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Creating Music Using Your PC?
onenil asks: "I'm a guy who has sort of fallen into IT from a young age, but was also quite heavily into music when I was younger. I now want to spark up my interest in music again as I want to broaden my horizons, and I figure the best way to do it is with my PC. I've started looking around for hardware and software, and have come to the conclusion that the best option is to buy a simple MIDI keyboard for music input (which just takes the keys you play and sends em off to the computer, with no in-built synthesizer) and a really kick-ass software package to do all the sound processing. Are there any musicians out there who can shed some light on this area?"
"I've been told by a shop clerk that with a simple Sound Blaster Live s/c, I'll need to buy a package like Reason as it processes all sounds with the CPU, and sends one track to the sound card. Reason retails for around AU$995 (roughly $500 US?). Is this the best way to go? Or should I perhaps look at a more hardware-based solution (some type of synthesizer built-in to a sound card, or perhaps a keyboard that does synth and output). As I'm just starting, out I want something that gives good sound (I don't like the MIDI that comes out of my SBLive), but also doesn't cost too much. It would be great to also build on it when my wants and desires aren't fulfilled by what I have."
There is a whole section on freshmeat.net devoted to Sound Synthesis. I've used Reason, and it's a nice package, but I guarantee you that it's more than you need (it's VERY resource intensive as well). It's like using Photoshop because you like to crop and resize images, when The GIMP works great for that purpose.
The price you quoted for Reason sounds rather expensive. I bought my copy for US$270 at my local music store (Guitar Center). I also got a MIDI keyboard and a cheap USB MIDI interface (Midiman Midisport 2x2) and a copy of Sound Forge. You should download the latest demo version of Reason and also listen to the example songs.
Forget using the built in sounds on your SoundBlaster. Reason, or any other software synth, is going to blow away those sounds. Plus they can play back samples as well. The synths are really synths, they're just in software instead of hardware. I personally don't see any reason to buy more hardware synths unless you are going to be performing live. One thing you will want to look at when choosing a sounds card is to make sure it has ASIO drivers. If not then the latency on the sound card will be too high. The bottom line on this is that there will be a delay between the time you press a key on your MIDI keyboard and when you hear the sound from the computer.
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1) The most powerful PC or Mac you can afford. You are not going to be able to use Linux if you want to do anything serious as far as music production goes.
2) A pro audio soundcard. Again, depending upon how serious you are...if you just want to dabble until you find out exactly what your style is, your SBLive should be more than sufficient. I can't really recommend a particular unit to you though, because I don't have one myself.
3) Software. These days, the simplest and cheapest solution is to go all software. VST instruments simulate "real" electronic instruments (synths/samplers/etc) much more cheaply than outboard MIDI gear. I very rarely use any of my hardware synths. As for what you should get, it really depends upon what you intend to do. You can get demo versions of many popular packages. At the minimium, I would recommend a sound editor (Sound Forge is good, some people like Cool Edit or WaveLab) and a sequencer that supports audio such as Cubase or Sonar. If you plan to use a lot of samples/loops, I would highly recommend Acid 4, which includes VSTi support and basic MIDI. Softsynths that I like are the Pro-52 and FM7 (both by Native Instruments, I think) and the Junglist (Sonic Syndicate).
If you need more information or detail on anything mentioned above, let me know!
If all you're looking to do is some sound tracking and live playing, you'd probably be better off with something like FruityLoops. It's a $99 software package (without all the frills) that does a excellent job as a production tool and a decent job at MIDI.
My setup consists of a bunch of effects modules, some tone modules, a professional-grade sound card, Fruity Loops 3.56, ACID 4, Sound Forge and Cakewalk.
If you're really into the MIDI playing, an actual sequencing package will probably be better. Cakewalk can't be beat for the price. It's also getting better in the digital audio handling, though it's still not up to snuff with Cubase or ProTools for recording.
If you're curious to see the type of sound you can get using the lower-priced solutions like Acid or FruityLoops, check out the FruityLoops forums or Acid Planet
There's a demo version of FruityLoops available that you can use to play any FLP files from the forums.
Good luck!
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There are more options in this area than I can even begin to fully explain. I will tell you that you won't be happy with your SBLive for very long. It certainly didn't keep my happy for more than a month.
