Getting Started - Total Newbie Alert! Options

[theyesman]

Hello everyone. I'm new here - please be kind to me!

A little background information...

About 18 months ago I bought my first mac - an iMac G5, 1.8GHz, 768MB RAM and a copy of Logic Express V7.01 with the intention of moving my songwriting from an 8track recorder to computer.

However university got in the way and its only now I am getting a chance to get back into writing songs seriously again.

What I want to do is be able to record songs using guitars, bass, drums (roland td8 vdrums) and vocals into my mac.

Can someone please advise me on how to go about this -

what kind of midi interface do I need?
do I need some kind of preamp?
can I plug guitars straight in or do I need to mic amplifiers?
if I want to not use the vdrums can I just program the drums?
etc, etc.

So to summarise:

I have an iMac G5, Logic Express, a load of 'traditional' instuments and absolutely no idea how to make them all work together.

I'm not trying to make mega high quality, polished audio yet, I just want to be able to get my ideas down and mess around with them.

Any advice would be absolutely brilliant. Thanks.

This post has been edited by theyesman: Mon 6 Nov 2006, 21:53

[gdoubleyou]

Take a look at the range of firewire audio interfaces from MOTU.com, they have a few models that have a built in midi interface. You can go directly into the interface or use mikes on the speaker cabinets.

I use a combination of drum loops and midi triggered samples for my drum tracks.

Logic/Garage Band come with a basic set of drum kits. More drum kits can be added via Jam packs and 3rd party Apple Loop collections.

Also there are a lot of EXS format sample collections, check out http://www.soundsonline.com search on EXS. I quickly built up a large sample library by purchasing several of their Pro Samples collections.

[theyesman]

Take a look at the range of firewire audio interfaces from MOTU.com, they have a few models that have a built in midi interface. You can go directly into the interface or use mikes on the speaker cabinets.

I use a combination of drum loops and midi triggered samples for my drum tracks.

Logic/Garage Band come with a basic set of drum kits. More drum kits can be added via Jam packs and 3rd party Apple Loop collections.

Also there are a lot of EXS format sample collections, check out http://www.soundsonline.com search on EXS. I quickly built up a large sample library by purchasing several of their Pro Samples collections.

Thanks a lot!

A friend at work today suggested the Digidesign MBOX2 for my needs. Do you think that this is the right sort of thing for my requirements?

[leegrainge]

Take a look at the range of firewire audio interfaces from MOTU.com, they have a few models that have a built in midi interface. You can go directly into the interface or use mikes on the speaker cabinets.

I use a combination of drum loops and midi triggered samples for my drum tracks.

Logic/Garage Band come with a basic set of drum kits. More drum kits can be added via Jam packs and 3rd party Apple Loop collections.

Also there are a lot of EXS format sample collections, check out http://www.soundsonline.com search on EXS. I quickly built up a large sample library by purchasing several of their Pro Samples collections.

Thanks a lot!

A friend at work today suggested the Digidesign MBOX2 for my needs. Do you think that this is the right sort of thing for my requirements?

Hi there.

I'm new on this forum. BUT I am not new to what you lot are talking about here.

My advice to you would be to check out Pro Tools a bit before jumping to Logic. Besides if your a musician and want to have something that will be you're stable .app in a few years then don't go with Logic Express. Look at Logic Pro (so many more options) or look at MBOX Pro (bundled) and look at getting the Music Production Toolkit. With this in mind you will get a great bundle f plug ins that work better than the Logic one's. Okay, Logic has some great synth's and one of the best IR reverbs (being Space Designer) but as for the EQ's etc... Pro Tools in my eyes comes out on top. Pro Tools is also a better automation tool. With the Music Production Toolkit you get 48 tracks. It is still nothing compared to logic's track count (Mac power dependent) but then again the sound card that comes with MAC's isn't worth a P••• in my eyes. At least with the new MBOX PRO you get Firewire 4ins 6 outs - The pre-amps are better than before. It's a big choice. I have been using Logic since 1999 and Pro-tools since 2000 Both great apps. Both have good points. Make your ownchoice by testing the Pro-Tools fee-download and try and check out Logic somewhere before you buy.

Good luck.

Lee