Hey, Y'all.

[gilly]

Hey! I'm 18 and starting college and I've realized that I'd like to turn my interest in lyric writing into seriously pursuing songwriting. When I was a kid I played piano (until I was about 12) and drums (for about a year, in like seventh grade). I have to wait till school starts to get my new laptop (it's part of my scholarship) and I think it's a small business type Dell. I'm also really interested in getting a Macbook Pro later on though. This fall semester I at least want to get a keyboard (like, a workstation type, not necessarily just a controller, so that I can relearn some theory and just play, and preferably this would be no more than like $200 so I can upgrade later). I guess I'd probably be looking at live recording with something basic, like Audacity maybe, while I still have PC and then going to Logic Studio when I start using a Mac.

So basically, I'm interested in advice. What equipment should I be look into as far as instruments, hardware, software, etc? What kind of techniques should I know? Really, just... how do I start?

Thanks!

[Retrosaurus Rex]

Hi Gilly,

Welcome! Like Tom said, your questions have probably already been answered, but if not, ask and ye shall receive...

[gilly]

Hey, thanks. I actually spent a couple hours reading through the boards yesterday before deciding to register. I just wasn't sure if my questions would be pertinent to the specific forums because the theme is that I kind of know absolutely nothing about the technical aspects of songwriting. I did not see tutorials though, so I'll try to track that down.

[Retrosaurus Rex]

Everybody starts somewhere...

http://recording.songstuff.com/

[justsoulin]

Hey Gilly, welcome.

Don't worry, you're not alone. So many choices out there it gets confusing. Here's a pointer for you that may help. As far as when you get your Mac, I read everyone loves GarageBand.

Keyboards, well you've just got to look through http://forums.songstuff.com/forum/53-keyboards-synths-and-samplers/

I'm doing a blog about going through the motions of installing and figuring out how to create stuff on a pc so you might want to check in to my blog as I update it.

My post above got great responses from the guys here who can use the pc studio progs, so dig around the site as there's a wealth of advice here for someone like you and me.

Let me know how you get on with the keyboard buying (I'm thinking of getting something to try and teach myself to play). Any help you need, just holler.

[gilly]

Thanks for the links.

justsoulin, that post is helping a lot, actually. I do have one stupid question that I can't quite figure out the answer to. I've read about DAWs and VSTs but I can't discern what exactly the difference is. Is there a way to define each one in layman's terms?

I'm going to check out Sonar. And your blog!

EDIT: Actually, the blog starts off with a glossary. Awesome!

Edited June 28, 2011 by gilly

[justsoulin]

Does the glossary answer your question?