rdtmusix Posted February 1, 2001 Share Posted February 1, 2001 Hi -- I'm thinking of using a laptop for live performances. I would be using it for: o running software synths o triggering samples using a software sampler o some sequencing Does anyone have experience using this kind of setup? The kind of music I'd be doing is jazz-influenced electronica. I've heard that the newer laptops (running 500MHz and above) have the muscle to handle these apps. I've also heard there's some neat USB peripherals available. My biggest fears are MIDI latency and CPU overload. If anyone has had experience using a laptop and MIDI controller in a live situation, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve44 Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 One of the reviewers for Keyboard has a site for laptops and music. Unfortunately I can't remember who it is nor what the site is http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif. For laptop PC-card sound there are only two options: the VX pocket which is 2 channel and $600, and the Wamibox (Ego-sys) which I think is 4 channel and $500. The VX seems to be a bit higher quality. I've heard the Wami is good, but it has questionable features like a 64 voice GM synth. Its converters are 20 bit but it records 16bit. There's also the option of getting a pcmcia-PCI box from Digidesign but that's expensive as hell. It's worth it in a way, but a tough call. It comes in 2 slot and 6 slot models and is the only way to use TDM on a laptop. There's also USB audio interfaces such as the Tascam US428 ($500) which handles both audio and Midi and has nice faders. There are cheaper ones that are just audio. There are now some firewire audio interfaces on the way, such as MOTU's 828, which could be the most powerful laptop solution available. It sounds like you're a PC guy but the Titanium G4 laptop would be an awesome set of power. You would have no trouble running Unity DS-1 and Digital Performer and you'd get some great audio quality. On the PC buying a laptop is incredibly difficult and confusing - every company has a zillion models. Even with Dell, my favorite, it's difficult. However, the warranties being offered now are incredible: Dell's complete care will repair the thing even if it was hit by a baseball bat or if some drunk guy at a gig threw up on it and smashed it to pieces. CPU's on laptops are finally at a decent place. It took forever for PentiumIII's to appear on notebooks, but now they're there and fairly strong. Performance does vary from model to model, as well be attested by the PC Mags. But I think it's a fair amount of power and enough to run some decent softsynths. Keyboard's January Issue (online as well) has some info regarding using computers live, and it has a little blip that says that everyone they contacted about the issue uses a laptop, not some complicated rack-mount computer. So you've got the right idea, but it's a complicated issue. This message has been edited by Steve44 on 02-02-2001 at 12:58 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdtmusix Posted February 2, 2001 Author Share Posted February 2, 2001 Steve Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to my newbie questions. Yes, I admit I'm one of the unwashed hordes supporting the Gates family through the WINTEL duopoly...but that's another post! Yes, I've seen the titanium G4 and it looks fabulous! I am completely unfamiliar with the Mac platform, however. Therefore my question is: would the titanium G4 have the low-latency on-board midi hardware support I'm looking for? If you don't know the answer, that's ok. I'm kinda shooting in the dark here. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 We just got to watch Craig Anderton do a gig at NAMM with DJ Russ Reign using a Mac Powerbook (I forget which model) running Reason controlled by a Peavey PC 1600 fader box - it was way cool. There's a whole thread about it on Craig's forum where he talks about how he did it, exactly what gear he used, etc. dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve44 Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 There's a whole thread about it on Craig's forum where he talks about how he did it, exactly what gear he used, etc. Dave, I can't find that thread. What's the topic? Or can you provide a link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted February 2, 2001 Share Posted February 2, 2001 Originally posted by Steve44: Dave, I can't find that thread. What's the topic? Or can you provide a link? The topic is on the bottom of page 2 of Craig's forum. It is called Praises to DJ C.A. Try this link: http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000700.html dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve44 Posted February 3, 2001 Share Posted February 3, 2001 Here are some nice laptop related links: Apparently I was wrong about the pricing for the PCMCIA-PCI units, they're not too bad! Magma's PCI Expansion Prices Amazingly, Apple has ProAudio information on their website! They have their own mini NAMM report as well as this page for getting audio in and out of your Mac , which also shows off MOtu's 828. Apparently Craig Anderton got 16 instances of Reason's sampler on a G3 Powerbook, while some other guy got 11 instances on an iBook. But I don't think Reason is really the kind of soft synth I would play live... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdtmusix Posted February 3, 2001 Author Share Posted February 3, 2001 Thanks to everyone who took a minute to reply to my laptop-music questions. Hopefully with a bit more digging around I'll be able to find out the best combination of hardware & software to keep latency under control... Steve, just wondering, you mentioned you wouldn't choose Reason as live performance software... Can I ask why not? What software would be your first choice? TIA Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdtmusix Posted February 6, 2001 Author Share Posted February 6, 2001 One final thread to all this...here's a link I found to a website devoted exclusively to laptop midi and recording. The site itself is excruciatingly out of date ("1999" is a good line for a song, but not-so-great a "last update" for a website). Anyways, the message forum there is filled with bleeding edge masochists who are striving to wrestle with the demons of laptop music, and the posts there are invaluable: http://members.aol.com/notebooks1/ hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve44 Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 rdt, I mentioned in my first post that there was a keyboard collumnist who once had a website for laptops and music. I still can't remember who it was, but it may have been Craig Anderton. You may want to email him on that.. or maybe I'll get the courage (and time) to sift through some back issues of keyboard and find that link.. -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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