What do u think is the best hardware/software to keep up the creativity?

[SAVO]

Most young pros may say its by far Ableton 8 and that the world hasnt still realized that it can do everything u would ever want it to do and more.

Maybe it can do everything but...the same people that rave on about it have constant CPU usage paranoia and spend more time being amazed by all the plug-ins then actually just using them and being creative and above all, being prolific.

Sounds like the "best" tool ever is actually just the most power hungry. It gets in the way of creating which is how I end up justifying that the "middle-of-the-road" software programmes are better on the long run...

Even when one day I may have that dream studio with everything state-of-the-art, I will always have reason4 bleeping in the background. It may not be the best thing since sliced bread but i dont get worried over CPU usage, I ALWAYS learn as I'm creating, and therefore don't used to just relying on someone else's presets, so my creativity is always fueled. Its best sometimes when there's nothing already done for you so u learn to do it yourself and really push what you can achieve...

[Steve Brand]

ZeroFish, you mentioned hand drums, I've got to recommend some I've been eyeing in the last year, or so...

Hapi Drums

Hang Drums
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd58pPgmivI&feature=fvst

Software is a very tricky thing. What works for one person, might not work for another. All depends on your process, what you're trying to achieve, what resources you have (read: training, what sort of learner you are...visual or kinetic), money, time you want to invest in learning it, etc. The "best" software is the one that fits you in all or the majority of these area. Like Peter, my Mac is more or less my recorder, although I count on it for compression, eq, some effects and most importantly, final mastering. I get results in mastering that I never got from my rackmount tools. Pete also touched on my point: things are possible with delicate or quiet sounds, and with layering sounds, with digital recording and computers that I was never able achieve before. Again, just depends on how you work, and what you hear in your mind's ear.

[SAVO]

rightly said John :)
John Koch-Northrup said:

Tools are tools... whether we're talking about a tape recorder, or Ableton, or synth, or a guitar, or few guitar pedals connected together, or an 808, or a cello...

It's all strictly about what mattters to *you*.
What *you* connect with.
What fires up your feelings, what feels right in your hands, what gets things going in your head.

There's no best thing to get the creativity going that's universal across a bunch of people...

For me... nothing beats the piano in my living room. Or my bass in my hands... or the knobs on my synths.

But that's me... and not you. You might really find Reason to be the bees knees. And someone else loves their guitar.

I have found that having too many things is overwhelming... I like to limit things and stick with what I know and gradually add something new once in a while. Others like to constantly immerse themselves in those new things - that inspires their creativity... and that's cool.

Anyway... back to work!

[zerofish9]

hA!OMG!..wow dude, why did you show me that?!..thaT is beYOND coooL!! Now I have to go spend more money,lol!
This is weird, but the Hapi drum reminds me of these visions I have of another place(planet?;) where instruments are more intuitive,trippy--not your normal fare. Even the keyboard is organic/stonelike, shell and other fragmented elements with hieroglyphic pads and whatnot, and the sound emanates naturally from a spiral,tonal tube..enough to fill a canyon amphitheater--and it's LOUd brother..no electronics or amps needed!
So, thanks for the inspiration man, I will be "eyeing" as well. Let me know when you hook up to one of those!
..oh yah, and to your point--layering is good...always treat the song/mix like a landscape--should be a foreground, middle ground, and background, with contemplations and silence in-between, depending on the tempo...like life :)


Steve Brand said:

ZeroFish, you mentioned hand drums, I've got to recommend some I've been eyeing in the last year, or so...

Hapi Drums

Hang Drums
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd58pPgmivI&feature=fvst

Software is a very tricky thing. What works for one person, might not work for another. All depends on your process, what you're trying to achieve, what resources you have (read: training, what sort of learner you are...visual or kinetic), money, time you want to invest in learning it, etc. The "best" software is the one that fits you in all or the majority of these area. Like Peter, my Mac is more or less my recorder, although I count on it for compression, eq, some effects and most importantly, final mastering. I get results in mastering that I never got from my rackmount tools. Pete also touched on my point: things are possible with delicate or quiet sounds, and with layering sounds, with digital recording and computers that I was never able achieve before. Again, just depends on how you work, and what you hear in your mind's ear.

[virtual]

interesting post guys , i say 'Always be the beginner ! change your working system each project .


ps - also avoid all notions of ' pro ' ' expert ' , ' perfected art ' and less is more ( it really is ) .Above all change systems and methodology of working on a regular basis if you can

1 week = cubase 5 - no hardware - only samples
2 week= ableton - a subset of samples- a rule of no hardware
3 week = ableton - no samples - only live midi synths
4 week = no midi sequencing , no dps plugs - limited to 3 hardware machines of choice
5 week = use only 10 samples and allowed 3 dsp fx , no more
6 week = all hardware , no software accept as a multitrack audio system
7 week = all hardware , recorded to old consumer tape machines live
8 week = ableton first to create jammed material then into cubase for final composition
9 week = 4 hardware machines , all must be pre 1983 manufacture and 2 fx boxes - no midi - to daw (yes i am taking the p......but you get my idea , focus on subsets and using rules to creative focus and definition and a certain feel

each time or subsystem i have used above has created a distinct feel to the work i wouldnt have got using the same 'system ' and ' all ' the tools i have.


the way we work ,always with one system and no limits creates a limited sound as we can end up sounding the same again and again , we find a methodology and become stuck in it .Some will call that ' their ' sound and it can for a time be a good sound but then it must evolve or die .

