Total newbie
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Posted on Aug 29, 2004 09:25 pm
Jane
Member Since: Aug 29, 2004
Hi folks,
I'm new to these forums, and also to home recording. This site seems like a great resource, and I hope to get a lot out of it.
I have training as a musician and have been involved in various projects, but have never seriously done my own stuff and want to get started. As far as equipment for recording/composing goes, I am basically starting from scratch.
The reason I posted in this particular forum is that, for starters, I am planning to buy a computer in the near future, and obviously I want to take my eventual music writing/recording into account. The FAQ section recommended a PC of at least 600 MHz, but I wanted to know if any of you could be a bit more specific. Are ther any types of computers that you would recommend more than others for music purposes?
If you could provide more details on the other "essential" equipment that was specified in the FAQ's - compressor, mixer, headphones, sound card, recording/editing software - I'd also appreciate it, so I could have a better idea of what to look for when I actually go out and buy stuff.
Thanks in advance, and I look forward to getting to know you folks!
Jane
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vdalehubbardLost for words with all to say.Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003
Aug 29, 2004 09:41 pm As far as the PC, it depends on what you are willing to spend. Dell has cheap prices for a whole setup. Most of the people here have some knowledge of PCs and we have build our own. Course, we are helpful around here so we can help you learn more about them and you might want to build your own also. Comes down to how much you want to spend.
With the essential equipment, go to "The Gear Bag" section. There is different brands and some of our ratings on those products.
You are in for a ride! A very long journey in this indeed. We all are in it and can't get out for some reason if we wanted too. That sounded really nerd like Star Wars didn't it?
HuePinnipedal Czar (: 3= Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004
Aug 29, 2004 10:08 pm heh heh... More like the opening of 'Patton', vdale . :) Too true !
Welcome Jane, another thing to check out is what gear people list in their profiles, and listen to what kind of results they are getting by checkin' out the music they post .
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Aug 29, 2004 10:22 pm Well here is the chicken and the egg. The software you decide to use will depict the computer you will need. Kinda rough to try software however without a computer. My primary app of choice is Cubase SX. I use it in conjunction with Ozone for pre mastering. I would recomend a minimum of a 2G processor with 512 Mb memory, either Pentium or AMD. Two hard drives 7200 RPM 40Gig each or up. Obviously this recomendation is only for my application choice. Oh let me add I really prefer XP Pro as well as an operating system. It can be tricky putting a system all together. Just do a lot of reading on the software apps prior to buying them and or hardware. Most software apps will provide information on tested hardware.
Aug 30, 2004 12:20 am Hi Jane. We are new to this as well. We'd been thinking about a recording studio a long time and then in April this year we found HRC. :)
We did just as vdale and Hue suggested. We also read all threads that related to what we were trying to do, to try and fill in the gaps. And like Walt says, reading about the different products, applications etc and peoples views was also helpful to us....still is!
After that we started asking questions.
Our set up seems to be working well...so far...
Everyone here has been very helpful. Hope this post is useful to you, from a newbie to newbie point of view.
Aug 30, 2004 05:46 am Regarding the computer, 600mHz is a minimum for running most modern applications. Any computer you would buy or build new today would be much faster. I fast hard drive and lots of RAM is also helpful. There is always controversy between Intel or AMD based computers and Windows vs. Mac. Do yourself a favor and don't get too hung up on that, get what fits your budget, they will all work. Someone here uses almost any type of PC or Mac successfully, tho at HRC it is mostly Windows PC users.
The other gear, well, a mixer is usually used mostly for the preamps, ifyou get a sound card with preamps in it, and depending how you record (one man band or recording a wholeband at once) you may well be able to get by without a mixer. An outboard compressor I consider essential, esspecially for recording vocal and drums, to compress the signal before it gets to the sound card to help prevent clipping and such...digital clipping is nasty. Analog signals sometimes have a sense of humor regarding pushing levels and clipping, digital does not.
Software, well, you'll likely get as many opinions as people you ask...I prefer MultitrackStudio or Cakewalk Sonar meself.
You will get better and more accurate advice if you provide some info about your situation. How many people do you record at one time, how many total tracks will your average song use. Any MIDI/synths? What gear do you have now (based on your profile, none...which is OK, a clean slate!)
tonedef231I'm scary! Boo!!!Member
Since: Jul 25, 2004
Sep 02, 2004 11:39 pm Hey Jane, well I am also a newbie to this area. I did alot of researching and looking up different computers until I made a choice. The first question I had was what type of a computer to get? I was looking at the Macs and the PC's. Well I've heard alot of great things about Macs from experienced people in this business. They all said the Macs are very reliable and run these programs great.
