More Essentials Options

[nicoc79]

Hi everyone,
You guys must be getting sick of these kind of posts but I can tell you they are much appreciated. I have recently purchased a g3 imac running OSX. Great machine, so i thought I might delve into the world of computer music. I love everything from rock to dance, rap etc, and was wondering what kind of set up you would recommend. I really like the look of reason 2.0/Oxygen 8 package on Audiomidi.com. These are the kind of abilities I want
*record, mix and master audio(guitar, bass,vocals etc.) *remix small looped samples in Reason(possible?), because I also do a bit of dj work and want to use bits of my favourite songs
*Integrate Reason grooves w/ audio * Burn completed material. I realise that my mac isn't the most powerful, but I don't want to buy another. I am willing however to buy quality products to get started. I was thinking maybe the REASON pack and the Logic BIG BOX pack. I was looking at the MBOX but was told my Mac couldn't cope! I dont want to spend a lot of money and be disappointed so tell me anything I might need to make music of the highest quality( I learn quick!!! )

[xingu]

Hi nicoc79,
I run a very similar setup as what you're describing: Reason & Logic Big Box under OSX on a g4 iMac, and it works like a charm. I have a couple old hardware synths, so I didn't need the Oxygen8. Those packages sound pretty cool, but instead of the Oxygen8, you might want to look at the Ozone, which combines the Oxygen8 with an audio interface, including line and XLR inputs (with phantom power). I'd guess you already have by the title of this thread, but take another read through this post, which covers much of what you need to know. Another option instead of Logic is Ableton's Live, which I've heard integrates with Reason very well (via Rewire 2) and is dj-friendly.

[nicoc79]

Thanks a lot Xingu.
Do you have any problems with your setup? I'm concerned that my G3 won't be able to handle Live or Logic. Does anyone out there run a similar setup on a G3 imac?
Thanks again.

[xingu]

I've seen plenty of people around these parts running things with G3s... if it's any consolation, I have the low-end G4 iMac - 700mhz, only 384 RAM and no problems. Then again, I do relatively simple stuff - so far, all my MIDI work has been done in Reason and exported as audio, so all of my work in Logic has been on the audio side, and no more than 12 tracks. And I have a dedicated external firewire drive for all my audio files, but I worked with the internal drive for 6 months with no worries.

[rickenbacker]

G3s are OK, but G4s are better. As soon as you start getting fancy ideas (pretty quickly, knowing most musicians) your G3 will complain. Audio work, soft synths, more FX - they all take their toll.

Most "recommended specifications" for music software is some sort of G4 system. Even the minimum for a lot of modern apps is a 500MHz G3. You can certainly do just Midi on a G3, but as soon as you start expanding your sound, I reckon you'll hit the CPU wall pretty quickly. I have a G3 600MHz iBook and now I'm shopping for a G4 PowerMac.

Reason and Logic Big Box might be enough without over-taxing your system. I wouldn't recommend Live for your system - it's a cool app, for sure, but very demanding. Maybe just start with the Big Box and see how your system gets on - you'll get a few soft synths and the sample player with Logic anyway, so put Reason on hold while you test your iMac's limits and get your head round the whole computer music thang.

Then go out and blow two grand on a PowerMac 1.42GHz G4 DP!

[nicoc79]

Hi Rickenbacker. Thanks for the advice. I was looking at using reason mainly as my Drum machine. If I was going to stick to using Logic only, how am I going to get cool sounding drums?
Reason seems so much easier to use, compared to Logic.

[xingu]

Again, take another look at the other "Essentials" thread - plenty of options discussed there. Good luck.

[rickenbacker]

Hey, Nico: yes, like xingu says, check out the Essentials or Getting Started forums here. In the last week or so there have been a few discussions on the very suubject of what app to use for drums. Don't want to repeat myself, but very quickly I'll say Reason, Doggiebox, Steinberg LM 4 Mk II, Battery and Storm. There are probably others.