I want to create my own beats, where do I start?

[Paul S]

Hi,,,

I want to start creating my own beats, but I don't know where to start. What equipment do I need to get? Which ones would you recommend?

Is there any other equipment I need?

Also what software do I need?

What shops are the best for this type of equipment?


Thanks in advance.

[Bass Bandits]

First off, get recycle, then anything that can play back your loops, ie ableton live, cubase, logic
or reason, they're also essential for completely original stuff rather than
mangled loops, but get as many sample CD's as you can lay your hands on.

As for hardware, get as powerful a computer as you can afford, PC or mac, you choose, laptops may seem nice and portable, but you get more for your money with a full desktop or tower.

i wouldn't bother with a hardware sampler, old hat, hard to edit and outdated, other than maybe the akai mpc range, but I'd only go down that route if you're planning on playing live.

It's not really my cup of tea, (I'm a bit old for that) but you can have some good fun messing about with loops and swapping sounds about.

[Paul S]

Thank you for the advice. I have a dual core 2.4ghz (4.8ghz) tower with 3gb of ram, that should be more than enough shouldn't it?

Could you recommend a good sound card? I don't want to spend £100's on one.

[Bass Bandits]

here's a couple to look at, first off Emu 1212m, pair of cards to be installed into the computer, should give you a few inputs of decent quality and good outputs, and also comes with the slightly complicated emu mix program, which has built in effects, but is best left alone and just used for in & out. I use the Emu 1820m, which is no longer produced, but has a decent enough sound. Also have a look at the Tascam Fireone which is an audio interface which connects by firewire, but has the added bonus of loads of function buttons and a shuttle wheel the control your DAW, making life a bit easier, not sure about number of inputs.

Both these are £99.99 at Andertons, which does 9 month interest free! but have a look around, preferably at music shops rather than computer shops
, also bear in mind how many inputs you need, do you plan on recording vocals or any external instruments, if so how many at a time, if you're recording a real drum kit you'd need at least 8 mics just on that, not to mention a studio to record it in! if it's just vocals, then obviously just a couple of inputs is fine, but bear in mind that you may want to expand at some point and record some real guitar and bass.

Good luck.

[Paul S]

Thank you for your great replies. I will have a shop around tonight.

[cmcpress]

Good post people! And some important information here.

Other soundcard choices are the ubiqutous M-Audio range - which are reasonably cheap but getting a bit long in the tooth.

For cheapness Edirol (which is Roland) provide a cheap £30 one too.

Jez
The CMP

[cmcpress]

PC wise - your PC should be fine.

I use a dual core 2.4Ghz laptop which is fine for things like Ableton - and it only has 1GB of RAM. If you want to host lots of virtual synths then you'll need a Quad Core.

Do not upgrade to Vista though as it's basically shit for doing music on - bloated Software + overcomplicated, ill thought out DRM = crap OS.

Windows XP SP3 is fine.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by cmcpress

PC wise - your PC should be fine.

I use a dual core 2.4Ghz laptop which is fine for things like Ableton - and it only has 1GB of RAM. If you want to host lots of virtual synths then you'll need a Quad Core.

Do not upgrade to Vista though as it's basically shit for doing music on - bloated Software + overcomplicated, ill thought out DRM = crap OS.

Windows XP SP3 is fine.

Oh too late I have vista on all my machines. Time for a downgrade I think.

Thanks!