I've been staying at my nan's, where I have my 13" M2 MBA (love it.)

I'm now at my place, where my 16" M2 MBP is, and to be honest, I don't know why everyone goes on about the 15" screen on the new MBA.

I'm happy with larger, or smaller screen sizes.

Anyway, just thought I'd share, in case anyone's still on the fence.

Wishing you all well.

Um ... OK.

Personally I am absolutely adoring the 15" Air - my last 15" laptop was the last Intel MBP before the touchbar. I've had the 11.6 Air, 12" Pro and 13" Air (and 13" Alienware and MS Surface Pro PC's).

For me the 15" Air opens up a ton of space for things like digital audio (DAW, Digital Performer is mine), is slim and light and super easy to carry.

txa1265 said:

Um ... OK.

Personally I am absolutely adoring the 15" Air - my last 15" laptop was the last Intel MBP before the touchbar. I've had the 11.6 Air, 12" Pro and 13" Air (and 13" Alienware and MS Surface Pro PC's).

For me the 15" Air opens up a ton of space for things like digital audio (DAW, Digital Performer is mine), is slim and light and super easy to carry.

I actually just starting with making music.

Using GarageBand.

Bought the Akai Mini Mk 3, which is a great little keyboard, but the pads are not very responsive.

I've seen plenty of videos, where people literally just tap the pads when making beats, and they all register. With my keyboard, I have to hit the pads with a bit of force.

Do you have any advice?

Thanks.

The Cockney Rebel said:

Do you have any advice?

I'm probably about the worst person to ask 🤣 I'm really old school (been using Performer since 1985), and largely due step input and then live record over it. I map drum kits to the keyboard in ways I like and have never been a fan of pad entry (my son uses all of those things!) ... my style is not really matched for the newer audio-only software.

txa1265 said:

I'm probably about the worst person to ask 🤣 I'm really old school (been using Performer since 1985), and largely due step input and then live record over it. I map drum kits to the keyboard in ways I like and have never been a fan of pad entry (my son uses all of those things!) ... my style is not really matched for the newer audio-only software.

Hey bud, I used to make music on my Amiga, with Octamed!

Mate, they were great days.

One of my tunes actually made Tune Of The Month on one of the Amiga magazine's demo disks, but I was pissed because I wasn't credited for it in the magazine.

Were you an ST or Amiga fella?

I had the ST first, then moved over to the Amiga. Such a wonderful computer, and well ahead of its time.

Wishing you well.

The Cockney Rebel said:

One of my tunes actually made Tune Of The Month on one of the Amiga magazine's demo disks, but I was pissed because I wasn't credited for it in the magazine.

Were you an ST or Amiga fella?

That is so cool - another old fart! 🤣

I used MOTU Professional Composer on a college Mac 512 before getting a Mac Plus in 1986 (I had Apple ][+ before that) and the new Performer software.

Only in the late 90s did I switch for a bit to a PC running Cakewalk, but when Powerbooks became good again ~2000 I came back to Apple and have stayed since. The Atari & Amiga were amazing machines - ahead of their time and sadly never caught on commercially!

txa1265 said:

That is so cool - another old fart! 🤣

I used MOTU Professional Composer on a college Mac 512 before getting a Mac Plus in 1986 (I had Apple ][+ before that) and the new Performer software.

Only in the late 90s did I switch for a bit to a PC running Cakewalk, but when Powerbooks became good again ~2000 I came back to Apple and have stayed since. The Atari & Amiga were amazing machines - ahead of their time and sadly never caught on commercially!

Click to expand...

50 next month .

Hah. I can barely handle looking at the 16". Whenever I switch back to my 17" MBP I swear I can feel my eyes & neck relax.

Funny how some of the old low-tech stuff works so incredibly well with the new stuff. I run a new Moog plugged into a new Motu and the old 17" interfaces with a couple old Moogerfoogers (+ uses the Step input etc). Until recently Adoobie Audition was still able to open all my original Cooledit files going back to the mid-late 90s. It's funny looking back on those now, remembering how in the 90's, our band(s) were still convinced that whatever we recorded had to be at least as quality as Pink Floyd or it wasn't worth letting anyone listen to. When listen to them now, and consider everything that's come out in the decades since, we were idiots. There's a ton of fun listening in there. Oh well.

