what should i get

[02tranzam]

hi everyone,
ive been mixing for many years using the conventional way.
turntable to turntable, cd to cd. but i would like to make more elaborate mixes, kind of like jock jams or mixes where you have a steady beat in the background and just "layer" other songs on top of it. i don't know what type of equipment to buy. do i buy a multitrack recorder? i know they are intended for musicians, but what do the professional dj's use?
what do you guys use as far as make and model numbers?
what should i get???
thanks in advance
carmine

[flow1]

I'd say get a pc or mac and start using Acid, Sound Forge, or Cool Edit. You can set up multi tracks, and layer in recordings over each other, and then do lots of editing and cleanup. Then it's really easy to output to .wav files and burn to a cd. You don't need much computer, a 5-600 dollar Dell will do. What will help is having a really good Analog to Digital converter, like M-Audio or Digital Audio Labs. Having a good interface like that will make your stuff sound so much better.

Good Luck!

[02tranzam]

hi flow, thanks for the reply to my post, its been so long since i put it up.
now, are these programs that i have to buy and if so where? or do i download them.
are they easy to use? i have been mixing with records and cd's for at least 20 years but want to spice up my mixing a bit the way some radio dj's do. which one is the most popular?
thanks for the info,
carmine

[flow1]

A lot of these programs have demo versions; Other times you can get older versions on eBay; The new version of Cool Edit is really powerful; you can have many, many tracks in parallel (actually, with a good preamp/soundcard, it turns your computers into a multitrack studio!) Sound Forge is the main competitor, and Acid is geared more towards loops, but you can layer tracks with it as well. I'd download some demos and try them out, check out which one fits the best.


Cool Edit is $69, and the 4 track multi track plugin is $49.
http://www.syntrillium.com/cooledit/
http://www.syntrillium.com/cooledit/plugins_studio.html.

The pro version is $280 and allows up to 128 tracks!
This can be downloaded and tried out (I think it kills some features, but you'll be able to play around with it... try both versions)

Acid is another great tool; it's loop based, (like layering samples and synching them in time and pitch) but you could use whole tracks as "samples" and cut and paste away. The basic version is free, available here. Here is the comparison chart of all their versions:
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/products...FeatureID=2004
Now, they have an audio editor (sound forge) and a sequencer (Vegas) there as well.

I'd say try them out, and see. They all take some learning, but there are a lot of tutorials at either's site that will help. I've only played sporadically with them myself, but I feel what your working on, and I'd like to hear it when you get going!

Kevin (kevinfarley1@yahoo.com)

[flow1]

Also, proggy's like Cool Edit are great for recording mixes! Then it's trivial to burn CD's from them.

Good Luck,
Kevin