Ok, so I have a MIDI Interface from M-Audio (a Quattro) and a keyboard which both seem to work with OS X (the quattro has drivers anyway).

What do you guys recommend for the sequencing app? I found Intuem today, but I don't know how it stacks up. I'm a hobbyist, so I don't need like full blown stuff, but I'm a music freak who's been in band for 6 years and definitely want to write multi-track parts (not full orchestra or anything though).

So, what should I do?

obviously cheap is good, I think the $130 for Intuem seems reasonable, but I haven't tried it yet (don't have the hardware today, but will tomorrow).

Thanks

If you get Reason, you can use your MIDI interface, along with external keyboard to drive it. reason gives you a studio full of equipment. Next up would be Logic, which comes in various versions ranging from low-cost to pro version. (Logic is now owned by Apple so you can be sure they will always have the inside track on OS X technologies.) Logic also handles composition via a note editor. Next up would be Performer by MOTU. Latest version looks good. Cubass, is also a heavy weight but wait until all versions are running smooth on Mac OS X. Metro, an ancient sequencer on the Mac has been reborn. It is now running on Mac OS X, has a great feature set, and is low-cost (2 or 3 versions if I recall.) Tell them Carlos sent you.

First time to hear of Intuem. Thing about sequencing apps. They are very deep and once you start using one, it is hard to switch to another -- like swithing to a new platform (computer), SOOOOOO get a product that will be around.

if you want straight notation, their is FINAL 2003 and Sibieus (spell??). Forget "Overture" which seems dead. There are also some shareware possibilities here.

Did I set you straight? If not, ask away.

Cheers
p.s. Chris D is running Reason and Quattro keyboard and we never hear from anymore AND BANG cause it seems like he is having too much fun.

Quote:Originally posted by Camacho
Did I set you straight? If not, ask away.

Links would have been nice

Now that Apple owns Emagic, are they even selling Logic? I can't find it from the Emagic website. How much is it? DP is waaaay out of my league at $800.

thanks

Reason:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/9403

also for notations and guitar tabs (if you want to do that kind of thing) + feedback + lots of other things, there is a shareware solution called Melody Asstant. Personally I dislike the interface and think that Finale (last one I used was Finale 2000, someone buy me Finale 2003!)is a better choice. But there is also cost.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/2826

Finale 2003
http://www.codamusic.com/coda/

Performer by MOTU
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/3002

Try

http://www.zzounds.com

You CAN find Logic on Apple's site or go to Google and go to Emagic's site (Logic's creator)

Ok, so now I have "my" (actually a friend's) USB M-Audio Quattro infront of me along with a nice Yamaha keyboard.

How in the world do I get this thing setup for OS X?

The Quattro box has a "Built for OS X" sticker right on it, but I can't get it to work. The CD doesn't seem to have drivers for it, so I downloaded them from the M-Audio website, installed them, and it still doesn't work. I'm expecting it to show up in Audio MIDI Setup, I don't know if it should because I'm a bozo and knows >< that much about MIDI on OS X.

Can someone please help me? If you can contact me offline via email it'd be easier. The more help the better.

I have a Reason Demo for OS X, waiting to be tried.

Thanks

How about going to M-Audio's website and downloading the manual my friend?
Most likely, you set the controller and other MIDI functions via the host app. Long ago, we had to do that via OMS, but "OMS-like" functions are not built into Mac OS X.

If you want to test that it works, go to versiontracker and download that QT MIDI synth. It allows you to play an external controller and control QT's GM synth.

Quote:Originally posted by Camacho
How about going to M-Audio's website and downloading the manual my friend?

There isn't a manual for OS X; all they have is a Classic/OMS manual.

Try:
http://www.osxaudio.com/

Quote:Originally posted by Camacho
Try:
http://www.osxaudio.com/

Already had a post there too. Strange thing is, I fell asleep for a couple hours, came back upstairs and it was working.

So now I've got Reason open and I'm playing with it.

Sorry to bug y'all.