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Music Businesses Media Software Apple

Apple Releases Soundtrack 68

Posted by pudge from the one-way-to-fight-the-riaa dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Apple have released Soundtrack to retail. The application, which is similar to ACID and FruityLoops on the PC, allows composition of music from a library of over 4000 samples (approx 14GB of data) that can be used royalty-free. It also supports the AudioUnit framework (which has a new logo) and comes with 30 AUs bundled in the box. The application was previously only available bundled in Final Cut Pro 4 and will retail for $299/£249."
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Apple Releases Soundtrack More

Apple Releases Soundtrack

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  • Apple's Developer Relations Shift (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Alliante ( 667430 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2003 @11:30AM (#6453434) Homepage
    Is Apple trying to kill off nearly all 3rd party development for their platform or are they trying to fill blanks where 3rd party developers aren't doing as well as Apple would like for them to do?

    • Re:Apple's Developer Relations Shift (Score:5, Informative)

      by i0wnzj005uck4 ( 603384 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2003 @11:38AM (#6453516) Homepage

      Currently Soundtrack seems poised to fill a specific void in the mid-range audio production market on Mac OS X. Truthfully, both ACID and FruityLoops on the PC are amazing programs, both simplistic in design and powerful if you take the time to learn them, but there are no equivalent programs on Mac -- you end up paying for Ableton Live, which is strange and IMHO counter-intuitive, or Logic, which is hella expensive.

      Plus, For $299 you get all those samples, royalty-free. That's the single largest free sample bundling I've ever seen with an audio package. I think ACID supplies 250 or 500 loops, and Fruity Loops is about the same.

      My one qualm is that the requirements state you must have G4; I'm hoping that I can still get it to run with less audio tracks on my iBook...

      • Currently Soundtrack seems poised to fill a specific void in the mid-range audio production market on Mac OS X. Truthfully, both ACID and FruityLoops on the PC are amazing programs

        I couldn't agree more I have been looking for a Mac OS X equivalent to FruityLoops for some time. So far I have found nothing as simple and powerful as FrutiyLoops. Soundtrack look like it might be the one. I can't wait to get a hold of extra cash!
      • My one qualm is that the requirements state you must have G4; I'm hoping that I can still get it to run with less audio tracks on my iBook...

        Better pony up the cash for a G4. Soundtrack will not launch if you don't meet the minimum system requirements.

        Voice of experience talking.
      • The real time time stretching, pitch modification, key changes, tc, etc, REQUIRE the AltiVec unit.

        It's just not possible to do that level of real time sound morphing without a G4

        • The real time time stretching, pitch modification, key changes, tc, etc, REQUIRE the AltiVec unit. It's just not possible to do that level of real time sound morphing without a G4

          It definitely is; Reaktor performs all those tasks, and a hell of a lot more, on my G3 iBook just fine - as long as I don't go overboard and start piling on the pressure. True, a G4 would perform far better, but for now I have a G3 and I find Reaktor 4 perfectly usable. Similarly, Steinberg Remix and its big brother, Ableton Li

      • ... you end up paying for Ableton Live, which is strange and IMHO counter-intuitive

        Ableton Live is for live performance which Soundtrack or Acid are not designed towards primarily. For instance you can play a riff into live, sample and loop it dynamically amongst other things.
      • I think it's very intuitive. Any program that I can use without having to crack open the manual or even go to the help pages counts as intuitive in my book. Frankly, it rocks. The interface is beautiful because it's so functional, not like in many cases (OSX finder debatably included), where it's functional despite its beauty.

        It's great for live sets. I haven't done a long DJ set yet, but for short ones, it works great. The only thing I don't like is that if you overtax your proc too much, you'll start he

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I'd say that they're just trying to up the ante, and frankly the digital media creation software industry could really use the higher standards.

      As a player in this market (I work for a company which makes hardware synthesizers) I want nothing more than for the companies like EMagic, Steinberg, and the like to have to step back from the plate a second, take another good close look at what they're doing now, with the new OS choices in front of them, and then really excel.

      I see that happening, frankly. Soun
      • I'd say that they're just trying to up the ante, and frankly the digital media creation software industry could really use the higher standards.

        I hope this does light a spark in the competition. I love using Live, but Soundtrack's Media Manager has me wanting more.

      • I want nothing more than for the companies like EMagic... You can't say that about Logic

        You do realize that EMagic *is* Apple.
        • Yeah, not really.

          Apple may own EMagic, and they may have a great deal to say about what EMagic is doing these days, but EMagic is still a separate company, producing its products under its own strategic doctrine.

