Beginner on Powerbook Options

[musoman88]

Hi all. I need some serious help in making some music on my Powerbook. Can I use the input in the back (I have a G3 400, 192Mb ram)? I have a USB Midi converter (Steinberg), but don't have a USB audio unit (ie roland UA-3). I was thinking of downloading Pro-Tools Free, is this a good place to start? I just need to make demos, I'm not recording pro CDs (yet). I am totally confused by all the software choices there is out there. Is there anyone out there who works on a G3 Powerbook who can guide me? I'm near Toronto, Canada, and I'm used to recording with MIDI equipment. Audio on the computer is another question. HEEEEELP! Thanks to all........mark

[jq]

Yo Musoman 88,

I have a PB G3 (400 Pismo).
Like you I have a midi set up but i have just finished an album which I mastered on the PB (using Cubase VST). The sound in port is good enough (although spec heads think a pc card or audio interface such as Tascam USB or Pocket VX are better). I've played my master to professional producers and they think it's good quality.
I record 'live' into the mac from the midi studio (via the sound in) then mess with the audio. It seems to work fine.
I would be very careful if buying a usb audio unit as there are issues with the low bandwidth of usb -Firewire sounds better but costs a lot more ($700!!).
Pro tools Free would be a good place to start , or cubase/logic if your already using them will be sufficient.

I am on a powerbook g3 with 233mhz 160 ram running 8.5 ithink that's all I will need if i use cakewalk metro 5. I wanna run my casio into my mac what do I need?? jq said the sound in port is fine and I think he is right I don't need expensive sound cards, BECAUSE cubase and logic and cakewalk produce cd quality sound, and my regular music discs (madonna, king crimson, santana etc.) sound fine listening to music on the computer as is. So what do I need besides a midi interface and cable? I plan to do no vocals or live audio with my sequencer tracks so there must be a cheap set-up for me.

[jq]

I don't know anything about cakewalk but if it deals with audio you have everything you need....
being midi sequencer+/audio program, midi interface for keyboards...

If you want better sound input the iMic from griffin technology is good and very cheap ($35) and undoubtedly superior to mac sound in, but it is USB only. However if you are sampling from CDs then ripping them using Sound Jam or similar is even better as you keep it digital.
Finally all you need is inspiration!

[abbie]

Hi, Guess I'm not a spec-head because I find the audio in works really well. I am not sure, however, whether you want to record your keyboard as audio, or as midi tracks. If it's for audio, you probably have all you need unless you need a mixer to boost the sound. The iMic sounds good too but I have heard that it doesn't work with virtual memory turned off which is required by some audio recording programs. If it's midi tracks, you will need a USB interface such as the Midisport which also requires you be be at OS8.6 (available as a download from Apple).

[jq]

It is not a pre requisite for virtual memory to be on for the imic to work -but if you have little ram to keep applications happy then you may have to... It may cause problems with audio, but Cubase works with virtual memory although it is not recommended.
Sound in is fine but imic gives mic level in, as well as line in, unlike sound in. The difference in sound level is quite noticeable.... so where sound in is fine imic is far better, brighter, louder, clearer, (insert superlatives here)...

[abbie]

Maybe we are straying a bit off the topic, but thanks, jq, for clearing up the Imic mystery for me. Yes, this does sound good, especially if one does not have audio jacks on their computer, but I have been using a mixer into the audio in to get the right levels etc. and it works well since I also use the mixer to monitor what I have already recorded with what I am currently recording, thus bypassing a potential latency problem.

My conclusion from all this would be to get Pro-tools free, have lots of RAM (at least 128M), get an iMic (unless you already own a mixer), and a USB/Midi interface such as a Midisport for sequencing.

[jq]

just to clear it up...
my point is more to do with the analogue-digital convertors that are superior to the mac sound in. Regardless of the mixer input.
But having said that... sound in will do, but for the small price of $35 you will get better results.
don't take my word for it try this link for a review -it gets a 5 mice rating:
http://www.macuser.co.uk/guest/php3/openfr...w.php3?id=35434

Thanks to abbie and jq you guys are on the money! Wow! So you are saying to use the imic to record on the macintosh microphone all my vocals or guitar then mix it onto the sequencer tracks?? Ohh baby! This is gonna be more fun than I thought. So I can do several more vocals and mix them as background too into the midi tracks if I have a program like pro tools free or cubase etc? I think cakewalk metro 5 will let me mix live audio in with the midi tracks. So am I getting this correct? All I need is the macintosh microphone?

Well tell me this guys..and this may sound dumb but I never did it before... how does the sound go back out of the comptuter to record my music midi tracks onto my boom box cassette player or to hear it out of my boom box stereo. I don't have a cd burner nor can I afford to pay for one nor do i need one. I want to record onto and pump it all out of my stereo. Thanks!

[musoman88]

Thanks, abbie & jq, for clearing up a few things for me. I've got a mixer (Mackie 1402), and heaps of ram (192), all I need to do is make a software decision and get on with it. I'm going to look into iMic, so thanks for that tip jq. Q: I've got a very basic version of Toast with a LaCie CD writer I recently purchased. I can copy CD's, but that's all. I can't shuffle tracks, or manipulate MP3 files (i.e. record a track or two without 'Finishing', putting a couple more tracks from another CD, or music file on it and so on). Is there an upgrade for this, or other software I need? I know this is a basic question for some of you, but what the hey, I'm a beginner.... Thanks....