Recording music in ableton - kit recommendation

[jcourtial]

Hi everyone,

I've spent the last 10 hours reading and browsing the forum and other websites trying to find out what equipment to get and its driving me nuts as its time i should have put learning the damn thing!

In a nutshell, I'm totally new to ableton. I'm interested in recording some electo music, not DJ'ing.

I have:
- a good Macbook pro
- Akai PMK49
- shure sm58

From reading the forum, it seems that I'll need an audio interface as well and that the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 is a good one.

1/ So, if I buy that, will I be good to go? Do I need another controler a la mpc 40 when I've got the PMK49?

2/ I can't figure out what sort of cable do i need to connect the mic to the audio interface?

3/ I'm working from home and I've got to use headphones.I've got the Bose® around-ear headphones, should I invest in better ones?

4/ Am I missing something else?

I'll buy the rest (komplete, etc) as I go along.

Sorry for the dummy questions, but need to start somewhere!

Many thanks, J

[rbmonosylabik]

1) With the Saffire and what you already have you should be able to rock out. the PMK49 has pretty much everything you would need on a midi controller, it's all about diving in and learning how to make the most out of it.

2) For the mic, you'd need an XLR cable. The ends of your cable should look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xlr-connectors.jpg . The Saffire front ins can take either that or 1/4 TS (think guitar cable) or 1/4 TRS (looks like a guitar cable but with an extra ring on the connector, used for noise cancellation on some gear). That's what the extra larger hole in the middle of the Saffire's front connectors is for.

3) You'll usually hear you need studio monitors, but if you're just starting out, you can do with headphones. You should start working on the headphones you already have, but at the same time read on studio headphones and try to check pro studio headphones and see how they differ. Usually, consumer audio products like headphones and speakers color the sound to make it more pleasant for the listener, which can be bad for production because it can mask stuff in your mix and make EQing and leveling hard.

4) Don't think so, just grab a small set of tools and really learn them, then upgrade only when you feel you really need to.

Good luck

[jcourtial]

Thank you so much, you are a star!

[Scaper7]

I would recommend an audio interface with less Ins and Outs. With the Focusrite you're paying for lots of 'very cheap' AD/DA convertors, most of which you'll never use. Much better buy something like MOTU's 'Audio Express' where you get better quality conversion in smaller numbers (6 ins/6 outs). It makes a big difference to sound quality and your enjoyment of the production process.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the thin sound of cheaper range 'Focusrite' products.

[jcourtial]

Thanks scaper, that's interesting.

Do you think it makes a big difference? I've bought the Focusrite already but can always sell it again.

I'm never going to plug anything more than my keyboard and the mic in it and probably won't use it to perform.

It's coming tomorrow, i'd better not open it then!

[jcourtial]

also a bit confused with the type of cables I need for the saffire.

I've got the cable for the mic, but do i need another midi cable for the keyboard and how do i plug it back into the laptop? and if so which ones?

thanks again,J

[rbmonosylabik]

You should check what kind of Firewire port your computer has. For my MOTU I'm now using a Firewire 800 to 400 cable, which looks like this:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... ps-sellers

The square port is the FW 800, which goes into the laptop, the other one goes into the interface. If your comp has a FW 800 port (pic below), it should work with this cable. If it has a FW 400 port (like the ones in your Saffire) you only need a FW 400 to 400 cable.

http://img4.realsimple.com/images/0809/ ... rt_300.jpg

For the MPK49, you only need a normal USB Type A to Type B cable. On one end it has the normal rectangle USB port that your computer has, on the other it's a square plug with 2 bevelled corners. Looks like this:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... ps-sellers

With it, you should get both power and MIDI in and out from your keyboard.

[bosonHavoc]

check out this website

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

[jcourtial]

Thank you so much. You are my saviours.

Wish I had seen that website before!

Thanks again!

[jcourtial]

hold on, quick last question.


@rbmonosylabik

Do you mean I can plug the MPK in the saffire through the normal usb cable I already use to plug it to the laptop?

I thought I'd need a midi cable to go from the keyboard to the saffire.

[rbmonosylabik]

No, the idea is to connect the MPK49 straight into the computer's USB port, not going through the Saffire. The advantage of doing so is that you get MIDI in/out and power to the MPK through a single USB cable, instead of needing 2 MIDI cables and a power brick to go through the Saffire's MIDI ports. Also, it gives you some extra features that might come in handy for more complex MIDI routing, and it turns the MPK's MIDI I/O into a 2nd external MIDI interface for your computer. That way, you can send midi to external devices by hooking them up to the Saffire or to the MPK.

[jcourtial]

I seeeeee.

Thanks again.