Archive for the ‘Audio Software’ Category
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Rewiring Reason is a nice feature – you can use all the Reason synths, effects and instruments in Logic Pro (it should work even in Express Edition). Basis is the so called Rewire protocoll which has been invented by Propellerhead before a good while.
Basically its pretty forward to wire both application together. You just need to know that one of the apps should be the Master, while the other is the slave. Usually you have Logic Pro as the Master, from which you control everything and Reason only as some kind of big effect box.
To start with it, please open Logic Pro and afterwards Propellerhead Reason – NOT vice versa. The master needs to be opened first.
Then create a new track in Logic. The type is “External MIDI”.
In Reason, step up to highest hardware component, the hardware device. There is a button called “Adv. Midi Device”. Click it.
In Logic you are now able to choose Reason in the Library. Just select your “External MIDI” Track and open the Library. You’ll see a folder called “Reason” and then several instruments, depending of what you created. I have chosen one called “Synth”.
Now the signal should go into Reason and do things, but you need to wire it back into Logic to hear it. This can be done with a new track in Logic, an AUX track. You can create it in the Mixer view in “Options > Create new Aux”. Once done you are able to choose the channel which comes from Reason in Logics “I/O” section. I have chosen R/Cha 9/10. If you choose the stereo sum: this already works, but if you want to separate between different channels you need to patch the reason components. I wanted to use the single outputs, so, back to reason.
In Reason you can choose in Options that you would like to view the Rack from the back.
Choose the instrument you want and patch two cabels from the for example master out in the hardware controller on top. The hardware controller finally decides which channels you can hear in Logic. Because I have choosen 9 and 10, my stereo out from the instrument goes into the hardware device in slot 9 and 10 too.
Once done, this is finished and you have successfully rewired Logic to Reason and vice versa. Now your creativity can begin and learning start  Enjoy!
Tags: Logic, MIDI, Music, Reason
Posted in Audio Software, Music, Music Tech. and Hardware | 1 Comment »
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
After long time I finally decided to buy Apple Logic 8 in favour of GarageBand and Apple Logic 7! It now has arrived!
 Apple Logic 8 Spotting it out showed me that everything looks more cool and nothing is missing. It runs smooth on a Mac Mini Intel Core Duo (not 2) with 2 Gig of RAM. Performance is not different to Logic 7. Synthesizer Content is amazing and I really think that the time of creating a VST or AU plugin is near
We’ll see – now I enjoy that cool piece of software!
Tags: Logic, Mac Mini, MIDI, Music
Posted in Audio Software, Music Tech. and Hardware | No Comments »
Friday, October 17th, 2008
For a few days I had the luck to get a brandnew Apple MacBook Air to my hands. The notebook is running with Mac OSX Leopard of course and iLife 08 is preinstalled. This in fact means that I got a copy of GarageBand 4.1.2 which I meanwhile tried out.
Normally I am working with OSX 10.4 means Tiger. I am composing ideas usually with GarageBand 3 and then, when the idea envolves, switch over to Logic Express 7.3 where I work out everything. GarageBand is a very useful tool to quickly record ideas when they come up and I cannot live without this. Well, actually I could, but my life is easier with GarageBand.
When I fired up the iLife08 Version of GarageBand 4.1.2 everything looks familiar. There were no surprises, never. At the start screen is a new button which invites you to create a “Magic Band” song or something like that. I really didn’t understand what this crap is. It’s a bit like a computer game without sense. Choose your style and you see a stage with several instruments on it. Click again and you have some fitting loops in your player. Well, don’t know why one should consider this useful. So, my choice is to ignore that “new feature”.
The first new feature I saw was that “arrangement” bar on top of my tracks. It makes it possible for me now to arrange several parts of my song and give it a name. Means: I mark a part of my song and name it “chorus” or “middle part” or whatever. Later I thought I can easily copy the whole part and drop it whereever I want. Well, not true. I just can move the whole collection around, but copy and paste is not possible. This makes the feature nice but doesn’t help in praxis. I really would like to copy past and then modify some parts. I hope that one improves. I read later that apple states that this feature works with copy and paste, but at least I couldn’t figure out how. That’s not what I expect from my Mac!
One cool new stuff is the extension of the automation features. Similar to old garageband where you could draw your panning and your volume for each track, you are now able to draw EQ and echoes too. Thats a very nice one, I like it! I really could use a feature where I can connect my own automation tools, but I guess this will stay future.
