A couple of newbie questions...

[AscendingMusic]

Hello all,

I'm starting to switch over from a PC-based Sonar DAW to DP5.11 on a MacBook. I like what I've worked with so far, but of course (!) I have some questions:

1) In the Sequence and MIDI views, is it possible to change the gray background to match the track color, with black rather than colored events? It would make it much easier to distinguish between tracks.

2) Are there any inexpensive / free GM soundsets availble other than the QuickTime synth? Even having access to the built-in GarageBand sounds would be an improvement. This would be primarily for additional GM drumkits since, between DP's synths and the Dimension Pro sampler (which does work perfectly, BTW), I'm well-covered for instruments.

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. I look forward to a long and very satisfying relationship with DP!

-- Mark

[Frodo]

Hey Mark-- welcome!

Unfortunately-- or to the best of my knowledge-- tweaking the skin in DP is not possible. What you can do, however, is to change the color indicator of the track lables. In the Tracks Overview, I believe you can access this feature by just double clicking on the color of the track. You can change just one track or the entire "flavor" of all the tracks.

Occasionally, I use Control-Option-Apple-8 which toggels the screen in and out of a negative image. This helps when the eyes need a cheater. Also, Option-Command-= (equals sign) zooms in: repeat this to zoom in further, while Option-Command- - (minus) zooms back out again. If that doesn't work right off, try Option-Command-8 to turn on the zoom feature. The behavior preferences for this are found in System Preferences> Universal Access.

As for "free" sounds-- it may be a tough call. But there is a Sticky thread near the top of the DP forum called "The Free VI's/Plugs List". It's several pages deep and may contain something that may be of use to you.

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11847

I don't think the Garage Band sounds are accessible in DP (I've never tried, actually). But for a supplimental sound bank you might want to consider picking up something like SampleTank, Reason, or similar. Even Native Instruments Komplete Sound Bundle is going for under $140 these days.

[emulatorloo]

Here's one thing you can try:

How do I use my GarageBand instruments with DP?
http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... earchterm=


---
Now, this might be a little iffier, because I cannot tell if this is universal binary or not yet.

IKMULTIMEDIA is having an anniversary sale on their "Expansion Tank" modules. 1 for 39.00 3 for 79.00 until the 31st of January. Normally it is 99.00 for one, 249 for a three pack. They all come with the Sampletank 2 LE.

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?1 ... omo/08.php

One of them is a General MIDI Module called OMNISYNTH.

Another is called ACOUSTIC DRUMS, which is I beleive GM mapped.

Here is the Expansion Tank page.

http://www.sampletank.com/Main.html?prod_STSound

They have mp3 demos -- Links on the left hand side to the different expansion tank titles. If you click on the buy link on any of them it takes you to the IK store, which has the anniversary pricing.

I would be kind of tempted to put together a "Build your Own Bundle" of OMNISYNTH, ACOUSTIC DRUMS, and dunno, PIANO COLLECTION? VINTAGE VOLTAGE? BRIT HORNS?

But like I say, I do not know if these are ready for intel mac or not.

---

[lwilliam]

There's also NI's Bandstand. For GM sounds, you can't do much better.

http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.p ... 8c6197cff1

It's around $199 most places, but I've seen it on pricegrabber for $125 at B&H Photo, so that might fit your budget.

[AscendingMusic]

Thanks all - this is all very helpful. I'll let you know how it works out.
-- Mark