Basement studio Project...looking for any and every kind of

ok so basically this is what we have to work with.
-mpc 2000xl
-technic 1200
-vestax mixer
-macbook pro
-krk monitors
-lots of motivation
-student budget
-desire heart and hope lol

i want to have a small basement studio set up come christmas (or at least 90% completed by then), i have seen videos on youtube ( most notably Black Milk in his basement with the mpc, stanton turntable, pro tools and so on .... if u haven't seen it youtube it its pretty cool).

i would like to make beats on the computer using a software, aswell as using the mpc but really i would like to use that strictly for sampling loops and my scratches from my vinyls.

ok so first off what software should i buy? I'm looking towards buying fruity loops and pro tools ( i have seen protools se sold in a bundle with a keyboard...i figured buying that would be like killing 2 birds with 1 stone any recommendations?) i have heard FL studio doesn't work with macs??....i was hoping to use fl studio for my beats and then pro tools for my mpc and keyboard to add onto my beats. What do i need to buy to plug my mpc into the macbook?

what order should i connect my equipment... i was thinking turntable into mixer into mpc into macbook going out to the monitors? (where does the keyboard lay in this?

also how do i connect my krk monitors to my macbook?

Thank you i will be checking this regularly for updates as I want to get started asap...as i move along i will also try to upload pics...im sure more questions will come up and ill post them as they come...thank you all I'm not here trying to waste any1s time just looking for some real help...talk to you later

in order to connect the mpc to your mac you need an audio interface. The KRK's will also be connected to the interface. pro tools is a good software, and so is fruity loops (from what i hear) but look into other software and see what suits you best, logic, reason and reaper are all top quality options. To get the most outta of your software you are going to want to buy a midi controller that has keys like a keyboard to it. As far signal flow goes there is one real way to do it and many other creative ways to do it. It all depends on peoples preference and creative work flow. I believe you need to figure that out for yourself. There are plenty of posts within this site that address these issues.

you can find EVERYTHING you need to get started at:
http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

READ IT

http://tweakheadz.com/setting_up_your_audio.htm

http://tweakheadz.com/signal_flow_1.htm
http://tweakheadz.com/signal_flow_3.htm

icecubex wrote:I want to get started asap

then just hook stuff up and get started. you can always change the setup later. you don't need to use everything at once (I'm amazed you've bought all that stuff and not hooked anything together or thought about how to use it)

icecubex wrote:ok so basically this is what we have to work with.
-mpc 2000xl
-technic 1200
-vestax mixer
-macbook pro
-krk monitors
-lots of motivation
-student budget
-desire heart and hope lol

i want to have a small basement studio set up come christmas (or at least 90% completed by then), i have seen videos on youtube ( most notably Black Milk in his basement with the mpc, stanton turntable, pro tools and so on .... if u haven't seen it youtube it its pretty cool).

i would like to make beats on the computer using a software, aswell as using the mpc but really i would like to use that strictly for sampling loops and my scratches from my vinyls.

ok so first off what software should i buy? I'm looking towards buying fruity loops and pro tools ( i have seen protools se sold in a bundle with a keyboard...i figured buying that would be like killing 2 birds with 1 stone any recommendations?) i have heard FL studio doesn't work with macs??....i was hoping to use fl studio for my beats and then pro tools for my mpc and keyboard to add onto my beats. What do i need to buy to plug my mpc into the macbook?

what order should i connect my equipment... i was thinking turntable into mixer into mpc into macbook going out to the monitors? (where does the keyboard lay in this?

also how do i connect my krk monitors to my macbook?

Thank you i will be checking this regularly for updates as I want to get started asap...as i move along i will also try to upload pics...im sure more questions will come up and ill post them as they come...thank you all I'm not here trying to waste any1s time just looking for some real help...talk to you later

your gonna need an audio interface, protools comes with mboxes, that will do for now.

i would go the logic route though, just personal preference, much easier to work with with your midi keyboard too.
logic is more user friendly in the creation of music than protools, and protools is more geared toward mixing.

logic has much better stock plugins than protools too, although i have heard that i protools has stepped its plugin game up alot in the last couple versions.

your keyboard can be hooked up by usb, and your mpc can be hooked up by midi.

make sure your audio interface has a midi in/out too, it will make things alot easier.

check out the tc electronics impact twin. its 399, im very happy with mine. the preamps are phenominal for the price (i'd record vocals with them and im usually a preamp snob when it comes to stuff like that) it also comes with a good reverb plugin thats a real plus for me too, you can add reverb when tracking vocals just for listening to, or you can use it in your mix as well.

youll hook your monitors up to this.

youll also hook your mixer that is connected to your turntable to this.

your mpc goes to this as well.

if your looking for a little cheaper interface
id check out the focusrite saffire pro 24 its 299. but this only has one headphone jack, if thats fine for you, get it, its supposed to sound good.
i went with the tc electronics because it has 2 headphone inputs (this is good if youll ever be recording vocals.)

the m-audio profire 610 is another one to look at, its 399 though. you could probably find one cheaper.
the preamps are supposed to be pretty good in it (for stock preamps)

so pretty much, get an audio interface and youll be set up, you can find a midi controller for cheap on craigslist or something too, the m-audio axioms are nice enough, semi weighted keys, and 8 mpc style pads on the top too.
youll plug this into your usb port.

if you buy logic, you can just plug this in, create a software instrument track (logic comes with alot of really nice software instruments/ a sampler/ pianos/ violins/ this awesome thing called sculpture (it enables you to create your own instrument)/ a drum machine/ and a really nice convolution reverb.
some people say the convolution reverb and sclupture alone is enough to buy logic.

thats why i'd reccomend logic over protools.

you can also bounce to mp3 strait out of logic (this is good to bounce rough mixes of your beats to email to people ect.), in protools you have to pay 500 extra dollars (dont quote me on this price, but it is pretty expensive) to get this package that lets you do this.
another super plus about logic is that you can export all your tracks as audio files all at once, protools wont do this as easily unless you buy the expensive version.

all in all logic is a more rounded product imo, especially at that price.
dont get me wrong, protools is great, but for entry level stuff, protools is missing alot of stuff for the money. you wont be able to run over a certain amount of tracks in protools unless you buy this track expansion thing for it, with logic you can run as many tracks as your computer can handle.

i think the dv toolkit is what enables you to use more tracks and bounce to mp3 in protools Le.

also another thing protools is missing in LE and m-powered is automatic delay compensation (this may have been cleared up after protools 8 but im not sure) every DAW has had this except PT.

basically when your mixing, and your using alot of plugins, your tracks move a very tiny amount and can cause your music to sound out of phase. it used to be that you had to find out how many ticks (samples) your track had moved and nudge each track back into place manually. every other daw has automatic delay compensation. in essence it just moves the tracks back for you so everything is in phase.

hope this steers you more in the right direction.

articles on the site in the link should set you st8

http://www.tweakheadz.com/laboratory/so_you_want_to_build_yer_studio.htm

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

ok i have studio one as my daw...can i use my mpc 2000xl as a midi controller for this program? and how do i do it?

icecubex wrote:ok i have studio one as my daw...can i use my mpc 2000xl as a midi controller for this program? and how do i do it?

you need to connect it via midi to a midi input on the computer... an audio interface may have one... if not you could get a midi/usb interface... or you could get an audio interface that has a midi input...

or you could just get an MPD.