Essential Stuff? Options

[macshark]

Hello all. My name is Scott, and I am a newbie. Hello, Scott...

Okay, now that's out of the way, let me say that I have dug thorough this entire site as well as others, and I am still a little (lot) confused about the necessary equipment.

I have used/demo'd - Ableton Live, Bias Peak and Deck, Spark ME, Storm, Reason, and Metro. Haven't tried PT or Logic yet. I am on a G3 slot-loading iMac, OSX 10.2.4. I may be upgrading the computer w/in the next year if necessary.

All I want to do is record electric guitar and vocals into my imac, and do multitrack and editing on the computer. Also, I need some type of drum machine, beats, etc. Basically just looking to record my own songs for my own use (for now).

I don't have any other hardware (keyboard or midi-controller), but would consider getting an inexpensive one.

After all that, finally to the question at hand. What do I need to effectively do this? Live, Deck, and Metro seem to be the same to me in that they will let you multi-track. I like Spark a lot, and don't see where Peak is any better as a pure recorder. I could not figure out Storm or Reason. Not sure I really need all the midi-synth stuff. But I do NEED drum tracks.

Any suggestions, on software and hardware that I should look into?

Sorry for such a long request. Thanks.

Scott

[xingu]

Oh yeah - I forgot to re-emphasize Cubase SL, which could save you some, considering its bulit-in 24-bit drum machine. Steinberg is currently running a $50 rebate, so you can pick it up for $300 - a nice price for sure. Hey Rickenbacker - can you provide any feedback on the sound quality/usability of the Cubase drum machine?

If you go the Logic route, that Gold Production Kit is nice if you can swing it (about $650). But you'd still need Reason for the drum machine (or Storm). And just to clarify, Rickenbacker was referring to exporting each Reason track as a separate audio file - then when you import each of these into your DAW into their own tracks, you can adjust levels, EQs, add effects, etc. to each individually instead of to the whole Reason "song". This, of course, will only apply if you're actually adding, say synth parts, to your drum track - or if you arrange your drum pattern so each sound has its own track. The possibilities are endless...