I really do not understand the question mate...

I guess not producers but managers

Gotta say, I'm pretty confused too :P

im a dj that started production and remixing after i learned the art of mastering my skills. is that what your asking?

I am a producer/DJ, I started using FL Studio at the age of 12 www.myspace.com I have yet to drop an album, but I'm plannin' on it. I got into this kind of life, because of inspiration from the DJ/producers that I know.

fruity loops is a joke.

Hey, it can do wonders, if you can work with it right and take your time to make it sound pro. I also use Reason 3.0 & Cubase SX, pro software, but FL Studio is still my 1st choice of what to use.

its a toy/joke. end of story.

Dude didnt 9th wonder used FL on a lot of his tracks.

fl was orginally created by cakewalk its a basic seq with some adv plugs its not a total joke but i use logic pro more my cup of tea

He most certainly did. The bottom line is that it doesn't matter what you use, it's what your tracks sound like. I've never really used FL but I've heard people rip on it. All I know is that if 9th Wonder can make all those bangin' tracks on it then it can't be all bad.

I hate it when people get married to their gear, and sometimes the worst for gear worship are music production magazines. Now I love Scratch magazine, but I think the whole gear obsession was brought into perspective for me when I read an interview with Danger Mouse about 6 months ago where Scratch asked him to run down his gear setup and he basically said "I don't really do the gear thing. I use Acid by Sony to make every track I do and I make it all on a computer I bought from Best Buy--the same computer I use for email and everything else." (paraphrased)

That shit kind of humbled me cuz I was strictly using Acid at the time on a special computer I had built for music production, and who the fuck am I? What was the last album I put out? Bottom line: it doesn't matter what you use, it matters what you do with it.

exactly. the battle between hardware and software will still rage on but great music is created on both platforms which proves it doesnt matter what you have - its how you flex it.

i remember reading about Swizz Beatz when he got in the game he quickly made beats on a shitty Casio keyboard with just headphones on.

also, im pretty sure The Brown Album by Primus was recorded on crappy gear in their bedroom/bathroom etc and it was released without being re-recorded.

i think in the UK some of the hip-hop artists there (i cant remember their names) but they were using some Playstation game to make beats - and they've released it.

^^you can make a dope beat with a piece of wood and a rock.

myspace.com/dj_proof i have a couple of beats on there...i got into beats a yr ago...check em out

I've been makin' beats for about 8 years now. And I'm starting to get more and more into the software thing. It's more cost effective, a lot more flexible and more efficient. But I still like my mpc for my drums. I don't think I'll ever get rid of that thing.

I am dabbling inot producing my own tracks. I do not really like the software that I have now (it is not a very intuitive or user-friendly interface) even though it is mega powerful. Eventually, I would like to scale back the level of gear that I have so that I can focus on making music rather than learning how to use my software.

^^^what software are you using??

Logic Pro 7.

It is an amazing tool, with nearly unlimited potential, but it has a steep learning curve, and I am more of a plug-and-play type of guy.

Ahh. Ok. I never worked with Logic. I'm a protools dude.

Anyone interested in doing somthing like this needs to download and spend some real time with ableton live. It is the easiest most powerful and intuiitive piece of music software out there. To date I have gotten 3 pro-tools users (2 of them went to university for pro tools) to start using it.

Everyone has there own preferance, but everyone should try the stuff out there before they decide that they are going to use somthing cause its the industry standard, or because so and so uses it.

To many people worry baout having all this fancy gear/software, then don't even use it all, or even learn to make decent music. With producing the end result is all that matters, how you get there really means nothing, except that it was easy enough and enjoyable enough for you to sit there are work on your musc until you get the end result.

I wouldnt consider logic any steeper then protools they both are difficult to use if you are just starting out and are new to DAW's.

Now I will admit logic back in the day was harder to use but by no means difficult.

exactly. however stating that Ableton Live is the easiest and most powerful program can be debated. Basically i'm saying that with music programs - each to their own. Something that's easier for 1 person, may not as easy for someone else. I personally haven't used Ableton so i'm not one to comment on it, but i can say that I have used Cubase for about 6 years now and because i've spent time learning it - its easy to me. in fact when i first used it, since i had studied audio engineering, it was simply a matter of applying my knowledge to the program and learning how to do what i want to do.

i think with everything its a matter of learning the program, and then deciding which is the best program for you.

I agree, however I also agree with DJK about Ableton. After having used Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Sonar, Cakewalk, Acid, and some other production programs I'd have to say Ableton is the best in terms of ease of use vs. what you can get done. In my opinion anyways.

It manipulates audio pretty freely, many of the controls are fairly intuitive and best of all it comes with good tutorials to get you started. I'd reccommend almost any music producer making any kind of music to at least try it out.

fair enough - if i get my hands on it (maybe if and when i get the Korg padKontrol!) then i'll give it a go. i must admit, i've heard nothing but positive things from it. but i just dont want to get into another learning curve with it - im downright comfortable with Cubase already!

It's funny you should mention the padKontrol because for me, one of the best parts about Ableton compared to other programs is how quick and easy it is to assign samples to external MIDI controllers. Getting a new controller is the perfect reason to try out Ableton!

Yeah, I have the demo of Ableton and am going to give it a go once I can just clean up and organize my music room a little bit.

I have liked my results with Logic, it's just that I don't really enjoy using it and sometimes I lose the creative vibe while trying to figure out how to do certain things.

One thing you should know about the Ableton demo: the MIDI mapping function is disabled. This is really unfortunate because I think it's one of the coolest features of Ableton (as I said above).

Last week I got ableton lite with my new protools rig. And I've tried playing with it a few times and that thing (ableton) is confusing! lol. But I just need to spend a couple hours straight playing with it and I'll get it figured out.

You should do a tutorial. They're honestly pretty good and they get you going quickly.

Cool. I'll check that out later on today...