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Multitracking on an Apple Powerbook

mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
edited November 2005 in Strut Central
So I've been wondering this forever: does anyone own an Apple laptop and more to the point, use it to multitrack mixtapes? I've thought about doing this but the main problem is that, unlike my digital multi-track, I can't seem to be able to simultaneously play back what I've already recorded in real time while actively recording onto a new track. Does that make sense? Am I just using the wrong software programs?

  Comments

  • canonicalcanonical 2,100 Posts
    Thank you O-Dub! I want to do the same thing for my personal mixtapes I make for friends and work. I don't really know the solution, but I've started looking at things like these. Never talked to someone who has used one though:

    http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FireWire410-main.html
  • dust_chopperdust_chopper 39 Posts
    me is usin cubase SX and of course it's possible. i use it alot to make some vocal overdubs which is in fact exactly the same. tell me what you're using and i'll figure out if you can do it with that program.



    EDIT: just checked out garage band for the first time, which comes with the powerbook (well it should). and voila, it worked... just open the app, create new track - real instrument (wich is an audio track) select the input (line in) and turn on the monitoring, since you wanna listen to what you're doin'... record. create a new track and overdub it with whatever you want. and so on... hope that directs you in the right direction.
  • E_DailyE_Daily 812 Posts
    you need multiple I/O's... (get a soundcard with external converters)







    ..my bad, I was thinking you were having troubles getting multiple playback to work... ..



  • cascas 1,484 Posts
    what program are you using? i've been trying to get help on this for a few days. i just came from guitar center and left empty handed. i fucking hate that place. every single dude in there is like a flunky band guy/used car salesman.



    "so yeah...hurry up and buy this so i can go sell something else. this'll work for you just DON'T launch it till you download the updates or it'll fuck your whole shit up! hurry up i have some coke to snort in the stock room."-regarding the mbox i almost bought.



    i was like fuck this...
  • E_DailyE_Daily 812 Posts
    damn.

    I use Nuendo for multitracking, but shits hella expensive...
    There are quite some of those M-audio joints like the 44 with the 4 ins and outs and the external box,....

    I normally dont tell ppl anything about shit I havnt really used myself but ppl are using (sonic foundary?) ACID and seem to be comfortable with it.

    you may just use a waveeditor unless you need to record loads of tracks at the same time. Wavelab does this in montages though I think???

    Stein was right on the other thread talking about Protools being industry standard but if you dont connect with bigger studios, its pretty brainless to cop a mbox just because it can run that specialPT. Most ppl prefer Cubase/Logic/Nuendo/Sonar/whatever over Pro Tools anyways...

    Dont believe all this crazy protools hype with shadow or rap artists claiming Pro Tools is like THE only way to do what they do...It isnt a thing you HAVE to use since all these apps work similar & pro tools is nothing w/o TDM power which is way out of home-studio budgets anyways.

    Too bad that other thread about Logic and such died, I was out the house for 2 days and it was gone ~pouf~
  • prof_rockwellprof_rockwell 2,867 Posts
    Dude, Garageband 2.0 is all you need, 8 tracks of simultaneous recording. But a good I/O card is so necessary.

  • cascas 1,484 Posts
    i was looking at my garageband earlier, but i can't figure out how to work outside of the preset tempo/bpm shit. you know how you have to set the tempo whenever you create a new project...are you stuck with having to use that same bpm thru the whole shit?

    if i can get mo'busy with the mixtapes with garageband and just have to get a good i/o interface...i'm ready to track one down and get to work!
  • dust_chopperdust_chopper 39 Posts
    1. you can change the bpm by doubleclicking on the bpm section.
    2. why do you need to set bpm while recording or listening to a record? as long you don't have synchronize with "midi"-type sound i don't see the idea behind that.
    @ o-dub: you say, you having a digital multitrack. as long this one has a spdif out and you have a newer powerbook, you can use your mtk as an I/O. newer powerbooks have a digital line in (it's the same plug as analog line in). just make sure to set the audio input on your PB on digital line in.
  • E_DailyE_Daily 812 Posts
    notebook onboard audio(cards) =
  • mumbosaucemumbosauce 480 Posts
    honestly just get abelton live. the program will beatmatch for your, basically. they even have tutorials on their site for beatmatching. abelton is pretty dope. I don't like trance music at all but I think it is this dude named Sasha who in conjunction with a development team have come up with his own hardware mixer to interface with Abelton called Maven. It is really sick. Search google for it. I know it has been spotlighted in Urb and some other dance music mags. That is all he uses now. Abelton in conjunciton with his special mixer. No CD or Vinyl Turn Tables. Just a laptop and it is actually kind of sick what he does in regards to dance music.
  • dust_chopperdust_chopper 39 Posts
    notebook onboard audio(cards) =

    if this refers to my post above:
    as long it's digital, it will stay digital, no converters need in between. it's just like importing music from a cd...
  • prof_rockwellprof_rockwell 2,867 Posts
    honestly just get abelton live. the program will beatmatch for your, basically. they even have tutorials on their site for beatmatching. abelton is pretty dope. I don't like trance music at all but I think it is this dude named Sasha who in conjunction with a development team have come up with his own hardware mixer to interface with Abelton called Maven. It is really sick. Search google for it. I know it has been spotlighted in Urb and some other dance music mags. That is all he uses now. Abelton in conjunciton with his special mixer. No CD or Vinyl Turn Tables. Just a laptop and it is actually kind of sick what he does in regards to dance music.

    If I remember correctly, he uses a combination of Live and Final Scratch. And there are a lot of MIDI mixers out there now that can be used to control Live or other DJ software (a la Traktor)


    Allen & Heath Zone 92 - you can see the MIDI data control on the top right



    Ecler Nuo 4 - the whole center channel is MIDI controller


    But back to garageband - yes you can change the BPM as stated above, and your project does NOT have to follow the time signature and BPM settings. Just a note from experience - if you are doing a mixtape on it, set the BPM to the slowest (40 I think) and the time signature to the highest (12/8 i think) and that will give you the longest amount of recording time, as Garageband has a limit of 999 bars on a song. Those minor limitations aside, GB really is the 'new' 4-track recorder. (but you really can record 8 simultaneously, and up to as many tracks as your CPU can handle.)
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    So I started playing around with GB last night. Pretty simple interface on some levels though I'm not blown by its audio editing tools (or at least, what I can make of them). Also, I can't seem to punch in on the fly - there's always a split second lag which is annoying. There are ways of getting around that though so I'm not that mad about it.

    I have one of the newer PBs but not the newest line. I'm pretty sure my laptop does NOT have a digital in. And I don't think my digital multi-track (which is pretty old, all things considered) has a digital out so it's a moot point in both directions.

    But I appreciate people's help. It's good to know what the possibilities are.
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