FUNKSTICK

Kontakt, Eastwest, And Zero-g, On Intel.

Okay, on an Intel Mac...

I read that you can open the Zero-G instruments like Beats Working in Cuba or EastWests Colossus in Kontakt 2.2.

Um how?

On PPC these instruments have their own intakt or kompakt dialog window or whatever but they don't seem to be able to open on intel so you need Kontakt. Cool.

can I only open the sounds one by one?

or

Will Kontakt open them so they look or can be used like on PPC?

and if so, how do I go about doing that?

Programs Like Jam 6?

I don't know if many people here have used Jam 6 (that comes with Toast Titanium 6) but I like it.

If I want to do some quick (?) crossfades between some tracks, I use Jam. It does what I need it to do.

Most of the time.

But I'm pretty sure there must be a program out there that does what this thing does.. better. Especially since it looks like Jam has been discontinued (wasn't bundled with Toast 7).

Can anybody tell me what programs out there do this stuff? Or should I just use some kind of sequencing program like Garageband or something?

"Jam lets pros create 100% Red Book-compatible CD masters, the program's now a bit more consumer-friendly, with advanced features like relative index times and frames per second hidden unless the user turns them on in the preferences.

The crossfade tools—Jam's bread and butter, if you'll pardon the pun—are even easier to use than they were in version 5. When you've got your tracks loaded into your Jam playlist (a simple drag-and-drop proposition), you simply select the "bowtie" icon to the right of a track title. That reveals the crossfade window, which consists of three bars: the top one showing the waveform of the first track, the bottom showing the waveform of the second track, and the middle one indicating how the waveforms will overlap once the crossfade is set. A green line indicates the end of the first track, while a red line indicates the split point between the two tracks. In between, you see blue lines that are diagonal or curved, depending on your crossfade option; Jam's presets include linear, slow in/slow out, fast out/slow in, and slow out/fast in. You can drag those lines to precisely set the rate and volume of your fade, and you can drag the second track as far over into the first track as you'd like, meaning you can fade out of track one as early or late as is appropriate."

Logic Express - External Software Instruments

I wanna get into recording but there are so many great softsynths and beatmakers that I wanna get.

I hear great things about Stylus and Akoustik Piano but if I get Logic Express, I'm afraid they won't work. It says here http://www.apple.com/logicexpress/comparison.html that it doesn't work with "external instruments"

Stylus and the like would be external instruments? So Logic Express will not allow me to use softsynths that are not included in the program?

Normalize Gain??

Okay,

Now some of you are probably saying.. duh.. its simple.. get this...! Get what?

I tried to do it in Jam 6. It has a normalize function that...

Wait... allow me to tell you what I'm doing. A friend of mine was doing a show. She was using her audio cd (aiff) of her music and some karaoke tracks. The levels were all over the place. One hot, one not, one warm, blah blah.

The day before her show.. (can you believe this) she gives me the cd and says ... can you fix this? I need them all to be the same level. I said .. um..er.. uh... sure. Hopped on Jam 6 and promptly failed to get it right. Beside the fact that the levels didn't seem to be even from one song to the next, someone actually said the highs were also compressed (read; bad). She ended up putting the songs on minidisc and the show went poorly.

Now somebody else is asking me to boost their track, obviously unaware that it didn't work the last time, and here I am...asking you.. the all knowing macmusic forum for answers.

What need I do, use, fix and/or correct? Help help help er.. um .. help please.

Sample Ediquette

Okay,

I've never been one to be into Sample CDs. I would sample my own sounds and use them if need be. BUT after checking out Big Fish Audio there are just too many great loops and stuff to be had.

My question is just what is the ediquette to using these things?

Garageband comes with loops and all but I feel weird using them...

#1. EVERYBODY who has a mac has access to them.. (hmm just like Sample CDs) so if I use them then folks can say oh thats "Hiphop 3" in that song.

#2. Wheres the creativity come in when you use phrases? Never did that (much). I understand people cut the phrases and place them differently. It seems easier just to write a new part.

I must admit though, that I'm as lazy as the next guy. Oh,.. he's not (you're not) that lazy?... uh... I meant that guy over there. Boy is HE lazy!

If I find a kicking loop then I have no intention of changing the snare or whatever. I will leave it as is. Is that wrong? Is the onus (ooh I used the word "onus") on me to personalize it, customize it, change it? Do people really notice that stuff? Does anyone really care?

Wait, I know musicians can tell what kind of guitar was used in a song, sh!t I heard someone say what kind of strings were on it. I'm talking NORMAL people.

I wanted to put these questions in the sample category but I think its a newbie question. Please if admin thinks I'm in the wrong place, feel free to move it.

Oh and do I need to reference what Sample CDs I use on the CD Jacket or whatever?

And OH yeah, I've just been using the libraries that come with my Kontakt and stuff. I CAN use these sample CDs with Kontakt right? As I understand they don't come with a handy Virtual instrument interface.

Is there a simple, easy to use, sample player/interface RECOMMENDED by the all knowing intelligentsia (whew I must be going for broke - wheres my thesaurus?) of MACMUSIC?

Thats a good number of questions. I hope you guys don't mind helping me out with opinions and answers.

Thanx ahead of time.