Pc based synth/sequencer

[kindness]

Hey,

Just wondering if anyone out there has any suggestions as to free synth/sequencer software - along the lines of fruityloops. I know there are heaps better ones out there, I just don't know what they are. I used to make a bit of music on a 303 years ago and want to get back into it but have a very basic knowledge and though some of you guys would be able to steer me in the right direction.

Further it would be nice to have a physical interface for such a program so I can mess around with effects via some sort of control board.. one that is fairly cheap also. I have used something like this before but it was more a mixer that could be used in that way and wasn't great. I don't have a midi card or anything so this would need to be via usb.

Hopefully what I have written here makes sense! Like I said my knowledge is very basic but I want to get into making some electronic music.

Cheers all and peace

mz

[ThunderIdeal]

meanies i can't provide advice on the hardware but if you PM me i shall give you an invite code at pro audio torrents where you can download a cracked sequencer.

[paradox]

ableton live is great, really easy to get cracked torrents too (although thats illegal so don't do it ). there are multitudes of vst plugins & onboard effects & instruments you can use via it too

the latest fruity loops which i think they now just call FL studio is meant to be really good. much more professional than it used to be apparently so if you are already familiar with it then it may be a good option for you as your main sequencing/programming platform. i know of a fair few well known artists who have released albums using only FL. i personally never really used it much. i've used various programs over the years but i've now started taking the time to get to know ableton & it seems great. the interface is unique, very intuitive & well designed.

particularly good vst synths are ones by rob papen, in particular the Albino for clean fat bass, but there are so many out there to choose from, you just have to try them out to find what you like.

but seriously there is a massively vast world of audio software out there for all aspects of audio synthesis & manipulation for anyone interested enough. if you have the drive you'll find whats right for you & if you're serious you will take the time to read & learn about all aspects of sound production. remember, you'll get out what you put in ;)

i would also recommend getting hold of a good audio editing application for sample making, editing etc so you can have direct control over all the tracks & samples of your songs separately & as a platform for post production & mastering. i use steinberg wavelab which is good but there are so many different ones out there to try & find what you want.

you'll most probably want a midi keyboard so i'd recommend reading up on it (it can seem daunting but it's actually pretty simple to get it going)

as far as other hardware goes, theres some incredibly cool things out there, it just depends what you want to do, what kind of sound your after, what sort of budget you have, how serious/professional you intend to be etc

i have a korg electribe MX valve synth/drum machine which i midi sync as a slave with ableton. i really like it though i bought it on a whim a few years ago. if i was going to spend the money on something now i'd probably get something else, but it is very well suited to my needs atm with a good selection of synth oscillator types, dual oscillators & a really nice warmth in the deep tones from the valves.

also if you're serious you're gonna want to get a good sound card. i'd do a little research

also it'd definitely be worth your while to read up about the basics of EQing & compression & what that means when it comes to recording & producing music.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Paradox

[paradox]

if you're just interested in mucking around & making some beats & professional production & sound quality isn't necessarily your aim then maybe you don't need a sound card. there are some half decent usb midi controllers out there & i'm pretty sure most on-board sound cards are midi supported, although the sound quality of these sound cards are generally shit...but adequate if you only want to muck around.

if you elaborate on what your interests are, what you want to do specifically (if you know), how much money you have to spend & how serious you plan on taking it etc i would be happy to be more specific about recommending things that i think might suit your needs

[alkatrope]

By free do you mean free free or ones that can be obtained for free even though they technically aren't free..?

Also, are you Mac or PC?

[compost]

ok.... heres where its at: Jeskola Buzz

I preach about this program but most people want a fancy GUI.

It is Audio tracking software and takes a bit of time to learn but like all good things its well worth it.

Oh yeah its free and the program is something like a 10mb download and runs insanely quick - very helpful for tracking loads of samples etc..

