 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ned
Date: 2007-08-09 03:24
Hi there anyone,
I thought I mighy invest in a Mac as, apparently, they are fairly bulletproof, are not prone to many of the usual viruses and trojans that the Windows applications appear to be easily susceptible to and............in addition.........there's ''Garage Band.
The GB feature is of particular interest to this fairly ''musical dot reading'' illiterate, part-time muso.
Would you like to offer your opinion?
Thanks,
ned
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Author: fmcat
Date: 2007-08-09 03:42
Garageband is awesome for those ideas you have in your head. Make sure you get iLife '08 on whatever computer you get, as the actual sheet music part of the program has improved immensely. Also, you probably want to pick up the symphony orchestra jam pack which'll be an extra $100, but worth it. The clarinets are sampled from professional players and sound alright when blended together in an orchestra.
As for a mac? Our family has had an Apple II since the 80's, and only 1 PC in the past 20 years has darkened our doors. Boy, it was quite a problem load. So I am a little biased. But go to your local Apple Store, check them out. Don't be afraid to go for the warranty. They replaced more than what we had asked for on a laptop and shipped it back next day for no cost more than what we paid initially. Worth more than we paid.
Go for it, they're worth the money!
Buffet B12, ED II Ligature, M13 Mouthpiece, Strength 5 V12 Vandoren
Local 281 - Clarinet Player
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Author: ned
Date: 2007-08-09 04:31
Thanks fmcat,
Which company produces ''iLife 08''? Will it be necessary for me as I read music fairly poorly? If I can get away with the seemingly intuitive Garage Band, I'll be happy with just that.
Same question about ''symphony orchestra jam pack''
thanks again,
ned
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2007-08-09 04:53
iLife and the various jam packs are Mac products.
I use garage band for simple recording and am reasonably happy with it.
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2007-08-09 10:04
Buying a Mac will be one of the smartest things you ever do. Once you go Mac, you can't go back! I got mine about 2 years ago and have been raving about it ever since. It annoys many people, so these days when a friend is complaining about their computer problems I just give them a smug smile and say "I wouldn't know about that sorta stuff"
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Author: bbarner
Date: 2007-08-09 12:35
I bought a G4 Powerbook back in 2004 and have had some fun with Garage Band (GB). I haven't updated my software, so I don't have the latest version of GB. I have some mp3 files of music I made with my clarinet and GB (http://homepage.mac.com/bbarner).
Bill Barner
http://www.billbarner.com
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Author: BobD
Date: 2007-08-09 12:47
Love my Mac. A side comment: Since the Macs are made in China can quality clarinets be far behind.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2007-08-09 14:49
"can quality clarinets be far behind?"
Depends on what you think of Tom Ridenour's clarinets.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: ned
Date: 2007-08-09 22:36
OK thanks for all of your insights.
Lokks like Mac is for me - I was half convinced to begin with, as I have had only seemingly unreliable PCs since 1992.
ned
(ps) I have an IBM Thinkpad now - it's made in China I believe.
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Author: Dano
Date: 2007-08-09 23:29
I use Garage band a lot. The great thing about it is that you can record yourself with different backgrounds, then send it to iTunes where you can download onto an iPod, email it or even make a disk. Not only is it a blast but you can show your talents off by playing the same tune with different arrangements. For example, Autumn Leaves with latin, strings and bossa nova arrangements. I hated my iMac for the first couple of months and now I could never go back to doing things the old way (windows).
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Author: ned
Date: 2007-08-09 23:56
OK Dano - I'm even more convinced now.
One question to GB users though:
Can an external keyboard be used instead of the ''desktop'' one in GB?
I'm relatively au' fait with a regular keyboard, but a virtual one on a screen seems like a slow way of composing.
thanks,
ned
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Author: Clariphant in Bb
Date: 2007-08-10 00:00
Yes, you can hook up a keyboard and use it instead of the onscreen one.
You can also use your computer keyboard as a virtual keyboard. Of course, the range is limited.
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2007-08-12 21:57
iLife 8 is included with all new macs. I used garageband exclusively until recently (I need to use logic on occasion) for all my work. If you want to hear some things made in garageband check out my myspace. Everything online right now was recorded with, or created solely with that program.
Get a mac!
myspace.com/seanperrin
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: ned
Date: 2007-08-14 06:23
OK - ta - I'll have a look at your site soon.
ned
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Author: Tom Puwalski
Date: 2007-08-14 13:04
If you have 2 good mics and a a usb mic pre running into a power book, you can get some very good recordings. Much better than running into a mini disk or god forbid a cassett deck.The audio engine on a Mac book pro is an amazing sounding thing. It will not be the weak spot in your signal chain. Can you get better, yea but it will cost you alot of $. Garage band is the quickest and easiest way to get into a good home studio. It's not the best "editing" software around. You can't do cross fades with it, which it think is a must for doing totally invisable edits. but you can go to a studio and rent a small fraction of the time for post production and have an experienced pro tools operator work with you if you need something really done at production level. I'm not sure if logic express, or logic has the cross fade ability. But recording into garage band(free withMac) directly with a good signal chain, will sound as good as recording into logic ($900?) you just can't manipulate the sounds as much.
I run 2 shure 330 ribbon mics into an apoggee usb mic preamp. I get a better sound onthe Mac than most guys can get on a clarinet in most of the studios in the DC-Balto area. And unlike PCs, you don't have to go through a box of them to find one that works.
Tom Puwalski, former soloist with the US Army Field Band, Clarinetist with The Atonement, and Author of "The Clarinetist's Guide to Klezmer"and most recently by the order of the wizard of Oz, for supreme intelligence, a Masters in Clarinet performance
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Author: ned
Date: 2007-08-15 05:47
Thanks Tom - seems like I have quite a bit of learning to do.
ned.
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Author: Neal Raskin
Date: 2007-08-15 22:45
I purchased my mac book pro last summer. I am now in love with my it! I use garage band to record my practice sessions with the internal mic for a general reference to hear myself. Otherwise I use it to make small little tunes with the sample clips. Like Morrigan said before me, when my friends have PC problems, I just smile inside because they don't like me talking about my problem free mac when they are having problems.
Good Luck,
Neal
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2007-08-15 23:02
Man, so much dissing of the PC, guess I have to represent.
I, for one, have lots more trouble on Macs than PCs. Problem is, a few particularly good music apps are Mac-only.
Were I shopping now, I'd get a Mac and use Parallels to run Windows on it. Both OSes running simultaneously on one screen.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Dano
Date: 2007-08-15 23:07
EEBaum wrote:
> Man, so much dissing of the PC, guess I have to represent.
>
> I, for one, have lots more trouble on Macs than PCs. Problem
> is, a few particularly good music apps are Mac-only.
>
> Were I shopping now, I'd get a Mac and use Parallels to run
> Windows on it. Both OSes running simultaneously on one screen.
>
Sounds like you don't like the PC anymore than the rest of the "dissers". Once I left the Windows thing, there was no looking back. The first month or so I was full of complaints but once I got used to it, forget about it.
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