How you can make music like Fatboy Slim

Beethoven's training in music began when he was four-years-old. His father wanted to make a child prodigy of his son like Mozart and made him cry by forcing him to practise for hours at a time.

Things are easier these days and musicians like Hove's Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) and Brighton's Adam Freeland have used computer equipment to sample and synthesise their way to the top.

The good news for amateur musicians, or anyone else interested in making sweet music, is the cost of doing so has come down considerably, putting virtual instruments in the hands of more PC prodigies.

Unfortunately, people looking to make their PC or Mac make more than noise than a click or beep face a confusing mix of hardware and software.

Evolution has put together a guide to help people interested in scaling the musical heights make informed choices about what they need to buy.

The first step is the computer itself. The Atari ST, launched more than 15 years ago, helped encourage the first wave of home musicians.

Although you can still find these machines in classified advertisements, most people will want to use PCs and Macs to take advantage of upto-

date hardware and software.

There is no hard and fast rule about how powerful the computer needs to be but, if you are intending to record and playback music, it should be as powerful as possible.

Some companies make specialist PCs for musicmaking, some rackmountable, but a standard PC is fine provided it has slots on the motherboard for additional cards and extra bays for things like CD recorders.

If possible, the machine should have at least 128Mb of RAM (more is preferable), a large, fast hard drive to store those chart-topping tunes and upload sounds and samples quickly, and a fast processor. Most new PCs tend to be more powerful than most users need, which is a good thing for musicians. PC owners should look for a Pentium III 500Mhz processor or above, while most iMacs and G3/G4 Macs should be up to the job.

When looking for a monitor, it is important to bear in mind sequencer software, which is used to arrange and store music, will be displaying a large amount of information on the screen at any one time. So bigger is best, provided image quality is not compromised.

Once the basic system has been set-up, the most important hardware addition is the soundcard, which will determine the sound quality of the noises you make.

Most consumer PCs come with at least a basic soundcard but you might want to upgrade if you're planning to make music more than a passing fad.

Be warned, soundcards can cost up to £1,000.

The cards output the sounds made by the computer hardware and software and can record from external sources, like CDs, turntables and microphones, saving the music as .aiff or .wav files on Mac and PC, respectively S o m e cards also provide a b a s i c musical i n s t r u -

ment digital interface (MIDI) connection.

MIDI is an acronym many people use when they talk about electronic music. In simple terms, it is the means by which devices send information to each other. Other soundcards also include onboard synthesisers, which provide extra sounds.

Installing the soundcard should be a simple task because there are no wires to worry about or settings to change and the computer's operating system should automatically detect it.

You need to make sure you have all the latest drivers for the device.

Most manufacturers' web sites have sections devoted to this. Users who are unsure about how to install the card should seek assistance.

Creative Labs' Sound Blaster range of cards and accessories includes the Sound Blaster Audigy (packages from £89.99 to £239.99), which is a good card, as is the TerraTec DMX 6Fire 24/96, costing £169.99.

Things are more complicated if you own an iMac or a laptop.

iMacs are not designed to take soundcards so their owners have to use the internal audio system or a USB MIDI interface, like the £59 Midiman Midisport 2x2 USB, to connect to external devices.

Laptop users will find only a limited number of suitable soundcards are available and they might also need an external interface.

Once the soundcard is in place, it could make sense to upgrade your computer's tiny internal speakers, if it has them, with mains-powered external models, ones with a subwoofer if you're looking for stomach-churning bass.

You can use a standard hi-fi to pump up the volume, provided it has a spare input, but this is not ideal.

Another thing to consider is how to trigger the sounds.

It is possible to fiddle with your mouse but the easiest option is to let your fingers do their walking on a piano-style keyboard.

They come in various prices and sizes.

Our namesake, Evolution, offers a range of keyboards like the four-octave, 49-key USB MK-249, which retails for £119.99 and has a three-digit display and useful controller buttons. It comes with a software package, which includes a basic sequencer, Sound Studio and a keyboard tutor, Music Teacher.

