Blur Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Hello everybody, I'm kind of stuck with a problem on choosing what Sequencer to use with my new iMac. The problem is, I used to use FL7 XXL on my previous Dell that ran on Windows XP, but obviously FL Studios doesn't work with Mac (unless I use the Windows operator inside of this, but it'd be a pain to go back and forth). Now, I do need a sequencer that can be compatible with the product EZdrummer (and actually, it'd be great if someone could tell me how to use it in sequencer as a VST). If you are, please don't talk about the usage of GarageBand. I've snooped around the internet to find that it's a giant inconvenience to use EZdrummer on GarageBand. As for any other information to help, I do have a Line 6 TonePort UX2 hardware box for recording guitar. This came with the music software called Gearbox (to record, nothing else) and Ableton Live Lite 5. However, when I check the official website for EZdrummer, it says it hasn't been tested/ not compatible with it. Plus, I'm not sure if Live Lite has a "piano roll" option like FL; which I would really like to have still. If it sounds complicated or I seem to be missing something, I'm sorry. I just can't figure out what to do really, ^^". Thank You -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoozer Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I don't think anything has a piano roll as big as FL Studio. There's no reason why EZ Drummer shouldn't work in Live Lite, though - Live can deal with AU and VST plugins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I know that a considerable amount of people use Logic Studio, it's made by apple for macs, so no compatability issues... Not sure about piano rolls or anything, I don't have any personal experience with it, but I know that it's got a linear workflow, so it could take a little bit to adjust to if you're used to FL Studio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoozer Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Seems that the piano roll is called the "Matrix Editor" in Logic - and it can be maximized to epic proportions. Live's piano roll is limited to a part of the screen and blocks out other parts, so no advantage of dual screens in that scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analoq Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 please don't talk about the usage of GarageBand. I've snooped around the internet to find that it's a giant inconvenience to use EZdrummer on GarageBand. how so? AUs are generally well-supported in any Mac application. I'm a bit baffled as to why it would be inadequate to use in GarageBand but not Live, Logic or any other sequencer. If you can shed some light on that I can give you a better answer than "hay check out logic express" Do you have the Mac yet? I can't tell if you've experimented with any of your options or not. cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 how so? AUs are generally well-supported in any Mac application. I'm a bit baffled as to why it would be inadequate to use in GarageBand but not Live, Logic or any other sequencer. If you can shed some light on that I can give you a better answer than "hay check out logic express"Do you have the Mac yet? I can't tell if you've experimented with any of your options or not. cheers. Yeah, I only got it yesterday, so I guess I haven't really been able to mess around with GarageBand to it's full extent yet. I was just kind of going off of what some internet places saying that the MIDI drag and drop doesn't work very fluently for the EZdrummer. I should probably be trusting what you guys have to say though, you guys obviously know a whole lot more than I do, XD. Well, if EZdrummer does work on GarageBand, I can't figure how to make EZDrummer a VST or whatever it's called so it can be included in GarageBand. Thanks for your help though, I'm completely lost, ^_^". -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 You can use EZdrummer in garageband. 99% of all plugins now support the standard formats. VST (FL, Acid, Live, Cubase) AU (Garageband, Logic) DXI (Sonar) and RTAS (Pro Tools). Simply install it for Mac (there's a Mac and a PC folder to choose from on the install disc) and that's that. As far as actually using it in Garageband, in case you don't know how, just click on "details" of your software instrument in the bottom right corner and select from the pull down list. Towards the bottom of the list, it should show any AU plugins you have installed. You can also buy Logic Express for $200 if you don't want to drop $500 on Logic Studio. It's basically the exact same program minus a few smaller features and lots of the bonus content like the jampacks etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 You can use EZdrummer in garageband. 99% of all plugins now support the standard formats. VST (FL, Acid, Live, Cubase) AU (Garageband, Logic) DXI (Sonar) and RTAS (Pro Tools). Simply install it for Mac (there's a Mac and a PC folder to choose from on the install disc) and that's that.As far as actually using it in Garageband, in case you don't know how, just click on "details" of your software instrument in the bottom right corner and select from the pull down list. Towards the bottom of the list, it should show any AU plugins you have installed. You can also buy Logic Express for $200 if you don't want to drop $500 on Logic Studio. It's basically the exact same program minus a few smaller features and lots of the bonus content like the jampacks etc. I feel kind of dumb now, XD. I had it all installed and everything before hand, but the directions to getting to the plugins on GarageBand was all I really need I guess, thank you, =D. Hmm, is it that easy on most other programs you think? If so, I should be able to get started on all my projects fairly soon. Also, if I do get any additonal software, I think I'd rather buy Logic Express than Studio. I think I can live with out small features and bonus stuff. While I'm still here on questions, can anyone clairfy with me if there is any sort of way to have a piano roll like FL Studio on GarageBand? I know that you can pull up a virtual keyboard and/or you can plug in a keyboard through a USB cord and record, but I'd like to know if there is any way I can