making "laptop music" from the beginning!

readeatsleep · Post by **readeatsleep** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 11:30 pm

alright guys, I am new here but have been advised that this is the right place to come to for my queries concerning making laptop music...

basically, I am pretty young and have a lot of time on my hand and have decided that I want to concentrate my energy on creating original music and as I am only actually able to play the guitar and haven't been able to form a band I am going to do it all myself.

What I want to know if: how do I start from scratch making music along the lines of Four Tet, The Books, Manitoba (Caribou) etc etc....I am more inclined to make music a la The Books with acoustic guitar lines running through the song with other guitar and bass lines mixed over and then percussion, samples, strings can come later (seeing as I have no idea how to get these in the songs)

Am I going to need various computer programs...I guess I need a microphone to record the guitar....then what about making the beats, putting it all together etc etc...

Ahhhh man there is so much I need to learn about making music and I really have no idea and it is beginning to frustrate me! Any help offered will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys

Ben

drush · Post by **drush** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 11:53 pm

be glad to help.... but it sounds like you don't even have Ableton Live? if that's the case how did you end up in this forum?

if you are sold on having Ableton be the center of your DAW/studio, buy a copy of Live and read the manual. you'll probably hear that advice a lot but at least you can feel better with the knowledge that the Live manual is actually readable.... in addition to (of course) training you how to use Live, it will answer a lot of the basic music creation questions you have.

there are other resources like the "Live 4 Power!" book and CSI Master class tutorial videos you can buy. they are currently Live 4 focused but will still be very applicable for learning the app in general.

otherwise look into real classes. Berklee for one now has an Ableton class online.

readeatsleep · Post by **readeatsleep** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 12:26 pm

you're right I don't have Ableton Live, but a guy on Ninja Tune forum told me to come here to ask about laptop music making questions, so I did!

How much is Ableton Live, how much of the process does it cover and how hard is it to get into?

Municipal Void · Post by **Municipal Void** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 12:43 pm

ok mate - live is probably the easiest of the seqencers to pick up and play with. IMO of course. I'm 17 and have been making music in the same vain as you've described above for a couple of years now. I started on hardware after getting some bad advice but soon realised the power/potential computer recording had. sorry about that, to answer your question...
As you can probably tell from the name Live was created from the ground up to be a proper option for playing sequenced music live but with the regular updates it has gradually become a vaiable competetor for studio recording. So it takes you from the initial idea right throught to performing it, though you'll probably want another program to master with.
Hope that helped, if not ask - asking is good
Cheers,
Michael

SimonPHC · Post by **SimonPHC** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 12:43 pm

try looking that info up on http://www.ableton.com

wait

here

Price: EUR 499.00

... from creation to production to performance ...

davy · Post by **davy** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 12:50 pm

Try out the demo first. It's on the downloads page. This will make sure you don't buy the wrong thing.

If you play guitar you'll need to get that sound into your computer. So you're going to need an audio interface too.

I bought an ableton quattro a few months ago. It gives me 4 ins and 4 outs. It also came with Live 2.0 Lite. I upgraded this Live Lite for 250€ to the full version. This way I got Ableton + audio interface for 500€.

And it's true. Ableton Live is the most intuitive software to record your ideas fast if you're not a tech or music whizz.

Enjoy!

Goran@Irrupt · Post by **Goran@Irrupt** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 1:21 pm

oh gee... when i saw this topic and the term "laptop music", i just wanted to say farewell to all of you guys and quit visiting this place. luckily for you (and me

), you're listening to good music, so i'll answer your question.
first, manitoba and four tet are using ACID. believe it or not, version 1!
that's because it's the easiest software to arrange your loops (sorry boys, it's even easier then Live), but i wouldn't recommend it to you because of the lame midi and VST support. Kieren also uses Audiomulch.
anyway, if you want to make that kind of music you got to have a collection of couple of thousand records from the seventies and good sense for groove and melody. that's (most of) all. sample and play with the loops. be careful not to get caught

the books are also using a lot of samples and loops, try to process your guitar melodies through some granulizers and see what will come out of it.
my advice to you is to check out Audiomulch (www.audiomulch.com) first (it's almost free) and if you don't like it, come back here.

post some music when you make something...

w

buzzcock · Post by **buzzcock** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 1:25 pm

Hey read,

Welcome.

First thing- Don't get frustrated before you have even begun...there will be plenty of time for that later

.

Also, it's my opinion that you don't "need" anything until you know you need it. What I mean is there is a lot of gear out there, both hardware and software-- you will require some of it-- but by no means all. Check out everything, educate yourself, go to friends studios and music stores, play with stuff, buy gradually. Limit yourself at first while you're figuring it all out and build up as you go along.

That being said, Ableton Live is a fantasic place to start and should give you more than enough options and flexability to begin. Follow davy's suggestion-- try out the demo (for free) and have fun!

One last comment-- don't be surprised if the Muse takes you in a different direction than where you intended to go. You mentioned some stuff that you would like to emulate, and that's great, but be open to your own inner voice from the beginning-- it will lead you in ways you never expected. I started making music 12 years ago with some pretty rigid ideas of what I wanted, and now the stuff I make sounds like nothing I have in my music collection. And that is a good thing.

Good luck to you.

Living_Fiction · Post by **Living_Fiction** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 2:36 pm

Let me tell you...There are only 2 other DAW's I have used that come even close in the ease of use that Live, and neither of them are as complete as Live. When I say complete, I mean...flexable, all while very intuitive, and straight forward. Not to mention, professional! Once you read some manuals a little bit, watch some tutorial videos, and just experiment around...You will easly discover how amazing this program is! IMO...Most of anything in the program can be done, if it's not possible, put it in the "feature suggestion" forum. The only real limit with Live is your skill, and imagination! Oh, and Welcome to the forum!

readeatsleep · Post by **readeatsleep** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 3:43 pm

WebSite! wrote:oh gee... when i saw this topic and the term "laptop music", i just wanted to say farewell to all of you guys and quit visiting this place. luckily for you (and me ), you're listening to good music, so i'll answer your question.

haaahahaa sorry mate, but that makes you sound like a proper twat

cheers for the help though, and it did make me chuckle

Rahlo · Post by **Rahlo** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 2:46 pm

readeatsleep wrote: haaahahaa sorry mate, but that makes you sound like a proper twat

cheers for the help though, and it did make me chuckle

that was funny!

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 6:24 pm

Hi!

Check out this article for some inspiration:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jul03/a ... ourtet.asp

Cheers,
Mikael

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 6:32 pm

haha, two laptops live, one running audiomulch, the other running two or three instances of CoolEdit! haha! Brilliant

Nav · Post by **Nav** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:04 pm

as mentioned before the live demo is great. You can try it and it includes easy step by step tutorials on how to make beats and get sound in etc.

buzzcock is so right about not needing anything until you know you need it. Live has a lot to offer and use then when you find a gap look for a solution, come on here and people will be happy to help!

there are a lot of great sources on the internet for free loops and virtual instruments too to add to your sound sources.

I like the term 'laptop music' by the way

and its great to have you here

deckme(N)tal · Post by **deckme(N)tal** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:33 pm

read all of the tweakheadz guide and after make your decision:
www.tweakheadz.com
!