Yoozer

You get to install one program twice. Try that with anything dongle-ish. Also, Ableton's helpdesk is pretty damn fast, friendly and forthcoming.

My imagination. Then my ears (but it's a good thing I don't have to wear protection for my imagination!) Then my monitor speakers. Then any synthesizer that does the job.

Flat response is key. Keep your circuits simple - higher order filters may be less predictable. Make an estimate of the hours you're going to put into it and the material costs - and don't skimp on the materials, getting cheap stuff doesn't make your homebrewn speakers stand out. If you have any assistants (family, friends, etc.) willing to help, include their hours, too. Then compare this estimate with what you'd be willing to pay for regular monitors and see if this time is better spent doing work . For me personally it'd be a nice project - but I already have good monitors, and I could afford letting stuff lie around for a while if I don't feel like doing it.

You're looking for a controller keyboard (no sounds, no speakers, just MIDI) instead of an arranger keyboard (sounds, speakers, also MIDI). I have the E-mu Xboard 49. Good keys, enough knobs, doesn't take too much space. Alternatives depend on your budget.

ADAM Audio A7, active monitors. Incredible fidelity and power, not tiring, probably the best you can get for $1000. Before that, Alesis Monitor One (still nice and cheap) and Tannoy Reveal A6 actives (I had some troubles with these).

This question is really hard to answer if you can't tell us what it should do, or what kind of sounds it should make. If this is your first (and it sounds like you've still got a bit to learn), here's the thing: - if you want "realistic" sounds - e.g. piano, strings, brass, etc., you're probably going to need a software sample-playback plugin. You could try Yellowtools Independence Free - see http://www.yellowtools.us/cp21/cms/index.php?id=303 - if you want actual synthesizer sounds, then you should check out the plugins Synth1 and Polyiblit. Just throw the names in Google, you'll end up at the right spot. That should be enough to get you started.

State a budget. I personally wouldn't do that; they're lol hueg and you'll probably get one second-hand. RME makes nice high-class stuff. If that's too much, M-Audio Audiophile 192. Other than that, consider a Firewire or USB interface. They're not that much slower actually, and you get some nice I/O.

Shit, I have to wait for the next round . Oh well...

The Yamaha PSR is a line of keyboards. Problem is, however - there's the PSR7/8, 27/28, 37/38, 47/48, 200, 300, 400, 500, 510, 520, 530, 540, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, 4000, and a crapton of others. So, you're going to need to give us a number . Does it suck? Depends; you can't change anything about the sounds, generally, and the older ones are sort of useless; if it's got MIDI and it's recent, it doesn't suck that much; it's still always usable as a controller. See http://www.synthmania.com/psr-3000.htm - there's also demos of a 300 on that site, so you can hear the difference between a newer and an older one .

First of all, audio software isn't always that expensive, and whatever the pros use can still be useless in your own hands. Additionally to keeping it for yourself: you waive the right to ask for help (sort of). If whatever you get doesn't have a manual: congratulations, that's the punishment of sin. This means figuring out stuff for yourself and experimenting for hours. Sucks? Not entirely - you'll learn your application intimately and find creative ways around limitations, provided that you compensate any lack of funding with an abundance of enthusiasm. Owning the game is not relevant to listening to the music. Remixes are derivative works - tributes to their originals and therefore fall under the same laws. You can't claim them as your own, and you can't make money with 'm unless you talk with the original publisher. As for limited CPU power - Reason.

Alright, then. I've used Cubase for a long time. I've started using it in 2000 - "Cubasis" without the VST, driving hardware synths. Later I upgraded to 5 VST but never used the VST options that much. Then, I decided to go legal (5 VST didn't see much use to be honest) and bought SX 1, later upgraded to SX 3. What I liked about it was that in combination with the Midex interface, it handled my hardware synths pretty well. What I disliked was the company and the fact that you had to jump through 20 retarded flaming hoops just to get a softsynth on a track, and that there were artificial limitations in place for no good reason (limit to the number of effects, can't change effects order), as well as the downright (imho) abysmal handling of controllers and automation. Seriously, if you want to get anything in the way of sliders or rotary knobs to work, Cubase is too much work and they just don't get it. Add to that that the interface didn't get any Vista compatibility for the 64-bit era, and I jumped ship. Before I did, however, I checked out Ableton Live. I had worked with it earlier in version 3.0, but that one couldn't handle VST plugins; just audio. Makes a good tool for mash-ups and DJ mixes, though. I got the demo version off the site and spent 3 hours hopping in my chair because hey, music was finally fun again, this stuff all worked much more intuitively, and I could do some wicked tricks. Also, automation worked rightaway; no bullshit like making extra tracks for it. Getting a VST added is a matter of drag & drop (and then setting the MIDI switch to IN). Getting hardware synths to work is easy too. Chaining effects in any desired order is awesome. The downsides are that MIDI isn't as extensively covered as in Cubase, but software's taking over here.

