Ableton live 9 suite is like a complete package from Ableton for creative music performance and production. With its advanced feature, this music making software is a perfect choice for live music. The reason why it is called “Live” is because it seamlessly connects the studio to live performance and lets performers and creators do a lot more, and that too in real-time.
With arranging, sequencing and time-stretching capabilities, you can take your musical ideas and turn them into finished products. One of the highlights of this product is its multi-track audio recording (32-bit/192 kHz). Other than that Ableton Live 9 Suite comes with various effects and sounds and can work with almost any controller or instrument. Pros: + Multi Track Audio Recording + Compatible with Many Controllers + Complete Package for Production. FL Studio 12 is a real musical delight – the reason why we say this is because it comes will all new and improved user interface. This one is a complete music production software, which is a result of years of hard work, dedications, and experience. Whether you need to compose, edit, arrange, mix record – FL Studio 12 Producer Edition has got you covered.
Do not expect the best MacBook Pro for music production at a cheap price. Generally, the more expensive the computer is, the better it will perform. This is not to mean that you cannot get cheap laptops for music production. You actually can. The Mac Mini is one of the best budget Mac. Best Mac overall for making music. It’s powerful enough for the majority of music-making tasks, has a gorgeous display, and boasts enough connections for kit and expansion. Bar the entry-level 21.5-inch model, any of Apple’s existing line-up will do, but we’d go for a Retina display and the 27-inch model.
Many musicians call it the safest passage for music to flow from your brain to the speakers. Producer edition allows producers to actually record both internal and external audio. This software also enables you to record a maximum number of sessions your PC hardware can support. It comes with an ability to record guitar, full orchestra or a single vocalist.
With a great feature of the playlist, you can arrange audio as you like. Other than that, this great product comes equipped with time stretching, beat slicing, pitch shifting, cropping, ability to record unlimited audios, and last but not the least – ability to rearrange audio with simple mouse clicks. Pros: + New & Improved User Interface + Record Both Internal & External Audio + Rearrange Audio with Simple Mouse Clicks. Pro Tools 10 is one of the best software a musician could ask for. The sound processed with this software is simply easier, faster and better. It is one of the most powerful software available in the market today for mixing music, editing, composing and of course, recording. The package contains a variety of virtual instruments, including, drums, pianos, synths, and other samples instruments.
Pro Tools 10 audio recording and editing software for audio productions comes 8 GB of loops. With some of the most modern plugins and effects, you can shape your sound in any way you like.
The advanced editing tools lets you easily craft, improve and perfect your musical creations. This software offers great portability and flexibility by letting you work on a dedicated audio interface or from your own laptop.
Pros: + Comtains Lots of Virtual Instruments + Modern Plugins & Effects + Great Value. Propellerhead Reason 7 gives you all the reasons to fall in love with your music creations. Whatever you music demands, this performance tool has got it all covered. The software comes from Reason, a legendary music production studio (software) that is known for their ultra, high-tech software. Whether you want to write, create or simply remix – this software will help you create masterpieces. With the help of inbuilt sequencer, you can build your songs, the way you want. You can use tools like synths, loop players, samplers, and drum machines.
You have complete freedom to add guitars, MIDI, vocals or simply record your entire band. Through its amazing console, you can easily finish your songs in no time. With its intuitive flow and sound bank, Reason put your creative ideas right into audios. The reason is the software, which can put musicians right where they belong – into their music! Sony Acid Pro 7 is truly a masterpiece from Sony.
It is a powerful digital audio workstation, which is considered to be one of the best in the market. It comes with features like multi-track mixing and home recording, legendary loop manipulation and comprehensive MIDI sequencing for super music creation. The interactive tutorials contained within the package helps you setup and get up and running within no time. These tutorials are a good choice for both beginners and expert. Some of the major highlights of this software are MIDI track freeze, dedicated mixing console, tempo curves, input busses, and a great format support. Other than that ACID Pro 7 also contains around 3000 loops and a huge collection of MIDI files for composing great music seamlessly.
Acid Pro 7 is not a resource hungry software, which means that it can run on almost any average computer. It supports every Windows operating system from Windows Vista onwards.
For installation, you only require 500 MB of free hard disk space and to run the software you need a recommended of 2 GB ram. If you’re looking to create out of this world music, then Steinberg Cubcase 7 is just the right choice.
There is hardly anything you can’t do with this amazing software. The new mixing console has entirely changed the overall look of the software, which of course looks great. It is also very user-friendly and you are bound to learn a new trick or two every time you put your hands on it. Some of the major highlights of this product are chord track with chord assistance, high-tech vari audio, a variety of instruments and more. PreSonus Studio One 3 is one of that music software that is easy to learn and setup. It is one of the best choices for someone who wants to spend some quality time producing amazing music. From setting up, recording, dialing in sounds, sonic experimentation to mixing, this great software has got it all.
