"internal-only" Composition/recording?, Need help with software setup! Options

[Turner]

Hello -

I currently have a G3 400, a Casio CTK-601 keyboard, and a few programs - most notably (pun intended? maybe..) Native Instruments' FM7. Printmusic Demo... not much else... Pro Tools Free. Not too familiar with it yet. Electric guitar. (Soon may get Roland GI-20)

Ideally, I would like to be able to:

-Score (and record real-time) to standard staves in a program such as Printmusic, and use it to drive the FM7 and whatever other software synths I may get;

-Sequence

-Record real-time from my guitar (this part I'm ok with)

-finally, create an "internal-only" recording in a mixing environment with the final audio files suitable to burn to CDs and/or MP3.

Any guidance greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Andrew

[kaboombahchuck]

I'm not to familiar with the programing you're using, so I do not know if it works the same as mine...... I use Metro 5. In Metro, I can open the notation window, score my music, and it will atomatically set the notation in the piano roll of the midi sequencer as midi data. Now that my notation is put in midi format, I can play (and hear) the song I just scored, on the external (or internal) synth of my choosing, via midi interface between the mac and the external synth. If you are using a soft synth, no interface nessasary. Now that I can hear the song, I can use the midi sequencer to make sonic adjustments, like choosing the instrument or sound, adjust tempo, ect. When I get the sounds chosen for the song I scored, I then use the audio sequencer to record that sound. Midi is not audio, and must be converted to audio by recording the "performance" of the synth. I also record live performances using the audio sequencer. I can also record a live performance of a synth (or any midi device) as midi data, in the midi sequencer. This comes in handy for those less than perfect performances! My "midi recorded" less than perfect performance can be corrected using the sequencer, without having to do the live performance over and over untill I get it right. The really cool part of recording the live performance in midi is that it will be automatically scored in the notation window, ready for printing. Once I have all of the desired sounds, or tracks, completed, and mixed, paned, ect... I mix all tracks down to the final mix, and export it to the desktop of the mac, put in a CD-R, burn the song to the CD, and walah! Done. Metro 5 is a pretty good all in on program, and does everything except burn the CD. For that I use Toast. There are many all in one programs out there, and depending what your needs are, and how big your pocket book is, all ya got to do is choose one. I'm not too sure what all ya get in Pro Tools free, but the full blown program is probably capable of doing all in one, but is expencive. Cubace VSTi is a good all in one, but I understand the learning curve is quite steep. The full version can be quite expencive. The interesting thing about cubace is if your using VSTi instruments, there is no need to convert midi files to audio prior to mix down.

[Turner]

Thanks...

Metro 5 has been discontinued - any idea what their replacement may be?

Cheers,
Andrew

[xingu]

This may come as a surprise, but the replacement is Metro 6!
Sorry for the sarcasm. Check it out here.

[Synthetic]

you might want to check out Emagic's Logic series too at www.emagic.de. If you don't want to spend big bucks for the app... they have Big Box bundle of the silver version which is nicely priced at $249 at some online music retailers

This post has been edited by Synthetic: Fri 27 Jun 2003, 15:01