Good Techno loop (or beat maker/station) program

[Newbie Comp user]

Hi all!

I like techno a lot and I'm planning to make my own.
I just wanted to know what program you use to make any beats or techno loop.

I already have 'Hammer Head Rythm Station'

[imgonagetusucka]

FL Studio 9 is the best i know of!its what the pros use,but it cost
between $50.-$300. US
http://flstudio.image-line.com/

[hellnoire]

REAPER's last freeware version might be good enough for you, or you could always get the newest versions for $60 (non-commercial license) or $200 (commercial license).

[Amature Programmer]

NCU may i ask if this Hammer Head Rythm Station is free?

[imgonagetusucka]

http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/
yup its free

[safeguy]

Nice thread NCU...I presume you mean DJ software, right?

I've done a 'small research' on this last year and I found out that most users agree that VirtualDJ is one of the best...however sadly to say, it isn't free (it costs a whopping $299 lol)

Screenshot of VirtualDJ



*Image courtesy of Softpedia

More screenshots available here

VirtualDJ is the best MP3 mixing tool, targeting every DJ from bedroom DJs to professional superstars like Carl Cox.

With its breakthrough BeatLock engine, your songs will always stay in the beat, and you can work your mixes incredibly faster than any other DJ could.

The automatic seamless loop engine and the brand new synchronised sampler will let you perform astounding remixes live, with no preparation at all.
The visual representation and the cues allow you to clearly see the song's structure, and never be surprised by a break anymore.

The vinyl controls will let you scratch like on a real turntable, except that with the beatlock engine your scratches will never end out of the beat.

Add to that an infinite number of cue points you can save for each songs, a bunch of wonderful effects automatically beat-synchronised.

Add also several interfaces to suit everybody from the beginner to the professional DJ, the possibility to record your mixes to burn them on CDs, to broadcast on the Internet and have your own radio station, to save your CDs directly in MP3, to use a headphone to preview the songs or an external mixtable to perform in a club.

Lastly, enter the new era of DJs by mixing video clips (DVD, DivX, MPEG...) which you can send on a giant screen.

Virtual DJ brings you all that, in the most easy-to-use way, and at the most affordable price.

However, interestingly I came across this alternative during my 'research':

AtomixMP3



*Image courtesy of Softpedia

AtomixMP3 is the ancestor of VirtualDJ, and even though development for this product has been stopped since 2003, many users still use it for two reasons:

# First, it was designed to run on i486 computers at 400MHz and 64Mb of RAM, so any computer that's still alive today should be able to run it without a glitch.
# Second, in the past 5 years, we're still to hear someone report a bug or a crash on it.

Of course, its features are a little light compared to the evolution of its big brother VirtualDJ PRO. But if you don't need the new features, and wants something stable and light, then AtomixMP3 is for you.

AtomixMP3 has a standard two deck player with play/pause/stop/cue buttons, pitch control, a mixer with 3 band equalizers with kills, volume control, gain, crossfader. It computes BPM automatically on the fly, can beatmatch automatically or provide a visual aid to manual beatmatching, has an automatic pitch matching and level matching. It has audio effects, smart loops, mater tempo, recording, visual effects. You can use it with one or two soundcards, with multi-output soundcards, or split the stereo.

AtomixMP3 is not a freeware either (it costs $129) but I found out that you don't have to pay to use it as long as you can live with the limit of "No multi-soundcard mode" in the demo version...you can use it for as long as you want (no 30 days time limit, etc) without paying a single cent...you're just missing that feature alone.

You can download AtomixMP3 from Softpedia here

Or if you want a completely free, open source DJ software to use, your best bet is Mixxx

Mixxx is designed for DJ'ing for both professional and semi-professional users. Mixxx was started in early 2001 as one of the first digital DJ systems.

Today Mixxx includes many features common to digital DJ solutions, but also some very unique features: It is free, and runs on all major desktop operating systems.

Futhermore Mixxx has a number of key features to help the DJ in the live mix: Beat estimation, parallel visual displays, and support for many DJ input controllers.

Mixxx reads most popular sound formats,including Ogg Vorbis, MP3, Aiff and Wave. For communication Mixxx supports MIDI and standard input devices such as Joysticks and mice.

You can download Mixxx from Softpedia here

And if that's not enough, you can take a look here:

CNET List of DJ Software

Softpedia List of Audio, Mixers & Synthesizers

[Newbie Comp user]

Thanks guys!
I'll try the demos/trials and see if it 'fits' me I'm just starting out

[Amature Programmer]

Hey Newbie Comp User the program your using does it come with ready mad beats or do you have to take them out of songs?

[hellnoire]

Most times you need to find those 'mad beats'...

NewGrounds has some amazing techno, you should check it out if you'd like some samples to mix. Another spot that's pretty good too is Jamendo

[Newbie Comp user]

Most times you need to find those 'mad beats'...

NewGrounds has some amazing techno, you should check it out if you'd like some samples to mix. Another spot that's pretty good too is Jamendo

actually, the reason why I started "like-ing" techno was because of Dimrain47 of Newgrounds
I never knew about Jamendo though

Thanks for the heads up Hellnoire