Multi track Music recording programs for mac

[yoshiii]

Hello has anyone heard of a multi track music recording program called Sonar? Is this program any good? My job is deciding on a music program to use in our teen programs. We have intel imacs and we want to get a good program. We have garage band 3 and we are getting a daw that comes with Cubase LE but we are thinking about buying Logic express or Logic. We want to be able to make good demos and also make good sounding songs that sound better than demos.
I think that Cubase is not so good. Advice from anyone please?
Help

 

[Scarlet Fever]

I havent used a lot, but for my basic recording purposes, Garageband is everything you need and more. I have a Tascam 10 channel input (obviously only 8 of those are used simultaneously), i add effects to tracks, i EQ stuff with the included 31-band EQ...

i reckon Garageband is worth way more than the $120 it sells for in the iLife suite. Also, its already on your computer so you wont have to spend precious money on programs. If you are a bit too big for GB, Logic sounds like a great way to go. I'm gonna stay with GB for many years to come

 

[yoshiii]

So Logic would be better than cubase or sonar? Is Garageband better than cubase or sonar?

Do you use a firewire or usb daw?

 

[Scarlet Fever]

So Logic would be better than cubase or sonar? Is Garageband better than cubase or sonar?

Do you use a firewire or usb daw?

I havent used cubase or sonar, but ive showed it to people who have a lot of experience with recording software (like the guitarist from the Angles), and he reckons its great.
My daw is firewire. I just don't like usb much

 

[Ben Kei]

Firstly, Sonar is PC only (unless they've suddenly made a macintel version!?!)

Secondly, if you are going to go cubase vs logic then on a mac logic wins hands down. As it's now an Apple program it has been built almost into the OS itself now and works almost seemlessly, I wish I could say the same for cubase but unfortunately it's not the case.
While cubase is also an excellent application, it's not looked after in the way logic is and suffers from all manner of bugs that seemingly never get ironed out of the mac versions.

I'm not sure of the capabilities of Garage Band 3 entirely, I come from a music/sound background and have been a logic user for 10+ years now and can guarantee it will be more than capable of doing what you need.

If you only need to record sound with a minor amount of post-recording work then there is a FREE multi-track recorder/editor called audacity although it isn't primarily meant for multitrack recording sessions it can be used to do so.

 

[Killyp]

It goes something like this:

Logic (top), ProTools, Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Ableton Live, Reason, Acid and others, Garage Band, Audacity, Sound Recorder


I'd go for Logic, firstly because it performs stunningly on Intel Macs, provided you get the latest (Intel) version, not a PPC version. Cubase on Macs can apparently be a bit dumb at times...

 

[4God]

Cubase is fine, it's just a matter of your comfort of use with regards to the interface.
I personally recommend MBox2 with Pro Tools LE. At just under $500 you can
multimix, bounce tracks, record, edit, master, and use midi. There are only 2 tracks
available to record at any one time, but I use an analog 24 channel mixer to mix down
to 2 sub mixes for this reason (if you need to record more than 2 at a time that is).

 

[quigleybc]

It goes something like this:

Logic (top), ProTools, Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Ableton Live, Reason, Acid and others, Garage Band, Audacity, Sound Recorder

I would put Ableton way a head of Cubase and Sonar.....wayyyy ahead...

 

[zimv20]

ummmm.... before everyone starts spewing out their favorite programs, perhaps some time should be spent on figuring out what the requirements are from the OP. i'm imagining a lab full of students with their noses buried in Logic manuals and no one around to get them started.

who are these kids? are they computer literate? are they musical? self-starters? must the staff be proficient in the program of choice? what about budget?

and most of all -- if we're talking about making songs that sound "better than demos", why are we talking about software rather than rooms, gear, and engineering?

 

[zimv20]

Logic (top), ProTools, Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Ableton Live, Reason, Acid and others, Garage Band, Audacity, Sound Recorder

pray tell, what criteria did you use to come up with such a list? your omissions are exceeded only by the extent to which your listed programs aren't in the same solution space.

 

[lil chris]

I would put Ableton way a head of Cubase and Sonar.....wayyyy ahead...

Heh, no surprise there.
But seriously, just try out different program demo's and see what you like. Personally I don't like Cubase, but some people love it. I've used Sonar a bit and it's alright, not sure about compatibility though.

 

[cschreppel]

I'm a Pro Tools user here, but Logic Express would be a great alternative for the students as you can use the internal audio input on the iMac. With PT, you need a Digidesign interface.

I do mostly music recording, mixing, etc., so some of the features in Logic are a bit overkill for me. Granted, if you're doing heavy sequencing, etc., Logic Express with Reason is quite indestructible.

If it's strictly music production, recording, and mixing, I find Pro Tools to be a bit more user friendly right off the bat. Logic seems to have a bit of a learning curve attached to it.