Online guide \ software to create music on a Mac?
 

I'm looking to learn how to create music (Techno - D&B - Trance - etc...) on my Powerbook (1.3ghz G4, 512 meg) While it's no G5, it's pretty capable machine.

In the past, I've tried Fruity Loops with some success, and Apple has Garage Band (but I don't care for it much).

Anyone have a recommendation for some decent software? How about an online guide on how to get into it?

Thanks,
Jason

Ebelton LIVE is pretty cool..

I have a Mac...I hate it...wish I knew how to do all the cool stuff on this thing. I could make music videos n shit if I knew how.

Asta!!

Macs rock! I mean..I'm really just parroting my girlfriend, but on the plus side, you have far fewer popups, and um...damn it...I spent too much!

I'd recommend Reason by www.propellerheads.se

If you're paying for it (like all good citizens should) look for deals that include a free MIDI keyboard.

PROTOOLS or CUBASE. you need nothing else. You'll never make anything that sounds remotely professional on fruity loops or any of that other stuff.
http://www.protools.com/
http://www.steinberg.net/

There's nothing better than Reason. Fruityloops is child's play. jwoody's link takes you to the main site. The program is pretty comprehensive but don't get flustered by how difficult it looks.. it's pretty simple. Good luck and keep us updated as to what you go with. :thumbsup:

http://www.bham.ac.uk/music/ea-studios/software.html

i found this list a couple days ago
it should get you started.

Cool! Thanks for the links!

I am sort of torn, I am in no way a professional producer. I am a newbie looking to learn. Some of these tools are just wayy beyond me at this point. I mean, if Disney made a studio kit, I might be in the market :D

I'll check out some of the tools here...

http://www.bham.ac.uk/music/ea-studios/software.html

Thanks a lot you guys!

Jason

I used Reason before I used anything else. So it's not as bad as it looks. You can't beat it for DnB (drum and bass) stuff IMO. Plus it comes with a great tutorial that makes it super easy. The tutorial basically walks you through a song that you make while it's teaching. It can get overwhelming but the editor works wonders. If you do use it make sure to save your progress often and remember to save your beats to about 5 different pattern files (a1, a2, a3 and so on).. good luck! :D

That is just typical marketing brainwashing. There are numerous pieces of software that produce professional music.

I'm not familiar with the Mac side of things ... here's yet another link that you can use for research:

http://www.synthzone.com/

and beyond a program that helps you put sounds (loops) together you'll need the sounds themselves:

http://www.soundsonline.com/

Chill out on that. I've tried plenty of programs, and even the free version of protools has more features (and thats not even talking plugins) than any other program i've tried. My opinion is based on years of working with this stuff, it's what i'm going to college for, so please, let's keep the catty comments to ourselves, alright?

Not intended to be catty. I have nearly ten years of experience with this software too (started with the first release of Sonic Foundry Vegas in 97). I can think of three programs that offer the same if not better features than the free version of Pro-Tools (Vegas among them). If you're talking about Pro-Tools HD then I would agree whole-heartedly. HD does kick ass.

I no longer use Vegas. I'm using Sonar these days.

ProTools is best suited for music editing rather than creation. I like Cubase and Ableton Live for music creation. Reason is awesome too, but you'll pay for all the programs...