#942283 - 01/05/05 06:40 PM
Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Rick Hoffman
Platinum Member
Registered: 03/25/04
Posts: 1095
Loc: Long Island, NY
|
Offline
|
|
Hey guys
I would love to join in here and share some music. But how would I go about taking my Sony Vaio laptop and installing software?
Can a laptop do the job? Just looking to lay down some basic tracks, arrange and mix some songs, and share...I have a friend who will install software for nothing...
But what else should I get? Suggestions?
Thanks
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942285 - 01/05/05 09:49 PM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Dave Sisk
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3710
Loc: Raleigh, NC, USA
|
|
Offline
|
|
I haven't used it, but many PC recording enthusiasts swear by PowerTracks, which is about $50.
http://www.pgmusic.com/powertracks.htm
Unless it's an awefully high-end laptop, the soundcard may or may not be quiet enough to do a nice job. Try it and see...I haven't looked but I'm sure there's some reasonably priced USB soundcards or audio interfaces.
HTH,
Dave
_________________________
Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs.
- Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942286 - 01/05/05 09:56 PM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Christopher Robin
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 02/22/02
Posts: 7767
Loc: unknown
|
|
Offline
|
|
If you want to get serious, you should get as much memory as your laptop will handle, and an external hard drive too. Laptops usually have fairly slow drives - fine for general usage, but audio should have something faster (and bigger, too).
I have an iBook, which is a modest laptop, and I use a FireWire drive that runs at 7200 RPM, with an 8MB cache (meaning it's pretty fast, and has a little memory as well to help it keep up with high throughput). It's not as capable as some, but it's good enough to do a decent multitrack with.
Another option is a good USB-2 drive. USB-2 is a faster version of USB, and compares pretty well with FireWire.
_________________________
This is not a sig.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942287 - 01/05/05 11:03 PM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Dave Sisk
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3710
Loc: Raleigh, NC, USA
|
|
Offline
|
|
Originally posted by Christopher Kemp:
Another option is a good USB-2 drive. USB-2 is a faster version of USB, and compares pretty well with FireWire.
Here's a URL:
USB HD Enclosures at TigerDirect.com
Actually, looks like they're half that price now...get a 3.5" so you'll have plenty of choices for drives!
Dave
_________________________
Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs.
- Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942288 - 01/05/05 11:21 PM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Dazed
Senior Member
Registered: 11/22/04
Posts: 290
|
|
Offline
|
|
There is always http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/ which is a free 16 track recording software. It is a bit limited on the number of vst slots but if you want to test it out on your laptop it is free 
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942289 - 01/06/05 12:10 AM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Sylver
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 05/05/01
Posts: 4672
|
|
Offline
|
|
Check out Mackie's Traction too. It's free and pretty easy to navigate.
_________________________
I really don't know what to put here.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942290 - 01/06/05 01:06 AM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Dave Sisk
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3710
Loc: Raleigh, NC, USA
|
|
Offline
|
|
Thanks for the URL's, guys. I downloaded Kristal...looks a little clunky, but it's a freebie so who can complain, eh?
I looked at Mackie's Traction, but it doesn't appear to be free? The web-site says it costs $80 (which still isn't a big price, of course). Did I miss the "secret" page or something? 
I generally record tracks to a dedicated digital recorder (a Zoom MRS-1608 currently), but I think there's certainly some things you can do with tracks on a PC that you can't easily do with tracks on a dedicated recorder, regardless of how good the user interface is (unless you're talking the really high-end machines in the $3-4K range).
I become more pleased with this Zoom MRS-1608 everytime I use it...after having owned a Yamaha MD8 and a Roland VS-840EX previously, this is a digital recorder that actually works in a intuitive way AND it sounds as good as any of the ones in the same price range, although there is occasionally a shortcoming in flexibility. Trying to do all the WAV-file trading for a collaboration project like the Tsunami songs would just have been too painful on either of those older machines  . I've found myself doing a LOT of burning CD's to move stuff between the Zoom and my laptop, so I just ordered the USB port for the Zoom...I'm hoping that sucker will hurry up and arrive! 
Dave
Phait: I assume you're talking about the Ebay URL in my sig...let's see if this fixes it...
_________________________
Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs.
- Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942291 - 01/06/05 02:01 AM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Rick Hoffman
Platinum Member
Registered: 03/25/04
Posts: 1095
Loc: Long Island, NY
|
|
Offline
|
|
Thanks for the input guys...
So lets see I have a pentium 4 now, but I'll need more memory to handle the high quality audio sounds I'm mixing and recording, right?
So I what I want is an external drive with more memory, and an interface to plug my instrument into that plugs into my computer. I have seen many of these interfaces they are preamps too basically, right? They connect via USB?
I'm not sure what software I'm getting it's either cakewalk or garage band. I would like to get pro tools since I hear that is best but I'm not a professional engineer . But that would be fun to play around with.
I figure I might spend around 200 on an interface, plus one midi cable for my keyboard(though I may not really need it?),nothing on software...
but now how do I listen to what I created through ym computer? Now I need speakers, ahhh more money...
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942292 - 01/06/05 02:40 AM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Phait
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 07/12/03
Posts: 3778
|
|
Offline
|
|
Dave or Nursers please fix that long URL. 
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942293 - 01/06/05 03:53 PM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Dave Sisk
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3710
Loc: Raleigh, NC, USA
|
|
Offline
|
|
Johnny:
IMHO, before you start buying all kinds of stuff, I would download the free digital recording software and see what you can do with your existing hardware. You might be pleasantly surprised, or you might immediately notice a shortcoming (and that's where you need to spend your money!). My guess would be, given it's a laptop, that the sound card would probably be somewhat noisy, but there's no guarantees of that. If the soundcard is insufficient, that would immediately point you to a USB sound card or audio interface.
The external drives and gadgetry is nice and eventually necessary, and I doubt you could record 6 or 8 tracks simultaneously or mix 16 tracks with the existing drive and memory, but I'll bet you could record 1-2 tracks and mix 4-6 tracks of material unless that drive is awefully slow and memory is awefully limited. I could be wrong here, but you're not going to know until you try it first.
If you do determine that the laptop's soundcard is inadequate, then probably the easiest bet would be one of the USB audio interfaces...there seem to be quite a few for $100 or less from the usual suspects (americanmusical.com, musiciansfriend.com, samash.com, etc.). Probably a good bet would be one with two 1/4" mono inputs rather than a single stereo input...I don't know from experience though. Maybe someone else will post on this...
Anyway, take a step by step approach and spend the money on the parts that are the true limitations, at least initially. As you get some experience with this, you'll figure out better what you actually want and need, and THEN you can go drop some bucks on more expensive stuff knowing exactly why you need it and how you're going to use it. This is just my advice anyway...YMMV!
Cheers,
Dave
_________________________
Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs.
- Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942294 - 01/06/05 09:17 PM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Sylver
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 05/05/01
Posts: 4672
|
|
Offline
|
|
Traction was free for a while. I didn't realize they went back to pay. Sorry!
_________________________
I really don't know what to put here.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942295 - 01/24/05 08:59 AM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Rick Hoffman
Platinum Member
Registered: 03/25/04
Posts: 1095
Loc: Long Island, NY
|
|
Offline
|
|
I'm going to radio shack to buy a 1/4 inch adapter so I can plug in my bass direct. We'll see what happens. I'll also try some free software and I'll send you guys somethin if I can.
I'll be doing all of this through headphones, too.
Maybe I won't need to buy anything, who knows...that would be great!
...because if I do remember, when I bought the laptop(over the phone) they were building it for me from scratch, I think I had an upgraded soundcard installed.
Instead of a 1/4 inch adapter I might buy a common jack w/ different connection types going into the computer, I've seen those around, too. I think that would be less clumsy and better for the connections in back of my computer.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#942296 - 01/24/05 10:51 AM
Re: Getting Started, Part 2 Try b4 U Buy
|
Dave Sisk
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3710
Loc: Raleigh, NC, USA
|
|
Offline
|
|
Hey Johnny:
If your bass has active electronics, it might work to go direct into the laptop. If it's a passive bass, I kinda doubt it's going to work...I *think* most sound cards expect a line level signal. But, try it and see anyway. If you've got a preamp out on your bass amp or something similar, that ought to do the trick...
HTH,
Dave
_________________________
Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs.
- Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
Moderator: nursers
|
|
|
