scleaves

I don't know much about writing and composing music, but I love music and listen to it a lot, and I can sing fairly well. I've decided I want to go to college for it, when I start going to college soon. I have also decided to buy some stuff to get into it and get better at it. Here is what I plan on buying:

FL Studio Producer edition program ($199 but I can get a 10% discount)

Samson Meteor Mic USB Studio Microphone ($69.99, for recording my singing)

Music Theory for Computer Musicians book, by Michael Hewitt ($19.65, hopefully this will teach me something about music)

Also, I'm limited to builtin monitor speakers on my computer, so I figure I could do better for listening to sound, and pick up some Sennheiser HD 419 headphones ($29 to $39)

Anything you would change or recommend in addition to what I have listed? Any other books I should buy or am I good with that one? Thanks.

This is my first post. Expect an introduction post from me soon explaining what I'm all about, but basically I wish to end up as a rock singer and entertainer, or a digital music maker who can also add his voice to tracks if necessary. I want to keep my options open so that if one option falls through, I have another.

[MERIT]

I would download the free edition of FL Studio and get familiar with it before dropping nearly $200 on the full version.

scleaves

I've tried FL Studio in the past and quite liked it. Also, I'm now thinking about getting the Signature version instead which runs about $299 or so, for the Styrus. I don't make such purchases lightly, but I figure I can use the program for a long time and get a lot of use out of it.

Norg

get DJ equipment and plug in a laptop and boom your good to go that's what everyone seems to be doing these days to strike it rich ... :P

[MERIT]

There is a lot of free audio and beat making software (besides FL Studio Lite) available online for download. I went through and got as much of it as I could find a while back. Some of it is pretty primitive, while others are very functional and in-depth.

-MuLab
-Sony ACID Xpress
-Multitrack Studio Lite
-Audacity
-Anvil Studio
-KRISTAL Audio Engine
-Quick Audio
-Wave Surfer
-Wavosaur
-Virtual MIDI Keyboard

Sorry that I'm too lazy to track down the links for each one right now, but I'm sure that a quick Google search would find them for you. MuLab and Multitrack Studio Lite are by far the best free programs out there.

P A N

get an external audio interface, a real mic, and monitors. you can deal without the monitors to start, but you'll soon find that what you learn about interacting frequencies necessitates them, particularly in the realm of making electronic music. an external audio interface will expand your I/O options, give you a couple physical knobs to give you quick control of your environment, and also take the task of handling audio off your computer via the soundcard inside the unit. you'll find audio production is extremely tasking on your CPU and you'll benefit greatly by compartmentalizing the tasks your computer has to perform. usb mics are okay. they're really convenient. but if you get a real mic, perhaps with phantom power, your audio quality will be so much more natural and easier to work with. but take your time. you'll learn what you're after to a better degree as you experience the world of it. you will eventually be spending thousands and thousands of dollars, as pro hardware is not cheap. but you can start with pretty cheap stuff if only to familiarize yourself with the process and potential.

hope that helps.

scleaves

@[Merit] - Wow, that's a lot of software to try. There is also LMMS. Some friends recommended it to me, but I did an online search of what people thought of it compared to FL Studio and the general consensus was that FL Studio might be slightly better.

@P A N - Something I am thinking about doing now is making electronic music some day, with my voice recorded, and selling albums. On the one hand, I realize that I may need a better microphone some day. On the other, spending thousands of dollars on equipment would cut into the profits I expect to make .

Isbjørn

This one is free: LMMS

Scarlett O'Hara

scleaves, there is a thread for this:

http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...post-here.html

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Janszoon

He's looking for music making software recommendations, not music recommendations.

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