Studio One 3, keeps musicians inspired and focus on their work all the time. This helps in bringing out your creativity and helping you to create some beautiful tunes and music. The software has an easy to use, drag and drop style user interface, which makes recording and editing for audio productions rather fun. With version 3, it is now possible to make use of a vast variety of virtual instruments, easily find backing tracks, sequencing and more. All these modern features, enable PreSonus Studio One 3 to record sound easier and faster than ever before. Cakewalk by Sonar is more than just a modern DAW, it is, in fact, one of the most advanced, and top-notch industry standard music software available in the market today.
Cakewalk Sonar is a top DAW and comes with a membership option, which enables the user to download an unlimited number of updates and support. This includes improvements, new features, fixes, tutorials and more.
The update and support are extremely easy through cakewalk command center. This means that you can concentrate on what matters the most, that is making quality music. Cakewalk Sonar comes with new, improved and advanced features that are a great fit for any musician, regardless the level of expertise. Some of the main highlights of this industry standard software are ProChannel Module, mix recall, acoustic guitar presets, addictive drums, vocal sync, audio snap and more. All these features in Sonar Platinum actually make sure that you have the flexibility to create some great, pleasing music.
Studio One 3 Professional is a special musical software that is built by creative people for creative people. The software has almost everything that lets you create super music. Some of the highlights of this great software are - production and songwriting tools that put you in charge of your thoughts, drag and drop, fast interface, awesome 64 bit sound quality and amazing ease of use. All these features make Studio One 3 Professional, a favorite musical companion of both inspiring and professional musicians.
It is also one of the most widely used musical software in the world. Its iPad control gives more control while mixing and a platform with multi-touch support provides ease of use. One 3 Professional works like a charm on high-resolution displays and with its inbuilt help and documentation you are never far away from finding a solution to your problem. Apple Logic Pro 9 studio features numbers of virtual instruments, audio loops and effects. With 200 plus new and improves features, it is a complete package for musicians looking to record, perform and produce music. This software features Flex Time, which is capable of manipulating and editing audio tempo and timing - giving more freedom to musicians to play around with their creative ideas.
The loopback and playback features lets you take your system to the stage and captivate your audience with your performance. With more than 80 studio-grade plugins, 1,000 plus instruments, and amazing 20,000 Apple loops, you can now play and produce music at easy with this software. This software is one of the best for musicians looking to do everything on their own - it helps them record, write, produce and perform at their best using their Mac.
With this software installed on your Mac, you can just take your system anywhere with you and produce music anywhere you like. What else could a musician want? Useful Item Guide In the recent past, music recording was something that was only associated with specialized studios with specialized, heavy and expensive.
Someone who was keen about music recording and producing had to go through series of hurdles like enrolling in a relevant program, or spending time with a professional, in a studio with a professional. Now this is not very easy for someone who wants to learn music making as a hobby or just as a part time affair. Previously, even if you have to record demo of your song, or music tunes, you had to go through some serious studio time, which often used to come at a hefty cost. All this and much has changed now. Thanks to advancement in technology, e-commerce and music developers that are willing to help out the masses.
We say thanks to technology first, because our devices at home are now much more powerful. These devices can be your home PC, laptops, and even hand held devices like tablets and cell phones. These devices now are powered with hardware, which enables them to host a low budget, recording studio at home or where ever they go.
With a few wisely-chosen recording gears, dedications and love for music, almost anyone can form a nice, small recording studio at home - And that too at pretty low cost. What this means now is that, young and inspiring music developers can get ample hands on experience to software, hardware and tools to practice their music making skills right from the comfort of their homes. This also means that the next big music sensation of the world can right now be head banging and producing some great music from his home. This guide will tell you on how to start with music making software if you're a beginner, have intermediate skills or an expert in the field already. Let’s start with some of the most commonly asked questions by people looking to buy a music making software. In this phase we will be giving answers to some of the most commonly asked questions by music producers. What is a digital audio workstation (DAW)?
A computer in itself is nothing unless you have the proper software installed. A layman’s definition of software would be something that helps humans communicates with the computer system. Software understands our input and then conveys the same to the hardware. When it comes to the music industry, it is the software that turns your computer into a music making powerhouse and enables you to do all the magic on it. We are talking about digital audio workstation here. It is that very software which is capable of mixing, recording and mastering of music tracks. This software is also known as sequencer at times.
The market is really saturated when it comes to popular DAWs. They are available with variety of price tags and features. From free to thousands of dollars, digital audio workstation software when installed on your PC or Mac, can turn it into an electric music production powerhouse. These software can usually enable you arrange almost unlimited number of music tracks. With these music making software, it feels like you have the whole world in your hand.
So, if you’re a solo musician who wants to have the whole orchestra backing you, you just have to buy the right DAW for you. Free vs Paid DAW's As they say, all good things in this world have a price.
