And Now For The Good News... Options

[Levon River]

Despite our legitimate woes and lamentations as Mac musicians attempting to migrate to OS X (See: "The Name of This Forum is an Oxymoron), there are actually some very bright spots, and if the *promises* ever come due and collectible, we probably are on the brink of one of the best music computing systems to date with OS X.

Propellerhead Software is really to be commended for Reason 2.0. It is exceptional in many ways (the sequencer not necessarily being one of them ). The number of different sounds you can squeeze out of that beast is truly amazing, and their new expanded sampler module (NN-XT) makes rolling your own patches almost enjoyable.

Spark is another bright spot. Pun intended. The affordability of Spark LE and LE Plus is hard to beat. Of course adding all their effects modules--jumping up to Spark or Spark XL--is going to slim down your bank account several pants sizes, but they've shown that high-quality software effects can come over intact to OS X, with all their fingers and toes. So a tip o' the hat to TC|Works and their outstanding effects packages, all cruising with Jaguar.

Bias has trotted out Peak, which seems to do what it's always done just as well as ever, and Bias also beat the pack to the DAW finish line with Deck 3.5--though it's still crippled by lack of integrated MIDI sequencing. (The firm that created Deck and the companion MIDI program, Metro--OSC--was loopy to ever sell out, with Deck going to one company and Metro to another; if they'd ever integrated the two, they would have had a real contender in the DAW wars, and would have inherited Vision's place. But that's Mac history. And the twain, now, shall never meet. Deck is always going to have a very limited market unless Bias does something to add MIDI support. This commentary is free of charge. )

Now with Cubase SX just days away, and Digital Performer for OS X purportedly coming in November, we might just actually be peering at the Promised Land. In fact, when just one of the major audio/MIDI DAW packages actually does make it possible to fold in output from, e.g., just Reason, alone, it is going to be one powerhouse system, a tour de force, a pip.

So I'll stir the pot. I'll clang the bell. I'll keep the heat on high, because I do think it's a crime the way the whole changeover to OS X was handled, especially for us poor mistreated musicians. But once all these wild horses ever once do finally get in harness and pointed in the same direction, hang on to your seats; I think it's going to be a wild ride.