Yoozer

Or you could, you know, get a MIDI controller keyboard

I wouldn't do that. Get a controller and then save up a little more for a decent module. The MM6 is a step back in technology.

Sounds like a speech synthesizer. In the case of Fugue #7777 (assuming that you're talking about the OST), it'd be easier to just sample a few notes with the attacks (first part of the sample - the "d" in "doo") and let the rest loop. Much easier to play than coding the instructions as it's usually done .

Why not? As Compy already mentioned, not everyone started with software, and dumping all your hardware for software is just a fancy way of robbing yourself of your investment; plus, it took quite a while for software to really take off properly - to become usable and interesting enough. While it's easier to consider it cheaper - do keep in mind that the DX7 I have has worked for 25 years in a row and it can still be sold for hard cash. Do you know of any software that holds out that long? The road is strewn with older softsynths - Steinberg Model E, TC Works Mercury, Koblo Gamma 9000 et al. - gone and forgotten in only 4 years or so, and the idea that it'll work for a while is a very attractive one. Plus, you gotta admit, it looks great .

It's only retarded because you didn't try Google first. "fl studio refresh plugin" leads you to your solution.

That's the X-Fi and it's a soundcard better suited for games and watching movies than music production. Anyway, the X-Fi has a feature called the "Crystalizer" which might be the cause of things sounding better, and you'd do well to just switch it off, because it polishes up the music a bit. Most others don't have this polish, so if it sounds good on your system, it may sound like crap on someone else's. Anything that allows you to use a multiband compressor and EQ (preferably plugins so you're not tied to what you get with CEP) can be used for mastering. However, your first task is to get as much of it right in the mix itself; you can't polish a turd. That's Logic Pro and Cubase, and they have nothing to do with remixing whatsoever, as what you make it with doesn't matter, the end result does. Ableton Live, FL Studio, Project 5, Digital Performer - all have a certain philosophy and you should pick the one you can work the most comfortably with. Uh what There's a lot you can do with software, but there's things that are easier to do with real-life instruments. Cubase doesn't offer a trial version; you get a "light" version with reduced functionality if you buy certain hardware. This simply means you'll have to try it out at your local music store if that's possible, but a better question would be if you'd need Cubase at all. Monitors are speakers that attempt to give a neutral image of the music, so that if you mix it so it sounds good on them, it'll sound good on most people's sets. If you'd mix using a walkman headphone with bass boost it might sound fine on that, but it'll sound like crap on everyone else's sets. I think an example would be helpful here. Upload a piece of what you did (putfile.com or whatever free filehost you can find) and then try again. Your questions a little bit disjointed. You shouldn't bother with mastering until you have a production environment of sorts and are familiar with how it works.

The old picture (of spring 2006 I think) has the Ion, XP30 and AN1x on it. This one has more, seriously . Juno, JX8P, DX7II, and Xboard. Gone are: ESI-4000 (other room), A4000 (other room). The MPC1000 was sold because I just wasn't using it enough. My 01V (digital) is just below the table where the Ion is put. Yeah, the Q rack and the Digitech Quad and the TX81V have gone, as well as one of the pair of Midex 8s. Cubase SX3 has also gone - I'm using Ableton Live 6 now, and love it. Added, however, are a Creamware Pro-12 ASB and a JP8080. The big Mackie 24-4 is going away in favor of a MOTU 828 mkII (Firewire) or an RME Multiface II or a Mackie ONYX mixer with Firewire expansion. Haven't decided about that one, yet. The 01V might be going away - not sure about it - for a smaller box because it's just an ADAT converter now. The (faulty, at least one of 'm) Tannoy Reveal 6Ds have been replaced with ADAM A7 (love them, love them) and the big Medion 19" have been dumped in favor of Samsung 940BW 19" widescreen TFTs which have a much better image. The previous room was higher and much better lit by daylight, but this one sounds (slightly) better, and it's quieter too - no neighbours and a very quiet street.

Click click. Don't mind the stupid paintjob, it was a failed idea that I'll have to redo in the future.