          At least, that is what Apple officially told me when I asked them about it at Frankfurt Music Messe ...

          I think EMagic will be one of the first companies, though, to produce next-generation media tools for OSX. That is pretty exciting, given their relationship with Apple, now.

          Lord knows, Logic c

      • I'd say that they're just trying to up the ante, and frankly the digital media creation software industry could really use the higher standards.

        The same way the bundling of MacWrite upped the ante for Macintosh Word Processing programs through the '80s?

        When Apple bundled MacWrite with each Mac, the only other word processor was Microsoft Word and eventually WriteNow. After they stopped, WordPerfect, FullWrite, and Nisus was released. As well as integrated word processing programs like MS-Works, Great

        • Apple spun of its application development to Claris and stopped producing application software specifically because they were too strong of a competitor for a software publisher to compete against in the Mac market. I wonder what changed?

          The markets are different. With the "Word" market, which was - back then - very new, very big, and very aggressively being captured by all who had a "Word" product, Apple had to step out of the way.

          With the existing content-creation market (digital media such as MIDI/A
    • Soundtrack is part of FCP4. I do not know if they always intended to roll it out this way or what, but they had to make this for Final Cut Pro to jump to the next level. Releasing this on its own is nice for people not needing the full AV app (FCP4 is $$$$$). This also makes it really easy for users of Soundtrack to someday pick up FCP and know what's going on. From what i saw today, this could replace a few apps that people use right now. Yes, pro-tools is great and can be downloaded from them for free (li

  • Hardware requirements! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Steve Cowan ( 525271 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2003 @11:44AM (#6453595) Journal
    This app requires a G4/500 or G4/450 dual proc. Is it just me or does this seem like an awful lot to run this app?

    I'm using Logic Audio on a G4/350 and it's quite capable of running all the Emagic plug-ins included with Soundtrack.
    • It may require a faster processor than Final Cut Pro 4 (350 MHz), but at least it doesn't also require an AGP graphics card. If you have a G4-upgraded PCI Macintosh, you don't want to be paying for the FCP4 bundle when FCP4 can't even be coerced into running on a non-AGP Mac.

      DVD Studio Pro 1.x had a similar requirement, but its installer script could be modified to allow installation and would run, albeit with problems with crashing when tabbing through fields in floating windows. FCP4 will crash before y
    • They said the same about Unreal Tournament 2003 which runs just fine on my G3-800 iBook.

  • Royalty Free Samples (Score:2, Interesting)

    by skware ( 78429 )
    Has anyone looked at the EULA / licence on those samples yet? What prevents someone from just re-releasing the samples to the public for very little (cost of several DVDs).

  • Quick Review of SoundTrack (as used with FCP 4) (Score:5, Interesting)

    by daviddennis ( 10926 ) <david@amazing.com> on Wednesday July 16, 2003 @12:22PM (#6453938) Homepage
    I made a short film of my vacation in Rio and decided to use it to learn SoundTrack.

    I am absolutely clueless about music, and what I composed to go with my movie is nowhere close to being a great work of art.

    At the same time, the movie with music is a great deal more entertaining than the movie without, so I think it achieved its purpose. (I would do this now, but I can't do it from work).

    The main problem I found with SoundTrack is that it seems severely weighted towards precussion and specific types of music (vaguely sad-sounding piano jazz, rock of various types), and the selection of loops outside of those categories is extremely limited. So I had literally thousands of precussion choices, about 10-20 of which would have done well with my film, but only three good horn selections, all of which I used, and one of which I used repeatedly. I really wanted to have some good horn selections that would blend together, but I didn't see anything like that.

    I'd certainly pay good money for a few hundred horn loops I could use with the already extensive precussion. And I understand Soundtrack is really a version of an already existing sound system, but I don't know where to find the loops.

    If I get a couple of replies asking for it, I will put the movie on the web and a link to the movie here, so you can see what a neophyte can do with SoundTrack after about a day or so of fooling with it.

    This all being said, it would be nice to learn something of music theory. Can anyone recommend a good book, suitable for complete beginners?

    If nothing else, SoundTrack is going to increase people's interest in music composition, which can't be a bad thing. I think it could also be used to provide a draft sound track which could then be worked on with a real composer. Timing issues are very difficult with SoundTrack since the tracks are generally of fixed lengths. You can loop them, but generally you can't reduce their length and get good results.

    D

    • I'd be interested in seeing your movie, or in hearing the soundtrack.

