Starting Out, what to add next Options

[aldrahn]

ok, so im getting an imac, expanding it to 3gb, getting logic 8
i have speakers and studio headphones
next i guess i get an audio interface

what i want to know is, what is a good interface to get that i wont feel i will need to replace
as i learn more
im thinking a motu 828mk2 or m audio nrv10(which includes a mixer)

what would you choose.

considering i dont want to add guitars, or vocals to my music

then what??

what do you guys add as time goes on to improve your capabilities

keyboard, mixer, ...?

i want to be able to have eventually some great tools in order to make electronic/industrial style music

also(a strange question)
is there anything out there to recreate the sound of anvils, machinery, vaccuum hisses, clicks and clunks etc etc


what do you have in your studios that enhances what you can do outside of whats in logic

i forgot to mention the external harddrive, (firewire or usb?)

[qusp74]

[quote name='aldrahn' date='Fri 16 May 2008, 18:48' post='274758']


what i want to know is, what is a good interface to get that i wont feel i will need to replace
as i learn more
im thinking a motu 828mk2 or m audio nrv10(which includes a mixer)

Go the MOTU 828mk2 over the nrv-10 motu have great converters and pre-amps and are very stable on the mac, as they only make gear for the mac. I might get flamed for bagging m-audio its just that i personally think they are a proverbial bucket of shit. Not great converters in their stuff and I found their drivers to be pretty unstable (but thats just me) If the MOTU is in your price range I would get it or check out the TC-ELECTRONICS KONNEKT series ... the 24D and its smaller siblings are great bits of hardware. TC makes some of the most high end and million$ Hardware and software for music creation bar none. and the KONNEKT's come bundled with the industry standard WAVES production Plugs which IMHO are the best mastering plugs available on the market... so you won't be wanting or needing to do away with them in a hurry.

As for adding a mixer what do you want it for? do you want the pre-amps or just a tactile interface for controlling youre DAW software? if its the latter NOVATION makes some great Midi controller keyboards (Novation reMOTE) that also have lots of useful sliders and knobs that will enable you to control your software synths and the logic mixer. they also have an Automap feature that allows you to just click on a copntrol and twiddle a knob instantly configuring the midi for you. as well as having templates for many of the most popular softsynths already installed (a real time-saver) especially for a newbie configuring midi control maps is a painful and slow process even for experienced users.

what would you choose.

considering i dont want to add guitars, or vocals to my music

then what??

what do you guys add as time goes on to improve your capabilities

keyboard, mixer, ...?

i want to be able to have eventually some great tools in order to make electronic/industrial style music



also(a strange question)
is there anything out there to recreate the sound of anvils, machinery, vaccuum hisses, clicks and clunks etc etc

FM synthesis can do an ok job at recreating these sounds but jsut buy a sample cd and perhaps a plugin like Native instruments KONTAKT which is a very powerful software sampler (not too cheap though) you can find cheaper ones and logic comes with a decent one anyway. I will say though that a good microphone (RODE or AKG) or even a passable one will allow you to go out in the field and get all the clunking noises you want you can get mikes that plug into an IPOD or similar harddisk music recorder. Industrial music is very sample driven so a mike would be a good investment.


what do you have in your studios that enhances what you can do outside of whats in logic

Recycle is a great loop and sample editor that produces REX files which are able to be speed up or slowed down without a change in pitch
there are many great softsyths and AUDIO UNIT effects plugs too many to name here but there are other threads that will give you more than enough info. Native instruments and ARTURIA are a couple of good companies to have a look at.
When you can afford it, get yourself a great quality channel strip plug or a hardware unit to add some warmth to your tunes and samples.

Buy monitors before you blow money on that stuff though.


i forgot to mention the external harddrive, (firewire or usb?)

FIREWIRE ALL THE WAY

I agree with MacDaddy, enroll in a course or get some online course material and manuals, Don't get too far ahead of yourself Buy yourself GREAT gear a piece at a time and steer away from bargain all in one solutions, they are usually crap and full of hype. At least buying it a piece at a time you don't end up with a whole heap of creeping featurism going on, it just serves to overwhelm you and distract from the goal here.... making great music.

GOOD LUCK
get the Mac, LOGIC and a decent external drive (from MAXTOR or another reputable mac drive supplier), and take it from there. Make sure you drop us a line before making the final decision on interfaces... after you play around with what you got and have a good think about what it is you actually need to buy next. Make sure you use the external drive to record to and store samples on rather than putting applications on it.

Peace out

This post has been edited by qusp74: Sat 17 May 2008, 12:40