Making music

[molinari]

I've just been given one of these midi controllers so I'm trying to sort out my PC so I can make some music .

Firstly, the controller comes with Cakewalk LE so I'll use that to start with, but are Cakewalk and Cubase about the most complete packages for music production??

Secondly, the keyboard comes with USB and Midi connections and my question is which connection is best to use??

 

[FireMoon]

Cakewalk/Sonar... Sonar is the pro version of Cakewalk

Cubase/Nunedo Nuendo is Cubase with added video editing

Others are Pro Tools... was the industry standard for donkeys years now being increasingly put under pressure by other platforms...Logic which only runs on a Mac; post version 5.5... Sequoia and Samplitude are also excellent packages

They are the main proggies that most ppl use one of...

 

[simisker]

FireMoon, you forgot Ableton Live. There's a fully-featured demo available here which I strongly recommend playing with; it's much more intuitive than Cubase/Sonar in so many ways:

http://www.ableton.com/downloads

As for the USB/MIDI question, I don't think it matters a huge amount; I use MIDI as it's a 'bus' that's not shared with any other devices; you'll need a MIDI interface of some kind of course, if your soundcard doesn't provide one. A quick google will reveal more in-depth and enlightened viewpoints on this subject, I'm sure.

 

[FireMoon]

Spot on .. the min i posted it i thought and there's Ableton Live and Tracktion....