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Recording on a MAC?

B

BassMan257

Jul 22, 2005
364
0
38
Saint Louis Missouri
#1
allright, allright.... I dont have one yet...

But, seeing as I might be going into Graphic design, I will own one soon.... I was wondering Weather or not "garage band" is a decent enough program to make "professional" -or at least "professional like" recordings....

Ive been trying to get a solo project going.. but recording on my Vestax 4 track from 1980 something or other hasnt been working out good...


at all...

Im really looking into more electronic music anyway... trip hop and electro pop and the like...

(i hope i didnt just make up two genres)

also, will i need anything other than the computer (i know i will, but i just dont know what... or how much they cost, or what a good one is)

Ive also got some questions on midi synths... but i might save those for a little later...

EDIT: BTW... my two genres that i just made up do not constitute DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM drum beats and cheezy techno junk... more like music, electronically made...

ALSO!!!!!: I just noticed theres alot of threads about garage band listed below... feel free to bash me or help me out in this thread... ill be reading the others two...
 
#2
garageband is an excellent home recording solution

of course you can't expect a Pro Tools setup, but i would say that garageband is in the top 3 home recording solutions imo...personally its my favorite one

Also, I am using GB with my Line 6 Toneport, which can be had at 125 dollars for the UX1 and 199 for the UX2, then it comes with GearBox, which gives you a whole slew of guitar/bass amps, cabs, and effects...I would guaruntee that you could make a professional sounding recording with GB
 
#3
how about live performance wize...

i mean...

heres another question...

Can I run a midi keyboard by itself if it has a slot for memory (ie, memory to hold sounds/control options)? or will it allway need to be hooked up to the mac?

also... suppose I was... well um... say i "ran accross" a copy of protools...

Suggest it over gerage band?

when I was like... 14 or so, my friend had a copy... we used to record on in his basment on his mac... i mean... we were 14... and he knew how to use most of the controls, an utilized it well... sounded as well as live...

I dont know if protools will sync with idrum though... which is another thing that I would like to have...

anywho...

Id like to stay away from amp modeling right now at the moment actually.. I want what i plug in, to be the sound that is heard... im actually against modeling in general.. sorry to say... I mean, what i have should sound fine...

any other nice interfaces/controlers?

this thread has made so many turns i think im lost... so just feel free to answer whatever...
 
#4
you can download a trial version of Logic Express from apple for free to see what Logic is like.

i dont recommend iDrum. i have it and it's more of a pain to get the beats into GB than just creating the beats in GB to start with.

for live recording, GB will accept 8 audio inputs and 1 MIDI input at once.

you might be surprised at how good the sounds are in GB, but miking is a great way to record.
 
#9
As a RECORDING STUDIO OWNER and a PROFESSIONAL DEGREED GRAPHIC ARTIST I can tell you from experience that you do not need to get into Mac. I have both Macs and PCs and use my PC 95% of the time. The idea that Mac is needed for music and art died about 10 years ago. I quite prefer using PC - much cheaper and more easily upgraded - and dig the PC software.

Audio Recording:
I use Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge / CD Architech for PC. I haven't touched Protools or Logic in over a year.

Graphic Design:
I use Adobe / Macromedia & Quark for PC. I use Quark on my Mac maybe four times a year, and only when requested by a client.

Video:
I use Sony Vegas & DVD Architech on PC about 50% of the time and Final Cut Pro & DVD Studio Pro the other 50%, but really only due to client request.

Macs are cool but costly, and not necessary anymore.

Goodluck!
 
#10
agreatheight said:
As a RECORDING STUDIO OWNER and a PROFESSIONAL DEGREED GRAPHIC ARTIST I can tell you from experience that you do not need to get into Mac. I have both Macs and PCs and use my PC 95% of the time. The idea that Mac is needed for music and art died about 10 years ago. I quite prefer using PC - much cheaper and more easily upgraded - and dig the PC software.

Audio Recording:
I use Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge / CD Architech for PC. I haven't touched Protools or Logic in over a year.

Graphic Design:
I use Adobe / Macromedia & Quark for PC. I use Quark on my Mac maybe four times a year, and only when requested by a client.

Video:
I use Sony Vegas & DVD Architech on PC about 50% of the time and Final Cut Pro & DVD Studio Pro the other 50%, but really only due to client request.

Macs are cool but costly, and not necessary anymore.

Goodluck!
Click to expand...


lol... cool... im buying one anyway.... I hate to throw your years of experiance to waste... but overall, i prefer mac as an operating system... i guess i didnt really mention that... I mean, the reson i want one is because im going into those fields... but, at the same time... i definitely prefer the mac...

so idrum isnt what its cracked up to be? thats dissapointing...
 