Multi-Take recording. Well THIS one is really great and is a feature I really have missed in Logic Express. But since I record all my instruments in Logic Express and just do some demo voices in GarageBand I will not buy Garageband 4.1.2 only cause of that.
Visual EQ. OK, nice to have. But again, I didn’t miss that since I have own plugins for the job or use Logic Express. However, it’s comfortable and useful. But not the feature that gives you the urgent need to upgrade.
Sooooo… OK. What’s new also?
You have the chance to burn a CD directly out of GarageBand. Well, I couldn’t do this since MacBook Air doesn’t have any CD-R drives or burning utilities. I guess It will work.
The LCD is a bit more comfortable. But nothing new here.
Instruments are strange. The laptop was preinstalled, but some of the instruments where missing. When clicking on the light grey instruments, GarageBand is telling me that it searches the instruments in the net and that I need 1,2 GB on space. What the heck? I didn’t try that out any further. If Apple really thinks I want to download 1.2 gig – no guys, are you kidding me? As I allready told you, I have no CD-Rom so a download is the only chance I have. Bah!
At least, I tried out if I can open a GarageBand 4 song with GarageBand 3 – it failed, of course. The import of a GarageBand 4 song into Logic Express 7.x fails too, of course.
Finally I am not very impressed by the new GarageBand version. If I would upgrade I get a multi-take feature and a nice arrangement tool, which doesn’t work at first glance. Automation is a bit cooler, yes. On the other hand my new GarageBand songs are not compatible with the products Logic Express 7 and not with older GarageBand versions. Means I would have to upgrade to Logic Express 8. And, hell, my Mac Mini which I use at the moment has not enough RAM memory for that version, so I would have to buy new Garageband, new Logic Express and a new Mac.
Really… not worth for me. I stay at Tiger with GarageBand 3 and Logic 7. These features are not enough. And if I would upgrade – I surely would leave GarageBand completly and use Logic 8 instead, since this has been enhanced visually a lot. So…. no go for GarageBand 4.
Tags: GarageBand, MacBook Air, OS X, Software
Posted in Audio Software | No Comments »
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
Before a few days i tried to install my Roland TD-20 Drum module at my mac. The TD-20 should take MIDI data, play, and the mac should recieve 8 tracks of wonderful audio files. This way I have everything seperated for a mix.
When I tried that, i figured out the very first time when GarageBand is not enough. GarageBand cannot use the MIDI out slot of anything – it’s simply not possible. After a while I realized that I have other problems with that sequencer, like: export MIDI from GarageBand.
Altough I like the GUI of GarageBand more, I had to switch again to Logic 7, which I bought before long time (and for expensive money, altough it was used!). It didn’t want that software cause it was ugly, complicated and well, oversized for my needs. It seems that I am now an adult haha.
However, connecting the TD-20 to my Phonic Firewire card was quite easy.
I started the Logic Setup Assistant. Here i could tell Logic where my MIDI Device is connected. Nearly all enviroment work will be done by Logic no. As soon as I understood the I have to connect an Instrument port to the little “Drums mapped” icon at the enviroments window (APPLE-8), I just had to make sure that the track, which uses that instrument has chosen the correct MIDI-channel. In my case, the TD-20 uses channel 10.
I am now more into MIDI than i was before weeks, and everything was going well for me now. I got some other surprises by Logic now and altough it’s ugly, I think I’ll stay with it for a while. I mean, why should I not use my hardware modules? I understand more and more now, and meanwhile it’s something like…. hu… love?
When switching back to Logic, i didn’t find my GarageBand Instruments anywhere. I get ravenous, i had installed them on my external drive. However, i found it as Instrument / Insert / Channel Strip – no worries here. My article about “moving the garageband instruments” still work for logic
Tags: Hardware, Logic, MIDI, Software, TD-20
Posted in Audio Software, Music Tech. and Hardware | No Comments »
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Before a while i installed the Native Instrument “Kore Player” App at my Mac. It was pain, cause everything started up, i choose my Firefly-Interface and heard – nothing. I asked at the message boards but nobody could help me. I tweaked everything around and around. I also installed my Cubase LE Version which came with my Firefly and then suddenly my Mac was slower and slower, with the result that my Songs couldn’t be played well at GarageBand.
