tell me about recording music

[nerve]

I'd like to make and record some music, but I don't know where to start. I just want to make some weird experimental stuff, and I prefer electronic music. I just don't know how to do it, I don't know the first thing. and it doesn't have to be fancy, I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars on expensive equiptment... are there any good websites on the subject, to get me started? any recommendations, tips...anything? much appreciated.

[Keresztanya]

Try downloading(And by that, I mean pirate) FL Studios. It's a pretty good electronic music mixing program, and it's pretty easy to use. I've messed around with it before, but didn't do much with it. Anyway, for help about how to make music, just learn through expirementation, and google is your friend.

[nerve]

yeeeeeah not to sound like an ass but google is not my friend. D: just because I really suck at finding things on the internet, it's not that I'm lazy, I just really don't know where to start or what I need, so I don't even really know what to look up exactly...I'd probably just end up going to a bunch of lame add-ridden websites that load my comp w viruses and whatnot. because I do that :( but yes I appreciate your reply, and I'll look into FL studios

[Lord Bennington]

Get an electric guitar. It's a really versatile, easy to play (compared to a sampler) and very flavorful in an electronic context. (Radiohead really stretch the way a guitar can be used, and a lot of weird noises can be made with a guitar if you don't just play notes (mute strings, then rub pick against string, poke string with pick, use a slide really high up the neck, prepare your guitar, etc.) Danelectro makes really good, inexpensive effect pedals. I use Acoustica Mixcraft, but just because it's available to me. Use good mics. You can get a three pack of decent mics for a really low price from guitar center (guitarcenter.com in case you don't live near one) Keyboard is pretty much a necessity if you want electronic music. Maybe a crappy drum machine/electronic drum set. Or a program with a good beat making feature. I think Mixcraft has one. Keep an ear open. Especially if you want experimental music. Learn what you like, what you don't like. Listen to electro-noise if you haven't already. Outsider music might also prove inspiring to a casual experimental fan. Your voice can be a tool. Learn to scream, sing, scat, beatbox, anything you might want to do, learn to do it, then do it. Limewire is your friend if you want to find premade beats and instrumental tracks. My friend made a whole album of rap over tracks he pulled from Limewire. Find cheap instruments. I own a Native American flute, a pan pipe, a slide whistle, a recorder, a kazoo, a saxophone, and I haven't spent more than 20 dollars collectively on those. Garage sales, friends, friends of friends, flea markets, all can have good offers on old instruments you might want. Feel free to PM because I also have an interest in recording experimental music, and I'm building my gear collection and have thought about the subject a lot.

[ultranova]

I would also recommend you getting Fruity Loops . Its very easy to use ( unlike Cubase or Reason ).You can do some nice stuff very simple.

[Demerzel]

Come into IRC and talk to Artelis or I. Seriously don't recommend FL; it's easy but with that comes the fact it's pretty... bad. I personally use Ableton Live and enjoy the results. :O

[Rainman]

Fruity loops is crap when it comes to electronic music. (unless you mean club beats or hip-hop/gangster rap/regueton beats- if that's what you're trying to do, definitely use fruityloops.) Use Ableton if you're interested in making electronic music like you might hear in a rave. Trance, House, Drums n Bass, Techno... for those you'll want Ableton.

[Sesquipedalian]

I'd suggest Audacity. As long as you have decent instruments and mics, you can do just about anything you want with it. I know that it is possible to create karaoke songs on it, get rid of background noise, layer parts, mix, etc. It also can export your projects in WAV, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis. A google search will yield the site within the first 10 hits. Best part is, it is actually, legally, free! The site says so itself!

[coolking95]

Perssonaly, i'd recomend ablton suit (£499) its got a amazing collection of instruments+samples, AND you can play it like an acctual instrument. as for FL studios, if you'v got money to burn, then buy it. other wise buy ableton, reason, cubase, or logic (mac only) hope this helps. :-)

[Lseadragon]

I myself would recommend a mixture of Renoise and Audacity. Renoise is a tracker; basically you can arrange sound files on a grid with much more ease than you can in any other program on the market (or free) today. There are a bunch of free trackers too (MilkyTracker, Buzz) but Renoise is cheap (49 euros and continous updates included in the price; you won't get music software that cheap anywhere else), and it has a demo with the only limitation being that it can't render to a sound file. Audacity is for recording; if you're interested in playing an instrument on your recordings, it's the ideal thing. Get a mic, and play into it. Then put your recordings into Renoise. If you want synth noises, then there are a bunch of free synthesizers and drum machines that you can find on the internet. These generally don't run by themselves; but you can activate them in Renoise or many of the programs listed above. Just search "free VSTs" on Google and you'll find something. Questions?

[coolking95]

cool, thnx for the advice.