Are 88 Keys Essential

Keyboards are probably the most useful instrument when it comes to music creation. You can make any sound with a keyboard using the proper software, something you cannot do with most any other instrument. So why invest in a 88 key keyboard? To most they are considered to be to large and a waste of space when you can use a 25, 49, or even 66 to do essentially the same thing. Even though it is true you can do essentially the same thing with a 25, 49, or 66 key keyboard what is not always thought of is how much faster you can do it when using a 88 key keyboard. I have a 88 key Yamaha standard keyboard that I use quite often especially when trying to lay down that complex piano track that changes octaves two or three times. The 88 keys give you such a broad spectrum of control whether playing a piano or laying down a synth bass track, instead of switching octaves two or three times while you are trying to record the entire surface of keys are right in front of you. Now of course its not the same as my Axiom 25 and I am not going to pick it up and take it with me when i am on the go it is a especially useful instrument when I am recording in the studio. So next time you are looking at buying that new keyboard for studio use only why not up it to an 88 key and see how much you can really use those extra keys.

Focusrite VRM Box

The Focusrite Virtual Reference Monitoring box is a innovative music production product, allowing you to emulate ten different sets of studio monitors all through your headphones. This option is great for music producers on the go and also for producers who are on a tight budget and can't afford multiple pairs of monitors or can't get ahold of them either. The box also emulates three different environments (studio,living room,and bedroom) that your monitors are "in" with ten sets of monitors and three environments it gives you endless possibilities for your mastering. With its compact size it is great for on the go and to be used with your laptop, and with the ease of use it can make switching from one set of monitors to the other a thing of the past. Of course this box is amazing but it still does not take the place of real studio monitors and a properly soundproofed room, but it does give you another option to use when mastering your track, and when mastering the more options the better to pick out all the little problems in your track. The VRM box is simply a bus powered USB interface with a 1/4" jack output providing 24/48 audio quality and a S/PDIF connector allowing up to 192kHz sample rate. With professional quality circuitry -SNR of 108db it creates a dynamic range onboard laptop outputs cannot begin to achieve. The VRM box may not take the place of your monitors and studio but it will give you a great option for on the go and a quick go to for mastering.

Perfect Alignment

The structure of a track is what gives the track meaning it is the foundation and without a firm foundation your track will fall apart. Structuring your track is one of the most if not the most important things you can do to insure the sound produced out of the speakers is the sound in your head. Working in the  House/Dance/Techno/Dubstep scene I have seen many songs that have great potential fail due to mis alignment of the tracks. They slap up the ideas really quickly (and most times sloppily) in the DAW then find sounds they like and work solely on the sound and dynamics of the track. Then in the end when the song is "all done" they wonder why it does not sound right. When creating a track it is of the upmost importance to make sure all the sounds are aligned or appropriately misaligned when doing the initial put down of the ideas from instrument to DAW it is ok to have them a little off, but when you are done with the initial ideas. Spend the time to go back and make sure every drum kick is on the note it should be, the synths, guitars, pads, etc... are all in perfect alignment with each other. In the end when it is all said and done the song that is structured and put together carefully and correctly will overshadow the other songs completely. People notice small details and when your kick is a little off people notice and it shows that a. you do not know what you are doing or b. you are lazy. Take the time to build a proper foundation with your songs it will pay off in the end.

Free Drum Samples

As I was working on creating drum kits in Ultrabeat with Logic using the Drag & Drop kit, I decided that I would share some of the free drum samples that I have found. There are over 10,000 samples in these collections combined, a huge sample library for the beginner and expert alike. Some I like more than others but I will let you decide which ones you like the most. Using these samples to create kits in your DAW give you an unlimited variety of potential and hopefully they will help you to create some amazing music in the future.

http://www.flstudiomusic.com/2010/04/1400-samples-drum-kit.html
http://thesamplespot.com/2010/09/5000-one-shot-drum-hit-samples/
http://www.moonshizzleproductions.com/production_vault/
http://obiaudio.com/2010/08/06/the-mpc-series-vinyl-drums/
http://rekkerd.org/rekkerd-analog-kick-pack-65-free-kick-drum-samples/
http://obiaudio.com/2010/07/20/j-troup-kits-the-battle/
http://reusenoise.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/free-vinyl-drums-kit/

The Massive Monster of Software Synth

Native Instruments Massive is the newest software synth I have added to my collection, I have held off for a long while of obtaining this software synth mainly due to the price (I know its not even that high for a software synth but still) and the fact everyone said I could do everything it could with what I already had. That statement may be true but In the brief time I have had Massive I have fallen in love with it. I found it extremely easy to use and super quick to learn, you may be able to do everything it can do with your native DAW and synths but I doubt you can do it as quickly as you can in massive.

The layout of Massive is incredibly simple but still complex enough to fine tune every detail of your synth or bass. I always start out by messing with the presets, seeing what all it has for preset sounds, this is normally a good way to test and see the limits of what your software will be able to create. I found quite a few synths I really enjoyed and just as many I thought were cheesy (but hey theres some in every software). Satisfied with my testing of the presets I began my dive into the massiveness of Massive. The layout impressed me a lot every thing was very compact and easy to get to and everything that should be next to each other was right where it should be to create a clean and easy to use interface. The depths in which you can edit the synth was about standard for a software synth everything you would normally find though it was thoughtfully arranged to make creating the sound you can hear in your head come alive extremely quickly. I would definitely recommend this synth though it is nothing you cannot create with your standard DAW synth's just a better layout and feel, which is all that matters when it comes down to getting the sound out of your head into the track.

