hello. i bought an ex5 a while ago with the anticipation of making some music. mainly dance type stuff, ranging from cheese to harder stuff like the prodigy etc. i am thinknig of selling the ex as it is a bit overpowering for me. while it does everything, and very well, i thinking of selling it and buying maybe a 'smaller' synth ie no sequencer or sampler, and maybe a samplereg yamaha a3000 or akai, and anything else cool that will be good for me. i will be using cakewalk so a workstation synth is not required.

does anybody have any suggestions as to a simple but effective setup which i could start making music with of the type mentioned above? i would be interested to hear from people with similar music making interests and what setup you have.

thanks

chris

From your post I assume you do not play keyboards/synth's.
In that case I would completely go software.

You need more as cakewalk though.
I would do following;
Upgrade to Sonar (because of the plug in synths and better audio routine)
To expand you might look at;
reason
acid pro
fruity loops
reaktor
vocoder software (several choices)

You need a fast PC/Mac and a pro-audiocard.
(preferable no soundchip in mainboard)

Note:
I would keep the ex 5

Fred

hi. yeah i can play. i have been playing since i was five years old or something. a while ago i can tell you i want to keep away from the softsynth or computer end of things. using a pc only for a sequencer. i would like tyo keep the ex but as i said, i think its alittle too much for me as i have only ever played aruond with the sounds ( not uised sequencer or sampler etc) i want to sell it so i get some cash to buy a few 'beter' more suited things. just, i dont know what i should get.

cheers

chris

I agree with Fred.. Go software, but keep your EX-5! That is a powerful synth.... I used to own it's little brother the EX-7 and I'm still kicking myself in the ass for getting rid of it.. That EX-5 is a powerhouse and it's sounds are awsome! A good upgrade from the EX-5 (if you decided to get another workstation) would be the Motif...

ok, as a non software user... 'sell' software to me. what makes it better than hardware. specially the programs you have mentioned. maybe then i will keep the ex and we can al be happy ps i would have bought a sampler specifically for rythm sampling. what software prog would be good for this? i have heard of recycle, what is that?

cheers

chris

did i mention i'm a poor student?

Cris,
It is almost impossible to answer this.
Instead find some directions below where all the different software is described and what you can do with it.

As a starter keeping "poor student in mind" I would start with;
1. fruityloops
2. update your cakewalk to Sonar
(for obvious reasons once you read all the info)

http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM01/Content/Native_Instruments/PR/Battery.html

This one is not a composing tool but your
final audio recording tapemachine, mastering studio etc... with 128 audio tracks if your PC can handle it. http://www.syntrillium.com/

All the other earlier described composing software; http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.php?reaktor_us
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/default.asp
http://www.fruityloops.com/
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/
http://www.propellerheads.se/

[This message has been edited by freddynl (edited 09-12-2002).]

If you want a soft-sampler, try out GIGASAMPLER, as its handling is almost like hardware, and you find a lot of quality samples in that format.

funkster1