hey musicnote - I was going to leave a comment on your page but my reply started getting too long!
------- musicnote Posted on Monday, Jul 16, 2007 6:06 AM What kind of program do you use for mixing? What program is economical to get for someone who doesn't have thousands of dollars to spend? ;) Do you know a lot about synthesisers? Thanks!! -------
I use Logic Pro for all my own work, but sometime ProTools if the client or job requires it. Logic is faster (for me) and super flexible, ProTools is more accurate & powerful (& expensive!) - so there is your trade off.
Several years ago I would have suggested a program called Reason as a good place to start; but it's a very unique system and therefore does not really teach you how studio DAWs (digital audio workstation) operate in the real world. Short term it's fun, in the long term a bit too left-field.
If you have little or no budget to start - there are two great spec DAWs available: The stupidly named Cockos Reaper which is $40 USD, plus the unbelievably free Ardour - which is open source. The latter program is being supported by SAE audio engineering schools around the globe, so that is a promising sign. Both programs are NOT easy to learn - you will definitely need to RTFM - but the techniques you learn with these applications are transferable to any other commercially available DAW.
Synthesis - I know a LOT about synthesis but I know very little about synthesisers. Again, like I said before, it's better to learn the theory behind making the sound than to focus on the machine making the sound. Any more questions - just fire away.
reply to angela.liu: Jean reno is waaaaaaaay cooler, but thanks all the same!
...and finally here's a billy bragg for the myspace generation: click for mp3 and if you haven't heard the miserable whinings of billy bragg, well jesus christ google is only one click away. awesome and tedious at the same time!