Newbie Clubhouse

[AstroDan]

I want to start one because:

a) There are some people, like myself, that know little about where to start, what is practical, out-dated, reliable or just any good at all for recording. I'm hoping not to feel stupid alone.

b) Avoid the redundancy of a million "Where do I start?" threads on TapeOp. It annoys the informed. It's understandable.

If someone fell to Earth and said "I want to record some music and buy a car", I would point them out to an SM57 and a Honda Accord. I guess that's what this whole forum is about, and most people are patient and willing to oblige...but I thought perhaps we could boil it down directly to a good starting point type of thread. Think of it as a chance for the relative new-comers to cut their teeth on helping the super fresh meat, and to keep them out of the grizzled's way.

I'm not trying to steal any thunder. If there is already another 'help me get started' thread, or if you think this is a bad idea, just tell me to fuck off. Gently, please.

[John Jeffers]

For computer audio newbies, some important points:

If you can afford to, dedicate a computer to audio only. Strip it down to the bare minimum software and hardware required to do the job. Less crap equals less problems. My current audio PC has never crashed, and it runs Windows XP. Yes, Windows can be very stable, despite what you may have heard.

Audio is demanding. Invest in good hardware. 1 GB RAM at minimum, 2 GB or more is better. Nothing slower than 7200 RPM hard drives. Make sure you have at least two physical hard drives (not just partitions!), one for the OS and software, one for audio files. Put the audio on the fastest hard drive. If you're on a laptop, get a fast external drive for audio.

If you choose to go with a laptop, understand what you're giving up in exchange for portability. No PCI expansion slots, no extra internal hard drives. There's lots of great hardware that still requires PCI slots. Universal Audio UAD-1 and ProTools TDM hardware, for instance.

Don't put an audio computer on the internet if you can avoid it. Yes it's inconvenient, but worth it to keep your computer safe. I personally don't run antivirus on my audio workstation, but I wouldn't recommend this unless you're really careful about how you use your computer.

BACKUP FREQUENTLY. The easiest way to do this is to get an external hard drive. When I'm working on a project, I make multiple backups so I can roll back to an earlier version of a song if I need to grab an audio file that has disappeared for no good reason--trust me, it happens.

That's all I can think of right now.

[curtiswyant]

You have to help us help you. What exactly do you want to do? We don't know if you're a high schooler wanting to record his punk band or if you're a middle-aged dentist with dreams of starting a part-time studio.

[b3groover]

Are those my only choices?

[AstroDan]

I'm a 30 year old cabinet builder who wasn't aware 300 Mhz was out of the question before I bought a G3. It's stuff like that I'm hoping to avoid...as well as perplexed emoticon faces.

[DJ RELAX]

I'm a 30 year old cabinet builder who wasn't aware 300 Mhz was out of the question before I bought a G3. It's stuff like that I'm hoping to avoid...as well as perplexed emoticon faces.

lol, I did the same thing a couple of years ago. Now im on my second G4 and waiting for the G6's

[marc]

lol, I did the same thing a couple of years ago. Now im on my second G4 and waiting for the G6's

G6? Ewwww..

Out of curiosity, what does the audio community make of Apple's switch to Intel processors? A lot of computer savvy folk are up in arms about it, because their stance is, 'Why would I buy an Intel Apple when I could make one myself?'" The audio community in general seems frugal, but not cheap. Thus, I can imagine the response being along the lines of, 'Because I know it will Just Work.'

[curtiswyant]

I don't understand how apple is still in business. after i built my own computer eons ago, there was no turning back. i'd never spend money on something i couldn't fix myself...

[John Jeffers]

lol, I did the same thing a couple of years ago. Now im on my second G4 and waiting for the G6's

G6? Ewwww..

Out of curiosity, what does the audio community make of Apple's switch to Intel processors? A lot of computer savvy folk are up in arms about it, because their stance is, 'Why would I buy an Intel Apple when I could make one myself?'" The audio community in general seems frugal, but not cheap. Thus, I can imagine the response being along the lines of, 'Because I know it will Just Work.'

I hope no one thinks that Apple's going to give up their lock on hardware. That's their whole business! Just because they're releasing a version of OSX that runs on an Intel processor doesn't mean that you're suddenly going to be able to build an OSX computer from readily available off-the-shelf parts. It's not like OSX is suddenly going to work with Pentiums and Athlons. You're still gonna have to buy from Apple.

[marc]

Well..hopefully! Mainly, I'm concerned with the fact that when justifying the cost of an Apple, one could always point out their slick hardware that arguably outperformed comparable hardware that Windows would run on--with the G4s and G5s, especially for floating-point operations. You're right that hardware is their business, but as far as I know it's still up in the air whether that will be a good move, performance-wise; is there a real reason to choose Mac [especially for audio] if there's not much of a performance gain?