This question is probably the most asked by beginners and you shouldn’t blame them. When you’re starting something, you don’t feel like investing in it as you’re not sure of the future. We are not totally against free DAWs but as things get serious you should invest in a better version – that is the paid version.
One of the most common problems with free digital audio workstation is the fact that it doesn’t let you create professionally sounding music tracks. There are a lots of limitations that you have to deal with and what ultimately suffers is your creativity and music. The free DAW are usually made very pretty with nice, easy to use interface but they usually don’t have the ability to polish up tracks like paid ones.
So, yes, you can make a start with these free music making software, but don’t expect your output to be a masterpiece. Some free DAW may have the feature of VST instruments but they are likely to freeze your computer or become very slow when using multiple features at the same time. Investing in a paid DAW is worth it even if you’re a beginner or just taking up music making as a hobby. Your output is going to be awesome with these software and you can showcase your skills easily to friends on social media.
There is one thing to keep in mind though – when buying a DAW make sure that you avoid those bootlegged versions as that don’t support updates. Updates to your DAW software is important as they usually contain bug fixes, new instruments, effects and more. It is always better to pay a few hundred dollars in exchange of a lifetime update and a stable software that can enhance your skills. So, our final say would be – paid DAWs are capable of lot more and when talking about value for money, they are definitely worth it. How to choose your production software We have already discussed that the market for these software is pretty saturated, even when you talk about the paid versions. When you’re deciding on which music making software to buy, you should be careful.
Choose the best one for your needs and the one that can go along with your music in future as well. Keeping all that in mind, we have decided to help you make the right choice. Your Budget Of course, this is the most important. You don’t want to buy anything too fancy, especially if you are new to the music industry.
To make the right choice here, we only got one suggestion for you – research, research and research. Talk to people who are already in the industry about which software to buy in a budget.
Internet is also a good place to read some reviews about the products and then do a comparison yourself. It is also important to set your budget, that is, how much you can afford to spend on a DAW, as there are other things that might needs you budget too. Once you have the budget set, it would be easier for you to make a decision.
Experience Level Second consideration, while you are selecting a DAW, should be the experience level. If you are beginner you shouldn’t look for fancy stuff as most of the features in it would be useless at your level. Why pay for something you are not likely to use in near future? For a beginner, it is a good idea to list down the features you need (after researching) and then buy something that is close to what you require. If you’re a musician at intermediate level, you should also do the same as above. List down your requirements and buy a software that is a right for for not only your skills but budget as well. Things are different if you’re a real professional.
You should be investing in a software that is a complete package. Buying the fittest DAW out there should be your number one priority. So, don’t think much about the price but the benefits and features it has on offer. Performing Live Let’s admit it, nothing pleases a musician more than a soulful live performance. Live performance is what that differentiates between an average and a great musician.
Having said that, it is also considered one of the toughest things to do in music industry. And let’s face this too, if you are to really prove your metal in the music industry, you have to prove your skills during live performance. Some advanced DAW software can help you achieve just that. So, if you’re to rule during the live performance, your DAW should be able to compliment your performance. Which DAW is best for electronic music? When it comes to electronic music, the choice of the DAW becomes increasingly important.
DAW helps musicians to produce beats and in putting mixes together. For modern music producers, it is hard to imagine life without a DAW but an ultimate question here is to which one should you buy? We have decided to compile the best choices for readers who are just making an entry to electronic music production and ever for those who are already a pro in the field.
Ableton is easily one of the best choices for electronic music producers. With the most modern features, Ableton is specially designed for electronic music. The electronic music producers can do almost everything with this software because it is as good during live performances as it sounds in the closed environment of a studio.
Cubcase is probably one of the oldest DAW for electronic music producers. It still lives up to its expectations. While this software might not be as easy to learn as some of the others, but once you master it then only sky is the limit.
FL Studio can also be your best friend if you are producing electronic music. It is one of the favorites of the industry, especially if you’re a hip hop fan. This great software is only available for Windows, so yes, hard luck for Mac users here. Now let’s move on to different music software for different skills set. Recording Software for Each Experience Level 1.Beginner Are you making a start in music making? Or someone who is making a return and have forgotten the basics? If you’re one of them, we would like to tell you that you are at the right spot.
In this portion we have tried to discuss some of the basics of music making, which software is best suited to your needs and how to grow your career in the music industry (if you’re just taking it casually, this portion is still for you). So, whether you want to learn music as a hobby, want to be a semi professional or be the next music sensation – This portion is bound to benefit you in one way or another. In our opinion if you’re a beginner musician, one who is just learning the art involved in music making – you should be most careful of what you choose. We say this because we have come across many beginners, who might have made it big but couldn’t. And that too only because some of the basic mistakes they made during their entry level.
The choice of a recording and editing software is exactly one such. The market, is, indeed saturated. There are all types of companies and brands trying to sell their product to the masses.
