Newbie Interest Options

[Bizzaam]

Hi everyone! I'm interested in getting started in the music creation world. I've been interested for a long time just never really did anything with it. I wouldn't really count messing around with crap program a few years ago named E-Jay. I've heard arguments of Logic Pro is better than Pro Tools but the latter is supposedly the "industry standard." Does anyone have any experience with both to say which is better? From the videos I've seen, Logic Pro looks amazing. I also like Logic Pro because of some of the famous users, like Trent Reznor, which I am a big fan of. He has always provided some inspiriation with my musical endeavors.

My first problem is I don't own a Mac, which leads me to my next question. I know what the system requirements are from the Apple site, but what do you guys/gals recommend? Being in the military, I am on a limited budget so a Mac Pro is out of the question right now. Would a Mac Mini or iMac be sufficient? Are the Jam Packs sufficient for production/creation or would I need to get more sounds/instruments from say www.soundsonline.com or www.vsl.co.at/en-us/65/71/214.vsl if Logic Pro supports them. I'm not sure what styles of music I would be making when I get everything together, but I know I would be helping a friend of mine with his projects of hip-hop/R&B. Though these are not styles I like, I'm trying to help him take back a genre that he feels has lost a lot of originality among other things.

Anyway, if you have any questions feel free to reply here or send me a private message. I have it setup to notify me when replies are posted. Thanks a lot for your time.

[stagerlee777]

First of all - all of these other replies are great. Very good advice all around.

My suggestion, especially because it sounds like you are on somewhat limited budget is to go for the Mini or iMac and use GarageBand for a bit. Once you've got some of the basic ideas behind digital recording, working with loops and MIDI figured out, then consider moving up to Logic Express. The Express version has a huge amount of features and as someone else pointed out it's a heck of a lot cheaper than Logic Pro.

I've had years of working with different music programs and computers in general. When I got Logic (Pro and Express) last year I was confused for a solid week. I love it now, but I can't think of many less intuitive programs. Having a good understanding of GarageBand definitely helped a bit.

One thing to keep in mind is that Logic would be great for hip-hop and all kinds of electronic-based music - and you can certainly do anything you want with it, but I think that for recording more rock based stuff Pro Tools is the way to go.

This post has been edited by stagerlee777: Sat 5 May 2007, 08:33