From: rej@sal.wisc.edu (Randy Jones)
Subject: Making Music, was Re: Mixing Music
Organization: Hanatara Crew
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 21:49:17 GMT

jna@silver.lcs.mit.edu (if you love your art, die for it) writes:

>I've been creating my own techno, and have realized it's going to 
>cost me over $8000 to actually get the proper equiptment to create 
>what I want to. I've already spent $6000 and I still don't own what 
>I want. I need Analog Synths, and Samplers, and DAT machines to 
>make the wonderful bleepy dreams in my head a reality. Realize what 
>you're getting yourself into if you're serious. 

Your point stands that this takes some money, you can't use 8-bit
samplers (well, not solely) to produce good sounding stuff. But I'd
like to offer another perspective from the low-budget fringe.

I think one of the great things about the rave scene (of which I consider
techno music merely a part (ooh, take that, rec.music.techno...))
is that we create our own sensory experience, an alternative to mass-media
Spectacle. And we can do it on the cheap. This led a few of the music 
journos who had a vague clue to call techno the "punk of the '90s".
There is a similiar ethic, in turning our backs on mainstream culture
and creating something much more intense and vital. But if we begin to
demand more "clean"-sounding music, the production becomes more and
more the province of major labels, more techno tracks get worked into 
tv commercials, "techno" bins begin appearing in shopping mall 
record stores... sound familiar? 

So this is why I'm into the low-budget approach. And to hopefully inspire
or give a clue to someone who's just starting, here's a list of my main
e-music gear with reasonable current used market prices.

KEEZ: Roland S-10 sampler, $350
      Casio CZ-101,        $100
      Yamaha DX100,        $100
      Moog Minimoog,       $700
      Roland SH-101.       $100
TAPE: Fostex X-30 4 track, $250
DRMZ: Alesis HR-16:B,      $250
SEQ:  Korg SQ-8,           $100
MIX:  Teac Model 2 (6x4),   $50
MIK:  2 Shure Prologues,   $100
MISC: MIDI->CV box,        $100
      Cables, drugs        $200

TOTAL:                    $2400.

And the Minimoog is sort of a luxury item, you could rely on the Rolands
for all the "true analogue" and be down to $1700.00.

A lot of time spent scrounging the papers and getting to know your friendly
consignment/pawn shop shysters is in order. But if you're nearly always
broke, like me, I'm sure you'll warm up to the task. 

Another tip for those just starting out is to sleaze on over to 
rec.music.synth and start reading. It's possible to sort out a lot of good
info there at times, especially if you ask. And used gear is regularly 
advertised there at almost-always-reasonable prices.

Note that there is no DAT in my list, no 8-track, no effects processor. 
The stuff I own is for doing scratch mixes and sequencing. Then everything 
gets carted to the 8-track studio ($30/hr or so) for dumping to tape,
effects, and mixdown. At a couple hundred dollars max per single instead of a
few thousand in one shot for all the gear, it's definitely the only 
way for me to go right now. 

There are a lot of hassles involved; my setup is a real pain to work with
sometimes. But I'd rather be making music with what I have and keeping
an eye out for used goodies than working overtime trying to save up those
five grand. And I'd rather dance to a raw, innovative track (Aphex Twin) 
than a polished, homogenized one (Lords of Acid) any night of the week.

-- 
| Randy Jones           | \B/
| rej@bob.sal.wisc.edu  | RXE
| 608 259 0311          | /O\
Newsgroups: alt.rave