However, we believe that not every software out there is suited for your needs. So, before we go any further let’s start with what makes up beautiful, soulful music; It is the killer combo of instruments (like guitars, violin, etc) and vocals (a singer maybe). Having said that, gone are the days when music was produced only with vocals and instruments.
It’s a digital age, and now you can create music using the digital tools. Yes, we are talking about the software that compliments your creativity and skills and help you create magic. For those looking to start learning the tricks, we recommend the Image Line FL Studio 12 Producer Edition. There is lot to love about this product, so let us take you into details why this product is the most suitable for beginners. Firstly, a lot has changed in this software, all the new, basic functionalities have been added that you have been asking for – all this keeping in view the beginner level users in mind. This product is a result of years of hard work and experience. Developed by actual musicians, this software is a complete music production environment in itself.
This means that on this software, you will not only be learning the basics but also excelling with your skills. There are certain steps involved in music making, namely composing, arranging, recording, editing and mixing – all these steps are made extremely easy through Image Line FL Studio. So, no matter what your skills are – you can produce music like pros with this software. Intermediate/Semi-Professionals Alright! So, you know the basics and want to learn more? This is the intermediate stage where you are itching to produce great music and show people around you, your matter!
We recommend our readers to be very careful at this stage. Because you might try to do something at this point, which is not suited to your skill set. You feel like you know everything but in fact you don’t. What you need is a reliable partner who can carefully take your skills to the next level. That is, help you climb the ladder from intermediate to a professional stage. What we are going to give you here is exactly that; music making software that can help you master those added skills that you have been dreaming about, and create music that is bound to impress anyone. We are talking about one of the most technically correct music making software – “Steinberg Cubase 7 Retail DAW Advanced Music Production System” This amazing software is packed with every feature a semi-professional or an intermediate music producer would like.
It takes your creativity to a whole new level, enabling you to produce breathtaking tunes. The over hauled mixing console is specially built upon the requirements of intermediate learners. It is neither too techy nor too basic.
The different sounding instrument content that it contains, help you play around with lots of music and create your own. Expert Music is an art and there is no end when it comes to learning and exploring an art.
When you’re a pro or an expert musician, you will find out that every day is an opportunity to learn and create something new. You’re an expert because you know there is still a lot to learn and you are always on the lookout for something new. At this level, what you need is something more reliable and adjusting to your work habits and environment.
We introduce to you the Ableton Live 9 Suite. This software is a powerhouse when it comes to creating unraveled music and performance on stage. The best thing about Ableton Live 9 Suite is its ability to bridge the gap between live performance and studio. Whatever you can do in a close environment of your studio, you can do it live with this software as well.
With Ableton, possibilities are literally countless. If you liked the review, please leave your feedback.
Hello, I just bought a firewire 2626 interface for multiple trach recording for an old slow hp vista computer. I want to buy a MacPro Book.
It has both firwire and usb3 connectors plus thunderbolt. Techs claim USB 3 is faster than firewire. Did I make a mistake in buying firew2626 interface? For aprox 100. Doll more should I get an interface with USB 3. Please explain other options for thunderbolt, is there an adopter for 3USB n Thunderbolt or what interfsce do you recimmend for the MP Book 13.
I Love Mixcraft Pro Studio 6do not want to deviate from it. I see how my brother struggles with vocals n virtual instruments with Garage Bandso I I am very concerned with speed n latency(my old computer) defenetly getting a MPC, so processor speed is a must for me, help! I bought my first ever Mac two months ago, a 11inch Airbook 1.8 Ghz Intel Core i7 4GB to replace a very cheap windows laptop made in Miami Florida assembled in Bogota for export to Latinamerica, this worked great with Sibelius software, Garritan Orchestra, a hi end mini external sound card that fitted seamlessly in the card slot and a Garage Band Keyboard controller that I chose for its compact size and the fact it has nothing but keys. This has been my travel composer kit for a few years and I have composed music up to 24 simultaneous instruments on the go with no problems.
Cip, I’m sorry to hear your having problems making music on your MacBook Air. It will be awhile before all the music software producers catch up to supporting Mac OS X Lion. I currently use a late-2010 model MacBook Air, that still runs Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
The problem may not be your keyboard – it may be Sibelius incompatibilities with OS X Lion. Try your keyboard with the build in piano in GarageBand, and see if that works okay. If your keyboard works properly with GarageBand, the problem is software incompatibilities and you’ll need updated software or to switch to a different software package. If your keyboard still has issues with being quiet and inconsistent loudness when using it with Apple GarageBand, then the issue is most likely the keyboard, so try different keyboards.
I use a: it’s light, it’s plays well, and it’s got good progressive response. It works with my late-2010 Mac Air.
This does not guarantee it will work well with your mid-2011 MacBook Air, as it has a newer motherboard chipset providing USB. It’s a bit big to travel with, so you’d probably want a model with less keys. Avoid the M-Audio eKeys models, which are not velocity sensitive. I’d also avoid Behringer, based on my experience – horrible non-progressive velocity sensitivity – suddenly loud. Best to bring your MacBook Air into a music store and try different keyboards in store. Hope this helps! Let me know how you go Cip.