ThunderSkunk said:

still able to open all my original Cooledit files

Whew ... memories activated!

txa1265 said:

Um ... OK.

Personally I am absolutely adoring the 15" Air - my last 15" laptop was the last Intel MBP before the touchbar. I've had the 11.6 Air, 12" Pro and 13" Air (and 13" Alienware and MS Surface Pro PC's).

For me the 15" Air opens up a ton of space for things like digital audio (DAW, Digital Performer is mine), is slim and light and super easy to carry.

The Cockney Rebel said:

I've been staying at my nan's, where I have my 13" M2 MBA (love it.)

I'm now at my place, where my 16" M2 MBP is, and to be honest, I don't know why everyone goes on about the 15" screen on the new MBA.

I'm happy with larger, or smaller screen sizes.

Anyway, just thought I'd share, in case anyone's still on the fence.

Wishing you all well.

Click to expand...

its more about the weight and ability to haul around something large that weighs hardly anything

The Cockney Rebel said:

I've been staying at my nan's, where I have my 13" M2 MBA (love it.)

I'm now at my place, where my 16" M2 MBP is, and to be honest, I don't know why everyone goes on about the 15" screen on the new MBA.

I'm happy with larger, or smaller screen sizes.

Anyway, just thought I'd share, in case anyone's still on the fence.

Wishing you all well.

Click to expand...

!5" actually felt too big for my taste. Have a 14" MBP M2 and that's the sweet spot for me screen wise.

Well, I just picked up a 13" M2 MBA and absolutely adore it. However, on the rare occasions when I need more than two windows open at the same time, I find it to be annoying to have to shuffle those windows just to toggle between them--unlike the way I can have them mostly sitting side-by-side on my MacStudio/Studio Display and even on my 16" M1 MBP. It's not annoying enough that I would consider trading the 13" in on a 15" but I do notice it a bit more than I had expected.

Screen size?
I just got a used LG OLED 55" and it's simply fantastic.
Got it for around $600, that's about 50% of new price.

I use the mac for everything except my record player. I have three sets of mouse/keyboard around my living room, and with a resolution of 1600x900, I can control stuff from around the room.

Not a updated pic, but you get the idea.
A 32" benQ to sit close for finer control.

PS: Old fart here also. My first mac for audio was a macIIfx/ci, can't remember, with AudiomediaII, Sounddesigner, Vision, Turbosynth etc.

@cockneyrebel: Great forum-alias btw. Old Steve Harley fan here.

mpetrides said:

Well, I just picked up a 13" M2 MBA and absolutely adore it. However, on the rare occasions when I need more than two windows open at the same time, I find it to be annoying to have to shuffle those windows just to toggle between them--unlike the way I can have them mostly sitting side-by-side on my MacStudio/Studio Display and even on my 16" M1 MBP. It's not annoying enough that I would consider trading the 13" in on a 15" but I do notice it a bit more than I had expected.

Try what I do:

Have each app take up the entire screen (not full screen mode) then just use Mission Control (Exposé) to flip between them.

So flawless.

Ben J. said:

Screen size?
I just got a used LG OLED 55" and it's simply fantastic.
Got it for around $600, that's about 50% of new price.

I use the mac for everything except my record player. I have three sets of mouse/keyboard around my living room, and with a resolution of 1600x900, I can control stuff from around the room.

Not a updated pic, but you get the idea.
A 32" benQ to sit close for finer control.

PS: Old fart here also. My first mac for audio was a macIIfx/ci, can't remember, with AudiomediaII, Sounddesigner, Vision, Turbosynth etc.

@cockneyrebel: Great forum-alias btw. Old Steve Harley fan here.

Click to expand...

You just might be ther person to ask:

On an AKAI Mini Mk3, how to I increase the sensitivity of the drum pads?

There is an option in the accompanying software, but it’s greyed out.

This is the only thing wrong with a great little starter keyboard for GarageBand.

The Cockney Rebel said:

You just might be ther person to ask:
On an AKAI Mini Mk3, how to I increase the sensitivity of the drum pads?
There is an option in the accompanying software, but it’s greyed out.
This is the only thing wrong with a great little starter keyboard for GarageBand.

Sorry. Can't help you there.

The Cockney Rebel said:

Try what I do:

Have each app take up the entire screen (not full screen mode) then just use Mission Control (Exposé) to flip between them.

So flawless.

