Just Gettin' Started, What software is good for starters Options

[monkeyman]

I am interested in creating music and would love to start creating more again. However, I don't have much software. I am mostly interested in electronic music, and don't really see the possibility of the need to use real instruments. Therefore, can anyone recommend a decent starting point. I have heard of a software program called Reason. Would this be seen as the best piece of software for an electronically focused musician ?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[rickenbacker]

Charlieb: I'd have thought the Edirol/Roland keyboards would be as cheap in Japan as they are in the US or the UK. Check out a few US online music stores (like musiciansfriend.com or sweetwater.com, I think they're pretty big) and check their prices. In the UK, the full RRP of the PCR-50, which is the biggest of the two Edirol's, is £199. Probably a bit cheaper instore.

Between the Radium and the Edirols? Can't say. I don't know how big the Radium is (ie, its keyboard span), plus I've not seen one in real life, only on the web. In terms of functions, they all have 8 knobs and 8 sliders as far as I know, so pretty similar in that respect. So that's 8 sliders more than the Oxygen 8 straight away.

I have seen the PCR-50 for real, though, at MacExpo London. It's a really nice keyboard and is automatically recognised in OS 10.2. It also comes with preset knob assignment templates for Logic, Cubase, Reason etc, so the most common uses are already onboard. Don't know if the Radium does that, too - it might well do.

But I like Edirol stuff. My Oxygen 8 has been fine (and still is) but as Rysode says, if the PCR-50 had been available six months ago, well...

About the Virtual Memory - are you trying the demos in OS 9? If so, I can't help you. I'd have suggested the same thing as you've already tried. Post a message in the OS 9 forum pages here and someone will help you out. Maybe it's just a demo bug, but ask around and someone will help.