Thank you so much for your interest, With all due respect for those who love GarageBand software, I have no interest at all in learning how to use it, however I am very interested in trying my keyboard with the build in piano in GarageBand to see if that works okay. I would therefore much appreciate if you could give me simple, fool proof, step by step, short cut instructions for quickly setting up GarageBand to try the piano with the keyboard. I mean something like (1. Click x to start it, 2. Click y and then z to set up piano) and so on. Mark, Thanks for your question! I agree with Stoney – a new MacBook Pro 13 inch model will have more than enough power for music production – way beyond a basic user.
If you were scoring complex music with many sampled or synthesized instruments and lots of processor heavy effects, like convolution reverb, and you were doing this day-in, day-out, you might want a 15 or 17 inch Mac Pro with quad core processors. You’d also want 8GB of RAM and an SSD. That’s not for a “basic user”. That’s for a pro or a serious enthusiast. You’ll be fine with a dual core 13″ Mac Pro. A far tips for picking a monitor for making music, there’s a few things to consider, so I’ll write you an article.
I’ll post another comment when the article’s written. Cheers, -Taz. I just rewrote a lot of the article, so there’s lots of new information. I’d check whether Ableton & Protools are working properly on Lion – the updates on the article tell you how to Google to check it. The MacBook Pro 13″ should be fine for you. You might find the screen a little cramped, so you might want an external monitor when you’re working on complex projects (lots of tracks, virtual instruments and effects). You can also consider the MacBook Air 13″.
It’s smaller, thinner and lighter than the MacBook Pro, if you’re happy to plug in an external DVD drive when you need it, and you don’t need a Firewire port. It also has fast flash storage, instead of a hard disk – it’ll probably be big enough for you unless you have lots & lots of music, sample & instrument libraries, and projects. I’d reread the article, as there’s details to consider. Like some people are saying the MacBook Air fan comes on too easily. The “safe” option is a MacBook Pro 15 inch.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you’ve got more questions. Any of the Macbook Pro models will perform quite well in terms of music production. I have a pro audio studio which is running entirely off a 2011 unibody MBP. Make sure the model you purchase is quad core, with at least 4gb of ram. 8gb optimally, as many of the DAW softwares are both space and processor intense.
I recommend going for the 4gb model and having a computer geek friend upgrade to 8 (or you can wander over to youtube and pull up some videos on how to do it yourself). On most of the current MBP models there is L6 cache, which also helps. I have been able to produce 20-30 track songs laden with effects, while only reaching half processor performance.
Logic is an AMAZING DAW. Ableton Live and ProTools are as well, but I’m not sure of their compatibility with OS Lion. I know for a fact that Logic, Reason, Record and Reaper work on Lion, because I use all of them currently. I had difficulty getting ProTools 9 working on Lion, but I know that PT 10 is out now, so maybe they’ve adapted. Hi, thanks for the article. I’m just about to get myself a new macbook pro 13″ as a portable music production studio. As I plan to work with an additional monitor I hope the small screen will be OK for being on the road.
I’ve noticed that the new macbook pro hasn’t got a firewire input. Wheras most of the current audio interfaces work with firewire. Is that a problem? Should I maybe wait a bit until the audio interface industry catches up with the latest mac technology or can I connect most audio interfaces with the new mac via the USB ports? Thanks in advance. Thorsten, The tech specs for the current MacBook Pro 13 inch, 15 inch and 17 inch models say they all have a Firewire 800 connector. I have a 15 inch MacBook Pro – the last model – and it has a Firewire 800 port (that’s IEEE 1394b).
The Firewire 800 connector looks completely different from Firewire 400 (or IEEE 1394). FW800 is bigger and rectangular.
The Firewire 800 connector uses 9 pins, whereas Firewire 400 uses 6 pins. Firewire800 is compatible with Firewire400. You just need a Firewire 800 to 400 adaptor or cable.
I use an adaptor to go between my MacBook Pro and a FW400 interface, and it’s works great. If you like Thorsten, I can drop by the AppleStore today to physically verify the current MBP models still have a Firewire port. Hope this helps, -Taz. Hello Taz, I finally got myself a new macbook 15″ today.
I love it, but my first impression is that it is quite loud. Even when I don’t do anything. A constant light hum from the HD ( I guess). Someone I know has a 1 year old 13″ MB and that is totally silent in comparison.
It’s not VERY loud but even a little noise can be a problem when recording vocals, because it his adding up when using many tracks, you know. Any suggestions?
