Operating A Stand Alone Synth Options

[helena]

Hi, i made music several times with other people, always using, unfortunately, a windows environment....
Now i decided to try and so some weird chem-lab experiments on my own on my mac g4....

Since i'm, in a way, totally new to "making music on my own" (usually i compose and sing, but do not program), i downloaded the soundforum synth,
but i cannot play it.
Do i really need a master keyboard, or some other external device (that i do not have at the moment) to operate the synth?
Can i play it from inside another application???

And, most of all, do i ABSOLUTELY NEED an externate sound card, or can i use the default one of the mac, apart from "better sound quality), just in order to start producing music?


Sorry for the very basic and "too simple" questions, but this forum is called "getting started", so....

by the way, what i need now, is to try to play this synth......

thanxxx

Helena

[kaboombahchuck]

You do not have to have a master keyboard. I have a keyboard, but it mostly collects dust. You can use the "piano roll" in the midi sequencer to "write" out your songs. Some sequencer programs come with a notation window, so if you know how to write out a song in notation, you can go that way. I use all three methods (keyboard, "piano roll", and notation). The sequencing program I use will atomatically place what I have written in notation into the piano roll. From the piano roll window I can make final tweeks, like instrument sound, ect. Because it is all in midi format, I can continually make changes untill I get the sounds I want. Once I get the sounds I want, I arm a audio recording track (I use a midi sequencing, and audio sequencing all in one program) and record the sounds through my default audio in. So, yes you can use your default audio in your mac. Unfortunaltly, you will have to get some sort of midi interface to go from your synth to the mac. Sometimes these interfaces can be quite tricky to get to work (expecially if your using OS9) so you may want to do a search of the forum concerning midi interfaces. Anyway, if you keep the gain on the sound card all the way down, any hiss will be at a minimum. Because I have several synth modules, and use mics, I use a mixer that is ran directly to the sound in of my mac. I have the gain of the sound card turned all the way down, and use the mixer for controlling the level of the sound input. Or you could use all "soft synth modules", and really cut down on external clutter... Soft synths are programs that will make all the sounds of an external keyboard, and more.....

This post has been edited by kaboombahchuck: Fri 27 Jun 2003, 06:30