For what it's worth, OS X for the developer versions of Intel Macs are consistently getting hacked (at least, 10.4.1 and 10.4.3 have been) to work on commodity Intel machines. You need a processor with SSE3 support (all Pentium 4's and the like after and including the 'Prescott' [late 2003] have this), but there aren't so many other restrictions. More info on that here. I'm also interested in what Apple's going to do to prevent that, though I'm reasonably sure that no studio owner would go through the trouble necessary just to run OS X on their crappy whitebox PC.

[John Jeffers]

is there a real reason to choose Mac [especially for audio] if there's not much of a performance gain?

If that's what you're comfortable with, and have an emotional investment in, then sure. Those are great reasons. I'm a PC guy, so I stick with PC's. If I was a Mac guy, I'd stick with Macs. It's a question of comfort and efficiency. I use the system I know best so I can make music without technical distractions.

For someone just starting out, with no preferences and a blank slate, it's a tougher call. I'd probably advise them to go Mac, just because the high-end audio world still basically revolves around Apple. And, I hear Apples are easier to learn for computer newbies, but I couldn't say. I lost that perspective many years ago.

[AstroDan]

Alright, this clubhouse isn't working. You are going to force me to get out and work and search and find information for myself.

Can I use a Mac Mini with a clamshell iBook (w/firewire and USB)? Is 1.42 Ghz enough processor speed?

[Ethan Holdtrue]

If your looking to start up a good basic system, with out spending a trillion dollors, this is what I would recomend you do:

Your going to want to get your self something with in the ball park of a 2 gig processer MINIMUM. I would recomend you start at www.Pricewatch.com if your pretty spiffy at building your own system. I would recomend you throw around some ideas as to what you want to go with for a breakout box (Echo, MOTU, M-Audio, Etc...) and check for MOTHERBOARD COMPATIBILITY ISSUES, because they suck real bad if you end up with one. For example do not get anything PCI made by Echo Audio if your going to get a ASUS A8V motherboard, because they won't work togeather.

PCI, Firewire, and USB 2 are your main connection mediums from your computer and your audio hardware. You should find the one that suits your needs the most. PCI is mostly non-portable (with the ecception of some Echo Audio products which can be ran via a PCMCIA card in laptops). Most firewire and USB 2 systems are highly portable, but lack in some features and quality that PCI provides. Between Firewire and USB, Firewire is more dominant, and found more often in 'pro' gear than USB. If your looking to only record 1-8 tracks at a time USB could be perfict for you, If your looking to record 16 or more tracks at a time PCI would be your best bet. If your looking for something in the middle that you can take with you, Firewire would probably be the way to go. Ebay can be a wonderfull place to get a good breakout box.

Harddrives make a HUGE differance in your level of sanity and computer performance. SATA is pretty much the standard these days, or Raid0 IDE drives. however, if your realy looking to blow the doors off, set up a raid0 with SATA drives. If your not sure what IDE, SATA, and raid0 mean heres a quick overview:

IDE hard drives are your standard harddrive. They spin at about 5200+ and 7200+ RPMs and have slower seek times (how fast your computer can pull up information)

SATA hard drives are performance hard drives. They spin at about 7200+ and 10,000+ RPMs and have faster seek times. they can also handle a higher volume of information through there cabels (which are much thinner and take up less space inside your computer case)

Raid0 is a term for Stryping... yea... which basicly means it makes 2 hard drives work as one. so if you have 2 10,000RPM SATA drives (like I do) it kinda makes it think it's one 20,000RPM hard drive.

You will need to get some mics too at some point. This is kinda a personal thing, but I think most people would recomend the following to start with:
SM-57
D-112
SM-81 (if you have the $$$)
and some kind of large diaraphram mic (MXL makes some VERY good ones that are afordable)

Software is kinda what makes and breaks a studio. There are tons to chose from, each with there perks and problems, and again it's kind of a personal preferance. However again I'd say that the most common are: Sonar (PC only), Protools (mac only) and Cubase (both PC and mac). Fortunetly most software companies make different levels of software for the different needs of each studio. If your only looking to record a few tracks you could get a light version of Cubase or Guitar Tracks. If your going to freak out and try to get that 'Wall of sound' effect you could go with Sonar 5 PE or it's pro tools equivilent. it all depends on what you need, but remember to BUY REAL software. Hacked programs are pretty much what there names denote.

Hopefully this helps a little. I know it's kinda alot, and I'm not sure exactly what your level of knowlage is with computers... but these are some basics you should think about before you go building your core system.

[John Jeffers]

Quick correction--ProTools is not Mac-only. Digital Performer and Logic are, though.

[AstroDan]

Ethan, you are the King of the Clubhouse.