Hi there everyone! Brand new to the GameDev community and as well the music composition field. I''ve played instruments since I was around 11 and now 10 years later I''m finally wanting to get into composing some music. I''m attending college right now and looking to put together a nice DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that is compact enough to fit in a dorm room yet still retain a professional level of quality about it. I mainly want to start putting together video/computer game music and I''ll be shooting for the more orchestral pieces. Here''s what I currently have: PowerBook G4 1.5GHz Sennheiser HD 280 Silver Pro Headphones Apple GarageBand w/ Jam Pack I have around $1000 to spend (potentially more in the near future) on a MIDI controller, DAT, powered monitors (speakers) and perhaps a FireWire HDD. A friend of mine would sell his M-Audio Oxygen8 to me for $80 and I''ve heard good things about the M-Audio FireWire AudioPhile. Any personal suggestions? I''m really looking foward to making some great music and want to invest in some quality (prosumer) equipment, so any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

I use:
- Modplug (Free)
- Reason 2.5 ($499USD)
- Midi-to-joystick ($15 or so, bought it 8 years ago)
- Yamaha PSR-225GM ($100 or so)

I know reason works on mac, not sure about modplug but unless you wanna track its not a big deal.

Quick update:

It looks like I might be going all out and getting myself an Alesis QS6.2 for $600.00. It comes with a free Q-Card and there is a special going on that ends today that if I send this card in I get an additional two free Q-Cards ($300 value for all three cards) so I''m very much tempted to get this. This leaves me with $400 to get a MIDI to USB/FireWire converter and an External HDD. I figure the studio monitors can wait until the end of summer, so any suggestions on a MIDI converter and external HDD?

for the midi to USB converter, check m-audio http://www.m-audio.com , they make a wide range of quality devices for cheap. for external HDD''s Pacific Pro Audio in Seattle sells some very nice audio-quality firewire drives that feature the oxford 911 chip. http://www.pacificproaudio.com they''re considerably cheaper than the big-name setups like glyph and lacie, and they still contain Western Digital HD''s. i''ve heard a lot of people having difficulty with the new m-audio firewire audiophile drivers and OSX

"CD quality" is an insult

Hey, this is the setup that some of the students at the uni i go to have (the ones with a PowerBook G4)

MBox w/ ProTools LE ($820 AUS)
Yamaha USB->Midi ($120 AUS)
Roland RS-50 ($1200 AUS)
and for the monitors - Beringher Truths ($650 AUS)

If you want to spend a bit more, def go with the Digi 002.

You say you wish to orchestrate - Logic 6 is perfect for that (i''m currently using ProTools until later on - it''s dead easy to use, and the MBox is powered through the USB port - which does mean that your battery life will suffer on the PB).

Hope this helps

Oh in addition... seeing you want to do orchestral stuff...

Edirol Orchestra
or
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Silver

are perfect for what you probably need. The second is cheaper but far more powerful - and if you do decide to go a PT route, the second is in RTAS format, which PT accepts.

MdM

A quick update:

I''ve decided since I''m just starting out I would much rather spend a minimal amount on the MIDI controller as I''m not even sure how successful I will be at this stuff, though I am VERY optimistic. I''ve decided to go ahead and get an M-Audio Keystation 49e. Now my question to you is, with this keyboard, if I purchase something like EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Silver, will I have an easy time transposing directly into the computer or would I need something like a MIDI I/O interface to get the best response into the computer?

To the above anonymous poster:- being an Edirol user I''m interested to find out more about the EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Silver you mentioned. I must admit, only 3 weeks after purchasing the Edirol software I started to feel a little limited by it but I still really like it (although it was over-priced, at least here in Australia where we pay outrageous tax on music equipment). Is there a web page you could direct me to, to find out more? How do you find it more powerful? More string articulations etc? More sounds? Better quality? I''ve never heard of it and you''ve got me very interested.
Thanks,
Mick.

Cool music for FILM, GAMES, MULTIMEDIA.
Free mp3 samples at:
http://micktaylormuzik.tripod.com

if you get that Keystation, you won''t need a midi to usb adapter, since it has that built-in. you should have no trouble at all using it to control the EWQL. i use an Oxygen 8, which is essentially a scaled down version of the keystation, plus some knobs. i believe it even uses the same drivers. what are you planning on using for your core tracker/sequencer. ProTools and Logic are about dead even now for midi sequencing, digidesign has really improved the midi in PT in the new 6.x versions. I currently run the following setup without any hassle

iBook G4 1Ghz
ProTools 6.3 Mbox
Reason 2.5
Sampletank XL
Amplitube (for guitars, although you can have fun with other sounds too)
Waves Renaissance (sp?)
Oxygen 8 midi controller.
Sony MDR-7506 headphones for most monitoring, my home stereo for reference.


"CD quality" is an insult