't have to worry anymore about composing the songs. Reason comes with a capable orchestral library that may not be hyperrealistic - but it'll do the job.

This is really cool . Are you using wavetables for this or...?

1. Take a microphone 2. Take two steel tubes 3. Start to record 4. Bang the tubes against eachother 5. Play back at half the speed or less 6. Add reverb The Korg M1 has this in its list of samples and it's called "Pole".