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Macs with Music
Building a Low Cost Recording Studio around an iMac G4
- 2006.07.24
Hi, I'm Ben Barsh, Low End Mac's newest writer. I'm a lot like the other LEM writers in many ways. The main difference is that I'm 13 and live in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA.
My first Mac was a nearly broken 333 MHz iMac G3 tray loader. My current (and second) Mac is an iMac G4/700.
What drew me to the Mac was iLife - specifically GarageBand.
I have a minor recording studio, so a Mac was necessary.
My main computer is a Winbook running Windows XP. My Mac isn't hooked up to the Internet (yet), and I travel to a beach house, so I needed a laptop. My next Mac will probably be an iBook or PowerBook of some sort.
Being 13, I've never had enough money to by a new Mac. I find my iMac G4 perfectly adequate for what I need a Mac for. It's been treating me well for the six months I've had it.
I need to use OS X in school every day, so I was already used to the interface. Ever since I started working with OS X, I've been becoming more and more interested in Unix.
Without a computer, I'd go crazy. I highly recommend that parents start their kids out with computers at a young age.
GarageBand
Being a bass player, I found GarageBand fascinating. After learning about GarageBand, I had to have it. I scrounged up a used iMac on my local craigslist for $50.
Unfortunately, that Mac couldn't run GarageBand.
But I had the Mac, so I decided to make the best of it. I bought two microphones and a cheap 4-channel mixer from Radio Shack. Shortly after that, I got a free Yamaha synth with a broken screen on craigslist. Then I got a MIDI USB adapter, and I was set.
But there was still a problem. I had no GarageBand and virtually no Mac. The iMac had been acting funny ever since I upgraded the RAM. I toyed around with that machine too much, and I think I busted the motherboard.
I wanted
a machine with a G4 processor. But $30 couldn't buy one. I went on
craigslist and found a guy selling an iMac G4. I ended up trading
him my modded Xbox with tons of games and accessories plus $100
dollars for the iMac.
I couldn't wait to load up GarageBand. I finally got a copy and loaded it up. It recognized my keyboard instantly, and I made my first song within 15 minutes. My love for Macs really started there.
That's it for today, but keep checking Low End Mac for more
Mac's with Music columns. (By the way,
anybody want to sell me an original PowerBook G4/400 or a G3
iceBook for cheap?)
UPDATE: LEM readers, I'd like to thank you for the positive response I got from this article. I am about to put my iMac on the Net. I would just like some reccomendations on browsers, AIM clients, FTP clients, and ways to make Hotmail work with Mail.app. I would also like to know if it's possible to print from a printer hooked up to a Windows machine on the network. I do it with my Windows laptop, and I wonder if you can do it with OS X. Email me with suggestions - thanks!
Recent Macs with Music articles
- The life and death of Aqua in Apple software and Mac OS X, 08.23. Aqua was a fresh new look that Apple previewed with iMovie 2 and iTunes, thoroughly embraced in early versions of OS X, began to tone down with "Jaguar", and is abandoning in "Leopard".
- Improve productivity with a second display, 03.20. There's nothing wrong with using just one computer screen, but adding a second can make you more efficient.
- Firefox a wonderful browsing experience on Mac or Windows, 08.24. Not only is Firefox a better browser than Internet Explorer, but it's also good enough to replace Safari as a Mac user's default browser.
- Reckless Drivin' a great diversion, 08.04. This bird's eye view racing game works on low-end OS X systems and is a fun way to kill some time.
- More in the Macs with Music index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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