dr0ne

ecstatichigh35, I think your response is valid, and actually, I started out much the same way as you. However, many people get "scared" away when they start playing with gear right away. Also, you only talked about synths, and there's a lot more to making music than just synths as you know. I'm a button freak...i need as much controllable parameters in the forms of knobs and switches in front me and in order to get that sound I want right away. But I also know all about VCO's LFO's and things like that (I'm an EE grad) and I know how to gate them together to get the sound I want. But think of someone's who never seen any of this stuff before. Put even an MS2000 in front of someone like that, and by the time they actually figure out how to do anything meaningful with it, they'll have lost interest. Also composing arrangements, rhythm sequences, things like that, can be very very complicated to the uninitiated. That's why I think these beginner programs are in fact, a good way to get started. Sure, they're very limited, but hey, for someone who's starting from scratch, they're easy and fun to use and play with. Are you gonna produce a pro quality track with eJay or Magix? fuck no! But at least it's 30 bucks you're spending, not $4k on gear that you might found out 3 months down the road that this isn't really something you want to do. For example, I know this guy that bought an MS2000 a year ago to play with, and guess what? It's sitting on his basement to this day....no patience to really figure it out (and it's actually one of the easiest synths to use). I guess different people like to start in different ways....my suggestion was based on what I think would work for most people....way back in the day, the way most kids started out was by playing around with trackers on amiga and pc based computers making MOD and S3M files...then as they grew old and got jobs, they spent all their cash on gear peace. -d

hmmm...this can get pretty involved so i'll try to keep it short... how are trance tracks made? simple....it takes tons of money on equipment, tons of time and dedication, inspiration and of course, experience. don't start going crazy and spending tons of money right away on something you don't even know if you'd be getting into. so if you're starting from ground zero here's what you should do... first, you obviously have a computer (and hopefully a sound card with midi support ). that's enough for now...buy a simple beginner loop based sequencer and play with that. I actually recommend starting out with a cheap piece of software called eJay (please no flames....let me explain). it's VERY cheap compared to anything else out there (you may need to order from europe though to get the latest versions, as the US versions are old and really really bad) and it comes with some cute chessy little loops and samples to get you started. You'll end up spending about $30-50. start with that, and see if you like it. soon, you're gonna find it to be very limited for doing anything semi complex. also, you have no way of creating original samples - you'd be using other people's. ok, so its been a few weeks and you're having a little fun, and you wanna go the "next step up". spend a little more and get acid music (cheaper than pro), and also get a MIDI based production package such as an entry level cakewalk package, and a MIDI controller. A real cheap midi controller is the quickshot keyboard. You can find it for less than $100 and it comes with pitch/mod wheels plus some controls on board (instrument change, chorus, reverb, aftertouch). It's the nicest controller for under 100 bucks you're gonna find...and it even has cheapo touch sensitivity. Oh, and it comes with entry level cakewalk already. And it will work as a MIDI controller with any MIDI gear you might get later, such as rack based synths and samplers. at this point you'll be able to lay out some semi decent tracks....acid is fairly flexible, plus now you have a midi controller and you can start laying out some decent lines with cakewalk. but still, you're pretty much using other peoples loops/samples at this point. next, I'd get my hands on some software to start creating your own loops, beats, synth lines. there's fruity loops, rebirth, etc...all software based, and won't require you to dish out 1k for a 303 on ebay soon, you'll start to find out that all this software stuff is cool, and it sounds alright. but what you'd REALLY like to do, is to have tons of knobs and switches in front of you so you can play with them in real-time! ok....here it starts the never ending downward spiral of spending all the money you have on gear up till the last dime! and you thought crack was addictive?? again, start cheap....get those korg electribe machines....the ES-1 (smart media expansion, very cool unit...kicks ass), ER-1 and EA-1. You can find them for about $3xx on ebay....they list at $500 a pop. Also the EM-1 just came not too long ago. go to korg's site for more info and sound samples. you'd be surprised at how much these little things can do for the money. Next up, you'll want a nice flexible synth....I'd go with the korg MS2000 or the roland JP-8000....pretty much the best bang for the buck in terms of synths, unless you wanna spend well over 1k. you'll also want a mixer....tascam makes some nice MIDI/line combo mixers that plug in to your USB port and it comes with cubasis. they cost around $500 i think. or you can stick with line only mixers for now and get a 6-10 channel one for $150...but if you play with midi, you'll find that you're gonna need a mixer that has midi synch support. as of now, you'd be using your PC as a sampler. if you're doing anything live...stay away from PCs....you don't want windows crashing during your set plus there's all kinds of funky latency and OS issues which I won't get into. so then you're also gonna need a sampler and a nice general midi sequencer (with 8 midi in/outs or so) to store all the midi data from all your gear. Don't go crazy and get an akai S6000. go on ebay and buy a cheap $300 emu sampler first. You can also find old school alesis 8 track midi sequencers on ebay for under 100 bucks. hmm ok this is too long already so i'm gonna shut up....if you have any questions just reply to this thread. peace. -d

check out http://www.hyperreal.org/raves/pb-cle/rom/ I know off the top of my head marty mcfly from canada should be in the area, I think he's spinning somewhere in WV and pittsburgh the same day....in pitt it's gonna be at laga on friday pretty sure. Saturday ODI from NYC is spinning somewhere....not sure where though check the ROM. peace.

hell yeh i went to skol beats last year that shit was off the hook! oakie, optical, avh, f. knuckles....man that line up last year was sick, and this year I hear it's gonna be even better. too bad I'm back in the US :/ funniest shit though, the whole party's sponsored by a beer company. only in brazil man...

yeah like elrid said....don't get a job bartending...they don't get tipped like they do here, and even if you do get a job, you'll be lucky to be making more than US$250 a month. DJing might be tough too...lots of good DJs down there. Sao Paulo has really good nightlife in general....there's dozens of clubs, and there's gotta be thousands and thousands of bars. If you're definetely going, you might wanna check out getting a temp job teaching english...it's relatively easy to find, especially since you're a fluent speaker....and it pays very well compared to other jobs...you might get like up to US$1000 a month (R$2000)....which for brazil standards is very good. I lived there for 6 months....shit is MAD cheap down there, with the exception of cars, and imported stuff. Compared to jersey/NYC prices you're gonna find everything ridiculously cheap...housing, food, transportation.... and especially partying. Like the most expensive club to get into costs something like US$25 (avg ~ US$15), which is typically less than what you'd pay for Exit/Twilo/SF/Wherever With respect to clubs in general....it's been a while since I've been there, but I remember Lov.E being pretty good (great DnB thursday nights). Also UTurn was ok (exit type crowd, no longer called that I think)....plus some others...it all depends on what you're into...same deal as in the city...different nights, different shit. Any way if you want more details, just email me dr0ne@hotmail.com and I can help you out....when I went I pretty much settled within a week, got a place and everything....BTW if you don't speak portuguese, you're gonna have a hard time...you should at least know a bit of spanish 'cuz not a lot of ppl there speak english...but are generally very friendly towards foreigners and will try to help you out. Ppl in clubs too are very very friendly towards americans/foreigners...kinda like the opposite you see in NYC :/ but then again they don't get as many as we do in the city. peace! [This message has been edited by dr0ne (edited 04-14-2001).]