Now on the other hand I started asking about PC's and come to find out that since Windows XP came out, there has been some real competition between the PC and Mac now.
Well after finding that out I went for prices, I looked at this Mac G5 which was 1900 for the tower alone no monitor, which is about another 500 depending on which monitor you wanted. Well then I checked out the PC's. Went to Dell and ended up purchasing an 8400, with a 3ghz processor, 160Gb hard drive, 1G of Ram, cd & dvd burner, flat panel monitor for 1700$. I'll still probably buy another removable hard drive for extra space. So that was my choice, b/c I couldn't afford the 800 more dollars for the Mac. So there was my problem and my choice. Hopefully that helps some.
Jul 16, 2005 01:24 am Hi there,
I posted a question on this site maybe two days ago and boy was I impressed with the helpfulness of these guys so I thought I'd try and put a little back!
I have just started recording on my PC (not MAC) and when I was looking into what computer to get I got the impression that if you buy from the shops i.e. from a music shop for a computer, that the only extra you got was memory and hard drives! unless you were willing to spend big money. If you are on a budget as I am then i'd recommend building your own!
I had never built my own computer before and did see it as a little daunting but once shown I wondered what I was worrying about. There are some great online stores with excellent prices and advice on building your system! Dabs is a great place to start (sorry hope I didn't break any rules stating a name or anything). I spent £450 on my unit and found that it outspec'd most things in the shops for the same price and I got better quality hardware. For my money I got;
1 x super snazzy case & Neon Light (for effect)
P4 3.2Ghz HT processor
120Gb Hardrive (2 80Gb might be better for partitioning)
Gigabyte Motherboard with built in sound card (handy for rack space)
CD/RW x52/x8
256mb Graphics Card
1Gb Memory (2 x 512 cards but 2Gb would be better)
240V Power supply
All the cables
This does also have it's disadvantages!
1. Operating System where to get it, how much for!
2. You still need an Pc interface (depends on what you are recording)
2. Support, if things go wrong!
If your ok with computers or have friends that could help you out (everyone seems to know a techy nowadays) then your laughing with a build your own comp! Highly recommended!
If I can help anymore let me know!
Rambo
Jul 16, 2005 01:25 am P.s.
You might need a monitor to, it helps I suppose!
Rambo
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Jul 17, 2005 01:40 pm another side note, just to keep things swirling, is the possibility of mobile recording. With a laptop, you can bring a recording interface (sound card) to plug in your mics and what not. You can get multiple inputs through a firewire device, though this may be spendy. This may not be an issue with you, but i've recorded a few things remotely, and it worked out nice. Not as nice as a real studio, but quite nice considering the mobile-ness of the whole thing.
Try to get a good idea of how you'd like to record, if you can. I know this can be daunting, but if you're only going to be recording yourself, then a slimmer setup would suffice. If you're possibly going to be recording , say 1 vocalist, 2 guitars, then you could have 5 mics right there. Not necessarily, but it could become an issue. I've found musicians would rather track all at the same time (go figure). This would require a beefier system.
For all the systems out there for sale now (built already, and component pieces), I'd say it'd be pretty hard to get an underpowered system. Pretty much anything you get new will have enough oomph to run mulpiple inputs, and bunches of tracks (with some effects on each track).
A word on the pre-built systems, they'll have their own software loaded onto it. Usually this software set will have much stuff you don't want or need. It'll get in the way of good stable recording. In this light, I'd lean towards building a system yourself, and loading the PC as clean as possible. You'll then avoid any programs running in the background, soaking up cycles and making your tracks snap, crackle and pop.
hope that helps out some, have fun and good luck.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Jul 17, 2005 01:41 pm oh man, i just realized that his is a year old.
oops.
oh well.
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Jul 17, 2005 03:04 pm I bet someone will find it useful though...
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Jul 18, 2005 02:57 am Generally I'd just say get the fastest PC your budget allows w/ 1GB of ram, save some of that budget for good sound card as well. HP & Dell computers IMO offer alot of bang for the buck. I've been using an HP 2.6GHZ for the last 1 1/2 years that was less than $1000 and it works fine, most of my projects are between 10-24 tracks, and has handled as many as 30 so far.
Avoid Celeron and low end AMD processors if possible.
Dan
