Need program suggestions

[Zalseon]

I'm planning on making remixes of mainly two styles, orchestral and rockish/industrial. My main influences would be VAST, KMFDM, Metroid Metal, Hybrid, Groove Addicts, Hans Zimmer and of course OCR people. WHat would be good programs for those styles, and what would i need component wise when building my computer for this purpose?

[Rozovian]

The short version:

1. DAW. Something to write and mix in.

2. Instruments. Either real or virtual.

The longer version:

What you should get depends on your budget and platform. On mac, there'd Digital Performer, Logic, Cubase, Live, and if you're cheap you should be ok with GarageBand for a while. if you're on Windows, there's Cubase, FL, and a slew of others. Some of them are cross-platform, some aren't. Get demos or go to music stores and try them out. Do some research.

Then you need instruments, probably virtual. Komplete gets you decent stuff, but it's a bit pricey if you're just starting out. VSL and EWQLSO are worse in that regard. Then there's stuff like GPO and Synful... And if not else, you can just get free soundfonts and learn to use those. You'll have to learn whatever you get anyway.

Komplete also includes electric guitar, bass, drums, and amps. If you don't get Komplete, you can find passable amps for free on the net, guitar, bass, and drum samples as soundfonts. ideally, you'll record guitar for real, since it's the hardest of these to imitate with samples. There's also standalone products for all of them, like Addictive Drums, Superior Drummer and EZDrummer, Shreddage, Trillian, but without knowing your budget I can't recommend anything. Except Komplete.

[E-Bison]

Roz knows what he is talkin'. However, there are other options as well.

1. Production keyboard style:

I've seen people do amazing things with all in one keyboard workstations. They are filled with different sounds, and can be a good place to start.

2. Old School style:

Back in the day (Before my time)... People had to use a lot of external gear, that can now be purchased for very cheap. If you want to do industrial, you could buy a TX81Z, a junkie drum machine, and old sampler, and start playing around.

3. Band style:

Why not get some friends to play the music with instruments? Not as crazy as it sounds, and is way more fun.

[EC2151]

3. Band style:

Why not get some friends to play the music with instruments? Not as crazy as it sounds, and is way more fun.

But E-Bison you forget that I HAVE NO FRIENNNDS

[Pokerockmario]

I'm planning on making remixes of mainly two styles, orchestral and rockish/industrial. My main influences would be VAST, KMFDM, Metroid Metal, Hybrid, Groove Addicts, Hans Zimmer and of course OCR people. WHat would be good programs for those styles, and what would i need component wise when building my computer for this purpose?

I recommend Steinberg's "Cubase 5".

You're able to record audio on audio tracks or MIDI data on MIDI tracks.

And for orchestral sounds, I recommend "Edirol Orchestral" or Propellorhead's "Orkester" refill. (free)

For guitars use real guitars and record them in the Audio Tracks.