Thanks! That seems to be doing the trick. The best part is that it allows me to keep the calculator app readily available but buried behind the windows I'm actually working on. That only saves a step or two but every little bit help.

mpetrides said:

Thanks! That seems to be doing the trick. The best part is that it allows me to keep the calculator app readily available but buried behind the windows I'm actually working on. That only saves a step or two but every little bit help.

Another tip for you:

Use hot corners, set up to launch Mission Control, then just a flick of the wrist and you have access to all of your open apps.

It’s a great feature.

Hope this helps.

The Cockney Rebel said:

Use hot corners, set up to launch Mission Control, then just a flick of the wrist and you have access to all of your open apps.

I watched a 'things to do with your new 15" Mac Air' and I was SO glad ... it is so easy to keep using your new Mac (or PC for that matter) like it is 2010. I setup hot corners and it is so cool! This is the first time I've really modified my workflow in a long time!

txa1265 said:

That is so cool - another old fart! 🤣

I used MOTU Professional Composer on a college Mac 512 before getting a Mac Plus in 1986 (I had Apple ][+ before that) and the new Performer software.

Only in the late 90s did I switch for a bit to a PC running Cakewalk, but when Powerbooks became good again ~2000 I came back to Apple and have stayed since. The Atari & Amiga were amazing machines - ahead of their time and sadly never caught on commercially!

Click to expand...

Ha! I used Steinberg 16 track on my Atari ST! Owned various synth back then, Roland, Yamaha, Siel… and recorded the audio to a Tascam 4 track. Those were the days 😊. I switched to PC when Windows 3 came out, and switched to Mac when OSX was introduced… now a happy Logic user who needs a lot of screen estate. The bigger the screen the better!

mpetrides said:

I find it to be annoying to have to shuffle those windows just to toggle between them

On my 13” MBA, I'm often switching between several Word docs or several views of the same doc, as well as interacting with an Excel spreadsheet and PDFs in Preview.

I found that positioning the windows such that a bit of each sticks out to the side or bottom corner lets me switch easily — and even scroll through one while viewing part of the other where I next want to go (say, pasting something I've cut or copied).

Plus, I keep my dock on the right side of the screen and find it a breeze to simply click on the app icon whose window I wish to move to. I never got used to Mission Control or Exposé…

TracerAnalog said:

Ha! I used Steinberg 16 track on my Atari ST! Owned various synth back then, Roland, Yamaha, Siel… and recorded the audio to a Tascam 4 track. Those were the days 😊. I switched to PC when Windows 3 came out, and switched to Mac when OSX was introduced… now a happy Logic user who needs a lot of screen estate. The bigger the screen the better!

I’m new to making music on Mac.

Do you think I should stick with Garagband for a while, or just get Logic now?

You brought back some fond memories, by the way. Was you into the demo scene?

The Cockney Rebel said:

I’m new to making music on Mac.

Do you think I should stick with Garagband for a while, or just get Logic now?

Personally I would just enjoy GarageBand for now - you can always jump to Logic and it does an excellent job pulling in the files. (I haven't tried Mac Garageband to iPad Logic yet, but on Mac it all works pretty well)

TracerAnalog said:

and recorded the audio to a Tascam 4 track.

Like the one that was a semi-mixer with cassette built-in for recording? I think I had the Tascam PortaStudio 244 (had to look up images to remember model)

The Cockney Rebel said:

I’m new to making music on Mac.

Do you think I should stick with Garagband for a while, or just get Logic now?

You brought back some fond memories, by the way. Was you into the demo scene?

Garageband is an excellent way to get started. You can get a lot done with it!! Logic is quite a step up, it’s a complex DAW. Let me put it like this: if you’re used to doing things such as using side-chain compression on your bass (and have it react to the bass drum), you should go straight to Logic.

Fond memories indeed, my background is more DJ/producer than the demo scene. I also had two direct drive turntables and piles of 12 inches😄. I was a big fan of sampling (Akai!).

txa1265 said:

Personally I would just enjoy GarageBand for now - you can always jump to Logic and it does an excellent job pulling in the files. (I haven't tried Mac Garageband to iPad Logic yet, but on Mac it all works pretty well)


Like the one that was a semi-mixer with cassette built-in for recording? I think I had the Tascam PortaStudio 244 (had to look up images to remember model)

That Tascam sounds like the one I had! I still have the tapes by the way, but no deck to play them😄