Should I bring it back or shall I just get used to it? Is it a normal thing with the noise because the machine is pretty powerful, consequently it makes more noise? Kind regards, Thorsten. Heyyyy i have the 13 inch macbook pro, i play acoustic and electric guitar and sing aswell, when i go to record i simply use the macbook pro microphone and either play guitar and sing together or record each seperately. I use a Goodmans ACC2011 microphone which is pretty old and uses a jack lead ( i think thats the name ) which you cant detach from the microphone and im guessing its just a karaoke one.
I use it with a ALBA karaoke machine haha and i plug my guitar into a big good amp ive got using a jack lead? Im wanting to make my sound quality a lot better but dont know where to start, i also use garageband to put it all together. I was thinking a new microphone, a pop screen thing and a interface? But im not sure which to get and what will be compatible with what ive already got.
Im only 16 and the music is only for home use which will be uploaded to souncloud or something so its nothing major. Yet 😛 and as im only young i really seriously need it to be affordable as i have hardly any money haha! If you helped i would seriously appreciate it as ive been searching the web for ages trying to find help thanks. Hi; I have searched lots on the internet for info to get my son a computer for music production and would like to say this is the best info by far; it is easy to read plain english; lots of others go into so much tech talk that if you actually understood what they are writing you would have enough knowledge that you would not need their help; thanks a lot looks like pro 15 with i5 or i7 4gb; buying secondhand so probably won’t get 4 core. Only bit more help that would have been useful would have been comments on resolution and glossy screen or not.
Thanks for your positive feedback – much appreciated. A used 15 inch MacBook Pro with a dual core i5 or i7 should be great for your son. You’re in luck: I’ve had MacBook Pro’s with both the standard resolution glossy screen (1440 x 900) and the high-resolution anti-glare screen (1680 x 1050), so I can compare them.
The anti-glare screen is useful if the Mac will be used where there’s sunlight hitting the screen. For example using the MacBook Pro outside.
Another example is using the Mac Pro in a room with a window with direct sunlight hitting the screen from behind. It’s also useful if you’re working with color, for example you’re a photographer or designer.
I sometimes like to work outside, so for me, the anti-glare screen is good. The color range (gamut) of the anti-glare high resolution display is twice that of most other laptops. Would this provide any advantage for music?
As for high resolution vs standard resolution, I have a surprising answer. When I first switched from a MacBook Pro with a standard resolution screen to a MacBook Pro with a high resolution screen, the increase in information I could have on screen was amazing. It has one third more pixels (36%). I’d look at my co-workers Macs with standard resolution screens, and they seemed like children’s toys the text was so big. Their screens just couldn’t hold the level of detail I’d quickly gotten used to. Months down the track, I’ve noticed that the text is so small, there’s a certain amount of effort just to take in the screen.
I have to look hard; well not hard, but it’s not effortless. Yes, in certain apps (e.g. Web browsers) I can make the text bigger, but in many places the software’s interface is fixed in pixels, and so text and buttons just get smaller with the high-res screen. Software developers almost certainly designed the software interface for screens with bigger pixels. The sense of work to read the screen is small by day, but pronounced at night. My eyes may be tired by this time, after already clocking eight hours on another monitor.
If I could take back my choice to go with the high-res screen, I would have gone with the standard resolution screen, just to make everything easily readable. So despite the “more pixels is better for music production” maxim, in general I’d opt for the standard resolution glossy display. That’s the standard screen, which the vast majority of MacBook Pros out there have.
If your son has excellent vision, and enjoys small text and high detail, and he’ll typically not be tired when using the Mac (i.e. Not late at night), then the high-resolution screen could be good too. Hope this helps Tom! Hey Tasman, I’m currently looking at getting a new macbook Air for both university work and music production. Portability and form is important to me. Currently i’m on a PC with an Edirol UA-25 EX audio interface (USB), using Sonar, but I want to change to Logic pro 9 when I buy the mac. What would your recommendation be, considering I mainly use virtual instruments (Native Instruments Kontakt etc), recording real guitar and bass, and I write mainly progressive rock with 12-24 tracks.
Should I wait for the 2012 MBA refresh? Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Hugh, I’ve upgraded from a late-2010 MacBook Air 11-inch with a Core 2 Duo processor to a mid-2011 MacBook Air 11-inch with an i5 processor. My Presonus audio interface is Firewire, so I’m unlikely to do any serious music work on the Mac Air until a Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adapter ships (it’s in the works). I’ve used the Core 2 Duo MacBook Air with a heavy 24-bit sampled piano (Galaxy Steinway) in Kontakt 4, and that’s worked well.
The i5 obviously has a lot more CPU power. I have yet to hear the fan go on my i5 model. My concern would be that with 20 tracks, the fan could run at high speed to cool the processor, and may be audible in your recording. If the guitar is electric, no problem. The 2012 MBA will very likely have cooler-running CPUs, but I suspect will be quite awhile yet. A 15 inch MacBook Air is likely to be released first.
Aside from possible fan noise, the other consideration is whether your Edirol UA-25 EX audio interface will work with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. I’ve checked Roland’s website, and they for Leopard (OS X 10.5) and Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6).
