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Posted by: manchoa Tue 10 Nov 2009, 14:11

Hi !

I'm a k-board player and song writer, just moved from PC to MAC.
What I search for is simple and pure midi sequencer to use with my keyboards, something similar to Cakewalk Pro or Cakewalk sonar I used with my PC. I make my music with harware only, so I dont need any virtual instrument or effects, just simple and pure midi multitracker.

It should also support instrument definition files, so I can load the sounds from my k-boards from the sequencer.
I looked for Logic, but as I understand, it has lot of instruments and stuff, i really do not need.

Any ideas ?

Posted by: philflood Wed 11 Nov 2009, 16:55

I would recommend that you go with Logic Express. I used to use Sonar on my PC and most of my skills transferred fairly easily to Logic Express.

It does have virtual instruments, but so does Sonar. you don't hvae to use them if you don't want to.

Good luck and welcome to Mac.

Posted by: Radiolaria Thu 12 Nov 2009, 11:46

If you have a mac as I do, you could really just use GarageBand, which comes installed on all new macs.
All daw's have effects, and vst, au instruments built into them. So you can't avoid that.

The best sequencer that I found, which is real easy to use, and creates excellent sequences, is SugarBytes, Thesys. They have a good demo too. Unfortunately it has no standalone mode.
Maybe what your looking for is a standalone sequencer.

Garageband should be enouph though.

Posted by: tonester Fri 13 Nov 2009, 12:52

Like yourself, I used to use Cakewalk Pro and Sonar. I now use Digital Performer. It may be more than you need, but it's great. GarageBand would be my second choice for you.

Unisyn is the sysex file editor you need for the instrument defs. Both Unisyn and DP are MOTU products.

Posted by: houstonmusic Fri 13 Nov 2009, 17:16

http://nav.440network.com/out.php?mmsc=forums&url=http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/mac/MIDI_SEQUENCERS/
at this link you'll find a collection of free and reasonably priced MIDI sequencers. i see you're primarily interested in driving external modules, an increasingly rare practice. more power to you, of course, but it means the current crop of excellent sequencers are much more than you need.

while garageband is great in it's way, it doesn't fulfill your requirements. i don't believe it's able to address external midi ports. (could i be wrong? please correct me if i am)

of the MIDI sequencers listed on the hit squad page, i do like Traction best.

now, if you're using old modules, it's possible that you'll appreciate Digital Performer's ability to build patch maps and select tones and patches directly from the sequencer window. it may be a reason to pony up the price... even if you use all custom patches, you can build patch lists that will show in DP. i used to love that. it comes with lists for all the major modules.

good luck.

Posted by: manchoa Sat 14 Nov 2009, 08:12

Hi and thanks for answer(s). I used to make my music with Cakewalk Pro 9. It doen not use much space, has clear interface, no plugins, no sounds, no virtual instruments. Just pure multitrack midi sequencer. All the sound comes from my external hardware synths, connected to midi output of my mac.
Garageband is a fun toy to fool round, something like Sony Acid. It´s more if you don´t play instruments youself, but want to make music. And it does not suppert midi output as far as I know. Logic seems perfect, but it takes a lot of space in my computer for the things I never need (like all the plugins, instrumetns and other bells and whistles). And why should I pay extra money for the things I do not use ?
They should make something like LE version of Logic - jut the sequencermixer part with no extra stuff.

I record my music with BOSS BR-1600, I take al my sounds from my synths (about 15 of them from Fantom X to Yamaha DX7 and AN1x) and I use only harware compressors and FX. So no need for "virtual" versions.

Posted by: manchoa Sat 14 Nov 2009, 11:14

Ok, so I got the Logix for try, how can I install my Korg-PA500 to Logic (or how can I import the instrument file) so I can change the patches from logic express ? I downloaded the file from Korg homepage

Posted by: tonester Sat 14 Nov 2009, 15:10

Another option for you would be to run a copy of Windows on your Mac. This way you can still use your Cakewalk ProAudio (provided it can run on XP, see below..)

You would need to get a copy of VMWare Fusion or Parallels desktop. Each has their own merits. They run about $80. i think Fusion is up to version 3. You would also need a copy of windows XP pro, as that's the only version these apps support. Not sure which mac you have, but i think it has to be an Intel, not PPC.

The procedure is pretty straightforward: you partition your mac HD (20G is usually enough), and then you install Windows on that partition. OSX has a built in "Boot Camp", which guides you through booting up in XP or OSX. of course, with the 2 apps I mentioned, you can run them simultaneously.

hope this helps.....

Posted by: Metro SE Wed 25 Nov 2009, 05:40

http://nav.440network.com/out.php?mmsc=forums&url=http://www.sagantech.bizis a full featured MIDI sequencer and it will import .ins files.

Posted by: manchoa Thu 3 Dec 2009, 19:02

Thanks ! Metro is 100% what I need :-)

Posted by: makaala Sat 5 Dec 2009, 12:19

I started out with opcode Vision, a great early sequencer for the Mac, then transitioned to studiovision for its link to a digidesign Audiomedia card which I mounted in my Apple Mac IIcx to record audio. Then, went to Deck, a visionairy multitrack recording software which at the time eventually linked to Metro for sequencing capabilities.
I can't say enough about Deck and their support staff (Don't cut the red wire!!!) at the time. Metro also proved to be a worthy companion of Deck and I heartily recommend it. I use Logic mostly with a little Pro tools thrown in but the Metro discussion jogged fond memories. aaah the early days.