pull up a keyboard with a grid and such to make notes; once again like FL Studio. There probably isn't a way, but I guess it doesn't hurt to ask, ^^. I'd just like to say thanks to everyone helping me with this. I have some school, personal, and fan game projects I need to get on right away and I don't think I could have done it without you guys, =D. -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 GB has a piano roll. Create a MIDI region (command-click on a software instrument track), and double-click it. That should roll up the piano roll. There's also a button on the interface which opens it, but it's been ages since I used GB, and that was an earlier version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 GB has a piano roll. Create a MIDI region (command-click on a software instrument track), and double-click it. That should roll up the piano roll. There's also a button on the interface which opens it, but it's been ages since I used GB, and that was an earlier version. Yeah, I found what you are talking about, but it doesn't allow me to click on the grid to add notes. I've tried all of the options on the side as well, and they don't seem to work either. Actually the only way it does work, that I've found so far, is if I press record and use the virtual keyboard, but that virtual keyboard is a piece of shit to use anyways, :/. -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analoq Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Hold the command-key, the cursor will change to a drawing tool. When in doubt, Read The Fine Manual. cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 Hold the command-key, the cursor will change to a drawing tool.When in doubt, Read The Fine Manual. cheers. Thanks, I guess it'd make sense to read the manual, XD. The drawing tool didn't appear, but I'll read the manual or watch some instructional videos or something. Thanks again, =D. -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 IIRCr, most of the time you only need the mouse button and command button to work in GB. Looping and resizing regions is done with the mouse, creating new stuff (regions, notes, automation points) is done by command-clicking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 IIRCr, most of the time you only need the mouse button and command button to work in GB. Looping and resizing regions is done with the mouse, creating new stuff (regions, notes, automation points) is done by command-clicking. Yeah, I was playing around for more than a few hours yesterday and realized that most of the stuff is controlled like that, XD. I did get the drawing tool to appear today, and I think it was because I updated GB overnight (beforehand, I could only access a few preset stuff and other junk). All in all, I think I have just about everything I wanted to do solved for me with GB. I did have one final question though, and it's about Audacity. I had to keep rerecording my guitar over and over again because at one point, and it's always random, during the 3 and half minute recording, the recording of the guitar would skip out somewhere, causing the timing to go out of whack when putting it together with my drums. Is this because I might have too many programs running at once? I have GB playing the drums to play along too, Gearbox to get my guitar tone, and Audacity to record. However, I could have had Itunes and maybe Firefox open at the same time as well yesturday. I'm just wondering if this is a common problem on Audacity. Thanks again. -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgfoo Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Why not just cut out Audacity and record into Garage Band? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Why not just cut out Audacity and record into Garage Band? I'd love to, but GB is being stubborn and not letting me use my TonePortUX2 as a mic option. It's ok though, I recorded my whole song today with no problems because I didn't have so many programs running, ^^". I'd love to post the song, but I have a feeling I'm not allowed to in this section of the forum, and plus, it's not a remix ._.". -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analoq Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 If you can record fine in Audacity there's no reason you shouldn't also be able to record in GarageBand (unless you're dealing with more than 8 inputs). There's probably something amiss in your GarageBand audio settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 If you can record fine in Audacity there's no reason you shouldn't also be able to record in GarageBand (unless you're dealing with more than 8 inputs). There's probably something amiss in your GarageBand audio settings. Probably, XD. Well, the way I've been trying to do it is clicking on the track I want to record with, and then changing the input source. However, the only input sources it is showing are the built in microphones on the Mac, not the TonePortUX2. -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salluz Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I was going to suggest what everybody else suggested, but since that's been done, I will say that the more-expensive Mac is actually better for music purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blur Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 I was going to suggest what everybody else suggested, but since that's been done, I will say that the more-expensive Mac is actually better for music purposes. Thanks though, =D. I've been messing around a lot since I got that and found out what you said about Mac's being better for music is correct, at least with the experience I've had. I've done some stuff like some Sonic the Hedgehog boss themes and Super Mario 64's File select song, and I'm having a blast, ^^. I think I've finally got everything I was asking for solved, and then some even. I just wanted to thank everyone yet again on helping me through my problems, and hopefully I can get good as some of you guys some day. But for now, I think it's safe to say that this topic can be locked now unless the mods think there is life in it still. See ya around the rest of the forums, =P. -Blur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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