And so it came to pass that David Froom spake:
We run a studio in our K-12 school in Sydney. Reason is easily the most popular software package among students here (and Finale notepad). It is a great way to do everything within the computer without worrying too much about MIDI modules, cabling and correct patch changes etc. At the end it will convert the whole MIDI piece into an Audio file for you.Tapping the collective wisdom of the group: Do any of you have experience with the software package called "Reason"? This is a virtual synthesizer/sample-player/sample-editor/processor.
It is however, best suited to loop based music, including dance and techno style. Still, I did write a fairly through-composed film theme using just reason on my laptop with a USB keyboard.
My collegue who is a keyboardist goes to band rehearsals with just his Powerbook G4, Reason, and a two octave, USB powered keyboard (Oxygen). The whole thing fits in his backpack and runs off one power cord.
We have had LOGIC as our main sequencer at school since version 1.2. Like Finale, it is one of those programs that takes time to set up (or learn), but then is not too hard for students to use, because you can set up screensets showing exactly the windows and editors you want. We have set up basic sequencing/recording screen sets on the nine number keys on the numeric keypad (1-9), and the students just hit the one they want. All the complicated stuff is hidden away in screensets greater than ten, where they never go.Also, could someone comment on the virtues of Logic or Cubase as opposed to Performer (plain Performer or Digital Performer? My interest, as a teacher and user, is in more-or-less pure MIDI sequencing (I use Spark, SoundDesignerII, and ProTools for digital editing).
As well as MIDI, we do audio recording into Logic using two MOTU 1224 8-channel audio interfaces. Its come a long way since the cassette four-track that I had access to in my high-school days.
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David Stonestreet - Music Co-ordinator
Sutherland Shire Christian School
Barden Ridge, NSW, Australia
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