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."

Comments

Linux is the best way to go in my opinion

[Tim_F]

Linux has the most mature sound drivers around. The OSS drivers in the kernel are very mature, and produce a full output with just the right amount of base. Also, all of the software is FREE. How can you beat that? While you may be able to receive support from vendors of Windows Sound Software, Linux has thousands of unsocial geeks with their only wish being to bring others to the cause. If you run into trouble getting your soundcard working, feel free to stop by #debian on irc.openprojects.net. They have always been very helpful to me, even when I wasn't running Debian.

Have you heard of a website called Google?

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you know what a search engine is?

Re:Have you heard of a website called Google?

[floydigus]

How about we all just imagine that someone says this once at the top of each article, then no-one needs to post it.

Prosser, bulldozers etc...

Writing music is dangerous

[yerricde]

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.

If you reproduce a copyrighted musical work on your computer without authorization, you commit the crime of copyright infringement.

If, when writing a song, you unconsciously copy from an existing copyrighted musical work, you commit copyright infringement.

If, when writing a song, you create a melody similar to that of an existing copyrighted musical work, even by coincidence, a music publisher with billions of dollars in the bank may take legal action against you. If you have no money with which to hire legal counsel to defend you against an allegation of copyright infringement, you're in deep doo-doo.

I'd suggest staying the heck away from music unless you plan only to cover classical pieces first published before January 1, 1923.