Can load VST's as well but i generally stick to Buzz machine builds, which is like Buzz's own format.

anyway... enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeskola_Buzz

http://www.jeskola.net/buzz/

[paradox]

yeah a very savvy mate of mine was telling me about that ^^ recently

another program which has a similar interface where you patch together virtual hardware in a window like lake that is called Audiomulch. it's been around for a fair while & it's a brilliant app. was one of the first sequencing programs i ever used back in the day when i was about 16, although it's come a long way since then.

Edited September 1, 2009 by xodarap

[ThunderIdeal]

By free do you mean free free or ones that can be obtained for free even though they technically aren't free..?

Also, are you Mac or PC?

if you have to choose between types of free stuff, the stuff that isn't free at all except that you are stealing it is often superior.

hence i'm informing everyone that the semi-private tracker i mentioned earlier is open for registration for twelve more hours, as it happens.

http://proaudiotorrents.org/signup.php

[Naycha]

if you have to choose between types of free stuff, the stuff that isn't free at all except that you are stealing it is often superior.

hence i'm informing everyone that the semi-private tracker i mentioned earlier is open for registration for twelve more hours, as it happens.

http://proaudiotorrents.org/signup.php

Thanks for that ThunderIdeal

[ayjay101]

the stuff that isn't free at all except that you are stealing it is often superior.

couldn't agree more - there's a lot of interesting free stuff out there but the good commercial grade stuff usually sounds better on the whole

One virtual modular synth that really impressed me is Vaz Modular. It's fairly intuitive to use and can be used as a vst plugin inside a sequencer host or stand-alone, has it's own effects (which can process external inputs), has it's own sequencer and sounds rich, phat, fantastic. It's a small enough download, should be available on torrents here and there. Seems like it went into some kind of maintenance phase several years ago and hasn't been maintained since, but is still stable enough to rely on.

[paradox]

Fabfilter have some great high quality vsti's. synths, filters, delays etc dumb name but great quality

also as i said check out any vst's by Rob Papen. izotope is another company which makes great quality stuff

[alkatrope]

if you have to choose between types of free stuff, the stuff that isn't free at all except that you are stealing it is often superior.

Totally.

I asked because even though I'd like to recommend him some not-so-free software, he may be against that and actually want something legitimately free.

[Pelinster]

I have to recommend Renoise:

http://www.renoise.com/

It is based upon the old school 'fasttracker II' style - which can have a steep learning curve, but once you learn how to use it, I think you will find it's about as powerful as you will get. The level of control is amazing. It takes the old format and ramps it up into overdrive, with everything from VST 2 to Rewire support..

The free version has 2 major limitations - No ASIO support - No render to Wave.

The render to wave function would be easy to get around, I am sure.. ASIO? Well, I guess it depends on whether you need low latency, for instance, if you will be recording live instruments..

[paradox]

yo meanies, where are you man? you had any luck? been making some tunes?

[Chiral]

Reason 4 and now the new attachment to Reason "record" ...now the program has everything..end of story.

http://www.propellerheads.se/products/record/index.cfm

I would suggest however anyone wishing to get into making some music quickly, fun and with relatively no experience to start out with a program like ACID...that shit rocks big time and you can construct and remix all sorts of tracks in no time. The first single I ever had released was started in ACID and then chopped up and filtered through" Rubber Duck"...the whole thing taking less than 15 mins.

Once you really get moving along and want to step up to some quality you can't go past Logic with Reason "rewired" into it...

I have some cipies of old programs that you may want to start with like Acid pro 2 etc that we could trade etc if you wanted...plus heaps of others.

But my favourite now that it has unlimited audio and an SSL desk in it is "Reason Record"

[stiched up]

yeah cool i use reason 4 too ;)

i also have a novation x station and a korg kaoss pad 3 running through a pioneer djm-500 which i use to run various channels

chiral im sure acid helps make music very nice lol !!!

the kp3 will be everything for the external control its got midi, rca, usb it can also control visuals but has a vast array of efects and also some inbuilt synths that you can mess around with the paramenter on the touchpad it also has a mic input

check out beardyman and dj dub fx on youtube may b not the style of music you like but a good example of what you can do with a kp3 or smapler !!!

