Making Computer Music?

SubJeff on 13/5/2013 at 16:11

So I want to learn to make 'puter music. I don't want to learn an instrument, I just want to be able to create simple tracks made of bass and percussion loops with a few bits and bobs thrown in.

But I know nothing about it.

Years ago I messed with a thing called DJ Jam or Jam Virtual or Virtual DJ or something. I can't find it now (probably because all those terms are common and I get loads of search results.).

What I want is essentially an advanced version of this: (http://games.co.za/music-sequencer.html) , where I can tweak the voices and create a simple track that has instruments come in and out. And I'd like to be able to extract different parts of the track so that I can, for example, use just the bassline elsewhere.

Any ideas?

I got hold of Audiosauna but can't make heads nor tails of it.

Muzman on 14/5/2013 at 03:42

The little game thing is a piano roll sequencer. You can find similar ones in stuff like Fruity Loops studio. It looks like Audiosauna is pretty similar in a lot of ways though. Fruityloops mixes it by having a step sequencer and various other things to make drums a bit simpler.
You're just going to be a little overwhelmed by the fact that it's flexible and high in function and they're all pretty much like that unfortunately. There might be some teeny little sequencer out there, but it's probably worth persevering with Audiosauna for a while. The concepts are pretty universal once you get the hang of them.

theBlackman on 14/5/2013 at 05:54

Take a look at AUDACITY. Multi tracker and if you google for sound bites (Drum parts etc.) you can slice and dice numerous tracks. It is still free and is handy. Slow learning curve, but like was said, experiment with what you have and you'll pick it up.

faetal on 14/5/2013 at 08:44

See if you can get a demo of any or all of the following:

Cubase (widely used)
Logic (Mac only, steep learning curve)
Sonar X1 (PC only, more powerful than it lets on)
Reason (niche, but popular)
Ableton live (very intuitive and ideal for performance as well as writing)

Also, read (http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/the-15-best-daw-software-apps-in-the-world-today-238905/15) this.

Oh, and buy one of (http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/behringer-u-control-umx250-25-key-usb-midi-controller-keyboard--71170) these (or similar, this one is good because it is also an audio interface).

june gloom on 14/5/2013 at 09:00

I've used FL Studio before. It's pretty useful.

faetal on 14/5/2013 at 09:23

FL studio was ranked no. 1 in the article I linked above.

june gloom on 14/5/2013 at 09:35

Yeah but I didn't click the article.

faetal on 14/5/2013 at 09:37

I was just backing your statement up - I don't expect everyone to click the links.
I should have phrased better.

SubJeff on 14/5/2013 at 10:34

Hmmm.

I'm not about to spend that amount of money on something I just want to make some really simple tracks with.

I guess I'll be sticking to working out Audiosauna for the time being then.

faetal on 14/5/2013 at 11:17

You can get LITE versions of a lot of the software bundled with hardware or as free downloads.
DAWs are pricey, but once you find one you like, you can normally upgrade to new iterations relatively cheaply, so the full versions have their benefits.
Depends how much music you want to do I suppose.