Please Help. Logic Or Protools? Options

[lantzn]

Hello All,
My son and some friends have started a small garage band. They recently bought some really nice speakers and a mixing board with something like 8-10 channels/tracks. This things has just about every imaginable connections I ever seen on it. I'm a computer graphics person by profession and really get into cool software, I'm now studying Electric Image Universe 3D app. They came to me and asked if I could setup a MP3 jukebox for them after seeing my tower running iTunes. I sold them my iMac 400 DVSE, we dropped in a 160GB drive and a Gig of memory and have currently loaded all our CD collections onto it. They now plug the iMac into the mixing board and the songs really rock over the new speakers! I thought I was at a concert.

Now they want me to be their "sound man" and find some software that we can use to send some tracks into my G4 tower from the mixing board and eventually burn to CD. Last night I loaded the free Pro Tools LE and OMS package. We played around with some simple voice tracks since we didn't have it near the band's equipment. We used the Mac's little microphone to get the sound in. They got pretty excited about it. Of course I had to bootup into OS9 to run ProTools. I'm currently running 10.2.1, have a Radeon 8500AGP, Radeon 7000PCI, 60 and 80GB drives and 2GB of ram in this G4 400 sawtooth tower.

My question, what software for OS X should I be looking at when a OS X version is released? The LE, light, beginners edition is probably all we would ever need. Pro Tools LE looked like it had plenty of features along with the 8 track limit. What about a LE version of Logic? Does one exist. I know we're just now seeing OS X music software coming our way. I can mess around with Pro Tools LE in OS 9 until something is available but I'm not sure if I want to learn it to much if something else would be better. I'm a pretty fast learner and can jump around different software apps without problems.

Thanks

[deleted]

Now they want me to be their "sound man" and find some software that we can use to send some tracks into my G4 tower from the mixing board and eventually burn to CD.

I'm just wondering, how many separated tracks do you need to record at once? And how many output groups (or eventually aux sends) does the mixing board have?
This will clearly point the possible need for extra audio hardware (analog inputs, i guess), which could be... expensive... depending on your needs. You're entering the multritrack recording's world ;-) Maybe with effects in real-time? Mhh..? :-)

On OS X right now, i know of Logic (really good software IMHO, but still no effect's plugin support) and Deck (from Bias, no MIDI support)... Logic being supported (owned) by Apple.
Pro Tools 6 will be there at the beginning of the year 2003 (as Digital Performer will, nice too), but wait & see. We're kind of stuck in os 9 for "serious" works, at the moment.

We used the Mac's little microphone to get the sound in. They got pretty excited about it.

Hey, they'll simply go mad if you do the recordings through a good audio interface (at least a M-Box for 2 tracks recordings with Pro Tools LE)!

My question, what software for OS X should I be looking at when a OS X version is released?

My answer would be Digital Performer OS X with MOTU or RME or Metric Halo hardware. Then Pro Tools 6 with a Digi002 if you really need it. But all that is totally subjective... Remember DP will work with any Core Audio supported hardware (as Logic or Live or Nuendo or Cubase SX will), at the opposite of Pro Tools (still only supports Digi hardware (ie LE and TDM and HD)). Will Digi support Core Audio with PT6? In a near future? The whole plugin support is a bit scary (Audio Units). Still no Waves plugins, no ChannelStrip, no BombFactory, no GRM Tools, ... etc.
I'll say again: wait & see ;-)

Sorry for all my grammatical mistakes. BTW, do you play in the band? Which instrument? Vibraphone? Or xylophone?

Bye.