Hi guys, i've just finished the registration so i'll briefly introduce myself: my name is Edoardo, i'm 18 and i live near Rome. I started playing piano and keyboard few months ago and, having a mbp, i thought of buying a sound card and a master keyboard (stage pianos and workstation are too expensive for my pockets). So i bought a used Oberheim MC 3000 and a Roland Duo Capture EX (what do you think about that?). The problem is that i know nearly nothing about this world so it's not easy for me to get my bearings.
After this boring introduction here's the questions:

1) What program would you suggest me for "building" and recording songs on my mac?

2) Do i need a program to run libraries? If yes, what would you suggest me?

3) What libraries to start? Firstly i'd like good sounding pianos and eps, then we'll see.

4) Where to get all this stuff (programs, libraries, etc.)?

Thank you very much, really looking forward to start playing!

 

welcome

answers

1) logic is probably your best bet with OSX

2) do you mean kontakt libraries? in which case, yes, you will need kontakt, kontakt player is a freebie but not all libraries will run on it

3) there are lots and lots, but search on this forum for Bigcat1969's excellent free piano libraries

4) that will be the darkside that you seek, (but you are not suppose to ask about the darkside here) hint = search google a.u.d.i.o.z



make sure to check out the tutorials section on this forum

http://audiosex.pro/index.php?/forum/64-audiosex-academy/

 

Welcome! Sir Silly Sausage is right you should definitely check out the Audiosex Academy there is great information available there. If you are into pianos and new to recording then I would suggest that you check out Toontrack's EZKeys. It is easy to use and can be used in a DAW or run as a standalone for the sake of simplicity. Good luck on your musical journey.

 

Thank you very much guys, really! I'll check everything out (i think i'll need time) and i'll let you know!
Thanks again!

 

Since I don't know what O/S you're running, nor your computer's specs, I'll keep it general.

Logic Pro (either 9 or X) is great, but if you have never used it, start with Garageband and get comfortable with it. It's a really powerful application, and Logic can be too complex for the neophyte. If you want to, you can open Garageband files in Logic. I myself originate a lot of projects in G/b, and then build them out in Logic – and keep the G/b files in case I have to or want to revert to the origin.

Always bear compatibility in mind. Kontakt 5.3+ requires O/S 10.7 and higher (for 64-bit-only operation). Logic Pro X requires 10.8 (for the same reason). 64-bit AU plug-ins will not run on Snow Leopard; 32-bit AU plug-ins require a wrapper, such as 32 Lives, in order to run on 10.8 (LPX and G/b).

The things that one can do with legitimately-free Kontakt libraries is amazing. Below are some free Kontakt library sources (not warez; legit developers). (Note that BigCat's libraries require Kontakt v5.3.1.)

http://0on3.wordpress.com/

http://www.music-sound-lab.com/free-kontakt-sounds.html

http://bigcatinstruments.blogspot.com/

http://rekkerd.org/freebies-for-native-instruments-kontakt/ - also free plug-ins

http://sonimusicae.free.fr/accueil-en.html

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/ - free libs and plug-ins

http://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugins/ - free plug-ins


Not being a piano player, I'm not qualified to recommend any piano libarary - but this one is both totally free and impressive:

http://www.ivyaudio.com/pianoin162.html


I hope that any of that helps.

 

Hi and welcome!
The resources depends a lot what kind of sound do you want...
A newbie really do not know this answers, so you must research, hear and experimentations...
With Logic X you will take years to know something... I am with Logic almost for 30 years and still discover the amazing things that we can do with...
Its a hard job do all the study to be a good musician, but the truth is that a good musician NEVER stop studying

 

hi! Welcome to audiosex!


my name is Kurt and i do digital audio for 10 years.

my advice : as a starter : Garageband , perfect for new users.

next step will be Logic Express or Pro X.

they both come loaded with "libraries" and plugins.

links: https://www.apple.com/ie/mac/garageband/

and https://www.apple.com/ie/logic-pro/

good luck with your shopping and enjoy music mate!

 

My advice is, don't go crazy downloading 000's of programs when you start it will confuse you, download a couple, and get to grips with how they work and how they work inside of you DAW

+1 for tutorials too, they help a lot, also look on youtube for tutorials & for tips and advice, you might find someone who works in a similar fashion to you

Good luck dude, and welcome to the club

 

Thank you very much, to all of you!
I'll try to learn as much as i can, your advices are so precious to me.
And yeah, i know i should have said that but i forgot...my mbp has a 2,4GHz quad core i7, 16GB of ram (1333MHz) and 500GB SSD (it's the late 2011 15' mbp, with few tweaks). It's running on OS X 10.9.5.
Thanks again, hear you soon!

 

take your time, and if you get stuck there are plenty of peeps here who can help solve any issues

 

Sooooo...i have a problem No, it's not a problem, i just don't know how to stop the sequencer of the drum machine for certain parts (for ex. sequencer should stop at the beginning of the chorus and the start again at the end of it). I'm using Logic Pro X (i know i should have used GarageBand since i'm a noob, but when i read the post Logic was downloading ).
Anyway, just for fun, i started a project (electronic) and i was playing with the drum machines (that you find as preset in the track), then i liked what i was doing so i continued the thing, and now i'm in a point where i'd like to mute the drum machines for few bars (the chorus) and then throw back them again. I did not find a way to do that, could you tell me please a way to solve?
I don't know if it could be useful for you to help me, but i just pressed "sequencer on" (one of the three red lights) and played with the knobs to get what i wanted, didn't touch anything else.
Thank you a lot!!