Maybe ! evolve !

[John Koch-Northrup]

I totally missed this post back then... but it's so true and very much how I like to work.

I like to create artificial "rules" and experiment around those... and it pretty much mirrors what Matt has listed... examples:

+ Use only one synth
+ Create using no synths at all
+ Don't use the 'go to' item I always go to
+ Write a song in a style I never write in
+ Try to sequence something (for me... I NEVER sequence - so forcing that is interesting)
+ Use only archived sounds and tracks - manipulate

One idea I had was to write a song with nothing but trumpet and drums ( a joke on dnb) ... which that experiment really took root and evolved, eventually dropping the drums to be 100% trumpet and became the "sub.terra" project eventrually released on The Foundry.




virtual said:

interesting post guys , i say 'Always be the beginner ! change your working system each project .


ps - also avoid all notions of ' pro ' ' expert ' , ' perfected art ' and less is more ( it really is ) .Above all change systems and methodology of working on a regular basis if you can

1 week = cubase 5 - no hardware - only samples
2 week= ableton - a subset of samples- a rule of no hardware
3 week = ableton - no samples - only live midi synths
4 week = no midi sequencing , no dps plugs - limited to 3 hardware machines of choice
5 week = use only 10 samples and allowed 3 dsp fx , no more
6 week = all hardware , no software accept as a multitrack audio system
7 week = all hardware , recorded to old consumer tape machines live
8 week = ableton first to create jammed material then into cubase for final composition
9 week = 4 hardware machines , all must be pre 1983 manufacture and 2 fx boxes - no midi - to daw (yes i am taking the p......but you get my idea , focus on subsets and using rules to creative focus and definition and a certain feel

each time or subsystem i have used above has created a distinct feel to the work i wouldnt have got using the same 'system ' and ' all ' the tools i have.


the way we work ,always with one system and no limits creates a limited sound as we can end up sounding the same again and again , we find a methodology and become stuck in it .Some will call that ' their ' sound and it can for a time be a good sound but then it must evolve or die .

Maybe ! evolve !

[Orb Gettarr]

Agreed...

Steve Brand said:

For me, the music You make is all that matters. How you get there is, as JKN says, purely up to you, what suits your working method, whatever helps you create what you hear in your head and mind's eye. I'm not interested in buying the biggest, best and latest just for the sake of having the biggest best and latest. Neither am I nostalgic about some analogue past.

Personally, I like to keep things simple, and use what helps me intuitively and quickly achieve what I want to hear. I'm also a designer, and those experiences have informed my choices with music in many ways: whatever I use has to be compact, simple, intuitive, fast and transparent. The faster and more accurately I can "capture the moment," the more satisfied I am.

I started with a Fostex cassette 4-track (when they were VERY hard to find), moved to a Yamaha digital studio, and am now on a souped-up iMac. (About 8-9 years ago, I was fortunate enough to work with digital, non-linear, computer-based video editing tools, and that was real eye-opener.) Things are possible now that were never possible before, thanks to more affordable, easily available, professional quality tools. The landscape changes everyday, which is very exciting, and likely, I'll move on to whatever suits my working method at the time the best.

[Orb Gettarr]

Now that I have had a chance to install and use Ableton Live v 8.0.8 (just to see what all the 'hoopla' has been about)- I find that I have been able to produce finished quality results with it- although I can't use it at 96 kHz in my ASIO driver, I find that audibly there is virtually no difference at 48 kHz in what you hear anyway, and I can export the audio tracks at 96 kHz 32-bit in wave format files.

(Admittedly, my system may be a little more up-to-date than the one you have "not" described in this post)

I have also not tried doing a 'full-on' project with 8 or so tracks yet, either, so I can't speak to that, but what I've heard so far has indeed impressed me. But the likelihood of my using only one DAW program to produce a song is not high, either, since I tend to use a host of them and then post-process the exported results in Adobe Audition 3.

I will probably always use Reason 4, and have, in fact, recently added some Refills. I have recently upgraded to FL Studio 9, as well, and am impressed with a couple of the plugins Image-Line has added to their product.

On the whole, I tend to agree with Steve Brand's assertion that whatever suits your working method- and that may be different at different times. I usually strive to do something different with each project, so I may be using totally different tools from one project to another- I can never predict this. But it all seems to work out in the end...