Hello; I have a long break this summer and one of my relatives has decided to pay me for creating my own tune using a digital music software that she’ll be including in a video. That’s got my interest up quite a bit but I’ve always had a keen interest in listening to music and music creation so that’s driving me as well.
While lurking, I came across a thread posted a while back here on instrumental music and more specifically guitar synths which is what I’m looking to create. interestingly, I’ve actually heard the theme mentioned by the OP a while back on TV in 2012 or 2013. What I was envisioning though for my creation is something much longer (2 minutes) than theirs.
The possible instruments. I have are a Yamaha keyboard which has basic features along with my laptop. I would like to know what software I can use to perhaps combine the two. Also brushing up on that tedious music theory…
Do you want to create new and unique sounds, to get the computer to perform your composition, or both?
In the first case, you should get one software synth and learn how to use it to create the sounds you want, rather than download dozens of different ones, each with hundreds of knobs, that you do not really know how to use. It could also be that there are pre-existing patches that will make you happy, in which case you will not need to create new patches from scratch.
Either way, you need a sequencing program like Logic, Ableton, etc. They take care of running the synthesizers and effects and actually performing your music.
Get a good softsynth, like f.ex. FM8 or Absynth, learn how to program it, program it, then control and record it. You can do that outside or inside the box (computer), depending on what gear you have. Maybe you can control with your yamaha via midi? What kind of keyboard is your yamaha?
For sequencing and recording/rendering inside the box, you can go with a full-fledged DAW (I recommend Reaper as a cheaper alternative to Logic etc.), a hybrid (Abelton) or maybe a tracker (Renoise). Check out tutorials on youtube or elsewhere for how to sequence with your software of choice.
If you need FX, you could go to KVR Audio for vst’s.