Uh yeah. That's the idea of a software sampler . Here we go again, then : http://www.discodsp.com/highlife/ Loads and plays .wav files without a problem. ProTools comes with a pretty neat set of effects already. The package is quite complete .

You'll go places, kiddo. If you want to be smart, quit saying that you're lazy. You might as well ask people to do all the work for you and get a similar vitriolic reaction. The world rewards action. Try hiring studio time; then you'll get the techs thrown in for free, but don't think they're going to respect you or help you out if you have no plan. Plus, it costs way more. Be glad that it's the 21st century . Anyway, sounds like what you want/need is something that "understands" the concept of chorus, verse, etc. If you do your drums with FL Studio, an actual drum computer might be a better idea for you, as you get a large selection of pre-built rhythm stuff and fill-ins, intros and breaks. As for triggering as samples, you just need something that allows audio tracks - those will play without triggering, they just "are". As for being cheap, ProTools M-Powered or LE is quite some value for money; the interface is thrown in for free. If that's still too much, check out Mackie Tracktion. Soundfonts are a replacement for a software sampler with a library, and they're okay as an intermediate format. They're not natively handled; a soundfont player in the shape of a plugin (RGC SFZ) is more effective.

http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11882 Same question, slightly different. Answer the questions in there (budget, etc.) and yes, it's often a matter of price and simply what you work best with/what you are used to. Also: read this: http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=beginners . Alternatively, this: http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm The audio interface again depends on budget, can be anything as long as it plays nicely with your OS. So, post an amount in numbers of hard cash you're willing to spend, and then we'll suggest stuff for ya

Can you get any other plugins to work?

I hope you're kidding or at least failing to find anything because your search words are incorrect . Digital Performer Logic ('s cheap now and pretty damn awesome) Ableton Live (comes in an SE version too now) Cubase (ok, so that's more expensive) Which were those then?

The soundfont -is- the patch. A soundfont is a set of samples rolled in a single file, with velocity (if the sample has to be triggered depending on the force which you strike the key with) and zone data (say, a certain sample will only be played from the lowest C to the middle C). The only way to get more patches is to dump several soundfonts in a single folder, then see if the plugin detects all of 'm.

If I recall correctly the NS kit is also offered as separate samples; you could then use something like DiscoDSP Highlife (doesn't cost anything, either) and after a little work of assigning the samples to the right keys, you'd probably have the same .

While the integrated card isn't exactly awesome for music production (for various reasons), Soundfonts are no longer constrained to Creative Soundblaster-only cards. http://www.rgcaudio.com/sfz.htm Use that. yo

No, then the bass'd still be off and the sound choice would still be wonky.

