Simple Set Up?, Own ibook800+microkorg... what software? Options

[rosiedog]

I presently own the ibook G3 800Mhz with 640 ram. I am about to buy the korg microkorg which is a mini digital/anologue synth with midi capabilities.
I will eventually be upgrading to either an Imac or a powerbook sometime in the next 8 months.
I am mostly interested in making experimental electronica, ambient, future lounge, jazzy beats, drum and bass, trance, ect, ect...
I basically want to start with the bare minimum for a desk top computer based music studio. I would like to star out with one software solution for my needs. I would like to buy a software package that can make drums, effects, samples, layers?, and sequencing. Is Reason 2.5 my best bet for getting started.
I also want the program to be able to run on my current G3 ibook, and on my next upgrade which will be a G4.
I know Trent Reznors made his first NIN album with an anologue keyboard synth, and an old Mac.
I want to see what I can do with the most basic set up for electronica type music.
Any advice and help is extremely appreciated.
Thanks.
-Jason

[xingu]

You'll get the hang of everything eventually. DAW - you are correct. Actually both Reason and Logic will let you layer a new track over an existing one, it's just that with Reason, you'll only be able to use sounds contained within the built-in instruments (or from additional sounds you get from sample cd's or downloads - you can find some for free, more for purchase - and then load these sounds into Reason...). I'll assume by bass lines you mean synth bass lines - if so, you could do it all in Reason - it's very suited to ambient stuff. Again, if you want to play bass lines using your Minikorg or an actual bass guitar, you'd need a program that handles audio recording (e.g. Logic).

As for the Mbox, I probably wouldn't recommend it in your case. It comes with ProTools LE software The general perception is that ProTools doesn't handle MIDI as well as other apps, but I can't comment on that myself. The Mbox only has audio inputs (no MIDI) so you'd have to buy a separate MIDI interface. There's just a handful of MIDI interfaces that "qualify" as compatible with the Mbox - that's the primary limitation of ProTools software - it's generally only compatible with Digidesign hardware and Digidesign plug-ins which are often pricey. Compared with the BigBox, you won't get the extra virtual synths, so you wouldn't be able to do what you're trying to out-of-the-box, so to speak.

It kinda sounds like Reason will be best for what you're trying to accomplish (unless recording live audio is your main priority). You could always get Reason, take some time to learn it (which I still haven't done ) and add your audio capabilities later on...