student

hi. my friend had magix music maker for ps2 and i really enjoyed it. however it was very limiting. i was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some good software for the pc which has pre loaded drum beats and sounds and all that stuff but also has the ability for recording instrument(midi i guess). i know i need a sound card or some hardware interface as well, but for now, i will settle for something where i can make music. thanks in advance.

shakran

you don't have a sound card? Or do you mean you don't have a midi card?

Either way, Finale is pretty much considered the gold standard of music composition software.

vanblah

You might look into Sonar ... www.cakewalk.com/sonar ...

You'll have to buy your own loops and other stuff. Eventually you'll want a nice sound card like:

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=...=pciinterfaces

You probably don't need one of the 8 channel interfaces ... but you probably want at least a 4 in 2 out ...

Doug

PulpMind

I don't know what the shakran dude is talking about.. I've been making music for a while, and have never heard of anyone using Finale for what you're describing. It's probably designed for making notation for live instruments.
For actually making music, first of all, you should find a forum where people are actually into that stuff. People on here are going to give you crap and/or incomplete advice. So do a google search.

In my years of making (electronic) music, I have enjoyed:
Reason.. for being super user-friendly, but also a closed box. no room for expansion. however, it is leaps and bounds above the PS program you were using, and is what alot of people use to get started. after about a year you'll realize that it just doesn't sound good enough, and you'll wish it supported VSTs cuz you really like that one that does that one thing...
Logic.. the best of the best, but also the most insanely hard... and expensive. dont use it until you're serious. when you're serious (and insane) it is the everything and perfect.
FruityLoops.. inexpensive, and now it supports VSTs! (VSTs are third party programs for creating and editing sounds that you can use within a host program). extemely easy to use, and comes with loops. sounds just like what you want, if you ask me.
Orion... like a mix between FruityLoops and Reason, I havn't actually used it, but everyone I know who has swears by it.
Cubase.. and Sonar... great programs, but really, there's better things out there that do the same amount of shit for less money and a better user interface. unless your studio is rather professional, look elsewhere. I dont know of anyone who successfully makes music that uses these programs, just alot of amateurs.

imho.
research research research!

vanblah

I take exception to that. I've been doing digital audio for about 7 years now. Starting with Sonic Foundry's Vegas 2.0 (Back when it was called Vegas Audio). I've been a professional (recording) musician for 20 years. I've been playing some kind of instrument (starting with violin) for nearly 30 years. So I don't think any advice I have to give is crap.

Those are all great programs but not what I use for writing, so of course I would never profess to know anything about them other than superficially ... which is why I stuck with only the most basic reply. I use Sonar to flesh my ideas out so that I can then take them to a professional studio with the band.

Along with Sonar I use a product called Drums on Demand (more acoustic drums ... www.drumsondemand.com). If you're into electronic music then you'll have to search elsewhere. There's a ton of stuff out there ... my favorite resource is www.soundsonline.com.

I also use a product called Colossus which is a VST synth workstation (http://www.soundsonline.com/sophtml/...tml?sku=EW-164). Very nice ...

I have other various keyboards, softsynths and guitars that I use sometimes with amps but mostly with amp modelling software (Izotope's Trash (www.izotope.com) for the most part).

My hardware interface is an Aardvark Q10 (http://emusician.com/daw/emusic_aardvark_direct_pro/), which may have been a mistake since the company just went out of the digital audio business.

Pulpmind's advice on research should go without saying. Anyone who wants to do ANYTHING should begin by finding out as much about it as possible. Starting with things like a simple Google search is always a good idea. The library or bookstore is another place to find great books for things like composition (believe it or not you still need to know how to put together a song). A lot of people (re: amateurs) who get into loop based music making end up with myopic and boring songs because of a lack of composition. That doesn't mean you can't become famous for music like this ... it happens all too often.

One thing to keep in mind ... if you don't know anything about music then no amount of software or equipment is going to make you a musician. It comes from studying various kinds of music and learning your particular craft.

I'm NOT an "if you didn't take lessons then you're not a musician" guy ... most of my friends never took lessons and are great musicians but they applied themselves to the instrument or learning how to completely control a turntable or whatever.

Finally ... FINALE is music notation software for transcribing or composing music. It is not recording software or loop software.

Radar would be the industry standard digital audio workstation (although most people would think it's Pro-Tools).

(EDIT: All of my software is paid for ... I don't have a huge problem with crackz, but if you ever start making money with your music then don't you think it would be fair to pay the people who wrote the software you used to create it?)

ratbastid

I use Fruity Loops. It's easy and flexible, but you have to get your head around how it thinks.

shakran

He said he wanted to MAKE music. Not get different clips of music made by other people and patch them together. If you're MAKING music, then you're doing original compositions, in which case Finale is the one you want.

If you're just mixing crap together, Acid is where to go 'cause it's cheap and a lot more powerful than people think.

Redlemon

/ pretends to be a moderator

Let's not have an argument as to whether or not sampling and remixing are creative processes. At least, not in this thread.

/ takes off fake moderator hat

So, student, which are you trying to do?

__________________
I can't read your signature. Sorry.

shakran

[QUOTE=Redlemon]/ pretends to be a moderator

Let's not have an argument as to whether or not sampling and remixing are creative processes. At least, not in this thread.

/ takes off fake moderator hat


We're not. I never said it wasn't creative. Painting is creative too, but I don't call that making music either

vanblah

This sentence pretty much sums up what STUDENT is trying to do. Finale is not the answer for this.

shakran

My mistake. As I said earlier, my recommendation is Acid.

Gary_the_Rat

I believe Reason is the way to go. You can download a demo at Propellerheads.se

Glory's Sun

Add another vote for Reason.. it's just sick. I'm using 2.5 and have tons of refills.. so maybe I'm a bit biased. :shrug: Cubase isn't bad either.