Thinking of switching to a Mac for my main computer (and other software questions)

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ChronicHeadache

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So I just got an iPad and have been messing with Garage Band, animoog, and a few korg synths apps. I am in the market for a new computer anyways (for school) and thought this would be a good time to kick start my recording hobby. After I get some (much needed) expereince, i'll prolly switch over from GB to Logic or protools or something. Who all here uses a mac or PC?

I'm browsing the forums for reading material, and I found Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies by Jeff Strong, but what are some other good books/online resources? Preferably for Garage band, korg, moog and drum machine basics.

Hope you guys can help a n00b out. muchas gracias!
 
Here are some books I'm looking at getting thus far:
Becoming a Synthesizer Wizard: From Presets to Power User by Simon Cann
Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies
Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques by Rick Snoman
Drum Programming by Ray F. Badness

i've also been reading a bit of tweaks site on the basics. It's just very overwhelming, it's going to take some time to be fully absorbed
 
I know that not everyone learns in the same way. But IMO you can do a lot worse then pounding on tweakHeadz... you'll get a headache but it'll start to make sense, and you'll not have spent any money. Ignore the ads.

I'd look at what your school is using to record in the music department because that's something of a ready made help desk. I know that Apple is big in the academic world, but not so much in the commercial world so where you go depends on where you want to be. If you think that you're eventually going to be using ProTools in a commercial environment then go with a PC and start learning it now. If you see yourself just knocking around with this stuff as a hobby then Apple is fantastic. I concede that you get a LOT more choices in the PC world but some people like the warm comfy security of Apple's walled garden.

If you're a self-starting learn-by-doing kind of guy then save your money for some modest gear and skip the books. The guys who wrote them did.

Luck.
 
wheelema said:
If you think that you're eventually going to be using ProTools in a commercial environment then go with a PC and start learning it now. If you see yourself just knocking around with this stuff as a hobby then Apple is fantastic.
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I don't get this ^.
Plenty of commercial studios use apple computers.

I switched to apple because all the studios I've been in use apple computers exclusively.

OP. The transition from garage band to logic is a natural one. If you like the working environment of garage band I'd look at logic for the future.
 
Steenamaroo said:
I don't get this ^.
Plenty of commercial studios use apple computers.

I switched to apple because all the studios I've been in use apple computers exclusively.

OP. The transition from garage band to logic is a natural one. If you like the working environment of garage band I'd look at logic in future.
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Everybody's experience is different. At Paramount...which of course was video... Apple and Avid were huge. ProTools was where it was at when I was looking at commercial studios (and personally I think ProTools kind of sucks) but that's just what was out there at that time. Your experience is different. It happens.
 
wheelema said:
Apple and Avid were huge. ProTools was where it was at when I was looking at commercial studios (and personally I think ProTools kind of sucks) but that's just what was out there at that time. Your experience is different. It happens.
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That's exactly my experience : Apple and Avid.



wheelema said:
If you think that you're eventually going to be using ProTools in a commercial environment then go with a PC
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This is what I didn't get.
Broadly speaking, I'd expect apple to be more common in professional studios.
 
Steenamaroo said:
It's this bit I didn't get.
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Oh. IMO if the application is OS transparent you'll always get more bang-for-the-buck in the IBM PC compat universe then the Apple universe though this largely depends on you being able to roll-your-own or buy custom. Consider the Mac Pro as sold by B&H...

Apple Mac Pro 12-Core Desktop Computer Workstation (3.06GHz)
  • 12-Core 3.06GHz Intel Xeon (2x6-Core)
  • 12GB of DDR3 RAM
  • 1TB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
  • ATI Radeon HD 5870 Graphics (1GB)
  • Dual-Layer 18x SuperDrive
  • 4 FireWire 800 and 7 USB 2.0 Ports
  • 2 x 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet
  • 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
$6,400

Now, what would those specs cost in the PC Compat universe? I've bolded the superior specs and bolded and italicized the inferior.
  • 12-Core 3.3GHz Intel Xeon (2x6-Core)
  • 16GB of DDR3 RAM
  • 1TB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
  • ATI Radeon HD 5870 Graphics (1GB)
  • Dual-Layer 18x Blu-ray BD-R
  • No FireWire, 6 USB 2.0 Ports, 2 USB 3.0
  • 2 x 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet
  • 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, No Bluetooth
$4,400

That $2,000 difference (and you can trust me that the pricing is accurate) would buy me a nice interface, mic, keyboard, and a decent guitar.
 
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Oh, I see.
Yeah, from a price point of view that's a fair point. Mac pros (and even imacs) are grossly overpriced IMO.

The same's probably true at a hobby level too. I bought a MBP because that's what I wanted and I got my Da a Mac mini, but I probably could have saved a lot of money on the same spec machines from Dell or whatever.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Oh, I see.
Yeah, from a price point of view that's a fair point. Mac pros (and even imacs) are grossly overpriced IMO.

The same's probably true at a hobby level too. I bought a MBP because that's what I wanted and I got my Da a Mac mini, but I probably could have saved a lot of money on the same spec machines from Dell or whatever.
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Well I don't know about THAT but if you can roll-your-own you'll see some nice savings even without the economies of scale OEMs enjoy.
 
JBoucks said:
Mac is the way to go, trust me.
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You just bought a $100 mic, and have just started recording, yet have the experience to tell someone what computer is best for recording?

No offense man, but....
 
I'll trust him.

I'll report back after I run out of money trying to complete my system and have cried into a hole at the unfamiliar Macintosh system and what I have done.
 
Yikes, didn't mean to start a mc vs. pc war here....seems like that's what is happening here. I'm still strongly leaning towards macs for ease of use...and all my other gadgets are macs too. And there's school too, papers and such, and pcs have been giving me major issues. I also have had other gripes with PCs that I don't want to get into now.
 
No worries man. It always happens. Go with what you feel comfortable with yourself. They can both achieve the same thing. PC sometimes makes one work harder for the savings. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
Yeah you should get a mac. I have a macbook pro and it's surprisingly well for editing. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that you get one of the retina display ones if you do get a macbook pro because they have really small hard drive storage. If you do, you would most likely have to get an external harddrive. But macs are definitely the way to go.
 
defeasible said:
Yeah you should get a mac. I have a macbook pro and it's surprisingly well for editing. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that you get one of the retina display ones if you do get a macbook pro because they have really small hard drive storage. If you do, you would most likely have to get an external harddrive. But macs are definitely the way to go.
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Lol. I love religion.

I've been in this game a looonnnggg time. I sold Apple's Lisa computer and I've sold Macs. I've actually handled an Apple HardFile (an early external HDD) and I welcome anyone here to guess how much storage THAT thing had (good luck with Google). The only difference between a PC and a Mac is OS, profit, and looks. If you absolutely have to have looks, don't mind dishing out way more money then you need to, and prefer Apple's walled-garden of an OS then by all means, fork over the money. If you need to stretch every dime buy a PC.

After you get the warm fuzzies out of the equation it's 'six of one, half a dozen of the other'.
 
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