#11
Probably the most convincing argument for the mac is the ease to set things up. I've found my ibook to be extra easy to just plug in a usb and get rolling. There always seemed to be time spent on driver updates and trouble-shooting when i was recording on a pc.

Hardware-wise I wish my G4 had a line-in input and better quality built in speakers.
 
#12
blipndub said:
Probably the most convincing argument for the mac is the ease to set things up. I've found my ibook to be extra easy to just plug in a usb and get rolling. There always seemed to be time spent on driver updates and trouble-shooting when i was recording on a pc.

Hardware-wise I wish my G4 had a line-in input and better quality built in speakers.
Click to expand...

yes... not to mention no viruses and the like...

your talking about built in speakers for your ibook? Because ive never ran across a book with nice speakers...

Im just wondering wether a desktop or laptop would be better...

I mean... weather or not i should spend the money on the book to make it nice... or just fudge it up... cause i dont care what you guys say... 1000 dollars on anything is alot to me... let alone the 1400 ill have to spend to get a nice powerbook...

(i mean, ive allmost got that anyways... but... yeah)

i mean... here... whats the specs on your ibook? is it(more like "does it seem") as fast or faster than the average pc? or do you think i should get a dual core mac mini or something?
 
#13
The cost of macs is really rediculous by comparison. But really to get the juice in a pc laptop you're going to spend about the same. My mac is great for me because I use it for different purposes and it's just a little slice of me, they are more fun than pcs and easier to work with on a day to day basis.

I like pcs however and I use a pc desktop for a lot of stuff too. Editing on a laptop kind of sucks, but you can set up a station with a monitor and be fine.I would consider buying a used G4, pump up the ram and use garageband. I put a gig in mine and it made all the difference for recording.

You can do a lot with the $1400 spent on a mac, no doubt. It's just what your other uses are going to be too.
 
#14
you cant "run" accross a version of pro tools. Its hardware based, and you cant run pro tools without one of the hardware interfaces connected. I have heard that you could download the free version of pro tools off their site, but i think it requires you to have some really old version of mac and windows for some odd reason.
 
#16
superbassman2000 said:
garageband is an excellent home recording solution
Click to expand...

Most definately is...
That singer from Linkin Park (Mike Shinoda) has a side rap project called Fort Minor and he actually had the nerve to use a bunch of garagebands default or stock beats and samples for it without ANY alterations...

I guess it didnt take off, when a local music store went out of business (maybe even a chain? anyways it is Media Play) they had a HUGE sale and there were a bunch of Fort Minor CD's, they couldnt give them away hehe.
 
#17
hyperlitem said:
you cant "run" accross a version of pro tools. Its hardware based, and you cant run pro tools without one of the hardware interfaces connected. I have heard that you could download the free version of pro tools off their site, but i think it requires you to have some really old version of mac and windows for some odd reason.
Click to expand...


so even if i download it of a "illegal source" ill still need the hardware intefaces? and does that just mean a midi inteface or something like that?
 
#18
BassMan257 said:
so even if i download it of a "illegal source" ill still need the hardware intefaces? and does that just mean a midi inteface or something like that?
Click to expand...

The SHORT & LEGAL answer is yes, you'll need a ProTools approved hardware device like an M-Box to run the software, which come with a LE version of the software. Besides... stealing sucks so pony up a few bucks, or use garageband! You'll want an interface anyway!
 
#19
agreatheight said:
The SHORT & LEGAL answer is yes, you'll need a ProTools approved hardware device like an M-Box to run the software, which come with a LE version of the software. Besides... stealing sucks so pony up a few bucks, or use garageband! You'll want an interface anyway!
Click to expand...

can I have a link?

i mean, I will probably end up using garage band, because ive seen it work, and i know it can do quality stuff... (and its free)

so then, INTEFACE SUGGESTIONS?

id like something with a midi imput, and a quarter inch, and an XLR if possible... maybe two XLR's

Im going to look around, but I need to know some stuff about what i find... theres like no reviews on anything...
 
#20
Thats not even the short and legal solution, it just wont work, its the only recording software i know of that does that. Theres no ways around it, and its kinda a pain sometimes. If i wanna mix on my laptop i have to have my DIGI002 hooked up to it while i just mix down. The mbox2 has 2 quarter inch/ mic pres. It also has a midi in so it sounds like what you want. M-audio also works with pro tools now but you have to buy a seperate version of pro tools. The only other interface id suggest is a firepod. The prosonus interfaces are all pretty reasonably priced and high quality.
 

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