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Hey guys. I hate to be the noob in the forums asking a question thats probably been asked a million times but I searched around and everyone seems to have different answers so I thought Id just ask here and hopefully get some live feedback instead of reading stuff thats outdated

Im just starting out producing dubstep/EDM and Im just wondering whats a good piece of equipment that would be most practical and useful in the beginning stages. Im most likely going to be using either FL or Ableton, leaning towards Abelton. I was looking at the Akai APC40, but Im not sure if thats the best thing for starting out since its just a live controller. Should I get a midi keyboard or a synth pad? or should I just buy something like NI massive and just produce for now? I know that equipment doesnt make someone good at producing dubstep. If your a good producer, you could make a great song using any equipment put in front of you. It all just takes practice. Im just looking for something that will be the most beneficial right away; sort of like an all in one with the most options available that would help me expand my music right away and get the most out of practicing. Thanks for any feedback and suggestions

don't bother with looking at hardware yet.

start off small. get a copy of fruityloops and learn basic song structuring and what the program is capable of. there's free tutorials for nearly everything you can do with fruityloops 10 too (and trust me, it's just as professional as any other DAW out there). get a few free packs of samples for kicks/snares/hi-hats/percussion ect. look for free vsts for the sound you want on the internet. there's a few big databases out there showcasing the completely free vsts and free-to-try vsts. don't waste your money or time with massive/apc40s when you realistically, do not need them. what you want: keyboard and mouse - maybe a korg nano-pad or something.

fruityloops 10 in my opinion, has the most easy and basic user interface that is organized nicely and is definitely not hard to use. there are countless tutorials on youtube and indeed on google that actually offer full free tutorials for the things you want to do with your DAW and productions. and also, using the production sub-forum on here to ask questions would not go a amiss in case you simply cannot find them anywhere else on the internet or in the existing threads!

trust me, you don't need any hardware yet until you've really learned what you're capable of right now. producing/dj'ing can be really expensive... and hell, you may not even want to pursue it further

so again IMO, all you need right now is:

* fruityloops 10
* a handful of VSTs (again, not massive)

completely optional and not really needed:

* korg nanopad (midi controller that works well with FL)

anyway that was my two cents,

peace

@ oner thanks for reply. Thats what I figured would be the answer. I know some equipment makes certain things like synthesizing and modulating a lot easier to do than on the pc, but as long as everything can be done on the pc then thats great.
FL is definitely a lot easier to use than Ableton. I got into Fl because Ry Legit uses it and hes one of my favorites. The only reason I was leaning towards Ableton was because of compatibility and the amount of support and tutorials out there is enormous. But once I learn the basics I hopefully expanding to a different DAW will be a lot easier.

Why do you say not to use Massive? I hear tons of great things about it. I know it definitely has become more glorified, especially by people like Skrillex. And everyone knows skrillex is like the Call of Duty of dubstep; everyone likes them but nobody likes there diehard fans, so people just say they hate them but I figured it would be a great tool to use to make unique sounds a wobbles

because massive you have to pay for and it's expensive... you're missing my point; take another direction rather than follow in the footsteps some other people have taken and ultimately failed at doing, because they thought owning what people told them they should own (or what they know their favourite producer/dj uses) would make them better at what they do.
experiment make unique sounds a different way using different programs! you can make "wobbles" and all the rest of it on different VSTs! what i'm trying to say is, don't follow the "easy" footsteps that you think everyone else has taken to make tracks.

ableton's compatibility with what? sure, there are loads of tutorials for ableton, but there's loads of them for FL too...
but i guess it's down to your preference. just don't let it get into your head that everyone who owns the same equipment and software "makes it"

gotcha. Thanks a lot oner

I agree with the idea of learning every aspect of your DAW, whichever you choose. You're going to have a lot of throwaway tracks when you first get started anyway, so it's a good time to learn basic techniques.

That said, like it or not, Massive is great for learning. Its UI is very intuitive and user-friendly. There are loads of tutorials and a detailed manual for it, which you won't find for many free plugins. You can certainly get by with free VSTs, but if you've got the money to spare and expect to be producing for a while, Massive is worth it.

Anyone who fails with Massive would likely fail with any other piece of kit. I wouldn't say the same in reverse.

i suggest you download cockos' reaper as a daw (it has a looong trial perioid and works as well as the licenced one) and snatch off a few sample packs and free vstis and see if you like the whole production thing. then proceed to buying hardware. i know producing is much more fun with hardware, jamming with an mpc and playing stuff with a keyboard but it's not necessary.

wait a minute, isn't Cyrex that prick that cuts basslines out of Bar 9/Datsik/Excision/Skrillex tunes and claims them as his own?

^yes

#1 thing imo is a midi keyboard with knobs

mpk25 or something similar, is ALL you need for a long, long time

and a good DAW obviously, Ableton or FL Studio or Logic if you have a mac

I think that FAW Circle is one of the best synths for starting out learning. really great and intuitive interface.
http://www.futureaudioworkshop.com/circle/
plus it's only 50euro now, so...

Climax wrote:#1 thing imo is a midi keyboard with knobs

mpk25 or something similar, is ALL you need for a long, long time

and a good DAW obviously, Ableton or FL Studio or Logic if you have a mac

Are you serious?

Trainrek wrote:wait a minute, isn't Cyrex that prick that cuts basslines out of Bar 9/Datsik/Excision/Skrillex tunes and claims them as his own?

Just listened to his tunes on soundcloud.....i actually don't know what to say.....

Towany wrote:

Trainrek wrote:wait a minute, isn't Cyrex that prick that cuts basslines out of Bar 9/Datsik/Excision/Skrillex tunes and claims them as his own?

Just listened to his tunes on soundcloud.....i actually don't know what to say.....

i remember the flamewars that went on in this tnuc's soundcloud comments.

Lectric wrote:

Towany wrote:

Trainrek wrote:wait a minute, isn't Cyrex that prick that cuts basslines out of Bar 9/Datsik/Excision/Skrillex tunes and claims them as his own?

Just listened to his tunes on soundcloud.....i actually don't know what to say.....

i remember the flamewars that went on in this tnuc's soundcloud comments.

it appears that hes finally gave up producing on audacity/windows sound recorder, now he wants help to use fruityloopz + massive since all the brosteppers on YT tutorials use it

im sure his 2784 followers on soundcloud (not enough you need more dubturbo to catch up with skrillex) will be pleased to know that hes gonna start using an actual DAW soon
on a serious note il definitely look forward to some of your dawstep when you master the piano roll you might be able to remove "UNSIGNED" on your soundcloud since i doubt any1 will recognise those bar 9 basses when theyre placed up/down an octave

Im not Cyrex from soundcloud. The name that I go by as an artist isnt Cyrex. You fucking tools. If I had already produced music, why would I be asking whats I good place to start. You guys really turned up the stupid in here

We want proof

ehbrums1 wrote:We want proof

I just want 20 quid.

Cyrex wrote:Im not Cyrex from soundcloud. The name that I go by as an artist isnt Cyrex. You fucking tools. If I had already produced music, why would I be asking whats I good place to start. You guys really turned up the stupid in here

Cyrex can`t produce either so your point is invalid.

ehbrums1 wrote:We want proof

I know logic is hard for you, but if you think about it for a minute, youd realize thats not me. If I already knew how to produce music, Id have absolutely no use for this forum. and people from mass