Perhaps there’s no driver available, or perhaps the driver has been integrated into Lion. If you take your audio interface into a Mac store, you can just plug it in and check Apple menu System Preferences Sound to see if the interface shows up in the list. John, for quality music work, we typically don’t use the built-in audio jack. We use an external audio interface for lower noise, better fidelity, TRS and XLR inputs, higher sample rates and bit depth (e.g.
96kHz 24 bit), multiple channels and, if we’re lucky, perhaps more warmth. Both the 13 inch and 15 inch MacBook Pro have both USB and Firewire 800 ports, so you’d have no problems connecting an audio interface to either. Since your pieces are heavily orchestrated, I would go for the 15 inch MacBook Pro with a quad core processor. Having more processor cores will let you load up on tracks, effects, and instruments. The 15 inch screen will also give you more screen real estate for your projects.
If you have sharp eyes, I’d consider getting the high resolution screen option, so you can fit more tracks and virtual instruments on screen. If you’ll make heavy use of sampled instruments consider 8GB of RAM. Flash storage makes loading sampled instruments fast, but is expensive, and gives you less storage to work with.
Let me know if you have other questions. Hi, Great article. I chose the 13inch for portability and have just brought it home.
I am planning on purchasing an interface in the near future, but am keen to hook up my electric guitar right now to play around with garage band. The limitation of the 13inch is the single audio/mic, in/out.
How can I play the guitar and hear at the same time without the need for an interface?? Is there a way to feed the output audio through the computer inbuilt speaker so I can plug the electric in the input?? Cheers, Ingrid. Tasman, Thanks for all the information.
Yours is the most direct, lucid, timely and careful content on the subject I have come across on the internet. Please keep this up in the name of good karma. It will come around! A couple of questions: I have a MacBook Pro 15″ (Mid 2010) with Intel i5-2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, and 320GB HD.
Will I be terribly constricted if I run Logic Studio 9? At the moment I am rather pinned down on cash, but need to get hold on a bigger project that is coming my way.
My goal is to move to Mac Pro as soon as cashflow allows. I shall be recording MIDI with a Yamaha MOX-6; a single channel of audio; will perhaps work with around 20 tracks, and run soft synths/samples/loops through Logic. I might need to use some bits from Native Instruments. I realize that I will need an external drive for more storage, that I will buy. But as far as workflow is concerned, I have read about “running the samples and plugins from a separate drive”. How does that go?
Thanks again for your help. Hi Tasman, Firstly I’d like to thank you for all the effort you have put into this website. Your information has been pivitol in a lot of the decisions I have made over the past month in deciding which way to go. Now to the question. I have ‘acquired’ a 13 inch air. Core 2 duo processor 1.86GHz 2GB RAM 256GB SSD.
From reading your articles this is pre july 2011. If I wish to keep this Air and load my DAW, (ableton, or cubase) and what not, my investment will be $AU1000. I look to purchase monitor speakers and an audio interface in the long run to set up my home studio. I look to produce electronic music using digital instruments to start, as I am an absolute beginner.
(no MIDI) Is this machine suitable for a beginner user such as myself? I have read this article over many times, and had decided to purchase a Macbook Pro 15″, however, I have been offered this 8 month old Air, which has barely been used, at a fraction of the cost. Any advice would be fantastic! Thanks again, Mitch. Hi Tasman, I’d like to echo a lot of the sentiments expressed hereI’m about to make the switch from PC to mac (a brave step – I found it hard enough to switch from Atari!) and so far, this is the most genuinely informative thread I have come across, especially with regard to using an air to produce music.
I have suspected that the people slamming airs as underpowered for music production are talking it up to justify how much they have spent on their systemsor to appear to be talented and important enough to need 50 tracks of direct hard disk sampling with 10 processor intensive effects on each for their next concept album or Hollywood film score. Maybe I’m just cynical! My wishlist: Something that could handle as many as 16 wav (guess that’s.aiff now!) tracks, 16 more midi, with 4 or 5 effects on each though ordinarily I imagine I’d only be using a quarter to half of this. I currently use soundforge and cubase with kontakt on a 4 year old old dell xps1510 and m-audio fw1814. That works OK so I’m pretty sure any new macbook could handle it. Balanced xlr ins and outs and decent preamps. Ultra portability.
I’m thinking a 13″ 128gb air with an apogee duet 2 card using logic. Would this be a suitable setup for my needs?
What are good alternatives to Sony Soundforge and Kontakt or Giga on the mac? I’ve not used a solid state drive but am currently happy with sata 7200is it a safe switch?
