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i have a few serious questions to ask please don't flame me. i would like to start producing beats, but i have little knowledge of the softwares out there. i have tried reason and fruity loops on my brothers computer but i always end up making horrible beats(they are flat if that makes sense) yes i know that is user error and i am sure they are fine software.

so here are my questions: what would you all recommend a beginner to get? what essentials would be enough to get me going? i would like to produce dubstep and prefer software over hardware. i have three months of summer so i am sure i can dedicate my time to learning. any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you for the help in advance.

alex

Since you're starting from 0, it's quite normal your beats don't sound like they've been through sound engineer's hands. I'd even recommend to stay away from compressors & eqs for now. What you need to focus on is:
* drum sequencing : get some decent loops and learn to chop them properly and make your own flavor out of em. Also get Native Instruments Battery and all the kits you can find. After that learn about drum layering.
* bass : get a subtractive synth (z3ta or albino for instance) and learn the wobble technique here (scroll down to Untold's post) or there. When you're comfortable with this learn how to wobble with N.I.'s Kontakt (go to the bottom of the bible for Deadly Habits's tutorial).
* track structure is obviously important : take tracks you like and see how the guys are bringing things in & out (count the patterns and all).
* sample everything you like : I mean EVERYTHING. You need shitloads of samples but you don't want all the lame stuff that spreads over the internet.
* shut your phone down & make some coffee.

Good luck

EDIT : about the softwares you'll use, there are no "best" softwares for doing things. Only softwares you'll be more comfortable with. Try them all and make your own opinion. Pay particular attention to your host/sequencing soft.

honestly, reason is REALLY good to learn on, and a lot of people here make great stuff with it too, so it can really grow as you grow. i agree with daft tnuc about cutting up drumloops, but i'd say that first you want to try your hand at sequencing hits, and figuring out drum patterns and such. what MAY really help you is getting one of those old korg electribes. their cheap these days, and as far as sequencing goes (get one that can do drums) they kick ass. check em out, you'll learn alot about patters.

stick with reason though too, its a great learning tool! and anytime you want feedback on something, post it in this forum, and we'll try to give you some!

good luck

thanks for the kind words and help daft tnuc and misk. i really do appreciate it. i will look into those things after all my exams are over this week. thanks again

only thing that's not-so-hot about reason is the included sound banks... though the orkester bit is pretty solid. As a sequencer and sound module though... it's what you make it. you can get something sounding GOOD quite easily in it; to get it great takes a bit more effort but you can do modulations, etc easily in reason that would take a lot of thought and effort in somehting like logic.

get a good kick, a good snare, some nice hats and a bit of bassline and just mess about. learn your software. and most peoples beats usually sound flat untill theyre mastered