New MAC owner!

[Igglethorpe]

I'm about to take the plunge into the MAC world. I ordered my new laptop. It's a 13" with 2GB of Ram and a 160GB hard drive. Really looking forward to it. Sometime late next year, I'll be grabbing my main MAC for music composition, but wanted to dabble with this laptop some.

My question is kind of a loaded one. Where should I begin? I've never owned a MAC but am computer savvy. I guess what I'm asking for are a bunch of interesting MAC links on any subject, from music to making your MAC more customizable, to underground freeware MAC projects. Any advice on anything MAC related would be most welcome, including any thoughts on how a Windows user can adapt quickly to the MAC environment.

Any assistance you MAC crazies can conjure, would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

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Fantom X-8 (2.10) 512MB
Fantom X-R (2.02) 512MB
V-Synth XT (2.02)
SH-201

[Artemiy]

Well, I am quite new to Macs too - switched in March this year. I must say when Apple write it's the world's most advanced system they do not lie. It has many fantastic bells and whistles that you'll never find in any other system and they will save you tons of time. You will surely love the Mac experience a lot!

As about audio, here is what I can tell you:

1. There is nothing much you'll need to do to set up any MIDI or audio gear. Just install the driver and you can see it in the Audio/MIDI setup tool. You can make connections from the driver to real gear there (that's probably the only thing you'll ever need to do in setup). Apart from that, high-priority/low-latency audio/MIDI system is built into the OS - no setup/installs/configurations needed, this was a great surprise for me and no wonder why most pro's use Macs.

2. I do not use much synths and processors, I only select those I like and feel passionate to work with. Apple ships about 15 nice plugins right with OS X, you will also find many great synths and effects within the Garage Band application. But also you can check these two, I use them here:

Automat synth:
http://www.alphakanal.de/

Fuzz Plus effect:
http://www.audiodamage.com/product_info ... ducts_id=3

Here is another one that just appeared:

Triple Cheese synth:
http://u-he.com/TripleCheese/index.html

These are freeware. You can first check those out and also see the KVR Audio web site for links to other free stuff. Play with it and see what you like and then see what commercial stuff you'll want to add.

3. There are many nice commercial synths and effects that are available for both Windows and Macs, you may be able to get a free Mac version if you own a Windows version. This includes stuff from iZotope, Native Instruments and many others.

Feel free to post more here! We might open a dedicated Mac section

[GregC]

welcome to computer happiness

What took you so long ?

I also have a .mac account. If I recall correctly, this gets you to all the great .mac forums

GregC

[Artemiy]

Actually the best and most responsive Mac forum is at apple.com and there is no need to buy .mac to access it:
http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

[nsheldon]

Congrats Igglethorpe!

Long time Mac owner here (must use Windows at work though). Artemio pretty much covered the major freeware stuff, though there are lots more. Check out Version Tracker and search for "audio", "midi", "audiounit", and/or "garageband" in there. You're sure to find some good stuff.

If you have specific questions about how to use something in OS X, just let us know. I'd be happy to help out, and being familiar with Windows XP, I might be able to help relate things to you in Windows-ese.

Regards,

Nathan Sheldon
http://www.nathansheldon.com/

[Igglethorpe]

Thanks for all the various congrats and what not. With regards to Greg's "What took you so long?" A lot of it had to do with Apple being as proprietary as they were way back when. While they are still somewhat today, it isn't really an issue anymore. The good more than outweighs the bad in my opinion. There are a lot of options for compatibility and flexibility nowadays. The fact that Tiger is based off of BSD is just an added plus for me. I'm also interested in the whole Garageband -> Logic Express -> Logic Pro route and am impressed with the music capabilities of the Mac.

Art, we should have a Mac section! Would be a lot of good info in there, I would imagine. Should have a PC section too as musicians have both.

Appreciate all the links and tips. I'll keep watching this thread and ask questions as they come up. I haven't gotten the laptop yet, but should sometime next week.

----------------------------------
Fantom X-8 (2.10) 512MB
Fantom X-R (2.02) 512MB
V-Synth XT (2.02)
SH-201

[Artemiy]

Igglethorpe, do not ever listen no Nathan, he's such a Mac freak that he used AppleScript and Automator to make his Wi-Fi coffee machine to prepare him a cup whenever he presses "5" on his Bluetooth phone!!!



Okay, now seriously:

The fact that Tiger is based off of BSD is just an added plus for me

Yes, this was one big reason for me switching too. I used to be a Linux user and the fact that I'll still have my favourite things like Terminal with Bash shell, same scripting and programming environment, and yes the great stability of UNIX.

[nsheldon]

Hey! Don't trash-talk my Bluetooth phone > AppleScript/Automator Mac > Coffee Maker setup! Okay, I don't actually have that. Though I do have a Mac mini media center with EyeTV analog and digital television receivers that I can remotely schedule TV program recordings on. Ha.

Regards,

Nathan Sheldon
http://www.nathansheldon.com/

[bassman]

Oh yeah?

Well, I'm getting a Mac Book Pro (15", 2.16Ghz, 2gb mem) in March, and I'm working on a script to have it change my cat litter box.

Remotely, of course!

Bassman

[Artemiy]

[nsheldon]

Cool bassman! So you're getting something like this to go along with your MacBook Pro?

Regards,

Nathan Sheldon
http://www.nathansheldon.com/

[bassman]

Yep, that's the one, Nate!

I heard there's a Midi option for sampling. . . . . .

Bassman

[Artemiy]

bassman, make sure to get the one with Wi-Fi! Also check this one out: http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0195. And yeah don't miss this one too: http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0486.

[Igglethorpe]

Wow! You Mac users are weiiirrrd! Whatever did I get myself into to be associated with the likes of you crazies?

On second thought, I could get a lot of use out of that litter box... it comes in white, I wonder if it would be compatible with a Mac.

----------------------------------
Fantom X-8 (2.10) 512MB
Fantom X-R (2.02) 512MB
V-Synth XT (2.02)
SH-201

[EJ2]

I'm thinking about getting a mini mac. Can I use my PC display, keyboard and mouse?

EJ2 - Double EJ Projects: 9 Fully Karmafied Combi Collections for the Korg Karma or KarmaTriton http://2ej2.tripod.com/