advice for a beginer?

[bedroomDJ]

yo, so i have been a collecting music for a while... i have all kinds of ideas of stuff i want to sample... im mostly into hip-hop and dub step or drum n bass type tracks. as for performing live i was thinking i could use a program on a lap top and a 4 or 5 channle mixer, 2 channles for mixing tracks then 2 or 3 channles for another turntable and rane mixer wich i prefer to scratch on and maybe some sort of live controller. wat i wana know is where should i start.. i have so many ideas and so much of the stuff i have been getting introduced to seems applicable... anyone have advice for hardware(midi controllers)/software ... right now im planning on getting a couple technics and a vestax pdx 3000, i prefer the pdx for scratching, also it has a usb midi connection and i think i have some ideas for that. i have a rane ttm 56 that i think i will keep for scratching and i have been looking at the djm 500 for mixing. i also think i will use a mac book pro for live but i think i would prefer a pc in the studio, dose anyone see a problem with that? other than that i have no idea what i want or wat could be fun for producing hip hop beats that i can mix and scratch live too and also i wana mix dub step drum n bass and i like trance.... dose ableton work for mixing just as well as serato or traktor or is it better to use it for production and mix with other programs?? any recomended reading material or video tutorials???

im pretty much set on making it far as a dj/producer... i am 20 now and know that with a few years i could definatly see the ideas in my head come to fruition. thanks for any help you guys can offer.

[yur2die4]

The most important thing you need is an audio interface. You haven't really mentioned one in your description, but I am hoping you have one that gives you the options you need. This audio interface should be able to interface with anything and everything that you plan to use with your programs.

So just to be sure, do you have an audio interface??

[bedroomDJ]

no im not sure i do.. u mean like a mixing bored that i can connect all my devices into and play through a PA?

[aeon_flux]

live is not serato/traktor. it is different beast. since you have great REAL hardware for vinyl an scratching the question is:
- do you want move your scratching into digital world - then it is serato/traktor route - to summarize everything stays more or less the same but you are getting rid of crates full of vinyl
- keep your scratching traditional (rane/turntable/vinyl) and extend your mixes by learning live workflow and philosophy. getting into world of midi controllers and hybrid mixers, vst/au instruments and effects and loop sequencing heaven

[yur2die4]

An audio interface is like a soundcard, well it IS a soundcard. Your soundcard counts as an audio interface. Some soundcards are designed for the basic consumer (movies, mic for webcam, listen to media) and others are geared more towards audio production and performance.

If you plan to do performances you would probably want a soundcard that gives the option of an 'ASIO' input/output. This tends to allow for very low latency performance, and great quality sound for both your ins and outs.

Latency is the amount of delay time it takes for sound/midi to go from a source. and into your computer. and also the amount of time for the same to go from your computer, and out to gear (speakers, midi devices).

If you have high latency, it will make it very difficult to do performances (not impossible, but if you plan to do anything involving records you probably want low latency).

I would suggest looking into audio interfaces first. Also i would consider what you plan to use it with so you know the types of connections you will be using (stereo jacks, 1/4" jacks, midi in/out?? How many Audio inputs/outputs?).

USB or Firewire tend to be the most popular choices for external audio interfaces. and if you are possibly getting a laptop, i would highly recommend securing the audio interface aspect first.

[bedroomDJ]

ok i will definatly check out more on adudio interfaces..

well like you say i am keeping the vinyl and rane mixer for skratching... no way around that.
the other turntables and traktor would be for like you said, mixing other peoples music as well as my own...

wat is this ur talking about layering with live.. is that just producing ur own live dance music on the fly by layering different loops you previously made? because that sounds fun. im more looking at just producing my own tracks... i have been thinking about using native instruments programs and ableton... will i only need to choose one or the other? i want to edit my own sounds and use them with midi controllers to record somthing i play live at home for a track.. but then i just want to take that completed track that i produced and mix it with a set on traktor.

the other live performace aspect with midi controlers seems like somthing that would be fun but i havent got any real knowledge about it yet. sens ableton is so good for production, the fact that it also can be played live makes it seem superior to reason or logic.

[bedroomDJ]

also, quick question. when people talk about sampling and they say "warp" it. wat do they mean?

also the buffer shuffler looks dope. dose that come with ableton or is it an addon?

is there addons for ableton or programs that work together with ableton? like i heard native instruments has good programs for editing your own sounds. ne suggestions?