Wow. That's seriously great. A lot of work went into this and you should put it on YouTube and get a mod to add it in the guide so we have another excuse to say Watch The Fine Video . A+! Here's my constructive criticism (but take this as you will, since you have already finished the assignment); I base this on the fact that a viewer is going to have little to no clue about what they're exactly watching; if that's not the case, ignore all below. Anyway, no clue doesn't mean they're going to be mouth-breathing stupid, but you, as a producer, are used to the terminology they're not familiar with and you make some leaps in thinking they can't. This would just work if you want to make it even more educational. - add some hardware synthesizers with actual keyboards; a synth is a synth, and people unfamiliar with the matter may not see the connection between a softsynth and what it originated from. - replace the drawings of a guitar and a keyboard with actual pictures. It's a lot more clear (and yes, there's the issue of copyright, but it can be a stock picture). - when the guitar comes in the picture, mute the background music completely. Replace the voice over with the following "This is an electric guitar. If you play it, the sound will come out of the amplifier (cue short guitar solo). If you record this sound with a computer, you will see this (cue waveform drawing) - it's called a waveform." This would immediately remove any questions about what a waveform is, how you get it, and it segues into the next part. - when the synthesizer comes in: "A guitar has strings. A synthesizer uses computer code or an electric circuit to make sound" (show waveform, cue short typical synthesizer solo). - when Subtractor is shown: "This is Subtractor, the synthesizer of Reason, a computer music program. It uses computer code to make the sound." - "I'm through these sections in more detail. But first, let's have a look at the oscillator section". I'd simplify this further. Start with a schematic, showing 3 blocks: * Oscillator * Filter * Amplifier Then draw arrows: from oscillator to filter, from filter to amplifier. Then, show Subtractor and highlight the sections in the same order. What follows then is what you have now - a great explanation. I'd skip phase and frequency modulation, though; it's too abstract (and the animation for the multiplier isn't correct - I'd put that in a separate part of the video ("how to make sounds interesting" or something). Again, using my original assumption, people's eyes even glaze over if you use the word "modulation". For "noise", I'd add that it's useful to make percussion-like sounds. For the filters, I'd suggest using real-world analogies. A lowpass filter can be demonstrated by the door in a disco: you only hear the bass thumping if the door (filter) is closed. A highpass filter can be demonstrated by walkman headphones - if you put 'm off, you only hear the tinny chatter of sound. Just use a regular pop song; since it's familiar to them, the viewer will have a better idea of what the effect is. Then say "you can do this too with a waveform." Explain resonance as whistling: because that's exactly what it is (and leave it on zero with the LP and HP). LFO: good - but add a beat (and maybe 2 graphs showing the beat and LFO out of sync) - and demo the other waveforms!. Envelope: I'd start with the attack. Show a group of violin players - they don't start playing at the same time, so the sound has an attack time. Then, show release by someone hitting a gong; the sound doesn't stop immediately, so it has a release time. Decay can be done by playing a piano note - either holding it for a longer time and then hitting it quickly for a short time. This way, the viewer has something that they can relate to - a real-world instrument they know. Sustain is the trickiest part, because it's a "level" value, not a time value. Your explanation is good, though .

Yes. Uh, no, not at all? The last analog filter they've made is either in an analog mixing desk or in a DCO-based synthesizer of 1986. After that, either nothing or digital. The combination sampler-analog filter is rare, by the way. For a while, there were the dark ages - the U-series of modules didn't have filters at all; then came the JV/XP which had digital resonant filters, and then came the SRX/XV where the 5050 belongs to. They haven't been updated much in the meantime. Roland has nice filters but push the resonance too high and it becomes usual - they'll squeal like a Japanese schoolgirl getting assaulted by a tentacle monster. Even then, people in search of a workstation generally buy it because it's got a good piano and realistic instruments; filters are usually the least of their concern. Although the Motif XS has nice filters (but with the penalty of a removed AN plugin board). As for the M3; the Karma feature is amazing, but I've heard M3 owners say they weren't much an improvement over the Triton Extreme. Instead of buying the latest & greatest, the Motif ES or the aforementioned Extreme is pretty capable too. Investing a stupidly high amount of cash in a computer (especially a laptop) isn't smart in general. Don't buy the very best, because it costs disproportionally more, plus in 2 years you'll most likely buy something new as technology marches on too fast. A workstation can't "render" or "flatten" tracks easily; you're bound by the speed of the internal CPU. It doesn't have all the crazy nice automation options most software sequencers have, and the MIDI traffic can get choked. However, software sequencers lack something like Karma - watch the videos, they're awesome) and the software requires you to have a Triton (probably as a dongle of sorts). A lot of skill is put in the programming of presets on workstations; software sample libraries often don't have these niceties (or surpass workstation presets completely because you just can't get 25 gigabytes of orchestral goodness in such a thing). They'll cost you more, though For the subtractive synthesizers, plugins take the lead. While something like a Radias isn't available as an exact copy, it's possible to cobble up something using several plugins (which means more variety, too ).

Or take a regular cymbal hit, adjust the volume attack (so the "ting!" part goes away), add reverb to hide any clicks, then play it like an actual drummer would - with varying velocity.

If you want to map a sample under a single key only - well, they've invented the Mapping Editor for that. Click on the wrench button, choose Mapping Editor. You see a bunch of rectangles. Width defines keyboard range, height defines velocity range. This can be done easier, however, for instance, when you want to make your own stuff with one-sample-per-key. Go to Load/Save. Choose New Instrument. KONTAKT_DEF appears (default). Click on the wrench. Go to the Mapping Editor. On the left is your file browser. Drag the .wav file on the keyboard instead of in the grid; then, by default, the map will shrink to 1 key instead of the default 4. If you already have a library and .nki files, just follow their conventions instead of rebuilding everything.

Yeah, this sounds like a MIDI rip. The pitch of the bass guitar is off, the sound in the intro is off. Plus, the sound you use for everything is completely unusable - it's like you just found out how a LFO > filter works and thought it'd be nice to throw it over everything. Also, why does the rhythm drop away suddenly?