You want to know how fond? I've played the original DX7 mkI (lower) for 4 years in the school band. After that, the only dealings I had with FM were of the Sega Genesis, and a bit later, with the Yamaha SY-35 (which is a hybrid FM/sample-based unit). Then I found out about FM7. I've used that for quite a while, but as an extended trial version. Then, I bought it when it was blown out for 99 euros, and almost immediately upgraded to FM8. So. Worth. It. In the meantime I picked up a TX81z - a 4-op in 1U rack and impossible to tackle without editor. Quality sound, though! Earlier this year we've had a synthesizer forum meeting in the Netherlands. A DX7 was present. I played it, and I fell back in love again - mainly for the keyboard's quality - I just love the way it reacts. 3 weeks ago a buddy of mine gave me a tip about a DX7 he was planning on buying, but since the guy he wanted to pick it up from lived really close to where I am he told me to pick it up for him, and then I could borrow it for a few months until he'd have a good excuse to drive such an end. So, I got it, and my earlier hunch was confirmed - must get this for myself. I tried the German eBay (most sellers aren't afraid of shipping and there's a way bigger pool of used synths there). It's truly great to bid on a near-mint DX7 and see it stuck at 100 euros for 6 days, then see it jump up to 190 euros in the last 10 minutes. Fucking snipers . This wasn't fun and took too long, besides, I'd lose probably anyway. So, I placed a classified on that forum for a DX7 mkI or II, as long as it was in near-mint condition, I'd be interested. For 2 weeks, I didn't hear anything. An offer of a DX7s (that's the upgraded version with a small display) for 225 euros turned up, but the owner didn't want to ship. I spotted a DX7-I on another site, but it was too far away so any bargain would be offset by the cost of gas. So yeah, I still had that borrowed one which worked fine (but wasn't completely mint), but I wanted one that would be truly my own. Then, I found a DX7 that was reasonably close. I chartered my brother Smoke to drive there to pick it up. It wasn't completely mint, but it came with a bunch of cartridges. I returned home; and a message was waiting for me - if I was interested in a DX7IIFD (pretty much the most pimped out version to have), near-mint, second owner. Whoa. I told myself I'd regret it if I didn't pick it up, so I asked Smoke again and we went there to pick it up. So, there I was, with 2 DX7 mkI's and one DX7 mkII. When I returned, I had another message waiting from me; I inquired earlier if a DX7IID (no floppy) was still taken. I got the message back that the original buyer didn't show up, so now I could've had 4 DX7s. So, I sold the freshly bought DX7 I to a friend who was all too happy to get one minus the cartridges, and now I still have these, and I've upgraded the borrowed one to have a backlit display. I also have 2 Factory ROM cartridges with 2 x 32 sounds each, 1 RAM cartridge, and 1 very special and rare HYPRA-ROM cartridge with 4 x 2 x 4 (dipswitches) x 32 presets. It's huge and there's an excellent selection on it. Too bad those don't work on the II. And still, I'm thinking of picking up a DX7-I in a better condition... the keys just feel that teensy bit nicer than on the II. But I'm definitely going to keep the II - it's a beautiful instrument. So yeah, you could say I'm pretty fond of FM synthesis.

In 8 hours I will upload my picture. I've got a lot of new toys since the last time. Yes, I'm that much of a tease. BTW, analoq - I was right, they were a bunch of dicks edit: oh what the hell, here's a partial preview.

Get the good freebies mentioned in this thread. Don't get more than 5 of 'm; nothing kills your creative wiener as fast as a plug-in folder with 500 VSTs. Besides the synths, get some kind of sampler (or sample-based VST) so you can play back drums and realistic instruments. Get some effects. You'll find equals to guitar stompboxes here: http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm For the rest of effects, get these. http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/classic-series.php Now you're finished in terms of plugins for the time being. Make it a rule that you don't add new ones before you've completely checked out the old ones. Having 20 reverbs/delays/whatevers is stupid. Don't go completely software; your guitar skills and playing is a valuable addition to what you do with the rest. No, the knobs have existed; it's just that on cheaper or all-in-one gear they're hidden. http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/ns_kit7.html - there's a free version. That's because you have to learn how the rest of the studio works, too. You'll have to become a jack of all trades; your own engineer, your own composer, your own producer, and your own session player. The power is not so much in the plugin; it's in learning how to mix. Get yourself a good book by Bob Katz or this here: http://www.mixingwithyourmind.com/ . Dare to make mistakes. Dare to turn the knobs; if you don't hear a difference, go on until you do. If you're still working with PC speakers and a MEGA BASS WOOFER BOXX 250 JIGGAWATT PMPO, dump them if you can; if it sounds good on those, it's bound to sound like crap on anything else. Stay away from musical LSD - a plugin you throw over something that makes it all sound loud and professional. If you need volume, turn your speakers up; don't compress everything to death. Which sequencer do you work with?

hate the game, not the player You seem to be thinking that this is somehow thankless to the hardworking people who make this possible. This is similar to thinking Pinochhio gets any of the money that people throw at him - it's the guy who pulls the strings that cashes in. Welcome to Marketing. Yeah. Now, there's a big difference between Jacko and whatever fluffed-up airhead they want to launch into stardom.

Looks like you're going to upgrade. 's worth it, though - effects racks and instrument racks are awesome .