Are Standard Drum Samples Good Enough?

As I was continuing to work on a song/track of mine this evening I went into the unbiased (or as close to unbiased as a producer can) view of my track, listening to it as a whole, and as individual parts/ instruments. I soon found myself dissatisfied with the sounds of my drums throughout the entire track. They seemed weak and so fake sounding even for being dubstep, electro drums. I went through each drum and tweaked them a little and a little more and found myself still unsatisfied. I then decided to address the root of the problem, the drum samples themselves, I was using the standard kits you find in any DAW the Logic kits in this particular case. Realizing that my tweaking and adjusting were not giving the desired results I began sifting through the internet looking through forums, blogs, how to's, and so on searching for my problem and what I could do to fix it. I soon found the answer through many sites, my samples were just not good enough it was as if I was building a house on a weak foundation and trying to paint it just for the aesthetic appeal, so I could say "well they look good". Now mind you not all drum samples found in DAW are worthless and they can create just the sound you want. But building a beat off of drum samples made specifically for the genre of music you are creating not only saves time, it gives you more options to tamper with when you do get the overall sound you want. The beat to the song sounds so much better and sets it apart gives it a fresher sound compared to my other tracks. And I still have so much more room to tamper with them when I start to master the track. Drum samples are yours god enough, or could they be better?

Synthesizer Presets: The Killer Of Creativity?

I was working on a new Dubstep/Electro song today and found myself once again Googling different synth sounds that some of my favorite artists use. Presets, Vst's, Plugins, anything to get that "quick" good sound. Unsatisfied with my search results I decided, might as well just mess around with ES2 for a while in Logic and see what I can come up with. 20mins later I had saved 3 new Presets of my own and created almost exactly the sound I wanted. The presets I saved are amazing sounds I am sure I will use in the future, but if not for the fact I gave up on the internet and the millions of presets, stretched out and spent time actually doing the work myself I would have never had those sounds and may have been kicking myself later when I "Really" need that one sound. Yes I could've probably found the sound I wanted in a preset somewhere but when it comes down to it I would rather have a sound I can say I produced myself rather than a sound I obtained from someone else. Who wants to say when someone asks where that lead came from "well the site called everypresetever.com/logicpro thats right no one does we want to say "I created it in ES2 what do you think?'" It gives purpose and pride in what  we producers do, what we live for. Next time you Google "synth lead preset" grab your keyboard and favorite synthesizer and see what you can make yourself.

The Do it All Controller: Axiom 25

The M-Audio Axiom25 keyboard a beautiful thing for the budget or traveling musician/ producer. The Axiom 25 has everything you need to lay down your ideas or even to create a whole song. It has 8 Pads, 25 Keys, Mod wheels, knobs, buttons, and even a fader all on a somewhat compact controller. I recently purchased an Axiom 25 Gen2 controller and have been extremely glad I did, over the last two days have made a song using just this controller and Logic Pro. The Controller is a dream to work with everything automatically maps itself saving time that you normally spend mapping yourself and every button, knob, fader, and pad performs extremely well. I'm going to link my song with this to show you what you can do with just a simple 25 key controller. Give me feedback about the song and controller I would love to hear your experiences also and what you think of the song.

Review: Vestax Pad-One

The Pad-One by Vestax is the new standard for compact midi pad controllers. With its durable aluminum construction it gives you the confidence to really beat on the pads while you lay down that new beat. The pads themselves really is what set the Pad-One apart from all of the rest of the compact controllers such as the Korg NanoPad or Akai Lpd8 the pads on the Pad-One have great feel and response giving you more confidence when your laying that complex new beat down. The 12 pads and the xy touch controller give it great versatility for such a small controller. The pads themselves light up in two different colors green, or red  depending on the function being used which is great for keeping track of exactly what the controller is doing while you are using it. With a cost around $200 it is a little higher than most of the other like sized controllers but for what it offers it is the obvious choice for a compact midi pad controller.

Producing Without Power

For the last two days my home has been without electricity due to broken transformers from extreme weather. My challenge was how to continue to capture my musical ideas even though most of my equipment was not functioning from lack of power. Midi keyboards, interfaces, monitors and other similar devices soon became unusable due to my failing laptop battery also. My idea for a intro and chorus to a song was quickly fading and I had no way to capture the idea. Until i remembered a old but useful piece of equipment I stored in a container thinking i would never use when I could use a mic and interface instead. A portable handheld recorder, maybe not the best sounding or reliable source for capturing ideas but a source all the same. I captured the idea and saved the what could be a great song without electricity a feat considering I was considering giving up and letting it pass away moments before.

The Beginning

A blog for exactly who it's named for, basement producers. A blog that shares tips, tricks, victories, and failures of basement music production or any small music production. I recently started small-scale music production in my basement as music and music production is my passion. I spend hours researching and working every angle on how to make quality music without the huge prices that come with studio recording and equipment, but surprisingly information is scarce and far apart, even though there is an abundance of quality music production tools available out there for little or no cost. I will review products, programs,give helpful tricks i learn on the way and all other things associated with small-scale music production. I hope to help people just like me trying to start into music production with a budget.