twicx

Terry_42, post: 24849, member: 1843 wrote: The thing is there are 2 things to consider:
1. Practicing DJing. You should have decent gear for that, but even your Logitech will suffice for that.

I know lol! I’m practicing every day. I usually do about 50/50 of making tunes and practicing mixing.

Terry_42, post: 24849, member: 1843 wrote:
2. Producing….
For production you need a monitor speaker.
Why?
Monitors should have 2 very distinct qualities that put them apart from HiFi or PA speakers:
a. A flat response – typically the better the monitor the flatter the response, which basically means it will in no way alter the sound and you will actually hear exactly what you put in them. This is crucial for making a good production as you have to hear your EQing, filtering, compression levels etc. etc. etc.
b. They have a good frequency range (this is also true for real good HiFi or PA speakers, but they do not have as flat response than monitors). So basically you would want to get at least 40Hz – 20kHz, real good Monitors will go far beyond that and for lowers you need a subwoofer. But again not just any sub, but one that will not color the other frequencies (aka monitor sub).

This is why often monitors in a production studio are one of the most expensive things to buy.

Ok well that, at the very least, clarifies their importance. Looking at the info on the front of the Pioneer’s, they offer a response of 45-20k, so i guess they’re not miles out of the range…

Terry_42, post: 24849, member: 1843 wrote:
Now what does that mean for your current options:
Option 2 is probably the worst as the amplifier probably has no flat response either, so you get 2 times the tone coloring.

balls. 🙁

Terry_42, post: 24849, member: 1843 wrote:
Option 3:
Usually Logitech speakers are not “that” bad, but are no monitors either. Especially their midrange is typically not flat and the sub does color sound quite a bit. If you hook that up to a good sound source (aka a good controller) you can probably get away with that for a while, but do not expect them to be phenomenal and your productions will most likely be more compressed, as the logitechs usually have not the dynamic range to hear that truly.

My laptop actually has a pretty good soundcard. It’s a THX one, although an external soundcard is next on the to-buy list. It seems to me that I could get a pretty decent one for an affordable price, and this would benefit both my DJ work and making music.

Terry_42, post: 24849, member: 1843 wrote:
Option 1: Now while the headphone description says “studio”, these are low cost headphones for like 30 bucks and the membrane is not the best to begin with. While they have good bass room and some nice “oomph” they lack the higher frequency response and mid range of really good studio headphones (why good studio headphones cost more than speakers).

Now then, I think i might have to disagree with you on this one. They’re not 30 bucks. I paid €65 for them, and that was the cheapest i could find them in Ireland. The frequency range on them is 7hz-22Khz, and the drivers in them are ace. So yeah, they come in as being a decent set of entry level studio headphones. which is why I bought them. http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/RP-HTX7-K1/

Terry_42, post: 24849, member: 1843 wrote:
So non of your current options might be ideal you can still make the best of it, by trying to tune the Logitechs to your sound.
Hook your controller up to the logitechs (you probably need an adapter) and start with a flat EQ. Now get a basic synth and drum loop together and tune the sounds as much as you can with the EQ that it sounds OK, if you can alter the subwoofer level separate on your logis then go for less sub. Check that against a song that you really now how it should sound and EQ accordingly. Repeat several times and mark your EQ settings.
This will get you some sort of baseline. It is still no studio setup and you should invest in real monitors for production, but you can get away with tuning at least while you practice.

I hope this gives you an idea on monitoring and there are no dumb question, this is actually a tricky one that many do not get right even when they have monitors…

I’ll keep playing around with the logitech ones then so, at least till i can either find a way to make use of the Pioneer ones, or afford proper monitors. Cheers for the help though.

Ok, so both you guys have very valid, and very helpful points, so I’m going to try to do this in two sections, bare with me :p

@Terry_42
First off, that’s still a great achievement to get a few into the top 100! I’m impressed! Kudos!! As for your 6 points, here’s my take on them:
1. This. I try to keep it as simple as I can for a number of reasons. Partly cos I don’t know how to use fancy synths like Massive (I find sylenth is about the limit of my complexity), and partly because I find that if tracks get too complicated, they often get shit.
2. I have a pretty good music theory background. I’m very familiar with 3 theory books in particular, which give phenomenal insight into every style of music, from classical, to garrage. However, I will check out that book. 🙂
3. I like this idea. my favorite albums have this trend, and I totally overlooked it. Best example of this i can think of is probably Discovery? Very good tip. Thanks.
4. THIS! I find that because I’m quite nervous about my tracks, I find it wierd when people compliment me. My girlfriend heard my track “Go get your groove” for the first time tonight, and she said “It makes me want to go dancing!!” I was sure she was just saying that.
5. This is something I’m unfamiliar with. But, I think it’s something I’ll look at when I’ve a few more tracks that I’m really happy with. I might give you a shout for some tips when the time comes.
6. Which is why I’m very appreciative of your help. 🙂

@D-Jam
That’s a good point about some diversity. It’s a bit like playing a gig. If you stick to one genre, and the crowd aren’t feeling it, you’ll clear the room and be left feeling shitty, with an angry manager staring at you! Variety is the spice of life, but, keep it within the lines I guess. You’re right though. I’ll scrap the current project of a dubstep-trance-hiphop-folk-chillwave-glitchstep remix of some massive pop song. hahaha 😉

Cheers guys. I’ll keep practicing, and your help, as always, is appreciated.

Just watched the intro to disco loops. THIS x 1000000000! That’s exactly what I’m looking for!! And a fellow Ableton fan to give the info only makes it sweeter. 😉

So from what I gather, a french-disco-house type song breaks down roughly to this:
1. Disco Loop (or multiple disco loops)
2. Emphasised Bass Line
3. Overlaid banging drum track
4. Add modernism where necessary
5. ?????
6. PROFIT!!!

Or something along those lines? I’m looking forward to giving this a go. Unfortunately, the dog needs a walk first. 😉