Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

18 Jun 2008, 13:46

What up everybody,

im trying to use a external sequencer but i am unsure of which one to get. I have a MacBook. Heard that LOGIC is a beast. or could i use Garage band ?
I want to be able to Sync the Fantom with the Daw so i can controll everything from the fantom (Timing,play,stop, mix faders, knobs.etc) and or Vis Versa!!

the Biggest question i have is how should i record into a daw... Thru midi or audio? is there a way to Send the midi data and pull up our Fantom G patches within the external Daw....
any suggestions???

Thanks yall for all the help!

Everybody wanna be James Bond

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

18 Jun 2008, 13:55

Obviously if you can afford Logic then go for it!
Maybe a good solution for you would be Logic Express, it's quite a bit cheaper than Logic Pro and still much better than GarageBand.

I'm not sure how much you can do in GarageBand with MIDI, I can't say I've looked into it.

I think when recording songs the best bet would be to set up the patches in the DAW so you can call them up when you go to work on the song again, and record them with audio. Otherwise when you go to mix the song you'll have to record all the tracks played on the Fantom into audio then mix it out, which seems like a little unneeded work.

Recalling the settings

18 Jun 2008, 14:20

One way to recall settings on the FG is to do it the old fasioned way with a sysex-dump. <-- Dont know how to do this

Another way is to setup all the patches in your DAW. Most DAWs (including logic) support "banks" where you can store all the patch data. <-- Hella lot of work

Last way is to use the included "library" plugin. I've been trying this method but so far I haven't got this to work right in logic.

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

18 Jun 2008, 16:00

You won't be able to use external midi instruments with Garageband as it doesn't support these. What you can do though is control software instruments within Garageband with your Fantom. I haven't tried using the Fantom as an AU in Garageband yet, though as that may work...

I have both the latest Garageband and Logic Studio but have decided to simplify matters for awhile. I'm doing everything on the Fantom G. When completed, I'm resampling each track and placing them in Garageband. From there, I'll see if adding any Garageband software instruments will be useful to my track. If not, I just do a final mix and burn.

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

18 Jun 2008, 18:17

man u guys are great... thanks for the suggestions. Im probably going to try the Logic Express.

So the main thing is setting up the patches into the daw. Yikes... ok well im going to go buy Logic Ex today and try using the Fantom G Librarian

Speaking of which, has anyone had any luck with getting it to work???

and also, why do u have to resample each track before sending them to garageband? i thought u just solo each part at a time and send it thru lol

im a knoob when it comes to all this..

Everybody wanna be James Bond

Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

18 Jun 2008, 19:14

Before you buy Logic Express, make sure that the Roland software will work with it. You might have to get Logic Pro for full integration.

ymmv

Zenzilla

Those who abandon their dreams will discourage yours
~ Frank Zappa ~

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

19 Jun 2008, 16:39

Jermon,

To get tracks into Garageband you can do either:

1) Resample on Fantom and export AIFF

or

2) Create audio tracks in Garageband, solo each track in Fantom and hit play on Fantom sequencer. (your suggestion)

3) Possibly integrate Fantom as an AU (haven't tried yet - has anyone?)

Either way, you will get your music done. It is nice to have different workflows and options, though. With regards to Logic Express, there is very little difference between it and Studio for what you will be doing. Mainly fewer plugins and software instruments. Nothing that Fantom integration would miss out on.

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

19 Jun 2008, 16:48

I miss a batch function in the Fantom G that would render each track or each mixer channel to sepatare AIFF/WAV files to the USB stick into an EXPORT folder.

Then you could work on the tracks in logic/cubase/protools/whatnot without spending your or your clients expensive time soloing tracks one by one.

Jesse J / The Fantom G Facebook group - Please join!

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

20 Jun 2008, 10:31

I like that idea. 1 button click and all your tracks are rendered and stuffed into an export folder. I would get serious use out of something like that.

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

20 Jun 2008, 22:23

Silly question (?) but has anyone used Sonar with FG Ok?

Nobody has mentioned Roland's own Sonar, and I have that in box ready for FG when I get it. Assume it is gonna be no problem at all.

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

20 Jun 2008, 22:25

LOGIC!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

20 Jun 2008, 23:22

I got Sonar and Logic. Some midi editing on Sonar function is good. Sonar has too many icon to remember, which I find quite hard as I don't touch DAW everyday. Logic have much less icon to work with. It is easier to know which function to use. It is a lot of automation in Logic which is easy to start with. However, both Sonar and Logic is not easy to use when you start to get deeper into it.

If you compare Logic Studio with Sonar Producer Edition price, Logic Studio give you a lot bang for money.

If you do a lot of midi or soft synth, Sonar may be a lot faster to work.
Logic is easier to explore the basic editing tool and get you writing on it.

Integration with Fantom or other synth, there is no big difference.

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

21 Jun 2008, 00:49

>If you do a lot of midi or soft synth, Sonar may be a lot faster to work. <

Thanks Kongwee,

My main need is exactly midi and soft synth, so fingers crossed I can get up to speed when needed early next month.

Richard
Hong Kong

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

21 Jun 2008, 07:42

Cubase / Logic / Sonar / Profools.

In that order.. but I've user Cubase for years so my opinion is not objective. They're all very professional and easy to use once you read the manuals and spend some time working on them.

Logic Pro is a very nice package for the price, but Steinberg has the new Cubase Essentials 4 package that is very affordable and probably suits most need for almost all regular musicians.

- Jesse -

Jesse J / The Fantom G Facebook group - Please join!

Re: Which Daw should I integrate with FG7

21 Jun 2008, 08:41

I would try Reaper. http//reaper.fm A great program; very user friendly

X8,X6, Korg CX3, Reaper Software, Roland M-1000, Aphex 207