<p>My Composition Major son and I went shopping for his college laptop today at the Apple store and at the college student store where he will start his freshman year in the Fall. The Apple store was pretty adament that almost all college students get a 13" monitor and really acted as if there was no discussion on the topic. At the college student store, the clerk said that perhaps a Composition major might want a 15" screen for using Protools and Logic, and that he'd be sorry with only a 13". So of course, we came home with no laptop and decided to do some further research. Any comments?</p>
<p>We got S a new Macbook Pro with a 15" screen. He has had a 13" screen through high school (composition and theory classes included) and he decided he really wanted the 15" screen and that it would work better with the more advanced tools he will be using. I agree with the student store clerk. I also think that the fact that he will probably be using the Macbook for more than just music schoolwork–watching movies, putting presentations together, maybe editing performance videos–made the 15" appealing.</p>
<p>One thing about the 15" is that it’s heavier and harder to carry around. I teach at a university where most of the kids (I’d say 9/10) have Mac laptops, but I rarely see anything but a 13" screen in class. My own kids have 13" screens. The 15" is more expensive… did your son try both out at the store?</p>
<p>This is a tough question, I remember wrestling with this last year about this time for my freshman son. The 13" screen seemed really small to my aging middle age eyes yet my son was OK with it. Since it was his first Mac and trying to economize, he got the 13". It’s worked out well for him, it’s lighter and fits better in his backpack than the 15" would. OTOH, I just asked my son if a composition major would like a 15" better, and he said yes, so I don’t know what to tell you! Maybe if you could go back to the college student store and try out Protocols and Logic software on both the 13" and 15"?</p>
<p>I asked D the same question and she was leaning toward the 13". She said if you need a bigger screen for an assignment just go to the computer lab! In a serious voice, she added, “Screen size is a personal decision” True, lol</p>
<p>Get the higher end 13" laptop for transportability. Get a larger monitor for his dorm room and you’ll have the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>My son, the composer, uses a 15" screen. However, he is considering getting an additional separate very large monitor for his orchestra scores, as Stone Magic is suggesting in the post above. Even the 15" isn’t large enough for his needs…</p>
<p>My son will be a Composition major at Hartt in the fall. They actually require a 15" macbook pro for their composition majors, so that is what he has. Hartt does not require macbooks for all their majors and I do believe they require a 13" for some.</p>
<p>My daughter uses a 13" for everything. She still composes by hand, using large manuscript paper, then transfers to Finale in order to make scores and parts for musicians. If she is doing electroacoustic work, her school has a lab where she can use Protools.</p>
<p>I don’t even know what Protools and Logic would be used for on a young composer’s personal Mac! Maybe someone can enlighten me…</p>
<p>I do know that sometimes my daughter writes music that is hard to notate on Finale, so she adds some of her idiosyncratic notation onto the Finale score by hand. Would some of this technology help with that kind of thing?</p>
<p>This thread is making me wonder if she should get a 15" next time…</p>
<p>Forgive my ignorance. She is not here to ask. Maybe my questions will help someone else!</p>
<p>Composer son uses Sibelius on a 15" Macbook. It is significantly more expensive than the 13" but I think much better for working with scores.</p>
<p>My son uses the arrangement StoneMagic mentioned. Big monitors are so cheap.</p>
<p>My son, who is both a composer and music tech/production major, uses a MIN of the macbook pro 15", which is the recommended computer at his school. In practice, he also uses a 27" stationary monitor in his dorm room.</p>
<p>In his program, they also request the student purchase an external hard drive (eg. rockstore).</p>
<p>I’d go with the advice of the college store unless there’s a compelling issue for a lighter, less expensive computer. Generally, a student who composes and gets involved in sequencing/or recording will truly want the most robust gear possible, and at no time will it be less expensive to outfit same than as a college student ;)</p>
<p>I agree with others that you should take into consideration the 15" laptop is a lot heavier and bulkier then the 13", and if he is going to have to lug that to class and such that could be a factor. Macbooks like most laptops support an external monitor, and given that large screen monitors are pretty cheap these days except maybe Apple’s studio displays(my 22" HD capable monitor at home was like 135 bucks), it might be better to get a 13" and use an external monitor in the dorm, where I presume he would do most of his work. </p>
<p>One other note, some schools sell macbooks and such at really cheap prices, but it is wise to compare the prices. I would compare their price against the reconditioned ones on the Apple website (especially if the school is selling the prior generation macbook without the Retina display), some schools don’t give that great a discount IME.</p>
<p>^That approach works fine if the student is only going to write or sequence in his room. In actual fact, I’ve found my son writes, records, sequences, and performs in a variety of locations (performing using Abelton Live), and in these environments the screen size makes a difference. Eg. for one assignment, they set up and recorded an original song of his in a barn 
When scoring for indie theater, he’s right there in the theater, tweaking stuff with the director during rehearsal. For his interactive dance music, again, the entire set-up was in a black box space. You get the idea.</p>
<p>I suppose the key consideration here is exactly how he intends to use it. Perhaps strictly composition doesn’t matter – but if there’s any chance he’ll also be studying elements of production technology, well, he’ll outgrow that screen size pretty fast, IMHO.</p>
<p>I am lost! What is sequencing? And do people use their Mac’s to record!!! No need to answer me!</p>
<p>I may live in the dark ages of paper manuscripts (and Zoom H-2) but my daughter probably knows what you all are talking about. (She is dealing with recordings of professional composers with an orchestra and does some sort of charting of takes that I don’t understand either.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the idea on the monitor. Maybe that would be helpful for her and sounds affordable. The 15" is a lot to carry around for dainty female composers on large campuses :)</p>
<p>Did the school specify anything? At Hartt, they specified that Music production majors had to ahve a 15 inch lap top, but I believe everyone else was ok with the 13 inch.</p>
<p>Son has the mac book 15" screen and loves it for composition and of course movies. Also some of the music tech classes require video submissions for tests and projects so he sets it up in the practice rooms and records with the built in camera. I’m certain the 13" would have been fine,too since he bought it with graduation money it was his choice.</p>
<p>If a second monitor is not an option, (which BTW is a great idea regardless - it will be extremely useful when working in protools or logic) always go with the larger macbook pro. No one ever said man, I wish i didnt have all this extra screen space!. On a spec sheet the weight difference seems large but in real life it isn’t much at all.</p>
<p>All these comments are so helpful. I love the idea of a larger monitor for the dorm room. One problem is that he doesn’t know where he will be doing most of his composing until he gets there – practice room or dorm room or sitting on the grass outside. Because of that uncertainly, we are leaning to the 15" screen just in case. And the school does not specify anything.</p>
<p>Not musically related but… Son is working out town this summer and the house he is staying in does not have a tv or cable. They sit around in the living room watching dvds on his 15" screen. So you never know how you’ll be using the laptop in the future and the larger screen makes it easier to watch the dvds.</p>