grannyrod - you're a musician and using a PC - not a Mac?

 

Shoot TC, I thought it was the drums.

 

Hey Lig, I hear that Mac is a better "computer" all around but I've never had a chance to check it out. Plus, I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a musician (can't make the old fingers work anymore), just someone teaching anybody who'll listen, how to read and play music in the beginning stages. What should I know about a Mac and music programs? Is there that big a difference?

 

Truthfully the gap has been narrowed - but the best studios still use ProTools on Macs for recording.

Macs are easier to use and more reliable (I have an XP Pro laptop for work and a bunch of Macs for play)

One thing your students will really enjoy is a program called GarageBand. You get it with new Macs (it's part of iLife '04 - a software suite that has photo/dvd movie/music apps)

You can teach them the fundamentals of music (melody, harmony, rhythm/time, chords) and then they can create music with GarageBand in literally minutes - even before they can absorb the good stuff you are teaching them (it's an integrated midi sequencer and digital recording application)

One day you should wander into an Apple store and play with one.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/


Sorry for the hijack, Rob my bad!

 

Yeah, sorry Rob, you know how we go off topic.

Anyway Lig, I have a 16 track sequencer on my digital piano which also plays midi's. Do you think GarageBand comes as general midi or is it Mac specific. I know they would love it. Seems nobody wants to learn the basics anymore, especially the ones with good mucisal ears and talent, they just want to hear it and play it. So my hardest job is to keep them interested, focused and using today's music to teach them to count, though they do love classical music (especially piano), which surprised me. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. What instrument do you play? Again, sorry Rob.

 

adobe premier is a great video editing program. it is very robust but may be a little expensive...i have a copy from work so i'm not sure of the exact cost.

 

hey Granny -

midi is universal. Zero problems with Mac/PC/Amiga/Atari compatibility.

 

No problem Granny. This topic, like most others in Vintage gets better when it meanders. This has turned into an interesting conversation, especially for someone like me. By that I mean, for the most part I use computers to crunch numbers, do research (on line, cd, and dvd), compose letters and forms, and general record keeping. On my side of the pc world, we have very little use for Macs and use pcs almost exclusively. The issues range from compatiblily to availability of software.


A few of my clients are in graphic arts oriented industries and they sware by their Macs, yet for people like me, it has to be a pc.

 

I always thought I needed a PC at home until I bought a Mac. I've found the ease of iTunes, IMovie, IDVD, & IPhoto much more useful than the PC was for anything but games and MS Office, which if I want I can do on the Mac.

 

Thanks Lig, now if you could just find me some time to learn to lay tracks. I think the "Dummies" books would come in handy here too. I'll have to check out that software for my kids. My house is going to turn into a hangout for teens if this keeps up. As it is, the parents have to drag them out of there, they're so interested in all the fun stuff.

Rob, is sounds like you already know how to do quite a bit with the photos, DVD, and CD. If I only had time to learn and play with all this stuff, I'd be okay. How do you guys do it?