Mac Production Essentials?

[rook]

Hey there! I just got a Macbook pro, my first mac since my big fruity iMac years ago, and as I've been out of the Mac loop for some time I was hoping to hear from some current mac users on what their essential apps and plugins are.

(Aside from logic and other well known multi-platform softwares)

Thanks in advance

[amphibian]

Start with a DAW, get used to it. If it can't do everything you want, start branching out into plugins. My current setup (software-wise), is ableton live 8 with decimort16 and ohmicide for distortion. Everything else is native to Ableton Live.

[Sharmaji]

honestly at this point, Logic can work fully self-contained. same w/ ableton. get one,commit, and get to rockin-- start adding plugs as you feel them necessary.

[rook]

I know Cubase, Logic, Live, and Reason well.
I know my PC stuff well, I'm asking about the less obvious mac specific audio apps/au's/etc. :]

[Swanwickk]

it depends on what type of music you're looking to produce.
But for synths all I find I use are logics own and massive
Also search around for a few free effects and things, like distortion cause logics own distortion is shit, i would advise devastator. also maybe get sugar bytes wow filter, you can do some pretty cool stuff with that.

[marty]

when i made the switch from pc to mac i had the problem that i couldn't find any decent freeware sampler (as i was using shortcircuit and this was only available as windows VST) to use with cubase 5 as there's no sampler included. after a while of searching i finally found a pretty good one called independence free (features multiple mono & stereo outs as well). but this is only a good tip if you're using cubase on mac and i doubt that too many people on here work with this setup...

[Sirius]

audio hijack - use it to record what is playing on your soundcard or individual programs.
audacity - its free, & sometimes ya need to just meddle with the waves.
Perian - this is a add on for quicktime, the only decent player on mac for FLV files.

I use Logic & it is probably better that you concentrate on using it alone, without any other plugins for a good 6 months
so ya can grasp its full potential before ya move on to other plugins!!

!!chea

p.s. theres some really good thread about this topic if ya search the production forum!!
pages & pages of shit

!!cheachea

[rook]

audio hijack - use it to record what is playing on your soundcard or individual programs.
audacity - its free, & sometimes ya need to just meddle with the waves.
Perian - this is a add on for quicktime, the only decent player on mac for FLV files.

I use Logic & it is probably better that you concentrate on using it alone, without any other plugins for a good 6 months
so ya can grasp its full potential before ya move on to other plugins!!

!!chea

p.s. theres some really good thread about this topic if ya search the production forum!!
pages & pages of shit

!!cheachea

Hey thanks, that's what I'm talking about! ;]
I got my Logic certification in school a few months back, but this is the first good Mac I've owned in some years, so it will be fun to work in it from home now.
I have a pretty obscene amount of plugins on my PC, but for now Komplete 6 and Trilian along with native logic stuff should do me right.
I recall a buddy of mine mentioning an awesome light weight app for browsing through samples but I can't recall what it is, any ideas?

[decree]

audio hijack - use it to record what is playing on your soundcard or individual programs.
audacity - its free, & sometimes ya need to just meddle with the waves.
Perian - this is a add on for quicktime, the only decent player on mac for FLV files.

I use Logic & it is probably better that you concentrate on using it alone, without any other plugins for a good 6 months
so ya can grasp its full potential before ya move on to other plugins!!

!!chea

p.s. theres some really good thread about this topic if ya search the production forum!!
pages & pages of shit

!!cheachea

Hey thanks, that's what I'm talking about! ;]
I got my Logic certification in school a few months back, but this is the first good Mac I've owned in some years, so it will be fun to work in it from home now.
I have a pretty obscene amount of plugins on my PC, but for now Komplete 6 and Trilian along with native logic stuff should do me right.
I recall a buddy of mine mentioning an awesome light weight app for browsing through samples but I can't recall what it is, any ideas?

minus the Cheas that is what I was going to recommend, also SoundFlower is useful...
AudioFinder as well
having to start over your vst collection is a very good thing, honestly having a small amount of vsts that you know back and forward is TREMENDOUSLY more effective

[bassmusic]

i've been producing on logic 8 for nearly 3 years now. it was at least a year before i got any other plugins for it. now i still mainly use the native stuff but i sometimes use these too:

free:

airwindows Channel: http://www.airwindows.com/index.html
massey tapehead: http://www.smassey.com/au.html
supatrigga: http://bram.smartelectronix.com/

paid:

Voxengo Elephant 3
Nomad Factory British Bundle http://www.nomadfactory.com/products/br ... index.html


apart from that, Audio Hijack and that's it!

[decree]

i've been producing on logic 8 for nearly 3 years now. it was at least a year before i got any other plugins for it. now i still mainly use the native stuff but i sometimes use these too:

free:

airwindows Channel: http://www.airwindows.com/index.html
massey tapehead: http://www.smassey.com/au.html
supatrigga: http://bram.smartelectronix.com/

paid:

Voxengo Elephant 3
Nomad Factory British Bundle http://www.nomadfactory.com/products/br ... index.html


apart from that, Audio Hijack and that's it!

oo I love learning about other people using Logic or Reason or both

+1 on Elephant

[rook]

audio hijack - use it to record what is playing on your soundcard or individual programs.
audacity - its free, & sometimes ya need to just meddle with the waves.
Perian - this is a add on for quicktime, the only decent player on mac for FLV files.

I use Logic & it is probably better that you concentrate on using it alone, without any other plugins for a good 6 months
so ya can grasp its full potential before ya move on to other plugins!!

!!chea

p.s. theres some really good thread about this topic if ya search the production forum!!
pages & pages of shit

!!cheachea

Hey thanks, that's what I'm talking about! ;]
I got my Logic certification in school a few months back, but this is the first good Mac I've owned in some years, so it will be fun to work in it from home now.
I have a pretty obscene amount of plugins on my PC, but for now Komplete 6 and Trilian along with native logic stuff should do me right.
I recall a buddy of mine mentioning an awesome light weight app for browsing through samples but I can't recall what it is, any ideas?

minus the Cheas that is what I was going to recommend, also SoundFlower is useful...
AudioFinder as well
having to start over your vst collection is a very good thing, honestly having a small amount of vsts that you know back and forward is TREMENDOUSLY more effective

Great thanks, I'll look into those.
I definitely agree with the quality over quantity viewpoint when it comes to plugins, but I also like experimenting like woh. So my macbook is going to be my minimal machine, and my PC will continue to be a hectic chaotic mess.