recording software for Apple Mac

[martinbass7750]

Hi There,

About a year ago I switched from a windows PC to an Intel iMac.

I want some software for recording and simple sequencing for the mac

I can just about get my head around Sonar on the PC, so somthing similar (or simpler) to use would be good, but not too expensive.

Any recomendations?

Cheers

Martin

[urb]

You can't go wrong with the latest version of Garageband - or Logic 9 Express - but GB is just packed with great features, they've improved the layout and it has all the same functionality as Logic - and the best bit is when you are ready to upgrade to Logic you can just import your GB recordings to Logic and rework them with all those high-end plugins....

Garageband is the reason I switched to Mac after years as a PC user - Cubase was so frustrating and unintuitive nothing worked how I wanted it to - but GB will handle MIDI stuff, it's super easy to edit things and starts you off with a ton of very useable samples and loops and some half decent VSTs as well.

I promise I'm not on commission here but it's really good value for money as part of the whole iLife 09 pack at £58 - and iMovie is also pretty amazing too

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-MB966Z-A-iLife-Retail/dp/B0014X5XEK"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-MB966Z-A-iLi...l/dp/B0014X5XEK[/url]

[Low End Bee]

Have to agree that garageband is excellent. Good fun too.

[~tl]

GarageBand is ace, and should already be installed on your Mac. If you're looking for something sightly more powerful, then [url="http://www.apple.com/logicexpress/"]Logic Express[/url] is a good step up and can open/edit GarageBand projects. If you're a student (or know one) then it's dirt cheap too (around £55). [url="http://www.reaper.fm/"]Reaper[/url] is also worth a look, though is less "Mac like" than Apple's offerings (obviously!)

[scalpy]

I use logic express, and will continue to do so until I can crack the system admin on my work mac laptop, then it'll be logic 9! Garageband is great, but as soon as you can graduate to logic do it.

[tonybassplayer]

Another plus one here for Garageband that comes with ilife, so simple but so powerful.

[s1ater]

If your a student you can grab the full logic studio for about £120

[ShergoldSnickers]

There is a trade-off between complexity and the software just getting out of your way, so you don't lose that creativity. GarageBand is just brilliant at getting out of the way. It does however have hidden depths, and with a bit of creative thought, workarounds can be devised for all sorts of apparently impossible techniques. Just one example:

You want some reverb on your bass track. Result? Muddy mess. Cure? Duplicate the bass track, roll off all the bass end on the duplicate, and then apply the reverb to that. You now also have control over the amount of reverb and it's tonal quality, as it's now on a separate track.

[derrenleepoole]

[url="http://ardour.org/"]Ardour[/url] is completely free and works a lot like Pro Tools. It's open source, so can be a bit buggy on occassions, but certainly no more than any application really, but it does offer all the features of all the top DAW's.

[Golchen]

I love Garageband. Ridiculously easy and very good indeed for free!

[martinbass7750]

Thanks for your response Guys, I'll have a look at garage band.