KVR Audio

rulke · Post by **rulke** » Mon May 31, 2004 12:15 am

I need advice from you good folk as to which programs/plugins etc to purchase so I can finally make my dream come true and compose ambience releated tunes.

I have $1000 saved up and just don't know where to start. Btw, I recently purchased an Edirol PCR-50, which for the time being, would suit my purpose's well (I hope).

Sorry for this stupid question.

cheers

snooky · Post by **snooky** » Mon May 31, 2004 12:42 am

oh oh I know this, put your cash on booze and get Crystal for free...great for ambience stuff.

rulke · Post by **rulke** » Mon May 31, 2004 12:43 am

Crytal? Would you have a link please?

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon May 31, 2004 12:46 am

aside from crystal which is a great plug in(check quick instrument links in the top right)

my best advice would be nip over to the music cafe and find a few tunes you like and ask the artists in question what they are using

and with that kind of cash your made really anyway(do you already have your host sorted?)

welcome aboard kvr btw

rulke · Post by **rulke** » Mon May 31, 2004 1:00 am

Hello vurt. Thanks for the welcome.

By host I presume you mean program like Cubase or cakewalk?

I will need to get Cubase. Perhaps a light version or something whilst I learn the ropes.

Thanks for your help.

Spe3D · Post by **Spe3D** » Mon May 31, 2004 1:13 am

Here’s my tips for today,

1, don’t buy any synth yet – not without exploring all of the suggested instruments (you can use the quick links as vurt pointed out to get more info about the synths – plus download demos to try before you buy – never buy anything if there is no demo available)

2, establish the type of ambiance you are looking for (natural sounds, synthetic electronic sounds or a mixture of the two. When I say natural I mean real recordings of insruments like that of wind, string, percussion and vocal – the best way to get natural sounds is from sample based instruments. Synth wise for the synthetic sounds (but can imitate quite a few natural textures)

Here is a list of instruments to investigate,

Absynth
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/107.html

Rhino
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/394.html

SampleTank
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/28.html

Vertigo
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/578.html

CronoX
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/125.html

RM4
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/605.html

SFZ+
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/770.html

And Crystal as mentioned
http://www.kvr-vst.com/get/219.html

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon May 31, 2004 1:19 am

yeah host is your main prog like cubase etc but there are amny to choose from,many different people find many good things about the one they use so sometimes its hard to know
first off id go again to the top right of the screen and read through the quick host links
see which you think fits and then importantly DEMO
i would say demo everything but thats something you will learn

as for your host as i said everyone has their faves so its hard to find an unbiased review here.

some to look out for

tracktion
cubase
fruity
orionplatinum
sonar

it really depends a lot on what your willing to take on and what of course you already know?

but also asking here yeah sometimes people will take the piss out of newbies but on the whole its a helpful place

rulke · Post by **rulke** » Mon May 31, 2004 1:26 am

Awesome help guys. I appreciate this alot.

xander · Post by **xander** » Mon May 31, 2004 1:26 am

vurt wrote:yeah host is your main prog like cubase etc but there are amny to choose from,many different people find many good things about the one they use so sometimes its hard to know
first off id go again to the top right of the screen and read through the quick host links
see which you think fits and then importantly DEMO
i would say demo everything but thats something you will learn
as for your host as i said everyone has their faves so its hard to find an unbiased review here.

some to look out for

tracktion
cubase
fruity
orionplatinum
sonar

it really depends a lot on what your willing to take on and what of course you already know?

but also asking here yeah sometimes people will take the piss out of newbies but on the whole its a helpful place

Well said vurt. A thousand bux on hand ( I wish me too).

Take some time and explore all the demos... Then buy Virsyn Cube!

mystahr · Post by **mystahr** » Mon May 31, 2004 6:14 am

vurt wrote: some to look out for

tracktion
cubase
fruity
orionplatinum
sonar

Reason
Acid
Energy XT
Audiomulch

Most of these come with demo's to try and there are light versions available. Choosing the host is the first as that will be the main machine you'll be working on. There's plenty of quite good quality free synths available so you'll have enough sound-sources to start with before stepping up to a more expensive soft synth.

And like vurt said; check the cafe and don't be affraid to ask. People are friendly and most will give you a full workflow on a sound or song.

Welcome to KvR

edelweiss · Post by **edelweiss** » Mon May 31, 2004 6:21 am

Don't but anything before you check out Tracktion. Easy to Learn, Easy to use. And for the price ($80 last time I checked), you can't lose... You can find it here.........
http://www.mackie.com/products/tracktion/index.html

edelweiss · Post by **edelweiss** » Mon May 31, 2004 6:25 am

OOOPPPSS....I meant " Don't buy anything before you check out Tracktion"....Sorry.

Rock Hardbuns · Post by **Rock Hardbuns** » Mon May 31, 2004 6:42 am

Ill second the recomendation for tracktion. Orion or reason are also worth looking at, and come with synths and effects included.

I depends alot on how you like to work. You probably wouldnt need Cubase or sonar. They are feature packed, but if you are just starting out this will probably hinder more than help.

There is a ton of free synths and effects that can provide you with a starting point. Dont buy synths untill you are fammiliar with whats available and have a feel for what you are missing.

Some stuff I am pretty sure you are going to want is:
Drummatic 2.2 (synthesised drums)
A drum sampler like RM-F or DR-005
Either Synth 1, Poly Iblit or Free Alpha, or all of them. They are basicly analogue sounding all-purpose additative synths.

scuzzphut · Post by **scuzzphut** » Mon May 31, 2004 8:21 am

Tim Conrardy did a fantastic bank of ambient presetsfor Synth1.

You should probably look at sorting out your host first. Depending on what you choose , you will likely get some synths and effects with it.

Once you have that sorted, the main instrument groups you are looking to fill would be (imho, of course)

A good library of sampled sounds
For drums, bass, strings, brass etc. This could be in the form of a "rompler" like sampletank or you could go with sfz (free) or sfz+ and build a collection of free/commercial soundfonts.

VA Synths
This area is actually really well covered by free synths. There's synth1, freealpha, triangle 1 and 2 , Crystal (a must have for you , I think) etc.

FM Synth
If you go for FL Studio, you may as well ge Sytrus, too. There's also FM7, FMHeaven and others. Learn to use the instrument search function on KvR. -Click on "Instruments/Effects/Hosts etc." on the left hand side of this page.

Additive / Resampling synth.
There are a good few of these, but Cameleon is the third ranked commercial VSTi on KvR so that's probably a good place to start.

sampler -
There aren't too many great free or low cost samplers out there. If you think you will be doing a lot of sampling / mangling, then it would be worth investing in Kontakt or Halionor similar.

As you can see, that $1000 could disappear pretty quickly.
You will have some choices to make, no doubt.

Take your time, try host demos and pick a host.
Take some more time - try the free synths available.

After a while, you will notice something missing from your toolbox. Try some demos and choose carefully.

Finally - remember to post your music in theKvR Music Cafe

Big Tick · Post by **Big Tick** » Mon May 31, 2004 11:55 am

Yeah. Only one advice here, make sure you select your host carefully before focusing on plugins.
'Tick

Need help please.