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JAM-HAY
New Member
Congo, Democractic Republic of the
66 posts
Joined: Oct, 2001
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 Posted - 2002/04/13 : 19:00:57
After years of listening, buying and mixing hhc, I'd love to have a go at writing some of my own tracks, but i'm not sure of the best setup and what gear to invest in. It would be great if theres anyone that writes their own stuff could tell me how they do it and what they use. Cheers. 
'its nice to be important, but its more important to be nice'
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aznwasian
Senior Member
United States
428 posts
Joined: Jun, 2001
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 Posted - 2002/04/13 : 21:13:42
It all depends on a lot. Are you going to try to make money off of it? is it for fun? How much are you willing to spend?
If it is going to be just a hobby, I recomend fruityloops, I use that, iz ace.
If you're serious about it buy a high end midi keyboard and a a good computer with a expensive sound card.
I would be interested to see what you put out.
¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.aZnWaSiAn.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯
-I can't stop raving...
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Edited by - aznwasian on 2002/04/13 21:14:27 |
phosphor
New Member
Canada
44 posts
Joined: Mar, 2001
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 Posted - 2002/04/17 : 13:46:21
hehehe ... the classic question ;)
Basically rite now the biggest decision for a production studio is sofware vs hardware. Of course the "gear" avenue will have a good pile of software supporting it, but we're now at the point where quality (pressable) tunes can pretty much be produced on not much more than a decent computer, and usually it'll be a bit cheaper as well. Tho really it'll come down to what yer most comfortable with... and what method of production gives you that sound and speed that you want.
A basic computer setup could be like Reason, Rebirth, Cubase, ReCycle, WaveLab and a pile of plugins(yeah .. full on Steinberg ;). There's enough power in those tools alone to do a wide variety of material. (Emagic's Logic Audio is also a very solid tool for plugin soft synths, effects, and audio and midi sequencing)
For a gear setup a decent mixer (at least 16 channels), a sampler - Akai S5/6000 or E-Mu e6400 series are the 2 big ones, at least one Analog Modeling Synth (Novation Supernova, Access Virus, Nord Modular, Waldorf Q...), some older roland ture analogue beast (Juno 106, Alpha,...), either a good percussion pack with at least one solid kick or a TR-909 ;), a bunch of effects, and maybe an alalogue acid box TB-303, FR-777, a midi interface box like Emagic's AMT-8, all sequenced by either Logic or Cubase.
Both setups you'll need a decent computer to run it all, lozza ram and a fast hard drive with a quality soundcard (Echo Audio's stuff or the MidiMan's Audiophile card) Decent sutiod monitors, or at least headphones, are almost essential - you gotta hear what yer doing! Yamaha's MSP10s or the Mackie HR824's are pricy .. but very solid. The cheaper Tannoy's and Genelcs are quite solid and clean as well.
There's also a pile of inbetween setups that combine at different levels software and hardware too. If you've got piles of cash, investing in (and learning) a Pro Tools based stuio may be good. But yeah, figure out what yer comfortable with, and what kinds of tools/boxes make the sounds you want, and then build from there.
There's a few studio specs online too including:
http://www.djphosphor.com
http://www.romantekrecords.com
http://www.evolutionrecords.co.uk
http://www.nextgenerationrecords.co.uk
http://www.nuenergy.co.uk/safensound
http://www.quoshrecords.com/
k .. i'll shuttup now ... i'll probably bugg silver in the next little while to set up a "Gear" section on the Links page .. but for now, here's a bunch from stuff in this post:
Steinberg (Cubase) - http://www.steinberg.net/
Emagic (Logic) - http://www.emagic.de
Akai (S5/6000) - http://www.akaipro.com
E-Mu (e6400) - http://www.emu.com
Novation (SuperNova)- http://www.novationusa.com
Access (Virus) - http://www.access-music.de
Clavia (Nord) - http://www.clavia.se
Waldorf - http://www.waldorf-gmbh.de/
Future Retro (FR-777) - http://www.future-retro.com
Echo Audio (Sound Card) - http://www.echoaudio.com
Midiman (Souund Card) - http://www.midiman.com/products/m-audio/audiophile.php
Yamaha (MSP10) - http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/DsplyModel/?gPWS00008MSP10
Mackie (Hr824) - http://www.mackie.com/Products/HR824.asp
Cheerz,
Dan aka phosphor / phaXis
www.djphosphor.com
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-Dan aka phosphor/phaXis
www.blizzardtracks.com
www.warningrecords.net
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Edited by - phosphor on 2002/04/17 14:07:58 |
JAM-HAY
New Member
Congo, Democractic Republic of the
66 posts
Joined: Oct, 2001
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Posted - 2002/04/17 : 15:34:58
Thanks for the info!!!!!!!!! Its a good help.
Well my PCs not up to much, so it sounds like I'll need to start saving hard.
Ive made up my own simple setup just now with what I can afford, but dont really know what the most useful piece of equipment I could add to it would be.
Ive two sets of cd decks, two vinyl decks, a keyboard, a drum machine all hooked up to a mixer, my cd decks have loop functions so I dont know if its worth while forking out for a sampler.
Ive been recording layers on to cd, the sticking the cds back into my decks and adding more layers on to them. eg a good hard bass, then layering some melody on top then adding some vocals and scratching.
Ive found it hard but it produces some very strange, hands on sounding hardcore. Its probably not the best way to produce tunes, but it sounds not to bad.
What would be the best thing to add to this setup as I have a couple of channels spare?
Thanks again for the help. Jam.