(runs out shouting) "MUSIC IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE PEOPLE"

[ballzac]

Just wondering if anyone out there has any suggestions as to free synth/sequencer software - along the lines of fruityloops. I know there are heaps better ones out there, I just don't know what they are.

IMO, nothing beats fruityloops. It is both powerful and easy to use. Reason seems okay, but it's lack of vst support makes it very limited.

I use flstudio with a few VSTis, including Massive, FM8, and z3ta. I find that flstudio's sequencer is fine for drum beats, after adding some 'single shot' samples, although I know many people prefer to use a vsti for their drums. Some of the included effects with the latest flstudio are not too bad, but if you can 'afford it', the are much better vst effects out there, like Waves for reverb.

As for hardware, I have a behringer bcr2000. It is good, but find I rarely need more than eight of the knobs, and if I was buying one again I would get the bcf2000. It was really difficult to set up with flstudio though. The Akai MPD32 is meant to be pretty good as far as midi controllers go, but much more pricey too.

[Xenodimensional]

+1 FL Studio - its synths are sweeet! Sytrus ftw!

[ballzac]

A lot of people like sytrus, and I used to use it a lot, but I never really got that analogue sound until I started using the native instruments vstis.

[mescalito]

http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/audacity_portable

Yep this is a portable version of Audacity,not that I'm that familiar with either (yet) but I also wanted to throw in this link for those who want portable applications,I use ThunderbirdPortable only now, all my mail is on a thumb-drive and I can use it anywhere great software all round.

Got a larger drive than 4G and download the suite!

I will be playing around with Audacity soon...anyone have any views on this program?

[Chiral]

Audacity sucks....it's quite slow and buggy and could do with some more controls...it's difficult to cut precise audio and the version I tried couldn't even find the cross over point...much better audio editors than that program...Wavelab & Sound Forge are the Shnizz for PC..can't go wrong with those two for audio slicing/sample chopping etc etc...I have to use Logic for my audio slicing sometimes as their still isn't a really intuitive standalone Mac based audio editor that I've come across...which in it it's self is frustrating because sometimes I like to spend months just making audio loops/phrases etc and storing them off all neatly in their subgroups in separate folders and tempo files groups...this allows me to go grab them and drop them into a track I'm working on without having to think about it.

Recycle is okay but lacks any decent hardcore features.

I still have a PC set up with Wavelab and process all my audio on it and then dump the files on removable media and bring it across to my main Mac workstation...thing is Wavelab is absolutely amazing for audio process's, I've worked with it since day one...I bailed out of PC's when I got sick of Cubase and PC's crashing and having poor timing issues, but I still have to have an old PC running with 2000 on it just for Wavelab. Not only that but I even have an older PC running Win 98 that purely runs Native instruments "Dynamo" as it will not run on any other OS and that is one shit hot MFkr of a program.

Really looking forward to integrating Reason record when I can afford it...I'm still unsure though yet as to weather it has the audio facilities I'm used to having in wavelab or soundforge..I suspect not...will check it out though.

[True]

here's something to muck around with that doesn't require installing, good for someone who just wants to see what this is all about

http://www.hobnox.com/audiotool.1046.en.html

[ballzac]

here's something to muck around with that doesn't require installing, good for someone who just wants to see what this is all about

http://www.hobnox.com/audiotool.1046.en.html

Awesome website man. The TB303 sounds really sweet.

[ayjay101]

here's something to muck around with that doesn't require installing, good for someone who just wants to see what this is all about

http://www.hobnox.com/audiotool.1046.en.html

wow this is freakin great!!

best work bludger ever

[kindness]

Sorry about the lack of replies... life has taken over my screen time. Family will do that too ya!

I've just decided to stick with what I had already started to learn about - that being fruity loops... It works okay for me.

Just gotta clear the Credit card now and buy a physical controller.

good to see lots of music heads out there

much love

mz