For all you gear guys...

seminole1221 · Post by **seminole1221** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:09 pm

I work as the band director for a very contemporary church in south florida. We're looking into software mainly to create drum loops and back beats for our services. SO, I have two main questions for you:

1. Is Ableton the way I want to go? (as far as ease of use and what I can accomplish with it?)

2. Can you give me a recommended setup? (Laptop, interface, anything else) And can you give me a wishlist setup. (If you could have the best, name it.)

Thanks guys...We have someone committed to get us this equipment as soon as I can figure out what I need. Thanks for your help!

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:14 pm

1. yes. I found Live easy to learn and easy to create beats quickly.

2. what's your budget? look at peoples' signatures to see what they use.

computer - 2GHz or better, dual core, at least 1Gb RAM, 7200 rpm hard drive

sound card - you get what you pay for, figure out the number of inputs and outputs you need and start shopping. after a while you'll see the trend of what's out there.

laird · Post by **laird** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:20 pm

Live does a lot more than play drum beats, so if you think you'll want more in the future, go with a laptop+Live.

But if you really just want drum beats and simple backing tracks... then also consider a plain old drum machine, maybe one like
http://www.alesis.com/product.php?id=120
Much cheaper than a computer+a soundcard+ableton Live.
Smaller, too. And it probably wont crash during the middle of a service beuase it got infected with spyware or something.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:20 pm

^good call.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:22 pm

1) Yes. Ableton is the way to go because it's easy to use and the most stable audio application on the market. That doesn't mean it's impossible to crash, but it's the least likely to crash of all the audio (and non-audio) apps I've used.

2) MacBook Pro, RME FireFace 400, Novation Remote 37 SL.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:24 pm

Get a cheap drum machine if you want your service to sound like a cheap drum machine.

doc holiday · Post by **doc holiday** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:27 pm

^ lol

siliconarc · Post by **siliconarc** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:30 pm

Sales Dude McBoob wrote:
2) MacBook Pro, RME FireFace 400, Novation Remote 37 SL.

lol!
what about 2 lemurs and a monome too..?

laird · Post by **laird** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:34 pm

& the Reverend BT

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:35 pm

Sales Dude McBoob wrote:Get a cheap drum machine if you want your service to sound like a cheap drum machine.

some of those drum backing boxes sound pretty good. surely as a sales dood you've heard some of them. Boss makes them too. some are sampled drums, just like you'd use in Live, no difference.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:54 pm

garyboozy wrote:
Sales Dude McBoob wrote:
2) MacBook Pro, RME FireFace 400, Novation Remote 37 SL.

lol!
what about 2 lemurs and a monome too..?

Cut down on the booze, Gary, and read the people's posts:

(If you could have the best, name it.)

Modern houses of worship really care about good sound. Maybe you people should go find an anti-daw drum machine forum and dispense advice there. That's without a

.

laird · Post by **laird** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:13 pm

Oddly enough, a lot of good electronic music has been made with drum machines. Hard to believe, I know. On that day, the Grinch realized that good sound comes with effort, not out of a box.

If the OP needs a tone generator, they should also look at tone generators.

www.properllerheads.se Reason is another application to consider, as it is nothing more than a tone generator. Comes with lots of good sounds. Easy to use.

Live is much better at recording audio, and Albeton Live is much better at allowing you to think of your laptop as an Instrument, not just a glorified iPOD. But perhaps these strengths are not what the OP had in mind.

siliconarc · Post by **siliconarc** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:41 pm

angryboob!

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:51 pm

Well, going to Ableton's forum and telling a church that they should use Reason for live performance is something only a douchebag would do.

Angryboob is right. I'm fucking sick of all the anti-Live shit around here.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:54 pm