The question is, how involved do you want to get? You can get into the computer/music arena for anywhere from $100 to... really as much as you want to pay. If MIDI-based music is the way you would like to go, you may be able to get away with simple stereo audio i/o. However, you'll probubly eventually want more than one pair of MIDI ports, and you'll want MIDI ports with lower latency than what you'd find on your SB card.
The first choice you need to make is what platform you will run on. The only two real competitors are Mac and PC/Windows. As much as I like Linux, it's just not in the audio arena yet. Of those two, Mac is almost undisputedly more stable/powerful when it comes to audio processing. Unfortunately, Mac's are quite costly. I personally use a PC simply for the cost factor.
Once you've chosen your platform, you need to get the most powerful system you can afford. It really matters here. You get a weak system you'll be very limited. That said, I do quite well on a 1.2Ghz Athlon (overclocked to 1.4) and 768MB PC133 SDRAM. Hard drives are also of concern when it comes to recording (which I assume you'll get into). Basically you want to make sure you have plenty of space and at least 7200rpm. Uncompressed audio can really take up a lot of space. Also of note, unfortunately most PC software is moving towards being 2k/XP only. In the Mac arena things are just starting to shift to OS X. Within the next year all major packages should be available for it, but for now you have some that are, some that aren't.
After the platform and computer are chosen, you need to figure out which software you want. Your key audio package will be your sequencer. This is the program you'll use to make everything happen. You'll record with it, layout with it, and generally even just play through it. There are several that exist: Cubase, Nuendo, Logic Audio (recently bought by Mac, now Mac only), Digital Performer (always has been, always will be Mac only), Cakewalke, and Sonar, to name a few. I personally recommend Cubase (Cubasis, the stripped down version, may be a good way to get a start into things). Also, if you're wanting to go with computer based instruments (aka virtual instruments) you'll need some plugins. As far as synths go, Native Instruments makes arguably the best to be found anywhere. I'm particularly fond of their FM7, and for raw power (though a lot more work) Reaktor is amazing. Also of note is Rebirth by Propellerheads, which is particularly handy for breakbeats if that's you're thing. It models two classic analog synths, and two classic drum synths. Finally, if you want to make serious MIDI based music, there is nothing that compares to Gigastudio by Tascam. It is by far the most expensive of them all, but well worth it. Technically Gigastudio is a sampler, not a synth. It is capable of playing back complete, believable, symphonies of sound (literally). It also takes massive amounts of CPU/RAM and only runs on PC.
The final aspect to go for is the audio/MIDI hardware itself. The reason this comes last is quite simply because certain hardware works best with certain software. With that in mind it's hard to give recommendations. You will need two pieces of hardware: the audio interface, and the MIDI interface. Audio hardware is a bit less proprietary than MIDI hardware, and you'll probubly be fine if you choose something that has ASIO drivers. I use a MOTU 896 Firewire interface that has 8in/8out, 8 mic preamps, and operates at up to 24bit/96kHz. That's probubly a bit overkill for what you want to do. I've also had very good success with Echo cards. The Echo Mia may well be the way to go. It's a simple stereo in/out, but will do 24bit/96kHz and has balanced TRS connectors. The Mia usually runs just under $200. Other manufacturers of note are: DigiDesign (expensive, very proprietary, but good), RME, Aardvark, and M-Audio.
The MIDI interface gets a bit touchier. I had to try a couple before I got one that really worked for me. They tend to also be more proprietary towards your sequencing software. I use a Stienberg Midex 8, which works beautifully with Nuendo and Cubase because they're both made by Steinberg, however, I wouldn't recommend it if you're not running Nuendo, Cubase or one of the other Steinberg software packages. Basically everyone uses there own protocol for MIDI, and uses a protocol called LTC for a fallback. Almost everything can use LTC, but LTC doesn't perform nearly as well as whatever proprietary protocol your software might use. Most companies that make sequencers also sell MIDI interfaces, and generally you want the one that matches your software. If you simply want one that will kindof work for everything, but not work great with anything, Midiman of Maudio makes the Midisport series that are fairly decent all around, but only use the LTC protocol. Of course, there are all shapes and sizes of MIDI interfaces, I would recommend getting one that has at least 2 in/out ports. It may be worth it to even go up to 8. On a side note, STAY AWAY from Edirol MIDI interfaces. I've had three of them go through my hands, and none of them worked.
