Thanks dude!
I use FL Studio and Ableton Live (I started with FL, and am SLOWLY bridging my way over). I'm just so used to FL's workflow, and mainly use Live right now to put together mixes etc.
I use a lot of samples, so FL's slicer is pretty quick and dirty at arranging cuts into awesome loops. Piano roll is really simple to use and has nice features like listing chords (good if you haven't learned too much music theory)
Ableton is nice because it's extremely flexible, I have and APC40 and you can map a ton of DJ templates out, as well as have a nice production mixer/clip launcher.
Besides that I just use an Akai MPK49 (MIDI keyboard), and am currently saving up to buy some nice monitors (Yamaha HS80s!)
What DAW (digitial audio workstation) you use doesn't really matter, as long as you can mix well. People are either misinformed or arrogant if they tell you otherwise.
And the fact remains, that most VST (instrument plugins) like Massive, FM8, Sylenth are all pretty interchangeable among programs, so just use what's comfortable.
I will suggest if you haven't done so, to start with Ableton, just because so many people are using now so if you want to collab, it's really easy just to share the project files versus just shooting stems back and forth.
I dabbled with producing about 4 years ago, but I never read tutorials, just kinda fucked around pressing buttons. However in the past year, I had more free time in college, so I dived in and started to learn more, and it has sorta taken off from there.
How long does it take to make a track? All depends on how creative you are feeling. I've made a remix in under 4 hours on a whim before, but that's rare. I'd say about 20 hours now if I really focus. The key to success is to think you're stuff isn't that great, so that you constantly tweak it, and even by the time you release it, you probably aren't 100% pleased with it. You will always be humble this way and get the gratification from the people that enjoy your work. Like, "man these guys think I'm decent, that's pretty cool."
I've never DJ'ed at a gig or party, I'm a bedroom producer first. But i bought my apc with the intention of playing live, I'm kinda just waiting to make more of my own original stuff, so that I can focus more on my music versus just playing others. I'm about to have a pretty good DJ give me a crash course on CDJs (pretty much the standard club setup) so that I can play some bigger gigs at clubs here in VT (Burlington) or back in Boston.
The line between DJ/producer is blurring more than ever, but i think to stand out, you need to do your own work. Bootlegs are pretty dumb in my opinion, unless you are mashing them up live in your set. They can be really good, but most people over do it. As a producer, it's really important to play as live as possible, not have a set that plays out. DJs and producers that perform must still be able to read the emotion of a crowd and adapt accordingly. Ableton warps all your tracks in a set to one BPM, so the whole beat matching component of traditional DJing isn't there. Controllerism is the next generation, stuff with monomes and custom rigs are super cool and creative.
Feel free to message me with more questions.