For about the same price, you can get the two-octave Midiman Oxygen 8, which includes eight fully-programmable controller knobs and is more designed for dance music lovers.

If you have money to spare and do not have an internet connection, it might be worth investing in one, as it can provide access to a host of downloadable software and information, saving time amd money.

A CD recorder is also essential if you intend to distibute your material.

Once the necessary hardware has been purchased and installed, it is time to think about the software, which is the most important aspect of the computer music scene.

A sequencer forms the basis for most music projects, providing an entire recording studio on your desktop or laptop.

Musicians use sequencers to arrange, record and mix their compositions using virtual instruments and effects called plug-ins or external sound sources.

Most sequencers include a few standard plug-ins but hundreds more are available from a large number of companies.

The good news for people wanting to make their first software purchase is, between simple packages like Music Maker and eJay and powerful and expensive ones by Cubase, Logic and Sonar, there are a number of mid-range sequencers available.

MAGIX Music Studio 7, which costs £29.99 for the standard version or £59.99 for the deluxe version, provides hard-drive recording, a MIDI sequencer and mastering functions.

The deluxe version offers more real-time effects, such as voice box, reverb, distorter and 15-band graphic equaliser.

It comes with a sample editor, a music production set contains 3,000 MIDI loops and samples (from pop, rock, dance, house, hip-hop, the Eighties, techno and trance).

PC owners are better catered for in this range, with Cubasus VST 3.0 at £59.99 and Cakewalk Home Studio 2002 at £79.99 also available but Mac users will find a similar range of functions in MicroLogic AV, which also costs £79.99.

Once you've got the ability to mix and match with a sequencer, it's time to go looking for plug-ins, such as effects modules, samplers, virtual instruments and soft synths.

Effects were probably the first area to be revolutionised by plug-ins while the latest development is plug-in instruments, which come in four varieties, VST, Direct X, TDM and MAS, corresponding to different software producers.

The most important thing is to make sure you buy the correct format for your sequencer.

This shouldn't be too difficult if you do your research or buy from a reputable dealer.

These virtual instruments, which can be free downloads or cost hundreds of pounds, have a number of advantages over their hardware counterparts.

They are often cheaper than dedicated modules and easier to use because they can be manipulated on screen, rather than using the small LED displays often found on modules.

Software sampling has also become more popular. The growth of hip hop, house and techno music helped to drive sampling but, in the past, required expensive hardware synthesisers.

Plug-ins are now replacing bulky samplers in amateur recording studios worldwide.

However, most plug-ins are virtual synths, ranging from original sounding synthesisers to recreations of classic synthesisers out of our musical past.

The majority are low-price and reliable, unlike the original machines, which can cost thousands of pounds despite their tendency to break.

If old sounds are your thing, you will even find Theremin emulator can recreate the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations.

This approach might seem a bit complicated to a beginner but there is another option.

Although not as powerful as the stand-alone items, the emergence of all-in-one software studios does away with separate sequencers and plug-ins to provide one programme for sequencing, sampling, effects and synthesising.

The most notable software studio is Reason by Propellerheads for either Mac or PC but it costs £299 and might be too expensive for occasional users.

PC owners should also take a look at FuityLoops 3, which costs about £68, and the £89.99 Orion Pro software.

Some novice computer musicians with multimedia PCs and an internet connection will need to spend hardly any money to begin making music if they choose to use free software and their mouse.

Others will splash out on the latest and greatest products.

A reasonable PC, a soundcard and some sequencing software with a few plug-ins are the basics and should cost no more than £200. From there, it is possible to build the system one piece at a time as and when you can afford it.

You should shop around for the best deals. Although prices for individual items are pretty much the same, retailers do discount packages.

Whatever you choose to buy or use, the main thing is to have fun and, although it might take a bit of practice, making music in your bedroom is a fantastic way to spend time.

www.midiman.co.uk
www.europe.creative.com
www.terretec.com
www.evolution.co.uk
www.magix.com
www.steinberguk.com
www.cakewalk.com
www.emagic.com
www.fruityloops.net