[aeon_flux]

ok i will definatly check out more on adudio interfaces..

you wrote that you plan to extend your system with multichannel mixer. there are some mixers that integrates audio interface and you can feed any channel straight from ableton live simulating 2, 3 or 4 decks (dj mode) or song channels (liveact/producer mode). such mixers usually allows midi control of virtual effects/instruments in your computer.

i would say you need audio interface only if you want to use traditional mixer.

check if any of those hybrids fit your needs:
- allen & heath - xone:4d (or older xone:3d)
- ecler - evo5
- korg - zero4 (or its bigger brother zero8)
- mackie - d.4 pro (as only on the list has no midi controlling function)

please remember that all of the devices on the list gives you three things (real dj mixer, buit in audio interface, midi control surface [exluding mackie])

if no, get any 4 channel traditional mixer of your choice and interface with at least 8 outs (4 stereo channels). buy separate device that will give you midi control.

or get any mixer and combine audio interface with midi - perfect choice is allen & heath xone:2d

by midi control i mean devices with faders, knobs and buttons which are giving you rather traditional workflow.

there's separate midi school, very abletonish:
- akai - apc-40
- novation - launchpad
- monome - 64, 128, 256

monome deserves its own thread. as it is more than it looks like.

[aeon_flux]

also, quick question. when people talk about sampling and they say "warp" it. wat do they mean?

it is technology like recycle/dr.rex - helps preparing ideal loops, making them tempo resistant (pitch is kept with no change), allows slicing drum loops as separate sounds for rearange and more.

[aeon_flux]

the other live performace aspect with midi controlers seems like somthing that would be fun but i havent got any real knowledge about it yet. sens ableton is so good for production, the fact that it also can be played live makes it seem superior to reason or logic.

each daw software is more or less tied to linear sequencer. ableton with its vertical mode, scenes and clips idea broke that paradigm. that makes its live a new instument (not only another software to sequence, control of other instruments, effects or tracks).

[bedroomDJ]

fer sure i'll have to check out those mixers. so ableton has a dj program in it like traktor or serato with up to 4 simulated decks??? i duno if i understand you correctly but that sounds dope. and the warp thing, is it something i will understand once i use ableton to sample.

[anachroschism]

I absolutely recommend downloading the free demo and playing around with it, there are many concepts that are hard to put into words but make perfect sense once your hands on.

I too switched from a straight vinyl DJ once i grasped the full capabilities of Live, and frankly it made me rethink everything i thought i knew about DJing and what i wanted to do as a performer. Dont go into it expecting a traktor like experience, or even a simulated DJ program, but just keep an open mind when experimenting and you will see exactly what you will be able to do with it, and more importantly how easy it really is. If youve ever pounded on an Akai MPC, imagine a vastly more powerful software version of that.

theres a learing curve for sure, but you seem to know whats up and I bet youll pick it up real quick. Its not something to add to a DJ routine or even a program to run along side while you DJ, it completely changes everything. If your interested already without spending serious time with it, then i bet 10 bucks once you sit down you wont ever want to go back.

[bedroomDJ]

well my thing is the music... i have been listening to all type of music, critically, for the past 5 or 6 years now. I have so many ideas and i havent really tried to learn anything until now. i have just been skratching in my bedroom for the past 3 years. production seems sooo sick, i have been listening to alot of dubstep and drum and bass.. and recently a paul van dyke cream ibiza selection.. i just wana get this ableton suit 8 get some midi controlors and hibernate for a month or two. i had this idea... the pdx 3000 has a midi connection, u can use control records and then for instance ableton live with a mini korg or somthing. make a deep dub step bass and then skratch it. i duno if this will make sens to you but im a huge beat junkie fan.. hip hop style scratching is way live and could work perfectly with dub step bass... i just need money.. shitt this is exciting, thanks for all of the advice.

[bedroomDJ]

oh yea, i havent used any of these programs. ever. except fruity loops. haha! any of u guys skratch?? feeling d-styles beats?

[aeon_flux]

fer sure i'll have to check out those mixers. so ableton has a dj program in it like traktor or serato with up to 4 simulated decks??? i duno if i understand you correctly but that sounds dope. and the warp thing, is it something i will understand once i use ableton to sample.

if you put 4 pieces instead of short loops in separate tracks then why not? and feed each track into separate channel on mixer? you can also do crossfader assignments to those (midi controlled).

download a demo and check this document: http://www.ableton.com/pages/tips/2004_04

there's different approach to loops than traktor/serato. there are no multiple cuepoints. looping on the fly requires some tricks with dummy clips (i'm not sure how it works with live 8 looper). but you can still prepare multiple loops on one piece or different cues as separate clips within the same track. that's the biggest difference ftom traktor/serato. if its bad or no depends on taste and desired workflow.