Last weekend I reinstalled OSX and my songs played well, but still Kore Player refused to give a sign. It was frustrating and then there was enlightment: I was used just to choose my sound and everything works, but Kore Player needs to DOUBLECLICK! I did so and hej, the player played.
Kore Player is quite nice and integrates well as a “Generator” into GarageBand, but the standard installation just gives you 100 MB of sound. This is ok for testing purposes and for use sometimes, but I am not excited. The sounds are fine, mostly for electronic music, but didn’t leave me stunning. I will now try out any longer and leave it installed, but I am not sure if I should buy these Kore Packs, with which you can extend your sounds.
However it’s a nice idea for all those of us, who have not 999$ to buy the NI Komplete package 
Tags: Kore, Software
Posted in Audio Software | No Comments »
Monday, April 14th, 2008
I just have 80 Gig on my harddrive and this is quite less when doing development work at daytime and music in nighttime – in fact, it’s not possible to have more bigger music project at the same time with this space. The loops (i don’t use them, but installed them to see what’s behind that stuff) take more gigs than i can efford, same goes for the garageband instruments.
This morning i had a reinstall and decided to put all that space consuming stuff on my external harddisk. If you want to do like i did, i recommend you about 300 Gig space on a Mac OSX journaled filesystem. I had a FAT32 on my mac to get on it via Windows too, but this harddisk is not always activated when i need it. I have to make a harddisk check to activate it, which is quite uncomfortable. I guess you don’t want to have that problems with your instruments.
However, having your instruments on an external disk is straightforward. Please note, my volumes name is FELIX, replace that name with whatever you call your harddrives.
LOOPS
I created the folder:
/Volumes/FELIX/audiolib/loops/Apple Loops/Apple
With my Finder I clicked at “Macintosh HD”, where my loops are currently installed. Switch further to
/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple
and copy all that folder in there to your new Loops-Folder (and delete the old content). You can do the same with “iLife Sound Effects” if you want. Cause you instrument installer indexed all that loops, you have to go to:
/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/
and delete all txt files in there (maybe three or four or simliar- depends on how much Jam Packs you installed, i guess). Start up GarageBand and open you Loop-Browser. It will tell you that you don’t have any Loops installed. Open your finder with your new loops-place, drag the folder where all subfolders with instruments are and drop the into your loop-browser. GarageBand does the rest for you.
INSTRUMENTS
It’s a similar process for your instruments. I created:
/Volumes/FELIX/audiolib/instruments
Then i copied everything from /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Instrument Library to this folder. I emptied the Instrument Library Folder. Please note: if you have some stuff allready installed in you new folder (FELIX in my enviroment) pleas copy carefully. OSX will delete old stuff when you just copy folders, and this is not what we want. In this case you have to copy manually file for file. And: you’ll need your superuser password for this action. If you don’t have any yet, open a terminal:
> sudo su
This will ask you for a password. By default you have none. Press enter. If you are in without error message, do this command:
> passwd
and get a new password. By the way, you should do this ALWAYS, it’s a bad idea not to set a superuser password – everybody can login and manipulate your computer this way.
Before you do that, of course i cannot give any guarantees. And please note, i have some kind of bug with my method, if you know how to fix that, let me know. All my instruments are now in the same JamPack, which may be a result of my heavy metal copy actions
When you next start up GarageBand i tells you that it has no Instruments installed. There is “Choose” Button where you can point to your new Instruments folder.
Tags: GarageBand, OS X, Software
Posted in Audio Software, Music Tech. and Hardware | No Comments »
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Today i was suffering cause my GarageBand song hang up several times and made it impossible for me to compose. I turned on my bought Logic copy to do the song with that software. It was better, but i still felt so uncomfortable, i tried to tweak GarageBand a bit more. However, i now know why my song lagged. It was my effect on my drums: i am used to deep drums with lots of bass and modified the “Apple Rock Kit” which had a horrible impact.
The other teaks like freezing tracks didn’t work for me. Well at least the tip with the colors where useful: when GarageBand is in need of too much processor time, the song pointer switches to red color. This way i found out that not my echos, but my equalizers are my problem.
This is not the first time i figured out that equalizers use a lot of processor time. Well, i will not buy a more expensive apple. I will just turn the equalizers on when mixing.
Tags: GarageBand, Music
Posted in Audio Software, Music Tech. and Hardware | No Comments »
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