Ok, now we have our computer, our software, and our audio/midi hardware... time to get a MIDI controler of some sort. This is where you just need to go to a few music stores and find what you want. There are a few things you want to make sure you have, but beyond that it's just all about what you like. You want to make sure you have pitch/mod control of some sort. You also want to make sure that you have a velocity sensitive controller (i.e. It sends out MIDI signals saying how hard the keys were hit/let off). You also probubly want something that works as a sustain pedal (especially if you intend to do anything that is to sound like a piano). I personally recommend getting something that has a small subset of built-in sounds. Even though they're a bit more expensive, it just augments your possibilities that much more. Everything else in the MIDI controller is more or less up to what feels good to you.
I know this ran on a bit, and is kindof haphazardly thrown together, but hopefully it can give some starting points. If you'd like to see what I have, it can be found here, but it probubly won't stand up to too awfully many hits. As a final note, a great resource for information on audio in general (including computer audio) is Harmony Central.
For hardware, you don't need a very fast machine. A 600ish MHz PC will do fine. The sound card does most of the work. A pro sound card with ASIO drivers and a breakout box is important. I have experience with the Delta44 from M-Audio, a lower end option (about $250 US)for these features. The ASIO drivers allow the card to use it's DSP for sound synth, so the CPU can handle other tasks. The breakout box does the digital to analog conversion outside of the computers case, to lessen noise and interference. It also lets you use 1/4 inch phono jacks.
Software choices largly depend on what you want to create. I think Reason by PropellerHead Software is awesome for electronica, and very capable for more analog sounding stuff. It intergrates well with Cakewalk. Acid is great for loop/sample based stuff.
As for midi keyboards, Roland makes a really cheap and capable unit, the PC-160, that is fine if you're a one finger player and just need a way to get notes into a sequencer. Keyboardists will want something bigger, though.
With the hardware mentioned above, you can throw around 20+ tracks, all with hardware DSP effects, and not see the CPU load go above about 20-30%. Lots of room.
To really get great results you'll need to spend more money, of course. Quality studio monitors are very usefull, but not cheap. Good microphones for input. Headphones. Good cables. A mixing board, etc. All of this stuff can wait untill you get some royalties.
Last but not least, I would recomend educating yourself about some of the tech aspects of digital music creation. Digital cross-talk, aliasing etc, are hard to pin down if you don't know what causes them.
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While soft-synths sound cool in theory, they suck to work with. You can't actually "play" a soft-synth (at least not in my experience). With music coming out of the speakers half a second later than you pressed the corresponding key, it's impossible to keep in sync (or even play correctly).
A separate decent midi-keyboard and sound module/sound-card will often cost you 1 1/2 times as much as if the midi-keyboard came with sounds, but you may still prefer it, if you plan to add more gear later on (and never need to carry your gear to play somewhere else).
Most sound-sources are crap. You might as well live with it, and get a cheap one. Note that GM sucks most of all, but the price increase for getting decent stuff is much to high for the amateur like me (or you, I guess), and besides, it makes it simpler to use with standard software. $300 should be about the right price-range to start with (maybe less if it's a sound-card). Remember to go for quality (as in playability, realism) in sounds, and not quantity (you will never need those helicopter/gunshot/sitar/el-guitar patches anyway). Be aware of excessive reverb, which can often make something sound good at first, but sucks later on. If you like experimenting with the sounds themselves, buy a used old synth, such as a DX7 (which should be extremely cheap nowadays, and also has pretty decent keys:-), or confine your experiments to the soft-synths (but they are harder to work with, since the real-time use just sucks. There is definitely a big plus to have knobs you can actually touch instead of using a mouse).
In general, used stuff is good, you may find it in your local store (sometimes the store has a department for used stuff, sometimes they have a bulletin board), or in a magazine. But never buy used stuff unless you've seen it and tried it first (it might be very heavily used, and unless you know what to buy, it is a good idea to see if it fits your need)
Being a hacker type myself, I find it far to easy to be carried away by all the technology instead of making actual music. Electronic instruments often lack the same dynamics and expressitivity as a real one, and it's important to practice the real thing once in a while.
One of the great things about software, however, is the amount of educational software out there. I like using Band-In-A-Box as a great source of ideas. And also a decent air-training program, such as EarMaster Pro (there are lots of others). As for sequencers, any brand-name will do, they are much the same anyway (as with word-processors, etc...)