It's dangerous to go alone. Take this. NI FM7, FM8, Sytrus employ this. You will not be needing this, ever, unless you want to do Dr. Who's "Dalek" voices. A sampled piano can eat up your harddrive like a cookie. A modelled piano will rape your CPU, but doesn't take that much space. It usually says how they work on the box. Now, I'm someone who grew up with hardware synthesizers, workstation sequencers, and Cubase - and recently Ableton Live. Buying any of the above will not make you more professional. Do you like FL Studio? Do you get your shit done with FL Studio? If the answer is yes to both, keep it, and upgrade to a higher version if it's got some options (not instruments! Options!) that you're missing right now. Wrong question. To adjust an army proverb: Amateurs study gearlists. Professionals study production techniques.

You don't make mp3s - you simply record the sound coming out of your keyboard using the cables as a wave file (.wav). You then use a so-called encoder to turn that file into an mp3. Free/easy to use : RazorLAME.

You're in for a world of pain, then . Recording probably hasn't been cheaper before in history (unless you're doing stuff with a 4-track or just writing down the notes). Make sure the room you're playing in doesn't reverberate. A mattress against the wall helps. Just hang it on a boom stand somewhere, then experiment with placement - but from Googling a bit "recording trumpet" - 1 or 2 feet from the bell. Keep your levels in check, you don't want clipping.

A sample CD perhaps. Don't let me hear you tell me that it's too expensive; you get a lot of stuff that's already been cookie-cuttered for your convenience. Your other option is to go cratedigging until you've built a collection, and while that's still a worthwile avenue, it's better to have something as a placeholder. Check the ones at http://www.ueberschall.com/ If you really want the freebies, enjoy ripping the stuff on http://www.breakbeat-paradise.com/bb_samples.php apart .

Yeah, but those give you an accreditation of sorts that is somewhat useful.

http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7316 How's that rock working out for you? .

No, it means your soundcard sucks . Solve it temporarily by using www.asio4all.com - it won't take the latency away but it'll bring it down. A better solution would be to get an audio interface (soundcard geared towards music production). No. In fact, there are no soundfonts in your keyboard at all, and it helps a lot to not think of 'm as soundfonts . Your keyboard contains its sound samples in ROM (read-only memory) in a proprietary format meant to be read only by the keyboard's "engine" itself - memory you can't overwrite and can't transfer anywhere (if you even wanted to in the first place). The USB cable coming out of it just tells your computer that you've played the middle C for 3 seconds or so; that's it. If you want to record the sound coming out of your keyboard, plug its audio outputs in your soundcard audio inputs. If you want to record the sound of your keyboard, computer and more and record the whole, I recommend you go looking for an USB or Firewire audio interface that either allows a guitar to be plugged in or an audio interface combined with a small mixing desk.

But that's due to the used summing engine and its algorithms, which are often at a much higher resolution. Ask on Gearslutz about the difference between an Apogee Rosetta and an E-mu 0404 . Both the way in (ADC) and the way out (DAC) call for converters of a high quality, low noise and low jitter. Once it's in the machine however, there's not much happening; but it's the conversion step that does the trick. Plus, there's the phenomenon that an on-board soundcard's input suffers from the electronic noise of the motherboard and the other components. I can assure you that Justus is not Compyfox . What's with the "unwanted" anyway? The topic wasn't resurrected from the dead, the response was on topic and in time, and it underscores the importance of having a reasonably decent audio interface; if not for the latency, then at least for the better quality of I/O (and having more of it if the project calls for it).

What's slowed up and down is the speed of the LFO, which is routed to a lowpass filter and amplifier. If that's Chinese to you, go read http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm until you understand what an LFO is, and how to route it . To help you a bit on the way, I've made a very shoddy copy of the original using the Synth1 VST plugin (free), and you'll have to beef it up a bit with some other effects (distortion most notably but a compressor would help, too). Just copy the settings; what you need to automate (which is quite tricky in Cubase and requires reading the manual - I even don't understand it that well) is the LFO 1 tempo (also called "rate" or "speed" on other synths). No, you need a plugin, and your software should be able to handle automation. Basically, you "draw" the LFO's speed (knob position) so you don't have to do it yourself and you have a lot of control on when it should increase.

http://www.chordmaps.com/ is also a nice simple site for this. While trying to teach someone something they're not ready for yet is usually not a good idea - a foundation helps a lot - I hope he'd at least explain the basics to you, and lets you listen to Coltrane's "Giant Steps" .

You know, like GSnap. http://www.gvst.co.uk/gsnap.htm

I'm guessing that the polarity of the sustain pedal isn't correctly switched - e.g. that it sees the "pedal off" as a "pedal on" and vice-versa. Be assured that it's not unique to the Axiom itself - some synths have this issue, too. You should be able to change this on either the Axiom itself or the software that came with it. "pedal polarity" are your keywords to search for .