How to make Techno/Trance music with a PC ?

[jonMEGA]

I would like to make my own music with my PC. Has anyone made their own techno/trance music on their PC? What programs and hardware do you use. Are there any websites to help a newbie out ? 🙂

 

[zeon]

There's two ways you can go about making music on a pc, an all in one package such as reason or fruity loops or a sequencer vst route such as logic or cubase.

The all in on route is what i would most recomend as all tools needed to make music are contained within one package. "Reason" for example has a virtual analog synthesizer, a sampler, a loop based sampler, a drum machine and decent on board sequencing... it is fairly pricy so you might want to look instead at the less expensive but less powerful app called "fruity loops" its essentially the same thing just stripped down and less powerful.

The other option is to get a sequencer and a some vst instruments (virtual intruments that interface with your sequencing software) this route is also pricy but can be done cheap if you use older/ree ware applications. The best computer based sequencer in my opinion is Logic Audio...

Also of paramount importnce is having a midi controller keyboard, this gives you the tactile sense of being able to play your music and makes the whole process much more fun.

check out Propellerheads for reason
Fruity Loops
and emagic for Logic Audio

also check out the forums at Sonicstate and Harmony-Central for more resources and such..

good luck with making some tracks!

 

[yakko]

I would also add Cubase to the list provided by zeon. Once they get it together it should interface with Reason. Also throw in all the Native Instruments plug ins for it and you can do anything.

 

[narzy]

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/products/NewShowProduct.asp?PID=515

 

[jonMEGA]

thanks for the links, but is there any sites with a newbie's guide to an of these programs? I listen to alot of techno/trance and would like to make my own. Is there any books or magazines I should check out? Any equipment I should buy (something inexpensive) first?

thanks for your help,

 

[gargantuan]

The first thing you need to do is to stop saying techno/trance when you mean electronic music.

There are a lot of genres of electronic music and they are all different from one another.

Listen to some streaming mp3 radio stations and try to differentiate between genres. The radios' websites will tell you what genres of music they play.

Once you learn about different genres, and decide on genres / styles you like, THEN you can think about making music.

Otherwise your music will have no thematic consistency and will come out crap. (Unless you're the next Chemical Brothers and can create a new genre out of thin air, as they did with Big Beat)

 

[ThaGrandCow]

<< The first thing you need to do is to stop saying techno/trance when you mean electronic music. >>

I think he meant trance music specifically as the genre he wants to make.

 

[jonMEGA]

^

 

[SpecialEd]

you need programs like fruity-loops and sound forge. However they are expensive.

 

[LiekOMG]

You could always do some tracking! Hey, its free.

 

[Speedo]

Hey! Here's a site you probably will find interesting: http://www.upsweden.com/ . The site is dedicated to electronic music, and they are experts on softwares like Cubase and virtual instruments/plugins. They also have a nice forum where you can ask questions and get help from professionals: http://www.upsweden.com/forum/

 

[flavio]

Roland MC-303's are fun too and not too expensive.

 

[tweakmm]

Although I'm not sure how much into hardware you want to get, the yamaha DJX is supposed to be an extremely good keyboard for the price if you want to make electronic music

 

[nihil]

i make industrial/noise stuff and this is some of the hardware and software that i use.

software:
fruity loops
cubase
reason


hardware:
roland juno 106
roland sh-09
yamaha cs1x
korg dw-3000

imo, hardware sounds a lot better than software. although not many people can afford much of it =\ a lot of rappers (just an example) use old school roland drum machines like the 808, 909, and 707. i just wish i had money for a moog. 🙁

 

[Speedo]

nihil: Ya heard Pentagon I, FM7 and Pro52 VSTi synths? They beat most hardware synths...

My techno/trance setup:

Yamaha Promix01
Roland Juno106
Roland JV1080 (+techno exp)
Korg DW8000
Yamaha CS1-x

Cubase VST32 (soon SX) with:
FM7
Pentagon I
Pro52
Alpha JunoX
etc.

If you want to take a peek at my tracks, you can go here:
http://www.vittran.norrnod.se/~speedo/fsongs.html

Oh.. and I was betatester for ReBirth; have a demotrack boundled with each version, and also made the preset patterns for v1.0 and v1.5 😉

 

[nihil]

<< nihil: Ya heard Pentagon I, FM7 and Pro52 VSTi synths? They beat most hardware synths... >>



heard em. honestly i'm a hardware kinda guy. it just works better for the type of music that i make. analogs just allow me to create and reproduce on stage a sound that i find interesting. although i have used softsynth and there is nothing wrong with it. i just don't really have a need for it.