I realise this question has probably been asked a thousand times before, but I've no desire to trawl through thousands of posts, so I'll ask it again...

I'm going to start devoting some serious time to making music, but with so many programs on the market, where do I begin?

I can find my way around Cubase quite easily, but up until now have only been importing loops from FL Studio, not actually using an instrument to create sound.

Should I concentrate on Cubase? Or is Ableton the way forward? What's the difference between the two?

Logic 8 all the way mate ;o)

Isn't that more suited to Macs though?

Yeah I'd say Logic every time

Does the program already come with samples.....are they any good?

buy a mac ;op

it's loaded with synth modules, effects units + samples & loops if you need them although its best to make your own beats and sounds

the version 8 is about a 50gb install so that shows you how much there is packed into it!

Well with Logic 8 you get the apple loops which I found were good for learning with, then you can start to look around the net and friends for other samples, once you get a feel for it.
You don't need a mac......

Logic Studio System Requirements
Minimum requirements to install all applications:
Mac computer with a 1.25GHz or faster PowerPC G4 processor (PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, or Intel Xeon processor highly recommended)

Logic over cubase??

I like both but I think Logic pips it to the post

Yes Rob... come on now... you've taken the first step and bought an iphone, make the leap and buy a Mac :)

I've got a really fast PC, so I know it'll do the job.


Surely you're still using samples and adapting them though?

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Haha, if I had thousands to spare I'd buy a DJM800.

Chat to Alex - He'll give you some advice even if you don't want to do the course:

16steps.co.uk

That's a cool site.

Might just buy myself a book and learn from that.

If I remember I'll ask him to jump on here and suggest a book for you ... :)

out of all the producers i know (100 or so), i only know one or two that don't use logic.

you do need to buy a mac though - a mac mini would do it at a push and you can get one of them for about 200 quid.

if you don't want to go the mac route then i would say concentrate on learning ableton. it will enable you to make tracks much faster (i know a few people that use ableton & logic together because of this) and you may also end up using ableton in your DJ sets. especially now ableton have a creative partnership with serato.

also, ableton works on mac & PC so if you get serious about production and go with logic later on then ableton will still be very useful.

what are your friends using? that could be very important because free assistance is invaluable....

good luck anyway.

Fruity Loops is really easy to get the hang of... Most of the producers I know use it and use it with great success...

I've never used Cubase so I can't comment, however i'm going to use Logic Studio 8 when my new MacBook arrives.

BOTH! Ableton 8 Live is wicked and Logic Studio 8 too. They both serve the purpose and produces different sound.

I got into Logic first, but Ableton Live is more modern and easier to use I think. However, I am using Logic for mastering purposes and chunkier sound.

Good luck.