Newbie Starting Out Need Help, Music and macs Options

[trbeat]

Hi,

I finally swicthed from PC to MAC and would like to know if there is anything else I need to et my self started with Music and Midi. I have a new IMAC running OSX and a Roland PC200 MK2 keyboard (dumb). I plan to buy a Midi interface to hook into the USB port and then buy Cakewalk metro just to dip my toes in the water. Will the Mac be able to produce the sounds etc or do I need to purchase some outboard gear as well. Any advise would be most welcome.

Thanks.

[rickenbacker]

Hi trbeat! Welcome to MacMusic.org and the Mac platform in general!

There are plenty of OS X music apps and interfaces - it all depends on how much you want to spend. You can get a simple 1x1 midi interface from any company (Edirol, M-Audio, MOTU etc) or you can get something with more inputs (digital, 1/4" jack etc). Have a look round these forums for ideas.

The same goes for software - there's loads of it at varying prices. There is a unique midi program designed especially for OS X called Intuem. It's not bad, as long as you can get it to work. There were a few users here complaining of problems a few months back, but a new version was released a couple of weeks ago that claimed to solve a lot of these problems. That might do to get you started. It's pretty cheap ($70?) and you can use the QuickTime synth that is already built into the OS X operating system for sounds.

If you want other sounds, you'll need to get some soft synths and sequencers - Reason, Storm, Logic, Live, Cubase etc are all solid commercial programs, but do a search on the web for free OS X stuff.

Other than that, you could buy midi module hardware to produce sounds externally from your Mac, but I don't think you want to do that, do you?

Anyway - enjoy! Any more questions, call back - there's bound to be someone here to help. This is the just the start of a long strange trip, as the Grateful Dead would say.

[trbeat]

Thanks for all that info, I am once again strangely excited by making Music, that damn PC experience killed some of my passion.

[Levon River]

As Rickenbacker said, the Mac's Quicktime Musical Instruments will provide sounds for MIDI. It's a General MIDI (GM) set that's derived from the Roland SoundCanvas, and does a decent job in some areas for general sketch-pad sort of experimentation, composing. (You don't want to let that piano sustain more than about 10 milliseconds, though, unless you want a cheesy organ with a piano attack. )

The really good news is it's replaceable! You can load any SoundFont or Downloadable Sound (DLS) of yer choosing. There are some pretty amazing GM SoundFonts floating around the internet perfectly free.

I also recommend you look into VSamp, a shareware software sample editor and player that has made its way into OS X, can load and convert SoundFonts, and despite its Sisty Ugler facade and humble roots is a pretty darn good piece of work.

Of course Reason is a powerhouse of sound capabilities if you can see your way clear to getting that. Good luck, and good music to you!