Please, Help Catch me Up to Date on how sequencing/recording is done now!!

[Sparkly]

I'm both a musician and a dancer, as well as a publisher. Something I've always wanted to do is produce CDs to be used in dance classes, audio alone or perhaps a DVD showing the dance combinations with the music, too. (I'd also like to record children's songs, with recorded singing at some point.)

About five years ago, I got started with a Kurtzweil PC88mx (it had the most realistic sounds at the time) and an old version of Cakewalk (ProAudio7). I made a couple of CDs and used them in my own teaching, which was fun although a lot of it was pretty crappy sounding. I'd use my music without saying anything about it to the students, to see if it got any reaction, and sometimes I'd get "that's cool music," but not often.

I have a new, pretty powerful computer with a good sound card and I'm ready to try again. So I just went to some sites that sell music stuff and I don't even know where to start. Things have obviously come a loooong way in 5 years! Do people still create music with the sounds coming from the keyboard, or do the keyboard's own sounds not matter much now? I don't even know how to use instrument samplers on CDs. I know Kurtzweil has a rack system out to augment its sound libraries, but do I need that?

For sequencing software, should I start with a basic Cakewalk like Home Studio, or Sonar? Or a bundle like this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/705130/

Is "recording software" something that's needed for mixing acoustic recordings, or would I need that?

I mostly like great piano sounds (I'm a 'classical' pianist) and also sort of tribal percussion sounds. I ended up with some really weird combinations of conga drums, piano and flute because after awhile they were the only sounds I could stand, even from my Kurtzweil.

If there are no recommendations on these matters, could somebody tell me where I could find a music-techno-guru who I could hire to give me a crash course? Or are there sites online with basic tutorials on how these things are done these days?

Whew!! Thanks in advance for any help! :dunce:

[emulatorloo]

1. This is a great tutorial here -- Tweak's Home Studio Guide

Maybe it won't cover everything you are looking for but I learned a heck of a lot from it

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

Please check it out



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That Cakewalk bundle looks pretty good. . .Sonar would probably be overkill at this point.
An even cheaper Cakewalk musicians friend deal (49.00:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/s=specials/search/detail/base_pid/705120/

However I can't see if this one supports VST plug-ins (see below) -

Cubase SE from Steinberg is another nice entry level sequencer. 99.00 at musicians friend - you can upgrade to one of thier more full featured versions later.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/708096/

Now to answer a few of your other questions --

Most sequencers now have some audio recording built in.

Hardware synths are still sold and in use, but a there are a lot of **virtual synths** that run on the computer, either as part of a sequencer or a standalone program, or some mixture of both. You control with your Kurzweil keyboard, sounds are generated by the program on you computer. So for example, here is a Piano program I see lots and lots of raves about on the internet:

http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/product.cfm?pid=4969

Or another example -- here is an entry level collection of virtual instruments from Steinberg -- this would work in sequencers that support the VST plug-in format (tweak wil tell you about plug ins):

http://www.steinberg.net/ProductPage_sbabb8.html?Product_ID=2442&Langue_ID=2

99.00 at musicians friend

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/708121/

LOOK! a whole orchestra for 265.00! And a Choir and piano too!:

East West Symphonic Orchestra Silver:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/955872/

Demo MP3's here -- pretty amazing to me:

http://www.soundsonline.com/sophtml/details.phtml?sku=EW-161

And samplers have pretty much gone "virtual" too - here are a few, and you can get good pianos/sounds for any of them:

Gigastudio:
http://www.tascamgiga.com/

Kontact:
http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.php?id=kontakt_us

Emu's EmulatorX (comes with a sound card)
http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?product=2212&category=631&maincategory=631

Mach 5
http://www.motu.com/products/software/machfive/body.html/en

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[Sparkly]

2. Wow -- you are awesome!! Thank you so much!!

This gives me so much to go on, it'll keep me busy awhile! Meanwhile I did order that Cakewalk bundle. You're probably right that I'd have no idea what to do with Sonar at this point and don't need that much utility.

This is going to be all new to me, since only a few years ago the Kurzweil sounds seemed sooo superior. That "Ivory" piano program looks amazing -- I'll have to ask Santa for that one in December! (A Bosendorfer?! My Mason & Hamlin would be so jealous!)

I'll have to get through that tutorial to know the difference between virtual instruments and samplers :dunce: but I know I'll need something like that. I think it's also a matter of knowing how to use them to seem realistic -- there are some things a cello just isn't supposed to do, you know? That must be a study in itself somehow.

Have you used any of these? Are you a composer?

Thanks again for all the help. I'm sure I'll get back to you! :yourock:

[emulatorloo]

3. I am getting started again myself!

After about a three year lay-off. In my spare time I used to write music for local film and tv production and for multimedia software. . .then life interfered somehow and there was no time for music.

My main computer is a Mac, and the sequencer I use is MOTU Digital Performer - combines MIDI and audio recording in one package. I have a few virtual instruments running on that machine too. I still have some hardware synths, but I don't seem myself ever buying another one. (That Kurzweil you have is still a great synth!)

In addition, I have gigastudio and Emulator X running on a PC (not at the same time), connected to the Mac with a midi cable. That is what I run my piano sounds on - basically like it is a standalone midi module.

I just got the East West Symphonic Orchestra and am very excited about learning it!

Here is a guy who is using that to write soundtrack-style music. . . I really like what he is doing with it.

http://www.neilfactory.com/index_ie.htm

GOOD LUCK!

[Sparkly]

4. The mp3's blow me away!!

The East West Symphonic Orchestra is amazing -- both the site's demos and Neil Factory's works. I'd be interested to hear how you like it, and whether it requires a lot of work with each sound to get it right (exactly the right decay, etc.) or whether that's intuitively built in.

How does one learn to compose like that? Do regular composition classes suffice or does it take a completely different approach?

Thanks again for your help! :hi:

[emulatorloo]

5. It seems like there will be a pretty good learning curve with it --

A lot of the sounds are programmed so that the lower octave of the keyboard work as "switches" between different articulations of a instrument section. Looks like there are other tricks too . . . using an expression pedal to create swells, etc etc. Fortunately it looks like the documentation is pretty good.

I guess I am going to try reading a couple books on orchestration, and imitating what I like! We'll see how far it gets me.

Any way - I am glad I could point you to some links.

Congrats on ordering the Cakewalk bundle! I know it is going to work well for you.

[greyl]

6. Thinking back 5 years...

I got my first computer in 2000, and had been using a 4-track analog recorder for my music.
One of the first 12 searches I did was for a software drum-machine because I
1. Didn't have a drumkit
2. Lived in an apartment
3. Wanted some rhythym to jam along with on guitar and keyboard.

One of the first I found was Fruityloops, which has grown into FL Studio. It's a stellar sequencer with audio recording and editing power. The free demo exports audio, but doesn't save projects. Most importantly, it's a great tool for learning.: http://www.flstudio.com/

"Do people still create music with the sounds coming from the keyboard, or do the keyboard's own sounds not matter much now?"

In addition to the capability of recording the output of hardware synths, software now enables one to use their hardware keyboard (with midi out) to control/play software based synthesizers. Iow, you can virtually blay a Hammand B4, flute, hi-hat, or any sample whatsoever with whatever hardware keyboard (with midi out) you have.

It's damn fun.


edit: "Do people still create music with the sounds coming from the keyboard, or do the keyboard's own sounds not matter much now?"

To answer your question ;), Yes people still record their board, but with a thousand free software synthesizers at hand, the keyboard's function is becoming more and more just as a controller.