I’m pretty much an electronic music noob compared to a lot of people on this forum who have a lot of other software/hardware at their command. I on the other hand, only have 1 tool. Renoise.
So basically, if I were to buy any hardware like midi controllers and what not…why would I? I do have some basic knowledge of different types of hardware but what works best for what? In the coming years I want to learn how to perform my music live (Breakcore).
So can someone please point me in the right direction?
i have a novation nocturn and a novation launchpad,i use the nocturn for controlling the effects i use in my “live” mash-ups,and i have set up the launchpad sort of like this
and its just awesome,really a cool way to make music
the usefulness of midi controllers is being able to tactilely manipulate aspects of your music during the process of writing or performing it. different midi controllers are suited to different tasks, a midi keyboard will let you play keyboard parts, something with trigger pads will let you trigger drum hits or samples, something with sliders and buttons will allow you to adjust volume or aspects of the sounds, and mute and unmute them. i don’t believe you need any MIDI controller to write with renoise. I do however think that they are pretty much essential for live performance, because it gives you quick hands-on access to changing your sounds in real-time. i’d say for breakcore a good basic approach that would give you something to do live is to get something like a korg nanokontrol, you can then use it to control filters, effects and volumes live using the sliders and dials. the korg nanokontrol is portable and relatively inexpensive. however you need to decide what sort of controls you would want, if you think you may want a keyboard then you could get something which has keys, sliders and pads for example. i have a bitstream 3x which is a really nice controller.
Genfu’s post above is exactly right. Listen to that. I would also suggest getting some kind of interface. They’re are many kinds depending on your needs. A purely audio interface would allow you to record samples into your computer for use in a composition and it would also allow you to have a decent audio output for live music. An interface that also has MIDI would allow you to hookup MIDI gear to it and not just a MIDI controller that works through a USB or Firewire port. I would suggest an external interface (aka soundcard) and one that runs through firewire as apposed to USB.