'its nice to be important, but it more important to be nice'
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Edited by - JAM-HAY on 2002/04/17 15:42:45 |
DJ Mouse
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,687 posts
Joined: Jul, 2001
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Posted - 2002/04/17 : 16:30:08
damn you need a sampler big time,ok with cd decks you can loop,but on a sampler you can loop up to 16 samples...all at the same time
and you don't need to just loop samples like drums,fire a decent synth into it or bass too
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"Don't frown when someone annoys you, it uses 42 muscles. Bitch-slap the fu©ker, it only uses 4"
DJ Mouse
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StrifeII
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,143 posts
Joined: Mar, 2001
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Posted - 2002/04/18 : 11:14:29
when i'm writing tracks, i dont actually find myself 'writing' them. I just usually make the beats & breaks like normal and cock about with pitch shifts until it sounds good :)
Hardcore Will Never Die
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Crispy Disco
Starting Member
Canada
9 posts
Joined: Sep, 2001
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Posted - 2002/04/20 : 21:19:57
Hehheh, it's been a while since I posted on these forums. (I think this one is my second).
Good question Jam. 
I've been produceing stuff for a couple years, ( and I DJ'd for like a 8 or 9 years) but I had not produced a hardcore track. The stuff I have been produceing is really hard house, and ever harder old school style drum & bass. However, I have always loved always been obcesed with happy hardcore pretty much since it's beggining. Just recently I started working on some hardcore songs, and I have a couple tracks around 75% finished. It's pretty much just the final sequenceing of the songs, and the recording of the vocals, which I did write myself. 100% original material. (I used to write alot of poetry, so it's pretty much the same thing. (P.S. guys, girls melt like butter when you write them poems for no reason other than the fact that you dig them. heehee.
As far as equiptment goes, my advice is to get as much stuff as you can get your hands on. Even if it's an old drum machine or synth that only has one good hit/tone on it, if you can score it for really cheap, it's worth it. Myself, I don't have nearly the collection of equiptment that I'd like to have, but I do have an O.K. set up of both hardware and softare. (pretty big computer,Cubase, Reason, Sound Forge, Yamaha DX-7 Synth, blah blah blah) and I must say that for not sampleing any pre-recorded hardcore loops, they are already some pretty cool tracks that sound the way happy hardcore is supposed to sound.
It may be a while till I actually have them 100% complete, (I am actually going to be holding an audition for female vocalists in the near future. (Heehee I still love the way that sounds when I say it. I am excited. Should be a lot of fun.
Anyways, I'd be more than happy to help you out JAM. (or any one else Feel free to get me via messenger, or email.
[email protected])
Later.
Slow Music Sucks
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Slow Music Sucks
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Edited by - Crispy Disco on 2002/04/20 21:23:25 |
JAM-HAY
New Member
Congo, Democractic Republic of the
66 posts
Joined: Oct, 2001
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Posted - 2002/04/22 : 14:47:39
What would I need to look for in a sampler? I not looking to spend mega bucks, but it would have to be half decent to get me going. Does a sampler only allow you to play loops? Thanks mouse for the tip. Cheers for the info disco, I hope my girlfreind and little sister will be able to provide me with some good vocals soon, when I get my gear together. Both have amazing voices. Hope your tunes come on well and if they do send us a copy!!!!
'its nice to be important but its more important to be nice'
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DJ Mouse
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,687 posts
Joined: Jul, 2001
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Posted - 2002/04/22 : 15:10:02
at the least,get an akai s2000 sampler (i'd recommend an s5000)
make sure it's got at least 16mb of ram in it otherwise you'll have no space so sample into,if you know about megabytes etc it takes 10mb to sample a minute of cd quality audio (44,100 hz,16 bit,stereo) so 16mb would be plenty,sample in mono instead of stereo and you'll use half of that.
a sampler will let you play loops sequenced through software like cubase, but not just loops. you can sample any sound into it and play it back on it's root note through the keyboard,press the key above and it'll play it back a semitone higher just like a synthesizer.
word of advice,they connect to your pc via small computer system interface (SCSI) so make sure you got a SCSI port on your pc. i'd invest in a SCSI zip drive to save your samples onto as well,coz there's nowhere else to save them to and they won't fit on a floppy disk
or alternatively you could get a soundblaster platinum soundcard and sample direct into that,they're noisy soundcards tho,they'll give off loads of hiss etc
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"Don't frown when someone annoys you, it uses 42 muscles. Bitch-slap the fu©ker, it only uses 4"
DJ Mouse
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Underloop
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,895 posts
Joined: Mar, 2002
91 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2002/04/22 : 23:57:59
quote:
Originally posted by DJ Mouse:
at the least,get an akai s2000 sampler (i'd recommend an s5000)
make sure it's got at least 16mb of ram in it otherwise you'll have no space so sample into,if you know about megabytes etc it takes 10mb to sample a minute of cd quality audio (44,100 hz,16 bit,stereo) so 16mb would be plenty,sample in mono instead of stereo and you'll use half of that.
Don't bother getting an S2000. I bought one when I was just starting up and its a complete pile of ****. These days you can get an S3000 for about the same money, and its a much much much better machine.
The S2000 is more a sample playback machine.....actual sampling on it is like.....errrrr......*tries to think up a suitable analogy*....errrr....a very difficult thing, and theres absolutely sod all real time control.
However, the S3000 is a proper sampler, and u can control everything via MIDI.
Also, check out the EMU stuff too
Matthew aka Cyclone/Underloop
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"Wait a minute, thats not the Monsterometer, its the Frog Exagerator"
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"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
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WRITING YOUR OWN HAPPY HARDCORE TRACKS
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