New to Mac, yeah I know..

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Opposition

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Im an ex-PC musician who hasn't been in the loop since 2005. I just bought the most advanced MacBook Pro with an Apogee Duet. Garageband was installed with it so I am new to Mac and Ill admit that I am alittle overwhelmed. Back in the day I was used to using Sonar with FL studio which was pretty straight forward with little learning curve. Since Macs are designed for artists I assumed that it would be pretty straight forward. First off, after to trying to explore Garageband, it seems like an overly cumbersome toy. I have searched for tutorials on youtube and so on, but it seems that all of these tutorials are interested in prerecorded loops, and not original production. Plus, there doesn't seem to be a step sequencer, though the software claims to have one.

Does anyone have advice as to what is comparable to Sonar and FL studio for MacBook Pro with Yosemite OS X 10.10.1? It has to be at least capable of recording at 24/96. GarageBand claims to record at 24 bit, but its only at 44.1. I apologize if these are novice questions, but appreciate the feedback.
 
I'd honestly just use Logic X Pro on a Mac.
It's great for the home musician.

It's an Apple program and has HUGE support databases on inet.
 
Opposition said:
Im an ex-PC musician who hasn't been in the loop since 2005. I just bought the most advanced MacBook Pro with an Apogee Duet. Garageband was installed with it so I am new to Mac and Ill admit that I am alittle overwhelmed. Back in the day I was used to using Sonar with FL studio which was pretty straight forward with little learning curve. Since Macs are designed for artists I assumed that it would be pretty straight forward. First off, after to trying to explore Garageband, it seems like an overly cumbersome toy. I have searched for tutorials on youtube and so on, but it seems that all of these tutorials are interested in prerecorded loops, and not original production. Plus, there doesn't seem to be a step sequencer, though the software claims to have one.

Does anyone have advice as to what is comparable to Sonar and FL studio for MacBook Pro with Yosemite OS X 10.10.1? It has to be at least capable of recording at 24/96. GarageBand claims to record at 24 bit, but its only at 44.1. I apologize if these are novice questions, but appreciate the feedback.
Click to expand...

Hi,
I don't know about step sequencers but I know garageband is pretty much a toy.
It's the free loop-based software that comes with any apple product. The professional alternative, keeping it in the family, is logic studio or logic pro.
Those are expensive enough but designed for 'proper' work and more likely to compare to the suites you used to use.

Outside of that there's ProTools and cubase (I believe) for mac and, saving the best for last, reaper! :)

I say best....really I mean cheapest but it's still a very capable suite. You should definitely check it out. (free to try).

If you're predominantly loop/sample based, try the demo of Ableton.
 
I think that Logic X is like 150-200 of whatever whacky European currency a person would like to pay in. Not that expensive in the audio world, I'd say.
 
GarageBand isnt that hard to navigate around after a bit. Our bands first recordings were all done on garage band using a Tascam US1800 interface. No loops were used so the notion that is loop based isnt true. That idea must come from garageband on iPads or something.

My MacBook pro in addition to GB has Cuebase, and Studio One. No issues.
 
mdainsd said:
GarageBand isnt that hard to navigate around after a bit. Our bands first recordings were all done on garage band using a Tascam US1800 interface. No loops were used so the notion that is loop based isnt true. That idea must come from garageband on iPads or something.
Click to expand...

Sure, you can record in it, but unless a lot has changed in the last few years it's certainly geared towards using apple loops etc.
It's not going to be as capable an audio recording/manipulation tool as Logic, for example.
 
Wow. those were quick replies...thanks...I am "semi"-professional, so is Logic the best alternative or Ableton? My biggest need is a step sequencer, like Fruity Loops (FL Studio) so I can export what I punch in, into a track albeit stereo or audio, in 24/96.
 
Opposition said:
Wow. those were quick replies...thanks...I am "semi"-professional, so is Logic the best alternative or Ableton? My biggest need is a step sequencer, like Fruity Loops (FL Studio) so I can export what I punch in, into a track albeit stereo or audio, in 24/96.
Click to expand...

I can't tell you which has step sequencers, but I know logic and ableton are both favourites amongst my friends who work with beat/sample/loop based music.
I'd be shocked if ableton didn't have one.
Google is your friend. :)
 
Actually, I shouldn't say semi-professional, because it seems so much has changed in the last 10 years (obviously). But what I am looking for is a system where I had Sonar 7. I recorded real instruments into it. I used FL studio and exported my own samples to create my own loops, and after completing them, import them into Sonar.
 
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