Music Warez?

[eclipse525]

Can someone please tell me the differences and uses of the following Music Apps?

The Differences Between:

- Soundtrack
- Logic Platinum
- Reasons
- Digital Performer

Also, I am a DJ and would like to start doing some LIGHT production. Nothing too crazy but I would like something flexible and solid. Any suggestions?

~e

 

[krimson]

Reason is a synth, sequencer, sample, drum machine, etc..

Logic is full on production.. with a STEEP learning curve... my manual is thicker than War and Peace.. and im barely understanding most of it.

soundtrack seems to be a Logic Lite (similar to FCP and imovie). I haven't used it.

DP is basically a MIDI sequencer..


though, one suggestion is not to use WAREZ in the thread title, you may get more responses.

and the respective websites have really good desrciptions of their applications.

 

[WinterMute]

Soundtrack is actually an Acid analog, it allows arrangement of audio loops and dynamic alteration of key and tempo in real time, it has no MIDI function, but will allow the recording of up to 24 tracks of audio with FX from the Logic package.

DP4 is also an audio recorder.

You might want to look at Cubase, although it pains my Logic/ProTools using heart to mention it...

What kind of "production" are you interested in.

 

[eclipse525]

I actually started playing with Opcode's Vision back in the day. I since then become a graphic designer BUT have always done the DJ thing on the side. Enough of my life story. I recently discovered Stanton's "Final Scratch" and think it's the greatest technology to come to the DJ world hands down. Especially for those puriest out there. Now, I'm real motivated again and would like to try and produce some dance tracks BUT I am far from ready for something like ProTools or Logic. I need something with the following attributes.

- Easy Learning Curve
- Sampling Capabilities
- Drum Kits and I guess plugins with all kinds of Synth Sounds.
- Something I won't outgrown in a month

I guess I might be asking too much but hey, you never know till you ask.

~e

 

[mainstreetmark]

Without intentionally hijacking this thread with my wants&needs, i have a related question:

As a struggling banjo player, I was considering getting some sort of mystery device that converts my banjo musings into MIDI for later inspection.

Would Logic be my tool of choice? Will it also let you apply different instruments, as you are playing (specifically, a guitar sound). Do they make a guiatar/banjo->MIDI pickup?

(the guys on Inside Mac Radio got me thinking about this)

 

[cpjakes]

Soundtrack sounds like it might be good for you, but may be limiting quickly. It depends on how much control you want to have over your music.

Any software sampler will be good for you, check out the products at http://www.propellerheads.se/

DP/Logic are more advanced products that probably aren't worth it to you if it's on the side work. Both have a learning curve, although I believe Logic's to be much steeper.

The Propellerheads software is workable out of the box, you shouldn't need much time with a manual. If you have MIDI gear, it will also work.

Edit: Forgot about mainstreetmark...

To do what you want can be a little tricky. Basically, you want to turn your audio into MIDI. This can be done, but it is pretty processor intensive, as the audio has to be analyzed and converted to its MIDI representation.

Multiple notes also throw it off and delay the results. I believe Finale can do this now, it was sketchy when I first tried it, but it must be improved. Another program is Max/MSP, which can be used for this, but it is a much bigger program than that.

Good luck to both of you!

cpjakes

 

[mainstreetmark]

hmm... there isn't some hardware pickup that knows which strings are being plucked, and their vibe freq? I haven't even started researching.

The thing is, banjo uses a constant string of 64th notes, and it's too fast to hear if I got them all spaced out correctly. I guess I could use any ol' waveform editor, and just look at the graph. Still - being able to play like a guitar would have been cool.

 

[Flowbee]

Re: Music Software?

Originally posted by eclipse525
Can someone please tell me the differences and uses of the following Music Apps?

The Differences Between:

- Soundtrack
- Logic Platinum
- Reasons
- Digital Performer

Also, I am a DJ and would like to start doing some LIGHT production. Nothing too crazy but I would like something flexible and solid. Any suggestions?

~e

Don't forget to check out Ableton's Live 3.0. It lets you manipulate and arrange audio in real-time. Very flexible. There's a good video demo on their site. (There's also a demo to download and play around with.)