Costs & Budget
So how did we do on our budget? We came right in on the mark! Granted, this was accomplished by going for a few used items, the keyboard and playback system. But you could get excellent new hardware for the same prices and stay on budget. For example, the $700 we spend on the used Roland would buy you a wonderful MIDI input keyboard, say the Yamaha KX8 88-Key Keyboard MIDI Controller that sells for under the same dollar amount. And the $500 we budgeted towards a used pair of Tannoys and amp could go for a great pair of self-powered monitors like M-Audio’s Studiophile BX8a.

Need more money for additional inputs, like a drum machine? You might be able to get by using the version of Cubase that comes with the E-MU products and save yourself a whopping $800. If classical orchestrations aren’t your thing then cut the HALion Symphonic Orchestra from you version of the budget.

Staffing & Training
Ramping up for this type of complex audio production is not easy. While we did it in a very brief time-frame, we also had a fair amount of knowledge going into the project. The best advice for a company looking to start a music department within a larger creative shop: Hire someone who knows the subject and at least related tools.

If someone knows recording and engineering they can make magic happen. But they will still usually need composers and musicians to work with. Musical talent can be hired when needed, while engineering talent can be someone on staff who knows his/her way around a creative shop and can help with other things when music isn’t being produced.

What if you are starting off slowly and want to bring existing staff up to speed? The key is education. We took a look specifically at the opportunities for learning Cubase, these can be seen in the accompanying article “Learning Cubase” in our Education section of GFX Review (http://gfxreview.com/move/2008/02/14/learning-cubase/).

Simpler Starts
If creating music from scratch is too overwhelming, keep in mind there are less daunting ways of getting customized music into your workflow. For example, by going with programs like Sony’s ACID Pro, Reason and Garage Band that work on clips and loops, you can largely eliminate the musician from your process workflow. This will however put more emphasis on your engineers and their understanding, capabilities and talent.

The tools are here. Start exploring!