Newbie with something to share

[Aphex_Tim]

Wanted to share my new track with you. It starts off clean and simple, then slowly evolves into a big, droney, ambient piece.
I'm practically a beginner with zero equipment so please let me know what you think! All feedback is greatly appreciated!

[synkrotron]

Sounds nice to me Tim. I listened to Ascension as well while I was there.

So, what equipment to you use?

cheers

andy

[Aphex_Tim]

Thanks! For now, it's just my laptop with Ableton installed. That's it. That's all I have.
I'm planning on getting at least a decent interface and keyboard and maybe a sample pad to get me going a little more.
Any suggestions in that area perhaps..? I'm not exactly swimming in cash unfortunately.

[Maharg]

You really don't need a lot of stuff. It is probably best to spend time (rather than money) on getting really familiar with what you already have. All I use is a Mac running Logic Pro plus Audacity (fee). I do use a lot of field recordings that I make when out on regular long walks. That is it, plus a guitar, which I use now and again. I have a keyboard but have not been able to get it to talk to the computer so I don't use it.
The more equipment you have and use, the more mistakes you are more likely to make :dunno:

[Aphex_Tim]

Point taken; so far I'm indeed managing fine. But it would be nice to be able to actually play and record live or just jam out a bit. Right now when I make music, I have to manually insert every single midi note or sample and it's gotten rather tedious. Musical typing also has its limitations.

[synkrotron]

If you are on a tight budget, and you need a USB MIDI keyboard, I can heartily recommend the Acorn Masterkey series.

Not the best in the world, for sure, and not many knobs and sliders, but if you are just trying to get some MIDI notes down in real time then you can't go wrong with one of these:-

http://www.acorn-instruments.com/usb-keyboards

They come in 25, 49 and 61 key flavours. I went for the 49.

Still not cheap, but cheaper than most. I think you may get a slightly cheaper keyboard, but they will be limited to 25 keys, which I find to be just a little bit limiting, even for my poor playing skills.

[Maharg]

Point taken; so far I'm indeed managing fine. But it would be nice to be able to actually play and record live or just jam out a bit. Right now when I make music, I have to manually insert every single midi note or sample and it's gotten rather tedious. Musical typing also has its limitations.

I understand, and it is why I like Logic Pro. It has an inbuilt keyboard. You can play live using your computer keyboard. I have gotten used to it now. I always play live, always. I just hit record before I start. Then play. Filters and effects can be added before and during play (when you know how - unfortunately no one teaches this stuff) There are limits to octaves, but there is an easy way around this when holding a cord with one hand you can change octaves with the other and continue playing. Logic auto adapts with the very slight delay and the transition from one key to another flows smoothly once you get the hang of it. Preset sounds can be preloaded and you can even introduce other sounds live once you learn the process. Playing with some reverb and delay also helps with continuity and transitions.
It would certainly be easier with a keyboard attached, but I am so used to it now I always choose the internal keyboard and hit record and start playing.

[windspace]

Welcome to AO! I think this piece sounds great! I am thoroughly enjoying it Thanks for sharing with us!

[zsoltb]

Hi, I have no equipment either. I use Podium Free DAW and free vsti plugins. As for keyboard I use the pc keyboard. There is a program called VMPK that is a virtual keyboard and together with LoopMidi can be used to connect any DAW.
Here is a short tutorial if your are interested:
http://trebleclick.blogspot.hu/2013/...yboard-as.html

:( Sorry for almost hijacking your thread title. It happend by accindent I swear.

Nice sounds by the way especialy towards the end.

[GaryG]

Right now when I make music, I have to manually insert every single midi note or sample and it's gotten rather tedious. Musical typing also has its limitations.

If you're using Ableton then you can record midi from the laptops keyboard (or maybe that's what you're doing?)

[Aphex_Tim]

It's usually what I do to come up with melodies and such but the range is very limited. Switching octaves while playing is too much of a hassle to be able to accurately record something that way ;)