Korean Job Discussion Forums

World Traveler · Joined: 29 May 2009

Have any of you made or recorded music while living in Korea? Do you have any advice to a newcomer to the game such as myself?

My main concern involves getting equipment. What should I get? Where should I get it?

I'm in the U.S. now and will be leaving for Korea in about a month. Should I buy stuff here and ship it over, or wait until I get to Korea?

I ask because I heard electronics are about 30% more expensive in Korea than in the U.S. I even heard it is cheaper to buy Korean brands in the U.S. than Korean brands in Korea.

Any recommendations?

Also, if anyone wants to PM me for networking purposes, feel free.

Best,

brento1138 · Joined: 17 Nov 2004

Lots of people are starting out with Ableton Live these days (if you're into Techno/House kind of stuff) but I've never gotten much into it.

I started out with Impulse Tracker, but that program is ancient history (1999 I think was when I made my first track).

I bought Reason 2.5 in 2001 and have upgraded to Reason 4.0. I didn't see much point in upgrading to Reason 5.0.

Reason is excellent. It's a virtual rack full of things like mixers, synths (3 great ones included), samplers... it's got absolutely everything you need to get going.

The nice thing about Reason, is that you can use ReWire to plug it into a more global program that uses VSTs (virtual instruments). These are the mega monster programs that professionals use. You can choose between Cubase, Pro Tools, and Logic. The smartest choice these days, due to price and just general awesomeness of the program would be Logic.

I bought Logic 9 in 2009 along with my new iMac.

So, my suggestion would be:

0) Get a MIDI controller keyboard. You will need this. If you love drums, might be good to get a MIDI drum controller. Some MIDI controller keyboards come equipped with a MIDI drum controller on the side. It's up to you whether to buy it in Korea or North America. You can find excellent stuff here in Jongro, and the prices are pretty much the same as back home.

It doesn't matter where you buy your software. It's all the same. But I'd buy it back home just cause it's easier, and you can talk to the guy selling it to you about some of the features.

1) Start out with Reason. Get all the books / videos you need to instruct you. Or just click around the program as I did, and learn by trial and error. Reason looks CRAZY when you first open it, and impossible to figure out. But trust me. In a few months, or years, you'll be able to throw tracks out right, left, center, like crazy. I know many guys who use Reason without VST software, and their music sounds amazing... just like professional. But it's tough to get to that level with just Reason.

2) After mastering Reason, hop onto Logic. Logic in some ways is more difficult than Reason, but I find that after learning Reason, Logic is pretty easy. It works a bit differently, but is very intuitive.

Hit me up with a PM. I love talking music production. Been doing it for years and am currently creating an album with an awesome vocalist!

ajosshi · Joined: 17 Jan 2011 Location: ajosshi.com

For people that make music, please post a link to your stuff. Or, if you prefer, PM or email me. I am looking to license. Thanks.

bloodorange · Joined: 04 Apr 2008

http://www.soundcloud.com/just604

luckylooch · Joined: 01 Mar 2009

Gorf · Joined: 25 Jun 2011

1. A good laptop
2. Ableton Live 8
3. A good MIDI controller (I brought an LPK25 for portability's sake)
4. A good portable mic, even a crappy USB mic is gonna be 100% cheaper in the states than in Korea.

I dig your music. I'm more into electronic stuff but I enjoy the vibe of your stuff, very pop-savvy. Are you an ESL teacher too?

happiness · Joined: 04 Sep 2010

I have a bunch of analog processing and i record into gb/protools. 4 guitars currently, a ton of stuff. its quite riduculous.

Mix1 · Joined: 08 May 2007

Buy in the U.S. and bring it over with you if you are buying hardware gear. Whatever you do, do not get stuff shipped here as customs could ream you, especially if it goes over $400 retail. They are really protectionist and even though they don't make many music instruments in this country they'll sure tax you for it to protect what little industry they have over here in that area. Maybe things have changed in the last year but I doubt it.

The gear you'll want/need really depends on what you want to make. Some can get by on only software but personally it bores the heck out of me. But it is the more economical and practical method for many electronic only genres and you won't have to lug around any gear except for maybe a MIDI controller and a laptop. Good luck and have fun with it.

Eedoryeong · Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Location: Jeju

I am dying to know the answer to this: with you laptop DAW folks, did you have to go get special super audio cards installed or are you getting by with what happens to be on the MOBO? And if you are, aren't you kicking yourself over things like background noise, huge lag times, limited channel inputs, etc? Or has the whole game changed in recent years and I just need to get a new basic orientation on what today's laptop soundcards can do?

Cedar · Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:08 pm Post subject:

Obviously the OP's question is not what I expected from the title, so why answer? Because maybe others are curious... my husband just made a professional studio album here in Seoul. If anyone is interested in the costs, etc, of doing that, PM me.

minos · Joined: 01 Dec 2010 Location: kOREA

Eedoryeong · Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Location: Jeju

Drew10 · Joined: 31 Mar 2009

You could just get a USB/Firewire interface, it handles all of the soundcard tasks and usually does so at 24-bit 96khz quality. You can find different ones for different purposes/budgets.

M-Audio makes decent ones for entry-level.

crescent · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: yes.

Eedoryeong · Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Location: Jeju

Actually I'm going to be going over to the US soon to do a lot of music creation and one thing I was hoping to get was (dream gadget) a little recorder I could keep on the piano for hours on record, go back and with an extremely simple interface edit the clips I wanted to keep, then throw them up on a sequencer. Melodic dictation would be nice too but I can do that. But I'd like to be able to double the tracks with MIDI equivalents so I could do sample synth tracks if I wanted to change the instrumentation.

Is there anything out there now that I can do this with? It should be able to USB plug straight into the would-be laptop.