Lets begin .. Choosing the Set up 101!

My SETUP NOW! 2011

Gear:

After a bit of reorganisation. Urban Science Studio/Records - System is Quad Core, 8gb Memory with 2 tb Drives ..tripple monitor set-up. MK149 Evolution midi keyboard, KORG nano Kontrol and Pad... Running Cubase Studio 5 + Massive, etc and Reason 5. ESI Wavetterminal 192L and Sprit F1 ..vintage gear tucked away for later use (Yes its an AKAI actually two s2000 and S3000 XL). More to come in 2011..

So what do one need to get into producing drum and bass or other electronic music (RnB, Hip Hop, Trance, House, Garage, etc)? Well the answer is simple anything you like. Some people like hardware and others software and others like hybrid studios which involves bits of both.

When I first got started in recording I used to over dub cassette tapes to create mega mixes. It was in the time of ‘Bomb da Bass’, MARS and Mantronix.  I have was always intrigued by recording studios but knew little about them.

I later got an Atari ST and started producing after a mate of mine took me to his home studio set-up.  I then got a package called Sterio Master (profile pic). Anyway my point is it took me awhile before I got a decent set up.  This was mainly hardware and an Atari. PC was a late transition but was a Pentium 3 affair with limited memory.  My system is a PC with four cores and 8gb of RAM. Most people I know use laptops and this cool for them, they have their benefits like portability. However I find PCs more stable if set up correctly and used properly.

So choose your platform:

1. What type of computer? Apple Mac or PC
1. This is personal preference both are good.  There has been a war raging for many decades over which is better. I use a PC but can verify that Apple computers are better designed for performance. The OS is less demanding and more stable than Windows based OSs. Windows can become unstable and generally unreliable. Best Windows OS is Win98, XP and now Win 7. 
2. Get a decent system with the best parts and a good designer.
2.   Which software as sequencer?
1. Again personal preference.  Your choice includes Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools and Cakewalk.
2. The ones mentioned are generally expensive and aimed at semi professional or pro users.  There are middle road and hobbyist software available. However if you serious of being in the music industry my personal opion get familar with a pro system.  Nothing wrong thoguh in starting with mid range stuff such as Reason, Fruity Loops, etc.
3. Try all versions and see which is more comfortable to you. I have used CUBASE since early 90s. Don't feel comfortable in anything else.
3. Hardrware or software?
1. Hmmm well I am bias, I love hardware the real instruments. I worked hard to understand and used hardware. Love AKAI samplers and Roland Keyboards, etc. However time has changed and people can't afford the cost or space that a fully kitted HW studio demands.
2. Software based studios are cheaper to run and manage normally a bedroom of some dj. The instruments are virtual and therefore available on your PC. You can have a hundred grand studio on your laptop. This can be seen in Reason. 
3. Each sequencer is designed to use virtual instruments some are third party but others are pre installed. You must decide what you are looking for. Cubase is flexible I can use inbuilt, third party or connect to systems such as Reason. Oh plus control and trigger hardware lol. 

CUBASE I BEGAN USING!

VERY BASIC SETUP ...what a started using for DnB!