Building a studio computer

[aubreyz]

Quote:Aub- You wrote:1. The system drive should not be for recording or sample playback.2. Recording drives should not be streaming samples.3. Even if you are using different drives for different things, if they are sharing the same bus, (ie. usb, ide, sata etc) there is still a high probability of bottlenecking issues.Do you think I have it set up right? Here's what I am doing now:Drive 1: Pro Tools and programsDrive 2: RecordingDrive 3: Sample libraryDrive 4: Archiving / SavingThanks as always for your informative posts. Hope I can get to one of your shows someday.NomiNomi -- I hope I have some shows some day That layout looks fine, but I'd like to know what each drive is.. external, internal, usb etc.You might could split some of the samples to the archiving drive and get better performance. I have a drive that I use like that. However in my case, the backup drive is not for permanent backup, it's just a safety copy. I also backup to a network array and DVD (for a real live hard copy).I think of hard drives as something that will always, eventually fail, and never as a permanent backup solution.Aub

[nomiyah]

Quote:Quote:Nomi -- I hope I have some shows some day I thought you said you were getting a group together?That layout looks fine, but I'd like to know what each drive is.. external, internal, usb etc.[/quote]Drive 1 with the program is internal.Drive 2 for recording is internal.Drive 3 for samples is external.Drive 4 for archiving is external.I have another drive for archiving that I use less frequently so I have a backup to the backup.I doubt I need to split the samples at this point since I got one of those giant 500 hard drives.

[53mph]

My biggest gripe with computers is that there is always something better just on the horizon.It almost makes you stop buying anything new, in case it's out of date soon.I believe Recording Magazine ran an article once and called it something like Hardware Aquisition Syndrome. Always needing to buy the newest, best, coolest etc gear.I'm more with Matto on the subject. If you worry your head about buying new stuff all the time you'll never make anything. Best to streamline what you have.I had a friend once who was always putting of learning guitar, she kept saying "I can't learn on a cheap guitar, I need something which will inspire me to play" so she put it off for 2 years until I convinced her to buy a really cool second-hand vintage guitar......which then sat collecting dust in the corner of the room. She always blamed it on the equipement not being good enough but really she just didn't have the willingness to learn.Kind of besides the point of this thread, but never mind eh..

[matto]

Actually it's not beside the point. My first music library tracks ever, which later got used on "Spin City" and "Judging Amy" among other things, were done on an Atari 1040ST synced to analog 1/2" 16 track, with only an Ensoniq EPS, Yamaha TG500 and Korg M3R (not even an M1, couldn't afford that at the time ). If I found a way to squeeze "broadcast quality" out of a system like that, then certainly anybody with a half decent half recent setup should be able to do the same.Yes it would be great to have a truckload of computers running every damn piece of software on the planet, but I do this professionally now and crank out over a hundred tunes a year in just about any style imaginable, and I still run only one computer with specs similar to nomi's. I'm thinking of adding a second one for some of the larger productions I do (like big orchestral cues) where I sometimes have to freeze or bounce a few tracks.But it's not cause it's really necessary, it's just that it would be "nicer".Aub's advice in particular is fantastic and gives you a valuable look at a top of the line "dream system" that could handle anything you care to throw at it. But one should't misinterpret it as saying that you can't do meaningful production work on a single fairly up-to-date computer.Unless you're doing Wagner size orchestral work ...or maybe Ern size So get that streaming issue ironed out nomi and get on with making music... matto

[voni2724]

I am still working on my studio, but I need advice. I have an 4 track and I was wondering: how do I transfer the music from a media card to my lap top to a CD? Do I need a program or anything? I tried to transfer it but basically I couldn't hear anything on the CD. I do not know if I am giving enough information. I would appreciate any ideas you guys have. Thanks!!!

[ernstinen]

Quote:Unless you're doing Wagner size orchestral work ...or maybe Ern size LOL! Well, my studio is up and running after MONTHS of downtime --- It never used to be that way! We recorded EVERY day without computer issues. Real-time instrumental tracks, and just some keyboard sequencing on an Alesis MMT-8 (I think that's what it was called), or a primitive Mac. I had a glowing review years ago in Recording Magazine which said "See what you can do with just 8 Tracks!" It CAN be done, as Matto says, and in retrospect it's more fun, too. Bouncing, track planning, singing harmony vocals on one microphone, live drums on 2 tracks. Heck, Sgt. Pepper was recorded on a 4-track.I'm now only running 2 computers as sample players (down from 4), an EMU sampler, and a Mac G4 doing the sequencing.BTW, an orchestral piece of mine recorded in Europe was sketched out on 8 tracks of a Roland JV-90. So much for technology! Keep creating,Ern

[horacejesse]

Ern,What the heck was that like, having four computers running at once? That could be a significant amount of noise. You must feel naked with only two.

[ernstinen]

Quote:Ern,What the heck was that like, having four computers running at once? That could be a significant amount of noise. You must feel naked with only two.Ha! I actually don't "record" per se anymore, only sequence, so noise is no problem.Some film composers run 20 PCs at the same time, so my 2 + one Mac sound like a calm lake lapping at the shore --- or NOT!Ern

[nomiyah]

Equipment Behaving Badly...OK, so I downloaded the dfd for Colossus. Now I don't have any sounds in the drop-down menu, no instruments. Before it was not loading properly (because it wasn't streaming), now there is nothing to load.I originally had the samples on an external F drive but moved them to a larger external G drive. Thinking this might be the problem, I uninstalled and reinstalled the software (but not the samples). Still nothing.Help!!!....................... again.

[matto]

Nomi,you can't just go move the samples once you have installed them. There's no way for the plugin to know where you put them...it can't read your mind Try this...you should be able to simply tell the plugin (that's Colossus' Kompakt Player) where you put the samples. To do this, click on the little "options" drop down on the left hand side of your Kompakt, it's a little less than halfway down from the top, and choose "settings". A little window should open. At the bottom of that there's a file path display. Click on the button to the left of it. A browser window opens, navigate to the folder which contains the Colossus library (probably called something like "EW Colossus Library"), wherever you moved that (make sure it's the folder with "library" in its name)...select it and hit okay...then exit the settings window...this should bring the instruments back.If it doesn't, I think you will have no choice but to uninstall the software and samples, and reinstall everything again from scratch. With sample libraries, it's always a good idea to do a little planning and figure out where to put the samples before you install anything.matto