Greetings,
I am presently a PC user and very happy with my setup. I have to admit though, with the new mac mini out, I wonder about the depth of GB2. I don't want to switch from PC, I just want to step into the mac experience, and at that price I can.
I understand GB2 has been updated, but to what level I am not clear. I understand it has notation now and you can import midi files. Does it support odd time signatures though?
I don't need a power house because of the way I work. I score my midis in Finale first and deal mostly with hardware for sound. I use Sonar on PC, I import the midis and then assign sounds. I never record audio, unless I'm bouncing a track from a soft synth. Except for the few soft synths I have, I wouldn't even need Sonar, I can do all notation and midi editing in Finale that I need. I could easily toss the plugs.
Can I load a midi with odd time signatures and have the notation display accordingly? I wouldn't expect much for editing notation or midi, I have all I need in Finale for that. I would just want the notation to display properly.
I wouldn't mind playing with the sounds that came with GB2 and the add-ons, but I mostly rely on hardware. I'm just curious of the mac experience and I want to give it a try. I'm only interested in midi work for music, plus I enjoy chess quite a bit and there is a new superb program out for OS X now, and no it's not Chessmaster:) It's Sigma Chess Hiarcs 9.6.
For 500 bucks it's low risk for me should I not be impressed, but I still want to try it if it can meet my midi needs for notation display in GB2. I suppose Cubase SE is a good option for me that's cheap. At least I know that would do want I want.
Thanks for your time and responses, cheers...
the depth of Garage Band 2
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- KVRist
- 45 posts since 29 May, 2003
" All the World is a stage "
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- KVRAF
- 3528 posts since 18 Apr, 2002 from British Columbia, Canada
sounds like ya want one 
I say 'go for it'.
If you end up not liking mac, you can run Yellow Dog Linux on macs, I think.
Don't buy it for garbage band though. Try Acid on your pc and you will know what it's like. Not quite as good though.
Well, that's just one man's oppinion.
Those mini macs do look pretty; i almost want one too. Gonna get an Athlon64 shuttle instead though.
Cheerz.
I say 'go for it'.If you end up not liking mac, you can run Yellow Dog Linux on macs, I think.
Don't buy it for garbage band though. Try Acid on your pc and you will know what it's like. Not quite as good though.
Well, that's just one man's oppinion.
Those mini macs do look pretty; i almost want one too. Gonna get an Athlon64 shuttle instead though.
Cheerz.
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- KVRAF
- 2093 posts since 19 Jun, 2003 from UTM 18 317254E 4295335N (WGS84/NAD83)
Hi rushwanabee. I have a Mac with Garbage, er I mean Garage Band 
, Soundtrack, Live, Peak and Digital Performer 4.5 as well as a slew of other stuff... and I have a PC with FL, Sound Forge, Acid, etc... Now I don't have GB 2 just yet, but I will upgrade. I don't think GB two supports odd time sigs, but it may. And I can't speak to the notation issue yet either. All I know is that it's related to what is available in Logic.
GB is easy to use and fast for getting something comped up. The loops and instrument sounds that come with it are really good. Good enough that I'll probably use at least the inistrumental tracks from one of my GB demos for a final. But I haven't given up on DP for Live and I doubt I'd give up either for GB. I even like using Fruity Loops for some stuff. But when it comes down to finalizing a mix or mastering, you need to have really accurate control of everything and GB sacrifices that for ease of use. I wouldn't compare it to Acid though. It's a lot simpler and geared toward performance.
Don't forget (especially if you are using outboard gear) you are going to want high quality audio I/O for your computer... With a Mac mini, you could easily spend more than the computer on just the audio interface.
, Soundtrack, Live, Peak and Digital Performer 4.5 as well as a slew of other stuff... and I have a PC with FL, Sound Forge, Acid, etc... Now I don't have GB 2 just yet, but I will upgrade. I don't think GB two supports odd time sigs, but it may. And I can't speak to the notation issue yet either. All I know is that it's related to what is available in Logic.GB is easy to use and fast for getting something comped up. The loops and instrument sounds that come with it are really good. Good enough that I'll probably use at least the inistrumental tracks from one of my GB demos for a final. But I haven't given up on DP for Live and I doubt I'd give up either for GB. I even like using Fruity Loops for some stuff. But when it comes down to finalizing a mix or mastering, you need to have really accurate control of everything and GB sacrifices that for ease of use. I wouldn't compare it to Acid though. It's a lot simpler and geared toward performance.
Don't forget (especially if you are using outboard gear) you are going to want high quality audio I/O for your computer... With a Mac mini, you could easily spend more than the computer on just the audio interface.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 45 posts since 29 May, 2003
Greetings You,
Thanks for your response. It does sound like GB2 would be a waste of time for me. I would still be interested in the Mac mini for midi work and chess. As I said in my original post, I'm not that much invloved with audio work really. I depend mostly on midi, a high qaulity sound card is not a big deal forme, because I just really don't deal with audio much.
In light of the sense that I gather that GB is not to my needs, I would be best suited to have Finale on both PC and a mac mini if I choose to get one. Finale suits all my needs for midi work. I'm not sure yet that I want to give up completely on soft synth work, and that's why I asked about GB2. I really didn't want to buy another host such as Cubase SE.
More and more, I just gravitate to my hard synths and rely on Finale. I've wondered about macs for so long, I just have to try it, and the mac mini makes it affordable for me, if I'm just doing midi work.
You have helepd me , thank you. Cheers...
Thanks for your response. It does sound like GB2 would be a waste of time for me. I would still be interested in the Mac mini for midi work and chess. As I said in my original post, I'm not that much invloved with audio work really. I depend mostly on midi, a high qaulity sound card is not a big deal forme, because I just really don't deal with audio much.
In light of the sense that I gather that GB is not to my needs, I would be best suited to have Finale on both PC and a mac mini if I choose to get one. Finale suits all my needs for midi work. I'm not sure yet that I want to give up completely on soft synth work, and that's why I asked about GB2. I really didn't want to buy another host such as Cubase SE.
More and more, I just gravitate to my hard synths and rely on Finale. I've wondered about macs for so long, I just have to try it, and the mac mini makes it affordable for me, if I'm just doing midi work.
You have helepd me , thank you. Cheers...
" All the World is a stage "
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- KVRAF
- 2093 posts since 19 Jun, 2003 from UTM 18 317254E 4295335N (WGS84/NAD83)
I wouldn't say GB is a waste of time - after all, if you buy a new Mac, you get it for free... and if you get iLife, you get a bunch of other great programs (which you probably aren't interested in now) such as iPhoto and iDVD. I use iPhoto and iTunes as databases for all my photos, art, movies and songs. It's really helped me organize and catalog my stuff. Sometimes, you don't realize how much you like something until you start using it...
Well good luck with whatever you choose! And shouldn't you amend you sig to say, "All the world's indeed a stage..."
Well good luck with whatever you choose! And shouldn't you amend you sig to say, "All the world's indeed a stage..."