Who here is a musician? Are you a pro or a hobbyist? What technology do you use? What software do you use? Where do you make your music, and for any particular purpose?
I used to do a lot more than I do now, but I played a lot of keys and guitar for church groups. I used mostly a MacBook Pro with a Focusrite 2i2 interface. I have used Ableton for backing tracks and my favorite program for music performing on the computer…Mainstage. I have used my iPad for backing tracks as well with a program from Loop Community called Prime (free and powerful) and OnSong for holding my music.
I have taught private lessons and used One Note and Notability for that purpose. I’m sure I am forgetting some, but that’s a start.
I’m starting my first job in music education this year. I picked up Logic’s education deal while I was in college and have had some fun playing with that and trying to make it into a more functional practice tool for wind musicians. I’m a big geek on notation software. I just bought Dorico tonight actually, and I’ve got a current license of Finale and a near-current license of Sibelius (who has one of the most unique licensing formats I’ve seen; technically my license is for Sibelius “ultimate” now).
I’ve thought about picking up Ableton but I don’t really have the equipment to be making the most of Logic as is. I’ve got an 88-key keyboard that I will occasionally hook up to play with, but it’s far too big to use unless I were to get a separate stand for my MBP. Maybe down the road.
To get more out of all the music tech in my life, I’m planning to start a “monthly music” project where I force myself to create something off of the library of ideas I’ve saved up over time in various snippet recordings or notebooks. Unfortunately, starting a new job where my Fall is the busiest season isn’t the best time to learn what I don’t know about Logic, etc. so it might get shelved to my New Year’s Resolutions list
I perform and teach the 5-string banjo, dobro and acoustic guitar for a living (bluegrass/Americana/folk styles) out of a half-story home studio.
Hardware:
I’m still rocking a mid-2012 MacBook Air (runs solid!) but have moved most of my music workflows (except for recording) to a 10.5" iPad Pro and an iPhone X.
My Mac audio interface is UA Apollo Twin Duo hooked up to a pair of Adam A7 monitors.
Teaching: Tabledit (tablature software), Evernote (student lesson notes), Goodnotes (custom lessons and visual aids), Voice Record Pro (quick and dirty iOS audio capture), Guitar Toolkit (for metronome and chord references), Skype (online lessons)
Performing: I’m all analog onstage except for a Peterson StroboClip headstock tuner and their iStroboSoft iOS app (also handy for frequency reference for controlling PA feedback).
What struck me after making this list is that the only Mac only apps I use now are recording programs (ProTools and Reaper), everything else is cross-platform or iOS only. After 20 years of making and teaching music with computers, it is so nice to be able to do all of this on mobile devices!
My wife and I just got into music creation in February (she writes songs and I try to produce them). I’m always looking for new ways to do this and I’d love to go more mobile for some of it. We’ve got other full time jobs, but this has become our major hobby together.
Creating music, my wife uses a physical notebook for the lyrics side and Notion on the iPad for the score.
I use Logic (got the education pack) to produce it, which currently means choosing the instruments, manually creating the guitar bends etc, and if needed manually entering the chords and adding loops, then me singing in via a Scarlett 6i6.
I’m hoping we’ll start recording instruments in the near future when we’re better at playing them!
It’s all great fun and I like the challenge of trying to automate the process more, but the big problem is going from the midi or musicXML files Notion exports to Logic. A lot of the articulations and the chords get lost. I can’t even import them into GarageBand on iOS.
So, if anyone knows of a better way to move from Notion on iPad to Logic-esqe production, please let me know!
Apps on iPad Pro 9.7”
Notion for writing songs.
Capo for learning songs.
insTuner for guitar and voice tuning.
Documents for saving videos.
On 15” MacBook Pro 2017:
Logic Pro X for production (so much still to learn).
Numbers and BBEdit help me get final lyrics from the score into a text file.
BetterTouchTool to run an AppleScript that adds lyrics and album art to songs bounced to iTunes.
I’m definitely a hobbyist.
I use Logic on iMac which offers so much more than I need and I am unlikely to ever outgrow it. Despite being really powerful it is easy to use for those who want to keep it simple.
I have recently started using Band in a Box to get ideas down quickly, it is an amazing app. Anything I want to develop further I transfer into Logic.
On the ipad I have accumulated a fairly lengthy list of synths etc. Great for experimenting on the move.
I also have a number of guitar related apps such as ChordBank and Guitar Gravitas.
Music making has never been more fun.
I agree, and it’s never been more approachable. My friend has sketched out whole ideas on an iPad in GarageBand. He has the melody, I work out and write down the chords and then he takes that and makes a whole song. GarbageBand is so easy a drummer can use it!
I make music with my kids, so just as a hobby. I use Logic Pro X and find it easy to use, intuitive and unbelievably powerful for the price. Hardware-wise I use a full-size 88 key midi keyboard and I use the Logic Remote on the iPad.
Hi, everyone! I am a music performer and university music professor. On any given week, I work with a mixture of jazz, commercial, and classical music, as well as Christian worship music at my church. My main instruments are saxophone, clarinet, and flute, and I dabble in piano, guitar, and singing (my wife is the trained vocalist).
I mostly teach private woodwind lessons, but also performed all sorts of gigs back when there was live performances.
2015 MBP 13"
iPad Pro (2nd gen) 12.9" - perfect for reading 2 pages of music
2010 iMac w/SSD - computer in teaching studio
MOTU M2 USB audio interface
Rode NT2-a microphone
Apps
ForScore
Scanner Pro
iRealB
Tempo
Cleartune
Garageband (Mac)
Numbers (business organizing)
Rock Out Loud Live - online lesson platform (skinned Jitsi)
I had a notification for this thread when I logged back in; wanted to point out Anytune for non-guitarists who want some of the features that Capo provides. I’ve made great use out of it in live rehearsals before COVID, and distance learning since then. My understanding is it’s a lot like Transcribe, though perhaps a bit more modern.