Any help from anyone appreciated. Hello, English its not my first lenguage so i hope you understand I’ve been searching and searching for days and this article is the best of the best, but there’s something that I don’t get, everybody says that for music the more powerfull your processor is, the better, but with modern processors we’ve got cores, clock speed, cache, hyper thread (and intel offers LOTS of combinations) So what does each one do? More cores mean more tracks and more vst’s right? But what does the clock speed does here? I mean let’s say for example a quad core can handle 20 tracks (I know it can handle more, just for the example) but if the clock speed per core is 1.2 Ghz it means that when you hit play your project won’t play smoothly or just more time loading each vst you drag to the project or what? So I guess what I want to know is what advantage you get with more cores, or more clock speed or more cache (haven’t found anything about cache in the Internet, but an intel processor that has the same things except 2 extra MB of cache costs 150 extra dollars, so I supposed it means something) I won’t record anything, I pretend to make house music in a professional level (lots of effects and synths) I hope you can help me Thanks a lot.
Geronimo, I haven’t looked at music benchmark comparing processors in years. For many people, it’s become irrelevant – nearly all modern computers have plenty of power for music production. Roughly, every core you have is a worker, and the clock speed is how fast the workers work. Music production is typically easy to run across several cores, because the many tracks naturally allow the work to be run in parallel. The way processors are priced, the base clock speed is usually very affordable, and then adding clock speed costs a lot, without getting a proportional increase in performance. For music production, I’d tend to go more cores, over screaming fast CPUs – you’ll tend to get more tracks / virtual instruments / effects for your money this way. As for CPU cache, it can help certain programs a lot, e.g.
Video encoding. Whether it helps your particular VSTs significantly is impossible to know without benchmarking. Given the $150 price hike for a big cache, I’d tend to spend your money on more cores or faster processors which will definitely help you, rather than cache. Do not buy a 1.2 GHz processor! That is very slow. A good modern processor should be 2.4 GHz to 3 GHz. I’d get a good modern processor, e.g.
An Intel i5 or i7. I’m not up to speed with AMD’s processor product line at present. If you want to have many effects & synths, I would go a quad core i5 or i7. AMD’s processors could be great too, I just haven’t had one in years.
Hello, I really enjoyed your article, and thank you for sharing with us all your insight,however im not sure if you could help me with an issue im having. I currently upgraded my laptop (HP) to a new one (HP), and there seems to be some technical issue whenever I play a track.
The sound of the speakers seems to be cut-off every 2-3 seconds by some sort of “tick-and-click” sound. Now, my older laptop, which was way worse in every spec than my new one, didnt have this kind of issue. Could it be that my new laptop projects this “tick-and-click” sounds due to the software beats by dr.dre installed in the computer? I;ve tried many computer geeks, and they cant find the solution to my problem. Thanks in advance, Andy. First and foremost, I, like all the others, I’d like to thank you for your very informative article.
I’m thinking of making the “jump” and have just recently started with some music making. Since I’ve just started I’ve decided to start with using reason as my main program and I was wondering what your take on the new macbook pro retina is. I’m thinking of getting the “cheapest” option that is the one with the 8 gb of ram etc.
Do you think any particular upgrade on hardware is a good investment or is that standard model fine? And what about the fact that there now is no FireWire port?
A lot of questions, hope you find the time to answer them! Kind regards Simon. A very useful article thanks – I’m trying to choose between a dual core 13″ mbp and a quad core 15″.
The 15″ will cost 50% more than the 13″ and your info has helped me to weigh up the pros and cons. As I’ll be mainly using an external screen, the screen size it not a high priority, the most important thing for me is being able to open large projects in Ableton, Pro Tools and Reason. I’m still not quite clear how much difference the number of cores will make. You say “the 13 inch has two CPU cores.
The 15 and 17 inch models have four CPU cores. This means that a 15 inch or 17 inch can handle roughly twice as many tracks as the 13 inch” – is it really going to make that much difference? Do the programs really make such efficient use of the multiple cores? Thanks a lot Paul. Hey Tasman, I just returned a Mac Book Pro with SSD because they didn’t have a firewire port or a DVD slot. They do have Thunderbolt, but to load software you have to buy an external drive. And to use Firewire, you need adapters.
Now I’m totally confused. I mainly wanted it for Ableton Live, but thought it would be nice if I had the option to run my Digital Performer files. Am I asking the impossible?
Am I better off with SSD or 7200 RPM drive? Not sure what the heck to buy at this point.
I’m still using an old G4 with Performer and doing fine, but want to upgrade. I’m waiting for the new Mac Towers, but thought a MacBook Pro would be a good interim solution. I work with Ableton Live and Traktor Pro 2. I am currently using a 13 inch Macbook Air. As for traktor it gets the job done perfectly.
I can’t complain. Its smooth as butter. When it comes down to the production side of things on Ableton Live it can get a little rough. The CPU spikes a lot especially when your working with MIDI clips. If your looking to be serious about production go with one of the Macbook Pros. I haven’t worked one yet but I’m sure it would do a lot better job then the Macbook Air. But, that being said, if you’re just looking to DJ then a Macbook Air is perfect because of its portability.