What does K9 use to make music?
What does K9 use to make music?
Hello! This is the page where K9 lists the equipment he uses for everything: making music, programming, and editing videos (as of 2024).
You do NOT need what I use to make good stuff! Use and learn what you have to the fullest extent, and you’ll make great things. Remember: it’s not about the tool you use. It’s how you use it.
Mild Disclaimer
None of the things I linked here are affiliated links.
Table of Contents
The Hardware
These are the main hardware I use!
Computer
I use the Acer Nitro V 15 (4050 Variant), which has:
- an Intel i5-13420H (4 P-cores, 4 E-cores),
- an RTX 4050 (6 GB VRAM)
- 8 GB of DDR5 RAM (upgraded to 16 GB)
- and 512 GB of NVMe Storage (probably upgrading to 2 TB!)
Audio Hardware
I currently use two headphones: a Samson SR850, and a SteelSeries Arctis 3. I primarily use the SR850 but I switch between the headphones for checking mixes, and use the Arctis 3 when the audio cable I soldered breaks again.
I use a no-brand USB Condenser microphone that I got from a local store. It works surprisingly well for something unbranded!
I don’t use an external audio interface and just use the laptop’s audio output.
Extra Peripherals
I use a Royal Kludge RK61 as my main external keyboard (using stock blue switches), and a VXE R1 Pro Max as my mouse (I mainly use my laptop keyboard tho).
The Software
The juicy bit; the software that I use!
Music
I use Ableton Live as my Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) of choice. I used to main FL Studio, but switched when its workflow stopped work for me as I became more and more organized with my project files.
For instruments:
- xfer Serum (my main synth)
- Vital (my secondary synth, free!)
- DecentSampler (anything sample based, free!)
- reFX Nexus (THE ROMpler)
- KORG M1 (the VST version of the keyboard)
- BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover (my main string VST, free!)
- AAS Strum GS-2 (the guitar VST)
- Monster Piano (my main piano VST, free!)
I also have a Cort AF510M guitar if I ever want to record a real guitar for my productions!
For audio effects:
- Fabfilter’s Plugins (general mixing, eq, reverb, etc)
- Valhalla’s Plugins (for anything extra that’s covered by FabFilter)
- Kilohearts’ Plugins (for anything NOT covered by the two above)
- Overloud TH-U (guitar amp used in conjunction with Strum GS-2)
- Antares Auto-Tune Pro (self-explanatory)
- iZotope Ozone (mastering)
- Ableton’s stock plugins
For samples:
- KSHMR’s Sounds of KSHMR series (the main sample pack I use EVERYWHERE)
- Disciple’s Sample Packs (for electronic-based productions)
- Virtual Riot X Modestep Spicy Riddim Drums Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
- Barely Alive Essential Samples Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
- Fox Stevenson Universal Samples Vol. 1
- Vengeance Sample Packs (for anything else NOT covered)
- Rob Late Alpha Drums 2 (for anything acoustic that’s NOT covered)
If I ever need custom samples, I just record them myself!
For editing vocals, I use iZotope RX for audio clean-up, and Melodyne for pitch correction. Sometimes, when I need to clean a whole lot of audio and have a time constraint, I clean them with the AI-based Ultimate Vocal Remover.
Editing
I use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my videos. I used to use MAGIX Vegas Pro, but switched when it became unstable on my old computer. I also use Adobe After Effects to create my spectograms.
I use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to do anything image related, FFmpeg, Handbrake, and VoukoderPro for anything video related that’s not video editing, and ImageMagick for quick image conversions.
I use cobalt.tools to download anything video from the internet.
Software and Web Development
I primarily use VSCodium as my main code editor, switching to Visual Studio 2022 whenever needed.
I use Github Desktop to control everything Git, again switching to Git Bash whenever something deep needs to be done.
(oh, and I mostly program in C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, and Python)
General Stuff
I use Blender 4.2 and Mecabricks to create my LEGO renders, and Mozilla Firefox as my main browser.