Some real basic questions...

[Hi-Lo]

I've been searching through the forums for this stuff and I think it may be so basic it hasn't been covered before. If you're not willing to help a real newcomer, please don't bother leaving negative remarks...I'm learnig this stuff as fast as I can and haven't had anyone to explain anything to me...

1) I'm reading through the IllMuzik tutorial on doing drum patterns in FL and the guy mentions how he assumes we already have sequencing software like cakewalk. So I lookup cakewalk, and to me it seems like a full production suite, so I'm confused as to why people would use it with FL. Right now I'm using FL and SoundForge- is that the same kind of combination or is sound forge not capable of sequencing?

2) Sampling...Ok so...I don't have a turntable or any of that. When I want to sample I burn the audio track to a high quality mp3 file and then work on clipping it in sound forge. Its been working ok for me so far, but is there a better way to do this that I'm just missing out on?

3) So I can stop asking dumb ass questions like these...are there any books you guys recommend for a real beginner at this stuff? I've looked through amazon and a lot of these "beat making" books look old and real outdated, but maybe they have some good info. Any thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[M!nd_Ctrl]

FL is a sequencer. You can create individual patterns and link them in the playlist view. Honestly, you should go to the FLStudio website and download the manual it will answer a lot of your questions. You can buy the FL Studio Bible if you want.

Check this link out:

https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10493&highlight=beat+videos

You will find a link to this video which should help you:

http://www.uesaclothing.com/files/flstudiokontact.wmv

It goes into Kontakt (a software sampler) but watch it anyways for an understanding of the process.

As far as sampling mp3 files, even if they are "high quality" you will get a flat/empty sound. It's better to sample vinyl or buy sample CD's IMO.

Practice makes perfect, even a book will not give you answers, it just takes time and a lot of hard work.

Good Luck


Ctrl

 

[Carpe Diem]

yup, mp3s have a real 'dead', or tinny sound... you can eq em up, but its rare that youll take out the flatness.... if you cant cop a turntable, get to your local library, dig some dope cds, extract the audio in sound forge, and bam....

 

[Fade]

For question #1 - it's just that it was the setup that I was using, that's all. Some use FL and Soundforge, FL and Audition, Cakewalk and Soundforge, whatever. You can do everything with just FL and Soundforge, don't worry about it!

 

[andreas]

Yeah man. I used FL some years ago too. You don't need anyting else then that, FL will more then suffice.
As for the MP3. As far as I got it you rip CDs to mp3? Is that correct? If that is so, rip it to wav instead and maintain an untampered sound to the very end and it'll give you a better broader soundscape.
"audio grabber", "windac" or "free CD-DA extractor" will work for those kinda purposes.

I have to admit. I never read tutorials or manuals. I'm too lazy. The way I learnt was through trial and error.
+ this forum is for theese kinds of things. To anser questions and help get people started, So man, don't be intemidated to ask questions even though they might seem dumb to you.

I have left the "sample" arena and FL behind for Reason and Cubase. If the way you wanna produce is similar to mine. I play my stuff on midikeyboard with VST instruments (virtual instrument banks).
If this is somethings that you find interesting just PM me or whatever and Ill give you all the help and tips I have. If sampling and such is right up your alley, then I see no reason to switch from FL. That is a lovely prog.

I wish you all the best man. N goodluck

Peace / Andreas

 

[cees@23]

i downloaded the fl studio demo and i was wondering if you can record any of your tracks. everytime i try rendering the tracks it want record. Can anybody give me the basic steps on the start to finish process. i understand how some of you feel about people who don't have the software but i'm trying it out before i buy the real deal because i know all of the functions don't work.

 

[Hypnotist]

Hi-Lo,

A pretty good program that interacts with Sound Forge is Acid, made also by Sonic Foundry. It's really quick for throwing things together, although I've noticed that when you stretch out samples it sometimes sounds grainy, depending how long it's stretched out. But you can do cool stuff, like dropping a drum loop in, and setting the time signature (e.g. 4/4; bars/beats) to half of what it is, and you get some cool effects. And you can transpose it (drop it to a lower or higher note) and make it sound grungy or thinner.

Also, Cool Edit Pro has worked for me as well, and as a wave editor it's really good. Adobe bought it and it's now called Adobe Audition, which I have no experience with, but I bet it's good.

Then there's always Reason and all the other propellerhead software, like ReBirth and ReCycle, which you can edit your samples pretty sickly. Look into it. I haven't used ReBirth and ReCycle, but the things you can do in Reason are pretty sick. It can be complicated at first, but once you have it, you can set up your own template and work from that, and save everything you do, even creating your own sounds from scratch, using oscillators and manipulating the sine waves, square waves, etc.

I personally use Pro Tools for recording, and Reason along side of it (in rewire, where you hit play in Pro Tools and Reason automatically chases it at the same tempo). This is ideal for me when I'm dropping some vocals, or I want to make my reason beats "Pro Tools ready" for down the line when I want to make an official mix at a top-notch studio.

But yea, with all that said, Soundforge is a good wave editor. I personally wouldn't encode into mp3 files; I'd just use wave files. No matter how high the quality of mp3, you always have that slight "wishy-washy" sound in the high-end, around 10kHz and up. Your cymbals and hats will always make funny sounds, and your whole thing will be hollow. If you're converting your whole mix to an mp3 later, well, that's a completely different story, as things need to be internet ready. But if everything you do is at home, or on CD, then I would advise against ever entering the mp3 domain.

Hope this helped... I probably didn't even answer your question.