New to Beatmaking Purchased maschine studio 2.0

Im new to beatmaking i desided to buy maschine studio it came with 2.0 software and i also bought a decent laptop but... Do i need a DAW??? Ive been looking at Presonus Studio one? Any advice on starting beatmaking would help, also any things you wish you knew when you started would help.

 

I would suggest keeping your tools to a minimum for as long as possible and mastering what you have, only adding new tools if you run into brick walls that you can't otherwise get through or around. Apart from when GAS is just too strong and you have money burning holes in your pockets, of course.

The very fact that you asked "Do i need a DAW???" suggests to me that you do not need one because you would know if you did (or at least know that something was lacking and you needed something). Depending on what you do with your music and how you make it, you might need a more traditional DAW as well, but you might not and might find (like I have) that you prefer working in just one main program, even if it means getting some things done in unorthodox or even an arguably less efficient way.

 

Thanks for the advice., yeah im focusing rite now on just getting the hang of the software and studio controller the next thing im looking to get that i do need is a audio interface and midi keyboard 25 key when the is rite

 

I don't think I'd be alone in saying that a decent and dedicated audio interface is a wise and, in many circumstances, necessary part of any "studio" setup. However, on-board soundcards can be adequate for in-the-box production, certainly for a start off. I often use my music laptop with just a pair of headphones. But the necessity of an audio interface and which one will come when you actually need it e.g., when you want to record a "real" instrument or vocals or want to have a cue output.

 

If you are mainly beat making, or adding melodic parts using vsts and the supplied synths like massive ,monark etc then you can make a pretty complete tune all in Maschine fairly easily. If you are adding vocals and other 'recorded' parts another DAW would help depending on type of music. Stick with Maschine for now and get fluent with that. Get a good interface,I like the Komplete Audio 6 and it works well for live use as you can very quickly switch between a main monitor and cue bus monitor for headphones, I don't think it's as easy on the focusrite units which are also very popular. But it all depends on what your needs are and what you see yourself doing in the near future

 

As a Maschine and a Cubase owner I advice you to learn everything about Maschine and just focus on it until you say ' yeah I need something more to do my edits ,sequencing etc.. ' Maschine 2.3 meets your %90 of your needs in my opinion.It has nice kits, samples and super Komplete instruments bundled.When you start to learn things with Maschine and make beats with it I am sure you ll never want to leave it.

 

As Mr36 said an audio interface is definitely high up on the list of 'important things'.

Might be worth considering something like the Presonus AudioBox as a basic interface to get started with... it's only $99 and comes bundled with Studio One Artist... so after you've got to grips with the Maschine software you would already have the cutdown version of Studio One to get your teeth into?

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBoxUSB

 

as 36 said all you need is a sound card and some monitors and maschine, depending on how much time you're putting into this right now you should be good to go for quite a while.