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I have a friend who doesn't use any DAW but has a macbook...is a songwriter...and wants a simple software of a drum machine or kit with preprogrammed beats ... one that is very easy to use and setup.

Any suggestions on software?

DM1 is a great, versatile and user friendly drum machine for iPad and for Mac OS. It doesn't come with preset beats, but I bet they could be found. Beats are easy to make as well.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dm1-the ... 9879?mt=12

Maybe MasterWriter would be a good fit (http://www.masterwriter.com/songwriters.html). It has a couple of hundred MIDI loops to work with along with all the writing tools and recording capabilities. OTT, outside of a DAW I like EZDrummer, but you have the added layer of having to use Toontrack Solo with EZPlayer as a standalone host. No big deal once you've used it a couple of times and better for creating more complex drum parts.

Toontracks is simple and not too expensive. Good sounding loops and not bad drum sounds either

DM1 is £2.99 - whats not to like?

Guitar Gaz wrote:DM1 is £2.99 - whats not to like?

If you are the OP, the fact that it's 64bit only and requires OS 10.7 or later.

mikehalloran wrote:

Guitar Gaz wrote:DM1 is £2.99 - whats not to like?

If you are the OP, the fact that it's 64bit only and requires OS 10.7 or later.

yup.

his laptop is an older black macbook

mikehalloran wrote:

Guitar Gaz wrote:DM1 is £2.99 - whats not to like?

If you are the OP, the fact that it's 64bit only and requires OS 10.7 or later.

Sorry - I am not an expert on macbooks or what models have which systems. Perhaps it would have been helpful to say this for those of us who don't know about macbooks. I thought an unwritten rule here was to say what systems and what processors you had when asking for advice.

Just trying to help - the DM1 is the type of thing that would be ideal for him and very cheap and fun.

I am not sure what his macbook does, Toontrack were giving away EZDrummer Lite for free recently.

Well we both made assumptions. I looked at the OP system while you assumed the friend was using something better.

Izotope iDrum is $49 purchased directly, often a little less from resellers. You can download a demo. It's not the most full featured program out there but should certainly do the job.

The thing is that DM1 is probably better - if you could use it. At $4.99 US, I am going to check it out. Thanks for the heads up.

Perhaps time for the OP and friend to start looking at upgrades.

NazRat, do you have the MIDI functions of MasterWriter working? I thought those stopped with 10.6 or 10.7. I know the recording functions no longer work - but only because I read it. I confess that I have never used its audio or MIDI functions and I have owned since 2005 (I think).

mikehalloran wrote:
The thing is that DM1 is probably better - if you could use it. At $4.99 US, I am going to check it out. Thanks for the heads up.

It's cheap enough to gamble - but actually I am not sure how it's done so cheap - lots of kits, some good examples to check out, and an easy interface with a different Full Screen look that shows more features. I don't really need it but actually it is easy to get beats going when you are playing. You can export them I think too so it has a use. And would be perfect for the original poster's friend if only his machine was 64 bit.

Its worth checking Toontrack EZ Drummer as they are giving away the Lite version - which should work on older machines. Worth a try.

mikehalloran wrote: NazRat, do you have the MIDI functions of MasterWriter working? I thought those stopped with 10.6 or 10.7. I know the recording functions no longer work - but only because I read it. I confess that I have never used its audio or MIDI functions and I have owned since 2005 (I think).

I have it running on an PB running Leopard and also on a new PC I travel with. However I think any problems with audio and MIDI stemmed from the later versions of Quicktime. You would probably need to install the old version of Quicktime along with the one that ships with the more recent OS versions. I don't have MasterWriter installed on my ML studio box, but I think I do have the old Quicktime Pro installed. When I get a chance I'll check it out.

Bad info above - when I migrated to ML apparently the old QT Pro version was removed and any installer for old QT will not install along with the QT 10 provided by the OS.

I have it running on an PB running Leopard and also on a new PC

Yea, I remember a tech note saying that this was no longer supported on 10.6. But that was in the early days of the OS before people realized that QT 7.6.6 worked (and still does) if you install it in the Utilities folder. I see no mention of that now.

I crashed my activation the other day - well, my whole Mac - by doing something stupid while testing. When I forget to release my MasterWriter activations first, I have to make calls to Tech Support to get them back. Normally, I call but this time I am trying email to see if it's faster. In fact, I'll time it.

I hope that, in the future, they go to a licensing scheme like either DP 8, Final Draft or Finale where, If I have to do a Time Machine restore, I can bring my licenses back during off hours.

I would have bought MW without its audio features (obviously). Replaces a whole bookshelf of thesauruses, rhyming dictionaries and similar reference books.

Update: Took MW Support 3 hours to get back to me; another pair of email and I was able to re-activate. No complaints there - I always had the option to call.

I then tried the drum loops and was able to record and play them back. I didn't try any of the other audio functions - I'll just trust that they work. In any case, I'll probably never use that feature set but it's nice to know that it is there (again?).

RE the licensing/activation, I got the following msg from Charles in Support:

"We are already working on a new activation system for our next upgrade so please be patient and it should be available in the next few months."

Why do we call it AI? It doesn’t even mimic stupidity that well.

NazRat wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2013 3:55 am Maybe MasterWriter would be a good fit (http://www.masterwriter.com/songwriters.html). It has a couple of hundred MIDI loops to work with along with all the writing tools and recording capabilities. OTT, outside of a DAW I like EZDrummer, but you have the added layer of having to use Toontrack Solo with EZPlayer as a standalone host. No big deal once you've used it a couple of times and better for creating more complex drum parts.

Are any of these tools available in the desktop version? When I log into my account and go to Audio, it is greyed out. Likewise, the Help and Support menus are not to be seen.

I've had MasterWriter since the beginning when I was a reseller for the stand-alone version but I've never explored any tools other than the various ones for lyrics.

I'll need to contact Barry or whoever is running the place now and see what is happening.