I've been a long-time fan of trance music (since 1999) and regularly listen to it. I've always wondered what it would be like to produce something of my own and, just lately, have been thinking about it more seriously. So, where do I start?

I'm aware of the fact that i'll need something to make the music on (decent laptop computer) and will probably need something like a keyboard to hook up to the laptop. I will then need some decent software to create my masterpieces on the laptop

I did think about starting out with a keyboard and learning to play that first. Then moving on to hooking it up to something that I can create things with (the laptop and software). Is this the right thing to do?

With regards to laptops, which is the best to get for this? I have read that there are some good standard laptops that are ok, but are Apple products (i.e. MacBook Pro) better? I know they are more expensive but i've read that they are good (especially when using Logic). I have the budget for a MacBook but don't want to blow all of this money on something that I could do with a laptop that is half the price. I'm also not keen on not rushing into this, so the keyboard will be the first purchase.

Is the route of keyboard first, then laptop and software the best way to go? Could anyone recommend a decent mid-range keyboard that is good for beginners but can handle the connection to a PC or Mac?

Finally, is anyone on here currently producing dance music and if you are, do you have any advice? If anyone is in the know, I normally listen to Above and Beyond, Armin Van Buuren, Aly and Fila, Markus Schulz, Andy Moor etc.

Thanks all.

Ninja, oh my god! That looks amazing! Chequered flooring!

Only joking.

Erm, how did you start out then? And will I have heard anything that you produce?

I used to do a bit of DJing at Uni too on student radio but didn't really do much after I left. More recently though i've been getting more and more interested again.

Edited to add - could you give me a summary of what is in that pic? Do you use Mac's or PC's, and what software do you use?

Sorry if I am bombarding with lots of questions here.

Sorry, got out of sync with my replies here! I'll write about the studio stuff in the next post... Give me a min

Whoops. Sorry. I'll leave it for now so we can re-sync!

It doesn't matter if you choose Mac or PC really... But Logic is hugely popular in studios for a reason, and my personal view is Mac's (even just MacBook's) tend to cope better with heavy duty music projects with little or no fuss at all, and you won't waste time fighting with settings or the operating system.

Even if you can't play the keyboard you will still need a USB MIDI keyboard as you will use it for triggering samples, bashing out drum patterns and other such things.

But really, as I said, you only need some basic things to get going

I produce with a few guys who have had various tracks published with labels like Positiva/Ministry of sound etc

The studio is a great place to hang out for us all! Have a few drinks, work on tracks, it's good fun

First things first... The important thing to note is that you do not need a keyboard to produce sounds.

A MIDI keyboard just sends input signals to the computer. Nothing else. This is why they only cost £70 or whatever.

The sounds are generated by whatever software instrument your computer/sequencer is running.

Hope I'm not telling you how to suck eggs but it's an important point!

When people remix, they approach the original producer and ask for the 'stems'.

The stems are the original separate parts of the track before it was mixed down into a single stereo track. These parts are bassline, vocals, drums, keys, melody, loop/samples, strings etc.

They then throw away the bits they plan on remaking and then utilise the stuff they want to keep original like the vocals.

When someone does a 'bootleg' or mash up, the just simply sample a few seconds out of the original track here and there and then use those samples in their new track. This is much harder as its difficult getting a vocal sample for example without there being drums in the background for example which you won't be able to remove easily if at all.

Thankyou very much. That explains a lot.

I agree with Miguel's statement, start with basics, hence I said just get a keyboard first and a sequencer. You don't need anything else to get going

Again, same as Miguel, I'm very much out the box mixing, hence the desk, but you might find having everything 100% inside the laptop to be much better for you.

Cheers by the way Miguel, the studio didn't always look like this, but we House producers always have very neat and tidy studios! I have no idea why!

Lol that is very true. Most hip hop studios look like a hurricane has hit them.