Topic: Research Paper on Music Production

[bigphil777]

I am doing a graduation project and my research paper is on music production. I need a few questions answered to include in the paper.
1)What equipment do you (personally) use when creating music?
2)What inspired you to make music?
3)Do you create music for a living?
4)How long have you been producing music?
5)Do you have a degree in music production?

[Melodic Euphoria]

1) PC and mic
2) life (interacting with the outside world, experiences, talking with people, etc...all these give me something to muse over, then write/sing/draw/tell a story about)
3) half.
4) 45 months
5) Self-taught

[ZeHoS]

1/ PC
2/ I was shown a MIDI sequencer at around 15; I messed around with it and got hooked...
3/ no
4/ er, since I was 15 (now 27), on and off, but more off than on
5/ no

[NEO]

1. Computer, APEX460 Condenser Mic, Yamaha PSR-295, M-Audio Recording Interface, acoustic and electric guitars.

2. Inspiration for me came from a point where i understood that i had the ability to create. That if i did this, this is mine, since im not strong in anything else, specifically something which i can make and say this is mine. While this i could make, be proud of and say its mine.

3. Not yet.

4. 5 years.

5. No music production degree.

[brstma]

1 - PC, software, mid controllers, bass guitar, turntables, etc
2- Music itself inspires me. I learned to play drum beats when I was 5 or 6, taught myself to play monophonic kids songs on the piano around the          same age, etc
3 - no
4 - over 20 years
5 - no

[RhythmScript]

I am doing a graduation project and my research paper is on music production. I need a few questions answered to include in the paper.

K

1)What equipment do you (personally) use when creating music?

A laptop (with soundcard), Mic, and electric Guitar/Bass... primarily DAW work (I consider myself a DAWist, actually, not a "producer")

2)What inspired you to make music?

Always loved music, but none of my favorite bands ever did things right. That is to say, I always found myself wishing X or Y had been done differently, A or B added, etc... for a while I just hunted for artists which could realize that perfect musical vision, then when none could, I decided to try my hand at it. Of course now, I realize that there's no such thing as a perfect recording, but I'm addicted at this point.

3)Do you create music for a living?

Nope

4)How long have you been producing music?

Probably close to a decade at this point; got my first guitar when I was 12, and my first Keyboard at 13... FL (first DAW) at 14. I'm almost 22 now.

5)Do you have a degree in music production?

Not yet but in a few months (I'm in my last semester at uni)

[APZX]

1. I use a computer with some VSTs. I have some speakers and headphones too. I have a couple of computer monitors. They're nice. Oh! and don't forget the keyboard and mouse! They're really important. I don't have any midi controllers. I suppose when I've got some more room I'll get a few, but currently I do not.

2. I can't really say. I suppose for me it was a want. Similar to RS I could never find a track that was genuinely and truly perfect, and I see now why that is. For me it is about the music. I love making it, and most of the time I have an absolute blast when I complete a track. Though getting there sometimes can be full of headaches.

3. Nope but it would be nice.

4. Probably about fours years or so. A friend showed me FL and here I am 

5. Nope but all you need is an understanding of Music Theory really. Even if you are limited in your knowledge in Music Theory you can still make some good music. Listen, Analyze, and Implement.

-APZX

[Ricdude]

1) Primarily a laptop, with occasional appearances by a MIDI controller/audio input device, a microphone, and one of my several guitars.
2) Mtv, back when they used to play videos. I wanted to be a rock star.  Def Leppard (Pyromania, High and Dry) is why I started playing guitar, Steve Vai is why I learned what the hell I was doing on it. Stravinski and Mussorgsky are why I worked on arrangments and composing.
3) Nope. 
4) I have recordings going back to 1983, so, 26 years.  It's really only the last 5 years or so that technology has progressed to the point where you can get decent results without a professional studio.  I've been sequencing and composing with computers on and off for about 26 years.
5) Nope.  Pondered going for a degree in Music Theory and Composition, but ended up with an Electrical Engineering degree.

[B_man]

1). PC
- Emu 0404 soundcard
- FL Studio 9.0 (using that since version 5.0)
- VST software instruments (V-Station, Vanguard, Octopus, Reaktor 5, Philharmonik Miroslav, and several freeware synthesizers)
- Large .wav sample library (mostly individual drum-hits and miscellaneous effects)
- Roland JP-8080 hardware synthesizer

2). When I was a programming freak, I started to dabble in video game coding. I created a couple simple demos, and decided to get more ambitious with something in the likes of a 2d-shmup. I was well aware that music could be created on one's computer, so I sought some answers on tools that musicians use to create music with only the computer. A number of the folks on the Darkbasic forums said: "FL is all you'll need". I started toying around with it and decided that creating music is even more fun that coding.

Today... anything from science-fiction concepts, technology, nature, things spiritual, and the human experience. I've loved music all my life. When I was in third-grade, I remember my father bringing home an CD by Jean Michael Jarre (Oxygene 7-13), and I was totally enthralled with the fact that cold electronic equipment could be a living instrument. Ever since then, I had a new appreciation for music created by artificial means -- especially video game music.

3). No-Pro, Bro...

My 2cents:
Being a pro-musician requires almost more politics than raw talent. There are many musicians who put me to shame who will never see their limelight. There is an art-saturation -- we have too many musicians and not enough engineers/scientists/software-devs/plumbers/etc. I can make a similar analogy with sports -- too many players, few professional athletes.

4). Lets see... back in 2004 I discovered FL Studio 5.0. I have been doing it off-and-on since then for various reasons, so I'd say much less than 5 years.

5). Are you insane!?? In this economy!?!  
I'll probably end up finishing my degree in something like software-development (my lesser love), or possibly IT.

[jhuuskon]

I am doing a graduation project and my research paper is on music production. I need a few questions answered to include in the paper.
1)What equipment do you (personally) use when creating music?

A custom-built PC, a mixer (with a built-in audio interface), USB keyboard and a Yamaha RM1x drum machine.

2)What inspired you to make music?

Hmm, that's a tricky one. I suppose if I wanted to give you a simple answer it would be that ...I don't know, I've wanted to do it as long as I can remember.

3)Do you create music for a living?

Nope. edit: And I wouldn't want to. That would mean stress and deadlines and that would kill the enjoyment of it.

4)How long have you been producing music?

Depends. I started dabbling about it more than ten years ago but it was all horrendous crap until the last three.

5)Do you have a degree in music production?

No, I have a BEng in automation technology.