oh damn $1500? im sure you have a decent computer. get ram and lots of it at least 512mb youd be better with 1gb but you can get like 1gb for about $100.

sonar 3 producer edition for about $350 on the street this will be a good investment. comes with all sorts of plugins, award winnin sequencin a fuckload of features.

m-audio oxygen 8 ($150) or radium 61 ($250). the 8 is a 25 key keyboard and the 61 is a 61 key keyboard.

softsynths are what you will be usin. sampletank is a decent vst plugin comes with plenty of instruments to get you started with. look for prices around $100-200 (but wait until sampletank 2.0 comes out). gigastudio is really nice but you should also wait for the updated version. the thing about gigaastudio is its instruments are not stretched. each individual note for an instrument has been played and recorded so quality you get is crazy high.

you might also want to cop some format converters so you can borrow a friends mpc and burn all his banks onto your computer. also check out soundfonts theyre high quality and cheap sounds that are accessed as plugins in all the famous sequencin software like sonar, fruityloops, etc.

tascam us-428 usb mixer. look for prices in the $475-500 range. its lil brutha the us-122 is about $150. doesnt require any fuckin around with midi, plugs right into your usb port.

or

tascam fw1884 firewire, the last mixer youll ever need. fast as hell and has more features than you can imagine but itll cost you around $1100

get a m-audio soundcard they about $100 but they have support for 24 bit 96khz sound.

shure ksm-27 condenser look for a price around $250-300. this is a great mic for the cost.

behringer dsp2024 preamp. ultra clean and plenty of effects should keep you happy. look for prices between $100 and $150. i also hear ARTs are decent.

akg k240s. the classic studio headphones. can handle all types of sound frequencies. they go from $70-170.

for studio monitors you wanna look at tannoys... the only good thing from britain j/k. for a lil cheaper, m-audios bx5 studiophiles sound mad nice and reproduce low end flawlessly. get a pair for around $300.

download samplitude producer 2496 off kazaa or imesh. this $1000 piece of software is invaluable when it comes to mastering vocals.

acoustic panels. prices are so varied nowadays. but if you have around a 10' by 10' room dont pay more than $100 dollars for panels.

this will be a lil over $1500 but keep in mind how much real studios cost. my dads friend is engineerin timbalands new studio in virginia. i think its costin in the millions.


payce