I'm a fish out of water when it comes to Mac/Midi/Audio stuff and it seems that whenever 'newbies' ask questions, they generally don't get many replies. Is it my imagination or are the forums geared towards the hardcore techies? Am I taking t he wrong approach, and if so, what approach should I take? Or should I educate myself first and enter forums only when my knowledge level is increased? Like I said, I'm new to this so I'm not sure on the protocol. Thanks.

I think the problem is that the subject is so big & complicated that the task of answering such queries is daunting, to say the least. I suppose another factor is the perception that the questioner is being lazy by not doing some research first (there's a common saying in the world of professional audio & recording: RTFM - Read The F***ing Manual!). I haven't been reading the forums here for very long, so I don't really know how the attitude is here. I would suggest you try the forums at www.macfixit.com for any Mac related questions - they are very nice to beginners. For music making & recording, the expert forums at www.musicplayer.com are a very good place to start. Don't feel slighted or frustrated if your questions aren't answered right away, or if you don't get a lot of responses. All it takes is one right answer, and it may take days (or even weeks) for the right person to notice your question.
As far as a beginners tutorial for music on the Mac, you need to start by answering a question yourself - What do you want to be able to do with music on the Mac? Don't say 'Everything'; you have to start somewhere. Pick what is most important to you: learning an instrument? writing music scores? digital audio recording? MIDI sequencing? loop-based composition (hip-hop, electronica, etc.)?
Once you've answered this question for yourself, go to a fairly large music store and ask them to help you. They should have books, magazines like EQ, Electronic Musician, Recording, etc. They should also have someone on their staff who can answer your questions and make some suggestions. Buy an inexpensive application, or look for shareware ( try versiontracker.com) to get started with, as professional programs can be very expensive and confusing for a beginner.
I hope this has been some help to you. You can email me - DigitMus57@aol.com - if there's something I didn't cover in this post.
Scott

I DigiMus

Thanks for your nice and answer!
To answer to:
I haven't been reading the forums here for very long, so I don't really know how the attitude is here.

The aim is to create THE community for mac&music users.

Here at MacMusic, the french community  is allready big! It started 3,5 years ago, with the mailing-list...The english one just started to communicate in our forums, and new users register every days:cool:

1100 users registered since january: it sound's really impressive for us. Because there isn't any other sites or forums really dedicated for mac&music users (most talk about PCs, or are general mac forums), we are sure that theses forums will fastly become a hughe success, but don't hesitate to tell the rest of the world to share their knoledge & opinions in theses forums.

We've always been focused on the experienced (pro?) users, but without rejecting beginners.
When we can, we help them also, but as you just said , there's a time to RTFM, and a time to discuss in theses forums.

Anyway, beginners questions are always welcome... when they're well asked?

BTW, DigiMus, we need moderators for the english forums. Sound's like you would be an excellent one.. Would you  help us?


Thanks for using MacMusic.
Best regards, and sorry for my uggly english

Soif -
Thank you for the invitation to be a moderator here. I'm afraid my 'expertise' in Macintosh music-making is pretty limited. I don't use any of the current DAW software (Logic, Digital Performer, Pro Tools, Cubase, etc.) and I haven't done anything with MIDI in years. What little I know is based on using an older version of cubase a few years ago & information I read on other forums where the true experts are. As far as recording goes, I use all dedicated hardware (ADATs, Mackie Digital 8 Buss, lots of outboard stuff). My main use of Macs is to do final editing & tweaking of stereo pre-masters for CD burning. I will always post answers to questions I feel competent to handle, & direct people to other sources of information that I am familiar with, but I really don't think I could function as a moderator. I am sorry that I can't help in that regard, but I will try to direct some of the 'real' experts I talk to into this forum. Also, between my studio schedule & frequent travel, I sometimes have no internet access for weeks. Again, I will share what little knowledge I have freely (if not frequently) & I hope to learn a little as well.
Regards,
Scott

Hi,
I think that the 'RTFM' answer is made when it seems evident that some forum users work with illegal copy of software.
Macmusic wants to be the clean screen of Mac Musicians, to become the favourite interlocutor of software makers.
And when a question can't find any answer, I think it's because nobody had got the same problem.
Fot the beginners, you have to search in all topics wich is in relation with your problem, some questions are already answered ('I want to buy a mac for making music', 'witch audiocard' etc...)
We need american moderator, because of poor english of us, french Mac Musicians !!!!
HTH

also.... newbies should be descriptive as to what software they are using on what system and try to explain the problem so that a person not looking at their setup can understand what is happening. i have seen many posts that left reader going 'huh?'

but i agree that the manual should be the first place a person should look for help... then if that doesn't help.... post a question ;-)

I have to agree with Digimus - I think when people see a post that's too broad they don't know where to start answering. And with Cubase not enough people bother to sit down and watch the excellent tutorials on the documentation disk.

I think that actually the Mac community is extremely supportive - especially if they feel you are making an effort on your own.

I say the same thing to every new Mac user - Apple F!! Apple F!!(or in your case Apple H!!)