      A good music theory book is Tonal Harmony by Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne. (and older editions are cheap! [ebay.com]) It's an undergrad-level text, but assumes no real prior knowledge of music. I think most schools use it over several semesters (my "borderline conservatory" undergrad music program took four semesters to go through the book, while augmenting it with acoustics, formal analysis, jazz theory, and more post-tonal theory), but you c

    • Well, I was quite impressed by the Quick Tour [apple.com] in Apple's Soundtrack site. But we all know that these demos are actually made by professionals who have a lot of time to explore the software, choose really compelling examples, and make everything look "easy" and almost magical.

      So yes, I would actually like to see your "rookie" experiment. I think it will give us a better idea of what we can do with the software without extensive training.

    • Additional loops can be bought and downloaded from Acid: http://www.sonicfoundry.com/loop_libraries/default .asp?cid=-1
    • I'd certainly pay good money for a few hundred horn loops I could use with the already extensive precussion. And I understand Soundtrack is really a version of an already existing sound system, but I don't know where to find the loops.

      The best place I could think of is the music store in your town. Places like guitar center or Sam Ash music sell CDs of loops, usually in the .rex format (which sountrack uses). There are also a good deal available online. Try searching for horns and .rex.

  • Ok. Its a drum on the side panel. On the front from the left...a keyboard, then a cello. From the right we have a clarinet and then an electric guitar. What is that thing in the middle??

  • Soundtrack has good loops, and works like FCP (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 16, 2003 @12:42PM (#6454163)
    I got SoundTrack with FCP 4 the day before they were released. I have since spent more time making music than editing with Final Cut! I absolutely love SoundTrack. It is exactly what I have been looking for. I have never tried sound editing before and this program was as easy to learn as any I have ever used. I think it may help to understand the GUI of FCP, but everything is pretty self explanatory:

    You have a timeline with multiple layers, and you have your stock music. Drag and drop. Much of the supplied music is looped, so increasing the time of a certain sound is as simple as dragging the edge of the sound. Also, there is a loop editor so you can make your own loops! The effects are really impressive too, everything is done on the fly, and I am really impressed with the quality of the output.

    I am a complete beginner when it comes to sound editing, so I have never used stuff like Logic. I cannot compare SoundTrack to anything, so I cannot say if it is truly a "professional" app. I can say it is the best add on for FCP (for my needs) that I can possibly imagine. I finally have some audio to lay over my video tracks! Woohoo!

  • Anyone looking for a cheaper product to produce royalty free music should take a look at the Music series [jesterinteractive.com] for Playstation (1 & 2). Music 3000 is the latest incarnation - it squeezes 64 channels of 48kHz sample playback out of the PS2 hardware.

  • Hmmm... That title sounds kind of 60's counter-culture... Anyway.

    I'm a user of Acid Pro and FruityLoops (Big Pro Thingy From Hell edition). I've been thinking of moving my music production to the Apple for quite some time, but the only product I'd evaluated was ProTools. I hate it. I have a large mixing board and I do not want another one emulated on my computer.

    Most of my stuff is either custom loop-based, where I create my own loops with my own synths and stuff, or percussive tracks with triggered one

    • Re:Question From an Acid User (Score:4, Informative)

      by flipflapflopflup ( 311459 ) on Thursday July 17, 2003 @09:02AM (#6460421) Homepage
      Try Ableton Live. You can get a demo for free, at least on Windows. I've found it's really goos for loop triggering - I write tunes in Reason mainily now, but for playing live we sample them out, cut them up and paste them into Ableton. After that you can map all your songs, one-offs, loops etc on to a keyboard, and Ableton keeps track of all your timing and shit. Works a treat.

      I never got on with Acid too well, but I find Ableton really good, at least for playing live. I believe you can use it for writing in too just as well.

      hth, FLip

  • Similar to Fruity Loops? I think not. (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "Fruity Loops" is designed to work on sequences of looped music. That's it's main purpose and that's what it does best.

    "Soundtrack" is designed to allow music authoring for movies. While this may include using looped sequences, it doesn't even come close to a fraction of the power of "Fruity Loops" when working on looping sequences.

    "Fruity Loops" is an awesome program, as is "Soundtrack" I'm sure. They both do their job well. When it comes to comparing the two, I don't think either one falls into the othe
  • It also supports the AudioUnit framework (which has a new logo) and comes with 30 AUs bundled in the box

    I didn't know you could sell Astronomical Units in a box !! damn, those Apple folks are good :)
    or maybe I should consider buying reading glasses...
  • Most of the people who use this software are not interested in the actually compostions, but creating their own. So it is not like stealing because it is a source of sound, or a computerized instrument, which allows them to create their own music.

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