Thứ Ba, 29 tháng 1, 2013

Affordable Beat Making Software - Does It Exist?

Recently, I decided to delve into the world of electronic music production. I have been a guitar and piano player on and off for years and always enjoyed emulating my heroes by learning their music and writing bits of my own. More recently I started to get into dance music and decided to investigate any entry level beat making applications which I could have a play with in my spare time. It turns out, there are loads of options available but the amount certainly becomes more restricted when quality and cost are also considered.
Professional applications vary in costs from several hundred to well over 1000 dollars. Applications such as logic, Qbase and Ableton are considered the heavyweights and industry standard applications to digital music production. One thing they all have in common is their massive extendibility and resources. This is a huge selling point for these apps as professional beat making solutions which integrate well with midi devices such as external drum machines and keyboards and offer a literal inexhaustible number of sounds/loops and presets. The problem for someone just starting out is not only the commitment in cost but also the size of the software is definitely daunting and slows progress. If you can afford the software and also a professional course or lessons. This could be a good solution for you. I however required something much more affordable and simple on which to get started.
At the other end of the scale there are free, web based beat makers on line. As you can imagine these sites are plastered with offers, interruptions via popups and offer a very limited set of functionality which really has not similarities to how modern digital music production tools work. Yes you can make a beat as an MP3 and download it, but you will not learn the basics of how sequencers use drums/ keys and base to build a multi-layered track. This process is generic across all tools and so once learned can act as a firm basis to develop skills with one of the more powerful software solutions available.
If you are prepared to part with $30 - $50 there are a few good options which straddle the massive gap between pro and free. I have used a few of them and have my clear favourite but wanted to talk more of the important things to consider. So what do you have to compromise on from the pro packages if only paying this small amount. The simple answer to this is scope. The pro apps pride themselves on plugins and built in resources. These are usually developed by third parties and as such have to form part of the higher costs paid for the larger apps. These smaller ones I am talking about are on a much more limited scope in terms of built in sounds and also being able to plug in external tools and sound libraries. This is not a massive issue for us newbies as we really want to simply start making beats and getting a feel for sequencing and rhythm. In terms of the must haves, its down to the quality of the standard tools and sound quality of the built in instrument sets available. Starting at the top, you should have a mutli-track sequencer, 16 is the standard for the cheaper packages. Each one of these tracks can be assigned to an instrument and from there each instrument can be configured to hit drum, hit keys or play base.
The things to note are how easy is it to add new tracks and also vary the looping playback length, set the BPM and extend your track once you have started. The next is the quality of the drum machine/keyboard/base interface, which is usually very similar to the sequencer in terms of operation. The things to note here are how easy is it to audition sounds, add, move and delete notes and also how many separate kits are available. Each component of the sound kit should be configurable in terms individual volume and in some cases the action or in other words, how hard the note is hit and its fall off. The final thing to note in terms of functionality is the audio quality. If it just outputs MP3, this could be a bad sign as it's a compressed format and will not be great to work with in other application or to carry out further processing on. Its almost like what you get out of a mini dv camara which is a bit rough and lumpy. Although you can't necessarily hear it, the problems arise when using it for further mixing or mastering. Be warned, aim for something producing uncompressed.wav or.aif files. Apart from that its about considering the support and regularity of software updates available. This can usually be found through blogs or contacting an affiliate/the vendor to enquire.
All in all, there are a few packages out there which fit the bill and will allow you to start experimenting with beat making and learn the common elements used in more professional quality applications. You don't need to spend a fortune to dip you toe in the water and flex your creative muscles. Who knows you may be a natural! Best of Luck..
Check out my blog for recommendations and reviews of the top affordable beat making system, Dr Drum. It offers video content of the package at work and also previews of the members area and tutorials. http://www.makeaprobeat.com

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